(below, i use several names to refer to our titular popstar. Jung Kook, for his stage name; jungkook, for the name he has used since debut; jeongguk, for the lexically accurate romanization of his name; and 정국. that last one is simply his name.)

K-pop singer Jung Kook releases his debut album, Golden, and it becomes the highest-charting album ever by a Korean solo artist. Jungkook—and by extension, him and the groupmates that make up K-pop group BTS—are chart-toppers, a perennial reward for their decade of toil, but the global music scene is always looking for a new popstar to take the stage, and Jungkook has the allure. He has the character arc, the story, the third-generation golden-child, trial-by-fire money-sink machine that is the South Korean pop industry. He has the personality—hard-working and self-critical to a fault, obsessive and talented, but maybe most importantly, Jungkook has the exoticism.

Third-generation K-pop group BTS has dominated the global music scene as an international act for the majority of the past decade, including their foray into the Western pop scene. The shadowy bounds of what defines K-pop means that they are able to release music with one foot already in the door—Korean pop, but pop nonetheless, with lyrics in English too—and so the US-based Billboard Hot 100 launches “Standing Next To You,” Jung Kook’s debut main track, straight to #5, and on the Hot 100 it stayed, as Jungkook’s military-sanctioned hiatus began into 2024.

“Standing Next To You” is a pop song like any other. It is fully written, sung, and performed in English. It was filmed and produced in America. “Standing Next To You” is, by all means, a Western pop song. The issue is, is it K-pop? Is the only thing that makes it even remotely K-pop is that its singer is Korean? That sounds… absurd. And maybe it would be, if that singer were anyone other than Jungkook, or if Jungkook had lived any life other than his. Jungkook has always been in the spotlight. Jungkook was born to be a K-pop idol.

Scratch that. Jungkook was born to be an idol—K-pop or not.

jeongguk, leaning fully into it

For all intents and purposes, Jungkook has created an album fully in English. He has worked with renowned Western producers. He has sung in English. He has performed at Times Square; on iHeartRadio; with American singer Usher. Jungkook is leaning fully into it.

Jungkook, stepping into the role of a Western popstar. Jungkook, appealing to the Western pop industry with appropriately Western-style pop. Jungkook, as a Western pop star with the training and experiences of someone very different.

Jungkook, born and raised, is a K-pop idol. He’s been doing this shit since he was fourteen. He’s a triple threat—he sings, dances, and looks good while doing it, too.

Jungkook’s performance as an idol within the K-pop industry is killer, sure, but it’s standard. It’s trained. It’s expected and rewarded as such. But in the West? This shit is a novelty. By diving headfirst into the realm of Western pop, Jungkook is able to use the differences between K-pop and the rest of the world to create a standard of pop music that simply isn’t seen in the West. He’s America’s new favorite thing, a spokesperson, a king of K-pop. And now, he has created Golden. By designing his music to appeal to Western pop, to be Western pop, Jungkook automatically raises the standards.

Whether or not he’s forgetting his roots, though, is a different question.

“that’s not bts.”

“We don’t want to change our identity or our genuineness to get number one. If we sing suddenly in full English, and change all these other things, then that’s not BTS.” —RM of BTS.

Making fully English songs has a certain consequence, when your first language is anything but. In 2019, BTS’ leader RM said that they were hesitant on making fully English songs because they didn’t want to isolate their original fans, fans dubbed with the group name ARMY, fans which came in the form of their early South Korean following. There’s even a distinction within ARMY itself, calling themselves K-ARMYs (Korean) or I-ARMYs (international), based solely on where they are from. Because origin matters, doesn’t it?

Times change, and opinions with it. Now, a number of BTS’ biggest hits have been those fully in English. “Dynamite,” “Butter,” “Permission to Dance”—you’ve heard these songs, right? So has everyone else. The former two were nominated for Best Group Pop Performance at the 2021 and 2022 Grammys respectively. Of course, they haven’t won anything, but that’s a different issue. If the Grammys noticed them, then they’ve made it, right? After all, all it took was English.

jeongguk, a mouthpiece

“Of course I’ll make Korean songs. I’m Korean!” —Jungkook of BTS.

In the creation of Golden, Jungkook has chosen to select songs, not write them. To pick from an array of submissions and choose his favorites to sing, dance to, and make his own. Jungkook is a mouthpiece, rather than a writer. He is an arbiter of songs, rather than their creator. I have certain opinions about that.

Firstly, writing your own songs is not the only indicator of a good artist. Some of our favorite songs weren’t even written by its renowned singer, who we love. Still, the singer has to do something, don’t you think? For example, Jungkook’s groupmate V of BTS recently released his own solo EP, Layover, and he didn’t write any of it either. Still, Layover is so clearly, lovingly V, and not just V, but Kim Taehyung, too, the person behind the voice. Layover is overflowing with Taehyung’s music taste, Taehyung’s preferences; he is clearly comfortable in the pitch he sings in, he dances happily and easily as if there was no choreography at all, he is engaged and engrossed in each of his music videos. Taehyung shined through Layover’s promotional season and was clearly in his element. Layover wasn’t written by him, but he made it his own nonetheless. Melodies, lyrics, dances, visuals—no part of the album was bigger than itself, nothing was anything more than a performance only V could give, and he sang and danced his little heart out. And good for him! Layover was just so him, and I know that he loved that. So, I love it too.

In comparison, Jung Kook’s Golden feels a little less… Jungkook.

album review (short)

In my opinion, half of the album is incredibly compelling. The two singles, “Seven” and “3D,” had so much character, and Jungkook clearly loved them both. The title track, “Standing Next To You,” is ambitious, and delivers in every way. Jungkook fucking owns it! It’s so clear that he had fun, that he gave it his all, and that effort is part of what makes the project so great.

The album’s fifth track, “Yes or No,” is a little moment of genius all on its own. It’s catchy and simple, the lyrics are tame, fun, and easy, and the melody is genuine. The chorus bangs. Its charm is just that: a pop song that tugs at the heartstrings. Falling-in-love clichés, a simple but genuine chorus, Jungkook’s lovely runs, the age-old four-chord formula; the song has character, the song has a heart, and I love it.

Pop music has this ability to disconnect its contents from the artist. There is something to be said about the power of art to erase the artist themselves, and that is certainly part of the beauty of pop. The lyrics appeal to everyone. The singer is faceless. It could be anyone, so instead, it’s everyone. Still, like always, the rules apply differently for Jungkook.

Another strength of “Yes or No” is that—despite its musical simplicity, at least compared to some of the album’s other tracks—the song is undeniably Jungkook, even if he didn’t write it. The song has characteristics of the idol-personality that viewers have come to associate with him throughout his decade-long career. The song is shy, a little awkward, yet loving, eager, open, sentimental. It is everything that fans have come to associate with Jungkook as a person—or, the person that he portrays. And boy, do I have opinions about the person he portrays.

army ruined my life

There is no fucking way that I can critique Jungkook’s Golden. There’s no way that anything I say is valid. There is an infallible bias in me as a music listener versus me as a fan of Jungkook (and BTS), because I simultaneously make excuses for him and hold him to a higher standard. I know a couple things about his life, his journey as a performer, his singing ability, and while I’m sure this makes me more susceptible to liking his music, it also makes me susceptible to being a whole lot meaner. I have faith in him based on my prior knowledge of him as a performer, therefore I think he could do much better than this.

As a listener, I can’t demand more from Jungkook just because he’s not being human enough, the same way I wouldn’t demand the same of any other popstar, because I like them as artists and don’t care about them as people. It’s not fair that, because I care about Jungkook, I want to see more of his character. I’ll ask for it anyway, though.

album review (no longer short)

Where the other half of Golden falls short is exactly that: its grievous lack of Jungkook. Receiving songs instead of writing them is perfectly fine (see: V’s Layover), but when Jungkook begins to sound less like Jungkook, and instead a mouthpiece for whoever the song’s original vocal guide was, the album begins to lose the reason why Jungkook supposedly wanted to make music in the first place. Personally, I don’t care about the vocal guide in the slightest. I want to hear Jungkook, not his best mimic of whoever sang it first.

The other songs in the album function well enough like pop songs. They’re fine. They aren’t excellent—not when songs like “Yes or No” have proven his ability to at least choose compelling songs—but they’re fine. The bounds of these other songs just don’t allow him to show as much of himself as he could have.

You don’t just feel it, what he wanted the songs to convey, but even worse, you don’t feel him feel it, either. You don’t feel him feel his songs, not like V cherishes Layover’s title track “Slow Dancing” with all the love in the world. V, or Taehyung, treats his songs with so much love, feels what they say in order to make the songs his and do them justice. You can hear it through his voice, see it in his performances, trust it in how every track is slow and jazzy and peaceful, so unlike the performance he delivers as a part of BTS but true to himself in the way that he’s always been, under the guise of the idol. Inversely, Jungkook stresses that his songs are not autobiographical (as he’s said on live). He detaches them from himself and evaluates them with objective eyes, so that he can perform them to his best ability. That’s how he does it.

mr. popstar

Jungkook has written songs before, under the name of BTS. He’s even written his own demos, demos that have never been officially released under his name. And they’re excellent! “Euphoria” and “My Time” are two songs by BTS sung by Jungkook, and though written by other lyricists, they are undoubtedly his songs. “Decalcomania,” an unreleased demo and one that he wrote himself, is a song I consider to be one of his best. He clearly has the writing ability, the clarity, the experience, but clearly, he wanted to be a popstar. And, look at him now. He got everything he wanted.

Major Lazer. Ed Sheeran. Shawn Mendes. Golden is full of credits by huge names from the West. Jungkook is twenty-six, flourishing across the world and topping charts week after week. He’s young. He’s attractive. He’s got a great voice, a compelling past, he’s advancing into a new world, and he’s fucking killing it. He’s the global popstar he’s wanted to be since childhood, and I’m proud of him for it. I’m happy for him, really. I love Jeon Jeongguk! Still, I can’t help but think about him changing his stage name to Jung Kook, from Jungkook, from Jeongguk, from 정국, the characters of his name simplified and primed, salient for the English language, and I wonder what he thinks, about himself as an artist.

“Jungkook’s English is so good! It sounds like a Western singer could be singing this!” —SUGA of BTS.

Groupmate SUGA says the above, and you think that it must go deeper than just Jungkook. That surely, Western popstar Jung Kook must simply be the natural ending, the only, professional conclusion. I mean, if SUGA says so, right? Then, you listen to SUGA’s music, and you listen to the way each and every one of his songs are true to himself in a way that he never is on a group stage, not outside of his music at least. You listen to groupmate RM’s solo music, his honesty, the clarity of his words and the presence he has in a room. You watch them both give up none of themselves to speak true. You watch them say at least something.

Is it fair of me to say that Jungkook’s artisthood relies on his emotional output? No. No, not at all. Jungkook can be a good artist whether or not he speaks from the heart. Still, I wonder, what did he want to do with Golden, what did he want it to say? Golden is an anthology of decent pop songs, therefore Jungkook is a decent artist. Maybe it should just end there.

(For the record, I still think it’s bullshit. For the record, “Decalcomania” is fully in English! Language of choice clearly has nothing to do with it. Whatever the hell is going on with Golden, now that’s all on him.)

idolhood

I don’t have to go into the South Korean idol industry for you to see the inhumanity of it. Everyone already knows, more than they know about the people within it. And, no one has been in the spotlight more than BTS. That spotlight has changed them all in different ways. SUGA, with his angry words and angrier music. RM, with his infallible, intimidating front. Oldest member Jin, who plays into his idol persona so hard that it has become a running gag. He blows kisses at the camera and flips his hair and promotes his good looks so much that you almost forget that he cooks, plays video games, makes alcohol, likes the color pink. He films video after video updating his fans, telling them how he is, sharing tidbits about his life, just enough to keep them satisfied. To keep me satisfied. Do you think he wants to put his life on blast like that? Maybe, or maybe not. Idolhood is a front, and a defense. Idols are people first, but not everyone tends to remember that. Some idols treat their idolhood as their career, their internet-stage-world persona. Some use it to break the mold, like SUGA and RM. Some use it as a shield, like Jin. But, the only thing that Golden makes me think is that idolhood must be all Jungkook is.

artisthood

To me, artisthood should be about artistry. About art. Art can be about beauty, yes, quality, of course, but also, emotional power. Artistry is why V releases music that embodies him as an artist, and as a person. SUGA, with his trilogy of albums, heart-wrenchingly produced. RM, with his raw, powerful lyricism. Jungkook, with his… “Got a shotglass full of tears/drink, drink, drink, say cheers?” Maybe.

“I tried writing my own songs. I just feel like I have nothing to say.” —Jungkook of BTS.

Jungkook says the above in a livestream to his fans, about receiving songs for Golden instead of writing them. I can’t help but disagree. (I also can’t help but listen to “Decalcomania,” poised for a never-release, and wither at the waste of art he used to be capable of). I love BTS Jungkook. I have watched interviews, livestreams, concert recordings, behind-the-scene videos of Jungkook and his group and everything that he is. He has led such a life, and I, personally, would have liked to hear about it. Nothing to say? The biggest K-pop band in the world has nothing to say? Somehow, I doubt it.

The erasure of artisthood in favor of performance. To bring visions to life instead of dreaming them up yourself. Jungkook seems perfectly fine to do just that. Then again, why wouldn’t he? He’s already achieved every dream he’s ever had, and he’s been dubbed a success because of it. He has earned everything he can receive, earned it ten times over. Why not now spend his time showing that, mastering every song thrown his way and giving it back, as best as he has learned and has been trained to do?

It’s just… sad. At least a little. Jungkook has worked so hard his whole life. Jungkook has slaved away as an idol, the youngest member of the biggest K-pop band in the world. He started this shit as he started high school. There has never been anything but this. He’s stayed up late practicing choreography, agonized over BTS’ lyrics, fainted backstage from performing so hard. I want to see the product of all that. I want to see exactly what he could make his. And Golden? That’s a series of radio songs, elevator music. That’s a series of words written by someone else. Jungkook, I don’t care about words written by someone else. But I guess that can’t be helped if you don’t care about words written by you.

I love Jungkook as he is. I just hope, in the far West, dominating every music scene he steps foot into, that he isn’t homesick. Not just for Busan, for Seoul, for the places that threw him under the spotlight and kept him there for a decade, but for 정국, for whoever he is under all that. Jung Kook, singer, dancer, idol, has grown so far removed from 정국 that I barely believe the distance anymore. And maybe, that’s the point. Maybe nobody should know Jeongguk like he does, like the people he loves do. Or maybe, Jeongguk is so far removed that not even Jung Kook sees him anymore. Either way, I’m not the one to know. I’m just a fan. I’m exactly what Jung Kook, singer, dancer, idol, was created to cater for. I will never know if he truly is someone, anyone, under all that performance. Ultimately, I just hope he knows it himself.