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In the past few years, BTS has gone from being a popular act in South Korea to quite possibly the biggest boy band in the world. BTS has performed several times on American TV already and, if you have ever seen the guys on stage, you might notice that their catchy songs are mostly in Korean, not English.

It’s a rare thing to see in the U.S., but that has got many people wondering: does BTS have English songs in their discography? If so, why do they usually promote with their Korean singles? Read on below to find out the answer.

Do the members of BTS speak English?

BTS
BTS | Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Perhaps before we delve into whether BTS has English songs or not, it’s important to get one thing out of the way: most of the guys in BTS are not fluent in English.

RM, the leader of the group, is the only member who can speak English well. When BTS talks to the foreign press, RM is often the person in charge of answering interview questions as well as translating back and forth between Korean and English.

However, the rest of the members do know English do a degree and have been studying hard ever since BTS got international recognition in 2017. Jungkook, the youngest of the group, even shared that he is putting a lot of effort into learning more English in hopes of being able to participate in interviews with RM in the future.

Does BTS have English songs?

Most BTS songs have English titles, so it’s helpful for international fans who do not know Korean. However, they do not have any tracks that are fully English. Many of the songs are in Korean (or sometimes Japanese) with a few English words or phrases here and there.

With that said, there actually is one song where you can hear them sing entirely in English. In October 2018, the group collaborated with American DJ Steve Aoki on a single called Waste It On Me. They provided Aoki with vocals for the song and all the lyrics were in English.

While Waste It On Me is a great song for BTS fans’ enjoyment, it is technically a part of Steve Aoki’s discography and, thus, is not considered a BTS song.

Why does BTS not sing in English more?

BTS do understand quite well that not having English songs could be hindering their chances of getting a real number one hit in America. Despite some songs in foreign languages — such as Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” or even the earlier K-pop phenomenon, Psy’s “Gangnam Style” — occasionally becoming popular with mainstream audiences, the majority of hit singles on American radio are still in English.

However, turning themselves into an American boy band to get more fame was never actually BTS’s goal. RM once said: “We don’t want to change our identity or our genuineness to get the number one… If we sing suddenly in full English and change all these other things, then that’s not BTS. We’ll do everything, we’ll try. But if we couldn’t get number one or number five, that’s okay.”

And BTS is not alone. Most K-pop groups also do not sing in English, though K-pop has quickly grown into one of the most popular genres in the world with loyal fan bases on every continent. Thus, there is not really a need for BTS or other K-pop artists to sing in English as they are already making good money and having fantastic careers singing in their native language. In fact, it’s more likely that the ears of music listeners in America will adapt to songs in Korean.

Steve Aoki seems to think so. He believes that another K-pop song will be able to get a high placement on American charts soon. “I firmly believe that, and I really firmly believe that BTS can be the group that can do that,” he said. “It’s going to pave the way for a lot of other groups, which they’ve already been doing—and when that happens, we’re all gonna celebrate.”

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