Music / MAP OF THE SOUL : 7

We are, we are forever bulletproof.

Map of the Soul: 7 (also stylized as MAP OF THE SOUL : 7) is the fourth Korean full album by BTS, released on February 21, 2020. It is an extension of the previous year's Map of the Soul: Persona EP and includes five of the seven songs on it. Persona was intended to be the first in a trilogy of mini-albums, but the group decided instead to combine most of it and the other two planned installments into one full album as they continued working on the series, resulting in their longest studio album to date.

Like their previous Korean full albums, Wings and Love Yourself: Tear, this is a Concept Album. It is based on Carl Jung's analytical psychological theories - persona, shadow, and ego - and the group’s and the personal journeys of the seven BTS members over the seven years they had been active by that point.

This is one of the most musically diverse BTS releases. The full group only appears on a handful of songs, including the ones that first appeared on Persona, but members nonetheless show some noticeable range when they are not all together, including some prominent singing from the rap line.

This was the best-selling album of all time in South Korea until Seventeen and later Stray Kids both overtook it with their own comebacks in 2023.

Track list:

1. "Intro: Persona" (RM solo) (2:54)
2. "Boy with Luv" (featuring Halsey) (3:49)
3. "Make It Right" (3:42)
4. "Jamais Vu" (Jin, j-hope, and Jungkook) (3:46_
5. "Dionysius" (4:08)
6. "Interlude: Shadow" (Suga solo) (4:20)
7. "Black Swan" (3:18)
8. "Filter" (Jimin solo) (3:00)
9. "My Time" (Jungkook solo) (3:54)
10. "Louder than Bombs" (3:37)
11. "On" (4:06)
12. "Ugh!" (Rap line subunit song) (3:45)
13. "00:00 (Zero O’Clock)" (Vocal line subunit song) (4:10)
14. "Inner Child" (V solo) (3:53)
15. "Friends" (Jimin and V) (3:19)
16. "Moon" (Jin solo) (3:29)
17. "Respect" (Suga and RM) (3:58)
18. "We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal" (4:22)
19. "Outro: Ego" (j-hope solo) (3:16)

Digital Bonus Track

1. "On" (remix featuring Sia) (4:08)

Louder than bombs I trope:

• Age-Progression Song: "My Time" is about Jungkook progressing from when he was a very young trainee to his adulthood.
• Album Intro Track: "Intro: Persona"
• Album Title Drop: "Outro: Ego" also counts as a Finale Title Drop for the CD version.
  Map of the Soul, map of the all (Map of the Soul)
  That's my ego, that's my ego"
• Anaphora: Appears as an idiosyncracy in verses of the intro, interlude, and outro. The first and last have it in Korean, while "Interlude: Shadow" has it in English.
  "I wanna be a rap star
  I wanna be the top
  I wanna be a rockstar
  I want it all mine
  I wanna be rich
  I wanna be the king
  I wanna go win
  I wanna be..."
• Bookends: The first and last songs of the main album are solo rap songs.
• Call-Back: Many songs make references to earlier BTS releases.
  • The track "Intro: Persona" samples "Intro: Skool Luv Affair" from the homonymous EP.
    • The lyrics also reference the "dogs and pigs" line from "Am I Wrong" (itself a response to the controversial statements of a government official during the Park Geun-Hye administration), has the line "I dreamt of becoming a superhero/ Now it feels like I really became one" referencing "Anpanman", and repeats the line "what's your dream?" from "No More Dream".
  • "Boy With Luv" is by title a clear Call Back to "Boy In Luv" - drawing a parallel between the representation of love and gender roles in their earlier work and now.
  • "Interlude: Shadow" has a number of them, including many visual and lyrical parallels to "Intro: Persona" (both RM and Suga stand on platforms in front of their fans, pairing the lyrics "I just wanna fly" and "don't let me fly"), and to 2013's "O!RUL8,2?" (sampling the instrumentals of "Intro: O!RUL8,2?", making several visual references to its Comeback Trailer video, and retroactively answering said intro's question of "What's your dream?" from the perspective of someone who has already achieved it). Additionally, the hooded figures from "Fake Love", "Mic Drop" and "Fire" are back.
  • "Outro: Ego" follows the theme of "Persona" (which references their 3rd album trailer) and "Shadow" (which references their 2nd album trailer) by going all the way back (literally in the music video, with a quick montage of all previous BTS music videos in reverse) to BTS' debut trailer. The track itself samples "Intro: 2 Cool 4 Skool" (the first track from the first BTS album, featured in said debut trailer), with the beat morphing into a fun African-based rhythm. The lyrics reference the reflections surrounding fame touched on "Persona" and "Shadow" and makes a new conclusion, where the doubts and pain and darker feelings underneath fame became instead an impulse to grow and keep going forward.
  • "Respect" by the duo RM and SUGA to "Moving On"
    RM: Ayo, SUGA!
  • "Respect" also calls back to "Epilogue: Young Forever" with one of SUGA's verses, using the same cadence as that verse.
    SUGA in "Young Forever": Dreams, hopes, forward, forward.
    SUGA in "Respect": Money, honor, forward, forward.
• Cast Herd: Like with Wings, this album has solos from all the members and a song each from the rap line (j-hope, Suga, and RM) and the vocal line (Jin, Jimin, V, and Jungkook). This one goes further by breaking the group into two pairs for a song each and one unit of three for another.
• Cerebus Rollercoaster: This has some of the poppiest BTS songs (at least until “Dynamite” was released a few months later), but the middle section also has some of their darkest songs.
• Concept Album: Based on Carl Jung's analytical psychological theories.
• Foreign Language Title: In addition to the English titles, there is "Jamais Vu", which is French for "Never Seen".
• Friendship Song: "Friends" is about Jimin and V's friendship and reminiscing about their experiences in their adolescence.
• Heavy Meta: "Dionysius"
  "Born as a K-pop idol
  Reborn as an artist"
• "I Want" Song: "Interlude: Shadow" features a list of aspirations.
• Longest Song Goes Last: The CD version has a downplayed "longest then outro" variant. "We Are Bulletproof: The Eternal" is only very slightly longer than the second longest song ("Interlude: Shadow"), and "Outro: Ego" is long enough to also be considered a full song.
• Metal Scream: In the final section of the rap rock track "Dionysus" (where it turns into a full headbang type of sound), Jin lets out a high-register "clean" scream.
• Minimalistic Cover Art: Most covers, including the digital, have a big 7 on a white background.
• Rule of Seven: Map of the Soul: 7 is the seventh full album (including Japanese albums) by a group of seven and describes their personal journeys over the seven years they had been active at that point. Naturally, "seven" appears in some of the lyrics.
• Sequel Song: "Boy With Luv" is this to "Boy In Luv" - the stark difference in both sound and representation of love and gender roles is meant as a demonstration of the evolution and maturity of BTS as a group and as people.
• Take That, Critics!: "Intro: Persona" has RM taking the criticisms he's received over the years and transforming it into a statement of personal growth and not letting others define you. It even makes an allusion to the "but namjoon" meme, which references the way RM's past mistakes keep being brought up by antis and other Kpop fans despite his continuous attempts to improve.

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