BTS's 'Idol' music video tops 1.4 billion YouTube views

The music video for BTS’s 2018 hit “Idol” has surpassed 1.4 billion views on YouTube.

The video hit the milestone at about 9:20 p.m. on Thursday to become the band’s fifth music video with more than 1.4 billion views, according to the group’s agency, BigHit Music.

“Idol” is the lead track off “Love Yourself: Answer” (2018), the repackaged version of the group’s third full-length album, “Love Yourself: Tear,” released in August 2018.

The song blends South African house beats with traditional Korean rhythmic patterns and call-and-response chants known as chuimsae, typically shouted by audiences in traditional Korean performances to encourage performers. In “Idol,” the group incorporates these chants in the lyrics, creating a fusion that resonated globally while retaining a distinctly Korean identity.

The song is also included in the setlist of BTS’s ongoing “Arirang” world tour, which began in April.

Yonhap