One of the reasons ARMY is the size that it is today is due to how free and honest the members have been with sharing themselves—sharing their true selves and feelings with their fans since the very beginning. The release of PROOF in June of 2022 was a testament to that. This week, we will take a look at the third and final disc of that album, which included raw and unfiltered demo versions of some of their hits, as well as some previously unreleased tracks. The world of K-Pop is always glossy—carefully crafted images and sounds. A lot of artists only want to present the polished final product to their fans, not the scrapped imperfections they had to get through along the way to making that product. However, from their beginning, BTS has proved themselves to be the opposite. While they’ve always wanted to perform their best for ARMY, they’ve also been extremely transparent on what it takes for them to get to that point. So it’s no surprise that even after achieving massive global fame and success, they were still taking the time to honestly show us how they got there—to show us their proof.

ARMY knows how much literal blood, sweat, and tears the members of BTS have put into their career over the years. How sleep deprived, hungry, and in pain they often were… particularly in the early days. Last week we began our exploration of the PROOF anthology album, and we discussed Disc 1, which was a nod to how far the group as a whole had come (including a retrospective look at their title tracks over the years) as well as a promise of hope for the future. This week, we’re covering Disc 2, which includes another brand-new song that talks about the hard work and dedication they put in to forge their path, as well as fourteen songs from their discography that the members selected themselves. Each member chose two songs, and we will learn why they picked them, and watch as they reflect on how these songs, and the journey they’ve been on in BTS, shaped who they are as individuals.

What is an anthology album? It’s a collection of favorite songs chosen by the compiler, and usually includes backlogged/unreleased content as well. Any artist, after they’ve been out for a few years and have a few releases under their belt can release a “Greatest Hits” album, but few have enough material, nor enough of an interested fanbase to warrant the creation of an anthology. Anthologies are meant to be a true retrospective of an artist’s career up to that point. I can name just a few others off the top of my head who have done it—Michael Jackson, The Rolling Stones, Queen, The Beatles. By 2022, this was the level BTS was playing at. They were about to release a celebration of how far they had come in their nine-year career. This week we’ll discuss the first disc of their anthology album, PROOF, which included a retrospective of all of their title tracks from 2013 to 2021, as well as a brand-new song, and a remastered version of one they’d released on SoundCloud just after they debuted.