Dynamite

## Video

"**Dynamite**" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band BTS, released on August 21, 2020, through Big Hit Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment. It is the band's first song fully recorded in English. The song, written by David Stewart and Jessica Agombar and produced by Stewart, It was described as an upbeat disco-pop song with elements of funk, soul, and bubblegum pop, and takes influence from 1970s music—it features snapping handclaps, echoing synths, and celebratory horns.

Intended to soothe listeners during the COVID-19 pandemic, the song talks about joy and appreciation for the little things that make life valuable. Upon release, "Dynamite" received positive reviews from music critics, with praise towards its catchiness and broadly appealing retro sound. It garnered the band their first Grammy nomination, for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance at 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, making them the first Korean pop act to be nominated for one.

"Dynamite" experienced large amounts of commercial success worldwide; it debuted at number one on the *Billboard* Hot 100 chart, becoming the band's first number-one single in the United States and making BTS the first all-South Korean act to top the Hot 100. The song sold 265,000 downloads in its first week, marking the biggest pure sales week since Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" (2017). "Dynamite" stayed atop the Hot 100 for three total weeks. On Spotify, "Dynamite" debuted with 7.778 million streams, marking the biggest opening day for a song in 2020. Additionally, "Dynamite" peaked at number one on both the *Billboard* Global 200 and *Billboard* Global Excl. U.S. charts, topping the latter for three consecutive weeks. The song peaked within the top ten of the charts in 25 countries, including Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and topped the charts in Hungary, Israel, Lithuania, Malaysia, Singapore, and South Korea. The accompanying music video reached 1 billion views on April 12, 2021.

Initially a standalone single, "Dynamite" was later included on BTS' fifth Korean-language album, *Be* (2020), released on November 20.

## Recording[edit]

"Dynamite" is one of the few songs to which the members did not contribute in songwriting or production. In interviews with multiple media outlets, writers David Stewart and Jessica Agombar explained the song's creation. Through their publisher Tim Blacksmith at Stellar Songs, they learned that BTS was searching for an English language single. The duo wrote three songs over Zoom calls "at the start of lockdown." Stewart and Agombar wanted to create a song which is "energetic, fun, hopeful, positive and just like a huge ball of energy." Agombar disclosed how the song was conceived:

> "It needs to be explosive" -- and obviously explosive then became "Dynamite." Any kind of word like that... I'm always thinking of fireworks, or "Firework," because I'm a massive Katy Perry fan. I just wanted anything high-energy. It wasn't a particular lyric, it was a bundle of ideas: explosive, fireworks, dynamite, party, fun, energetic, worldwide takeover. [...] So it just had to match the energy of everything surrounding BTS. It was less a line than a feeling. The BPM had to be quick, we have to have horns, it has to be uptempo.
>
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Stellar Songs sent the track to Columbia's CEO Ron Perry and Big Hit in early April. BTS initially chose another song, before taking "Dynamite" two weeks later. The songs lyrics were tweaked alongside Jenna Andrews to make them more PG friendly. Stewart told *E! Online* that the group and labels "wanted to make sure it was quite neutral and not offensive" and that "There was a couple of rap references that might've been a bit more just like in your face and a bit more like, you know, ballsy that wasn't quite right for them". The song was ultimately recorded in mid-July.

## Lyrics and production[edit]

"Dynamite" is a 1970s-influenced disco-pop song with elements of funk, soul and bubblegum pop. Sheet music for the song shows a **4**

**4** common time in the key of C♯ minor with a tempo of 114 beats per minute. The vocal range spans from B3 to D♯5. Instrumentation was provided by Stewart, who played drums, percussion, bass guitar, synth bass, synthesizers, pads, piano, electric guitars, programmed horns and programmed strings, and Johnny Thirkell, who played live horns. The upbeat production consists of "snapping" handclaps, bounces, grooves and "infectious" beats. The track features a funky bassline accompanied by vocal harmonies, falsetto hooks and a disco rhythm that is "ready-made for the dancefloor." It utilises "layered vocals, echo-y synth, and celebratory horns" to recreate the '70s retro sound.

The song opens with a snippet of the chorus, where Jungkook sings, "'Cause I, I, I'm in the stars tonight/ So watch me bring the fire and set the night alight." Percussion and bass is added in the next section. It further builds with Nile Rodgers-esque guitar that is later boosted by "vibrant" brass sound. The chorus is "unifying" and gains speed as the song progresses. Craig Jenkins of *Vulture* compared the horns in the chorus to that of *Neon Genesis Evangelion*'s theme song, "A Cruel Angel's Thesis" (1995) and described "Dynamite" as "a vehicle expressly designed to break through the stratosphere", noting its similarity in genre to the handful of other disco-influenced songs that reached number one on the US *Billboard* Hot 100 earlier that year (namely Doja Cat's "Say So", Harry Styles' "Watermelon Sugar", and Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's "Rain on Me"). *Pitchfork*'s Noah Yoo compared the song musically to Taio Cruz's 2010 song of the same name. The last two verses of the track introduce a change in the key. Speaking about the meaning of the song in a press conference, Suga stated that "Dynamite" has a "message of confidence and happiness. It's like after you fell on the ground, you're trying to get back up again. That's what this song is like." In an interview with Zane Lowe of Apple Music, RM said the song is "made of positive vibes, energy, hope, love, the purity, everything." Lyrically, the song talks about the joy and appreciation of little things that makes life valuable. The lyrics also include several pop cultural references including, King Kong, The Rolling Stones and basketball star LeBron James. Alyssa Bailey of *Elle* interpreted the lyrics as "a much-needed burst of joy and invitation to join them, dance, and be a light, even when the world seems a little dark".