On July 16, BigHit entertainment let out the big news that bestselling K-pop group BTS will release their new album Love Yourself: Answer on Aug. 24, the day before they begin the Love Yourself World Tour on Aug. 25 in Seoul. Love Yourself: Tear reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated June 2, the first time ever a Korean band has claimed the top spot. Although the hints are more tantalizing so far than revealing, it looks like they are aiming for a repeat.
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On that same June 2 chart, the BTS single "Fake Love" reached No. 10 on the Hot 100, their first Top 10 hit. On Oct. 17, 2017, the band's "DNA" from their album Love Yourself: Her reached No. 67, kicking off the latest period in which public awareness of the seven more-than-idols exploded. Although the band's music quality has always been high, Love Yourself: Tear reached an unexpected level of growth, both critically and in sales.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="ko" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BTS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BTS</a> LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer' 발매 안내 <a href="https://t.co/PLkN6Q6lBt">https://t.co/PLkN6Q6lBt</a></p>— BTS_official (@bts_bighit) <a href="https://twitter.com/bts_bighit/status/1018873089088630786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 16, 2018</a></blockquote>
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BTS will arrive in Los Angeles on the U.S. leg of their sold-out tour on Sept. 5, just after Labor Day. That will be one week after they are expected to begin performing their highly anticipated new material. Whatever the details prove to be, this is going to get a lot of attention from the group's passionate fanbase. Fans went wild as news of the announcement spread, and BTS Army are bound to do their best to spur sales.
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BTS offers their fans a lot: targeted content, the rich backstory of alternative BTS universes and symbolism, even a philanthropic context connecting fanhood to global citizenship. Three percent of all Love Yourself album proceeds have been pledged to the group's UNICEF Love Myself international campaign. Simply put, these young men have taken K-pop to unprecedented heights.
Moreover, it takes more than nerve for first-ever pop stars to drop a new album only two months after having an album at No. 1. That's artistic confidence, and the fan army are not the only ones wondering what behind-the-scenes songs BTS will unleash, challenging themselves like this. We know the answer is in an album called "Answer" and besides that, the world will have to wait.
