You might know the BTS hit song "Mikrokosmos", but you might not know the man who wrote it. We dive into the musical genius behind K-pop's global superstar group BTS' hit songs!
Up until now, you have probably not heard the name "Marcus McCoan". However, this UK musician has written songs that have been featured on two BTS albums and both have reached number one in the UK charts! When I heard this, I was very surprised as Korea prides itself on K-pop and everything related to K-culture, so why were these songs chosen?
This all started with a call on New Year's Eve when Marcus was invited to a meeting with a manager for the band BTS. Marcus was told that he had only a 48-hour deadline to finish a batch of songs which would then get listened to by the BTS management, which totaled around 10 songs. This was a big task as creating music is often done over several months, if not years, so to hear this I was very shocked!
Later, the songs were submitted, and one from the batch was chosen — and not the one he had thought most likely. For me, I usually find that this is the case, when you look at other artists, the more successful songs are often the ones with the less work that has gone into the production, for example, "Angles" by UK artist Robbie Williams.
BTS management also debated using a second track from the demos that were sent over to them a couple of months before, which was also accepted pending the production finish. If I had a call like this I would be in total shock and to have a worldwide known band such as BTS request two of my songs which would reach over 50 million people I think it's a fantastic opportunity!
I also think that it is great that a UK songwriter was chosen to write two tracks for BTS, as it shows that the K-pop industry is open to collaborating and using an international influence, which of course will help them become more successful overseas and be known in a global market, but this also gives opportunities to musicians overseas to gain recognition in Korea.
Now his co-writing and production work is on both of BTS' best-selling albums titled "Map of the Soul: Persona", and "Map of the Soul: 7" which sold 3.69 million and 5 million copies respectively.
In addition to his signwriting expertise for the band, his vocals also appear on one of the songs, "Mikrokosmos", which has almost 50 million hits on YouTube, which is an outstanding number!
Let's take a look at that hit song!
He’s even watched BTS live and heard his vocals being played. It’s a confidence booster that makes you feel a bit validated and what you're doing is right. At least it would be for me!
Let us know your thoughts on this topic in the comments below.
Comments