You’ve Been Pop Culture’d AAPI Celebration Series Week 5: Music Artist Highlight: BTS

You’ve Been Pop Culture’d: AAPI Celebration Series is a 6-week course of AAPI in American pop culture and each week is a celebration party.  The month of May is also Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month.

ARMY! You cannot celebrate AAPI without the biggest boy band in the world and the reigning champions of pop culture music: BTS.  Amidst the backdrop of a pandemic, 2020 was a record-breaking and monumental year for RM, Suga, j-hope, Jungkook, Jimin, V and Jin.  So, how did seven boys from South Korea obtain world domination?  It’s quite simple: love, loyalty, trust, authenticity and humility.  Beyond the songs, choreography, fashion and flawlessly good looks, BTS has proven that they are more than entertainers. ARMY shine your ARMY bomb light sticks and remember, together we are bulletproof.  I purple you! 

Kelsey Uyeda is a fourth generation Japanese American with a Master of Science Gerontology degree (CSULB ’20) and Bachelor of Arts Music degree (UCLA ’14).  Kelsey is currently a lecturer for the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at CSULB and a virtual forum presenter for Keiro.  Kelsey has mad love for pop culture and its historical and sociological significance and impact on society.