In the current K-pop dance world, you’ve got your standard intricate hand movements and cutesy but lightning speed girl group dances. You’ve also got the new trend of tropical housing, body-rolling, crotch grabbing boy group dances. To be honest, I’ve been a little bored with both scenes. BTS’s comeback performances have, thankfully, peaked my interest again.
That’s why, for the next three days I’m looking at the three songs BTS is performing during their comeback: MIC Drop, Go Go, and the title – DNA.
Today, I’m starting with BTS’s performance of MIC Drop from their Comeback Show.
Bless all past and present hip hop dance and music gods above. I have not been so hype about a live performance of a song in long time (like a whole week or something). “MIC drop” is one of two diss tracks on BTS’s new album, Love Yourself: Her. It is led almost entirely by the rap line, with the vocal line coming through in the chorus. The song is pure braggadocio – an unhesitating and unashamed boast of all BTS has achieved through their hard work.
The performance begins with a record scratch, the camera focusing on someone’s leg as their foot pop, pop, pops to the scratch. It then pans up the leg to J-Hope, who is decked out in full 90’s hip hop swag, from bucket hat to baggy pants. The other six members are behind him with their backs to the audience.
Mic Drop
The camera stays with J-Hope as he separates from the rest of the members and then rejoins Jungkook, V and Jimin. Once J-Hope starts off the first verse, you know you’re in for a wild ride.
Mic Drop
From the initial record scratch to that slow break beat, the track pays homage to hip hop of the past. Korean hip hop emerged in the 80’s and 90’s with the likes of Seo Taiji & Boys and DEUX. They paved the way for modern K-pop with their hybridization of Korean music with American hip hop and R&B. With BTS’s recent collaborations with Seo Taiji, it makes total sense that the rap line and producers of Bangtan would pay tribute to the hip hop greats that have come before. “MIC drop” is just that track.
The choreography for MIC Drop isn’t extremely complicated, at least relative to other Bangtan choreo, but it is packed with swagger. In the recent past, BTS has used more flowing, urban dance choreography, like in “Blood, Sweat & Tears,” “I Need U,” and “Save Me.”
Blood, Sweat, & Tears and Save Me
They have also explored contemporary fusion dance in “Spring Day” and “Butterfly.”
Spring Day
When they debuted, their dances favored more of a commercial hip hop feel, where the choreography was fast, in-sync and honestly, not very different from other K-pop groups.
We Are Bulletproof Pt 2 and Danger
In MIC Drop, we see very little of these previous styles. This is a dance that hits hard but still has the wild energy of a rowdy house party. The song is boastful and the choreography matches it perfectly. It’s far less wavy and urban than their more recent dances.
The members pour all their power into the choreography, just sitting in the pocket and making each motion weighty.
There are, of course, some old school hip hop elements to the choreography itself. I would qualify old school dance as generally being larger and slower movements that incorporate hip hop styles of popping, locking, and breaking.
Examples I noticed were J-Hope’s popping freestyle as well as his solo at the very beginning. In general, J-Hope is excellent at fusing together old and new styles of hip hop, so I’m not surprised he killed this choreo.
Mic Drop
I also spotted some throw back moves in the chorus of the song, particularly when the group kicks out the side as Yoongi raps,“발 발 조심” (“Careful of your feet”). (I’m thinking Kim Sung Jae, anyone else?).
Mic Drop
Additionally, the arm swings during the outro of the song, as Jin and V alternate singing “더 볼 일 없어 마지막 인사야, 할 말도 없어 사과도 하지 마” (“No need to see each other ever again, this is my last goodbye, nothing more left to say, don’t even apologize”) are reminiscent of Seo Taiji & Boys performances…
In particular used during 1995’s “Come Back Home” and 1994’s “Class Idea.”
Seo Taiji & Boys - Come Back Home and BTS - Mic Drop
Aside from the obvious throwback feel, “MIC Drop” is memorable for its powerful moves. Of the modern hip hop styles included in the choreo, the one I want to highlight is krump. Krump is an improvised style of dance and is characterized by its aggressive, high energy movements that take up a lot of space.
I felt this type of energy in particular during Jungkook’s solo part after Rap Monster’s verse. While the movements he dances are used repeatedly during the chorus, for some reason his solo seems most noteworthy. The power behind his moves in this moment is incredible.
Mic Drop
The phrase includes arm swings, ticking and locking, which are all used in krump. You can feel Jungkook’s confidence with his aggressive, strong, and confrontational movements, particularly when he raises his fists over his head and pops his entire body. One purpose of krump is to feed energy to other dancers and audience members. I think this choreo gave me a whole new life.
Despite all the retro vibes going on, this stage still has a fresh, BTS feel to it. For a song that is carried by three of the seven members, the choreo is blocked in a way that includes everyone. Each member is center at least once throughout the song. “MIC drop” has the boys in new groups and changing positions every few lines. It keeps the energy going and the mood hype.
With a high octane beat and a high octane dance, it’s nice to see the point move be so simple. The little ‘mic drop’ motion is the perfect feather in the proverbial cap of this dance. A cross step back with the foot and a little flip of the hand is all that is needed. The other elements of the song - the beat, the verses, the hard hitting pops – build up to this sweet little move, one that’s just loaded with smugness.
This feeling is mirrored in the lyrics to the song. All of BTS’s hard work, sweat, and passion that went into getting BTS to where they are now is exemplified in simple terms - the trophies in their bag.
Mic Drop
(Make sure you check out my review of “Go Go” tomorrow!)