New Data Shows How K-Pop Giants BTS and BLACKPINK Express Emotions in Lyrics

Global music streaming platform Deezer has teamed up with LyricFind, the leader in licensed music lyrics, to analyze the most-used English words and phrases in the top 10 BTS and Blackpink songs.

The new data from Deezer, through lyrics provided by LyricFind, illustrates the K-Pop groups' tendencies towards specific English words and phrases in conveying their ideas and connect emotionally with their fans. In analyzing the tracks from the two groups, researchers behind the data observed the use of crossover words in English, such as "love." Big Hit Entertainment's seven-member BTS, for example, used the word "love" 65 times across ten of their songs, compared to Blackpink's 43. Additionally, BTS appeared to be more lyrically emotional, singing "love you so bad" eight times in their 2018 hit "Fake Love." However, they were also honest about the bitter parts of love, including "pain" in their lyrics 13 times in the 2020 track "On."

While BTS members appear to be unabashedly emotional in the lyrics of their songs, Blackpink's members - Rose, Jennie, Lisa, and Jisoo - are more straightforward in sharing a piece of their mind through their songs. The four ladies used "sorry" eleven times across their hits such as "Kill This Love" and "Kiss and Make Up." On the other hand, Blackpink isn't afraid to express passion, using "kiss" 65 times in the songs analyzed, while BTS only used the term twice.

As one of the premier female acts in the global music scene today, Blackpink strongly hoists the girl power flag. In the Deezer - LyricFind data, they also discovered that while both groups enjoyed success in collaborating with Western artists, Blackpink had more collaborations with their fellow female artists. YG Entertainment's girl group peaked at #3 together with Lady Gaga on "Sour Candy" and #6 with Dua Lipa on "Kiss and Make Up." BTS, on the other hand, is more balanced in terms of the collaborators' genders - working with Halsey in "Boy With Luv" and LANY in "Make It Right."

"It's amazing how K-pop bands like BTS and Blackpink have managed to reach so many music fans around the world by singing most of their songs in Korean. The English words and phrases that they do use are also quite revealing how they communicate and connect emotionally with their non-Korean speaking fans," said Mauricio Mendoza, Head of Content and Artist Marketing for Deezer in the Americas.

The Top 10 BTS tracks on Deezer are as follows:

1. Black Swan
2. Boy With Luv (ft. Halsey)
3. ON
4. FAKE LOVE
5. Filter
6. DNA
7. IDOL
8. Euphoria
9. Blood Sweat & Tears
10. Life Goes On

Meanwhile, Blackpink tracks used in the Deezer data are the following:

1. How You Like That
2. Kill This Love
3. Sour Candy (with Lady Gaga)
4. DDU-DU DDU-DU
5. Kiss and Make Up (ft. Dua Lipa)
6. BOOMBAYAH
7. Lovesick Girls
8. Pretty Savage
9. As If It's Your Last
10. Playing with Fire

Deezer conducted its study using the top ten songs from January 1 to December 15, including only the groups' songs in a mix of Korean and English. All English tracks were excluded.