DJ Steve Aoki says BTS prove Asia’s potential

Japanese-American musician Steve Aoki thinks that boy band BTS has successfully demonstrated the high potential of Asian artists.

“Just like [Chinese-American] actor Bruce Lee ruled the world 50 years ago, BTS broke down the cultural barriers. They represented Asians, while they sang only in the Korean language and demonstrated Asians’ potential,” Aoki said in a written interview with Korean media outlets, distributed by Sony Music in the Korean language.

The 41-year-old DJ and pop icon released his new song, “Waste It on Me,” last week in collaboration with BTS, their third joint work after the remix version of BTS’s highly popular 2017 song “MIC Drop” and “The Truth Untold,” a track off BTS’s album “Love Yourself: Tear.”

Aoki said he tremendously enjoyed working with BTS for the third collaboration.

“I first met BTS around May 2017. They were already making big changes to the world. … I invited them over to my house and had a bromance,” he said, adding that the invitation led to their first collaboration on “MIC Drop.”

When he first received BTS’s vocal recording of “Waste It on Me,” the voices were so good that he did not want to modify it in any way, Aoki noted. “When I work with other artists, I have to go through several adjustments and feedback. But with BTS, I did not want to spoil the pure sentiment their voices were carrying.”

Aoki said it’s “jaw-dropping” to see the success of their first collaboration on “MIC Drop.”

BTS’s recently sold-out the American and European legs of the “Love Yourself” world tour is an unprecedented record, which even English-speaking singers have not been able to achieve, he said.

“It’s a record that would look still historic even if you look back some 20 years from now,” he said. “I am grateful that I could be with them in the process to make it possible for Asians to conquer the mainstream.”

BTS’s sensational success around the globe conjured up hopes and dreams, especially for Asians, that “If you continue to work hard, you can achieve results,” Aoki said.

In addition to BTS, the DJ said he also wants to work with other K-pop artists, mentioning Monsta X and CL, among others.

Yonhap