K-Pop legends BTS have paved the way again in America and around the world with their 6th album Map of the Soul: Persona in April. After completing their Love Yourself album collection that was around 2017-2018, they’ve started a new era where they explore more about themselves and who they are entirely. This album has a mix of genres, ranging from a heavy and fast tone to a calm yet lighter tone and having lyrics that share a hidden meaning to them. The titles of the tracks themselves have a meaning as to what its about.

Starting with the first track “Intro: Persona”, RM opens up the album with a bang by giving us a solo that has a hip hop tone to it while rapping out lyrics to answer his question: “Who the hell am I”. RM’s flow matches perfectly with the song’s beat and makes the listeners have some sort of nostalgia feeling while listening to it. The music video itself also fits well with the song with its pop of colors and the amount of attention the camera gives to RM in order to let audiences know he is telling you his persona and as to who he really is.

Moving on to their second track “Boy With Luv” that features pop singer Halsey, which is the title track for the album, the song switches to a more poppy and colorful tone than the previous track. It’s the type of song are you able to listen to on repeat and never get tired of---at least for me. The MV itself, like with “Intro: Persona”, fitted with the track perfectly with its splash of brightness and looks as if you are watching a movie. Each members had their own spotlight to shine in and while I was a bit hesitant about Halsey being a feature due to the things she has said in the past, she was actually perfect for the track as she seems to take the role of the girl’s perspective while the boy’s take the perspective of, well, the boy.

Onto to their third track “Mikrokosmos”, the song has a very soft and light tone to it, almost heavenly. The title of the song means “small universe” in Latin and the song itself has a very light tone with soft beats along with light yet deep vocals the members share. The lyrics themselves match the theme of the title and with its meaning of how all of us shine in our own way, with RM stating: “Each person has their own history, Each person has their own star, 7 billion stars shine, In each of the 7 billion worlds”.

Moving on to the fourth track “Make It Right” with the composer being famous singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran, the song has a jazz-like tone with the saxophones playing softly in the background and giving the listener it's R&B vibe while also light almost whispering like vocals to the track. The members explain themselves with their lyrics that they’ll “make it right” after they needed to “find myself” in order to understand themselves more and pursue a relationship. This song pretty much explains the whole album in general and how each of the members wanted to find out more about themselves with music and each other.  

Third to last track “Home”, it has a very lighter tone than “Make It Right” but still has a slight taste of R&B to it. The members feel “exhausted, man” and “just wanna go home” which makes sense because all day, the seven of them always work in order to give us the music we love but they clarify themselves by saying: “If only I have you, it’ll be my home”, as if saying as long they’re with us fans, they’ll always be home, which is meaningful. The rapping and vocals themselves also match with the song perfectly, almost having its own flow.

Second to last song “Jamais Vu”, the track only features only three members of the group: J-Hope, Jin and Jungkook and while the other tracks of the album discuss more lighter topics, this song actually discussed more of a serious topic as the term “jamais vu” means experiencing a situation that one recognizes but still seems very unfamiliar, in other words, the antonym of ‘deja vu”. J-Hope expresses that “every word I say, I get scared because of the jamais vu”, meaning he doesn’t seem to recognize himself, nor do the others; Jungkook himself repeatedly ask to “please give me a remedy”, as if pleading for help to find oneself. Nonetheless, the tone is very light and slow and reminds of “R.E.M.” by Ariana Grande with its similar beat, along with very soothing and light vocals the three members share.

For the final song “Dionysus”, the track ends the album with a bang with its fast and loud rock music, almost making you want to bang your head to the song. The name “Dionysus” comes from the god of wine and fertility, which explains why the members are telling you to “drink up” and to “Just get drunk like Dionysus” while partying like there’s no tomorrow. The members share loud vocals that’ll blast your headphone while also having fast paced rap verses that fits the song very well.

In conclusion, Map of the Soul: Persona is a very unique album with its mix of genres and having a wide range of vocals that I myself would give an A+ to. It’s an album you do not want to miss out on and if I introduce someone who has never heard of K-Pop before, I would definitely have them listen to this album.