BTS: 10 Things to you have to know about Map of the Soul: 7 before the album drops on February 21

We're literally just a few days away from the release of the eagerly awaited album by BTS, titled Map of the Soul: 7. As a 2020 gift ARMY, the Bangtan Boys revealed the good news of their next album's release, which as RM puts it, is the "hardest" that the K-pop band has gone so far! Given what a global success their previous album Map of the Soul: Persona was, we can expect nothing less than fireworks from BTS' upcoming album.

Before the album release, there have been a ton of MOTS: 7 teases to keep ARMY on the edge of their seats, satiated yet wanting for more and more. Whether it be the Comeback Trailers - Interlude: Shadow by Suga and Outro: Ego by J-Hope or the pre-release single, Black Swan, we can totally understand what Namjoon meant by BTS going "harder" than ever before. When the album does drop this week, BTS will be going all out with the promotional activities for MOTS: 7.

Here are 10 things you need to know about Map of the Soul: 7 to get you hyped up for what could be the Best Album of 2020:

Map of the Soul: 7 Release Date

A few months after their extended period of rest and to kickstart 2020 with a band, BTS revealed their next album titled Map of the Soul: 7, signifying the number of members in the septet as well the number of years since they have been a band. Through a carefully put across Comeback Map, we got some juicy details about MOTS: 7. In case you were living under a rock, MOTS: 7 drops worldwide on February 21, 2020.

Comeback Trailers & Black Swan

Two epic Comeback Trailers were released for ARMY to fuss over and decipher as to what we can expect from Map of the Soul: 7. While Suga broke our hearts with Interlude: Shadow (January 10, 2020), J-Hope stayed true to his name and gave us hope with Outro: Ego (February 3, 2020). Moreover, the 1st single from MOTS: 7 is the truly inspiring Black Swan (January 17, 2020), the Art Film of which was performed by MN Dance Company. Post their Grammys 2020 performance, BTS appeared on The Late Late Show with James Corden to perform Black Swan for the very first time, which had ARMY in a state of unrest!

Connect BTS

Alongside Map of the Soul: 7, BTS also announced a global project titled Connect, BTS, which connected five cities and 22 artists, who contribute their unique philosophy and imagination to their individual projects. Defining the relationship between art and music, the successful endeavour took place in London (January 14, 2020), Berlin (January 15, 2020), Buenos Aires (January 21, 2020), Seoul (January 28, 2020) and New York City (February 5, 2020). Before the project kickstarted in London, BTS took part in a candid press conference, Connect, BTS: Online, where the K-pop band spoke candidly about why they decided to kickstart the passion project, Connect, BTS.

Presales Record

Map of the Soul: 7's pre-orders began from January 9, 2020, and according to The Washington Post, BTS' upcoming album has already surpassed 4 million presales worldwide, beating their own previous record, which was set with Map of the Soul: Persona (3.43 million copies).

Concept Photos & Expected Themes

Starting from February 10, 2020, to February 12, 2020, BTS released four versions of Concept Photos to tease ARMY with more intimate glimpses as to what we can expect from Map of the Soul: 7. MOTS: 7 Concept Photo Version 1 spoke about the band's desire for perfection while Version 2 was all about their unquenchable thirst. Version 3 saw BTS reach their sense of calling and will while Version 4 showed off the band's true selves.

Tracklist & Writing Credits

Today, i.e. February 17, 2020, saw BTS finally release the Map of the Soul: 7 tracklist, which features 20 songs, 15 out of which are brand new tracks. MOTS: 7 will be around 77 minutes long, making it the longest one for the band, yet.

Check out the full MOTS: 7 tracklist below:

1. Intro: Persona
2. Boy With Luv (Feat. Halsey)
3. Make It Right
4. Jamais Vu
5. Dionysus
6. Interlude: Shadow
7. Black Swan
8. Filter
9. My Time
10. Louder than bombs
11. ON
12. UGH!
13. 00:00 (Zero O’Clock)
14. Inner Child
15. Friends
16. Moon
17. Respect
18. We are Bulletproof: the Eternal
19. Outro: Ego
20. ON (Feat. Sia)

When it comes to the writing credits, Troye Sivan has contributed to Louder Than Bombs, along with Allie X, Leland and Bram Inscore. The title song On's writing credits include RM, Suga, J-Hope, Antonina Armato, Melanie Fontana, Pdogg, August Rigo, Ross Julia Allyn, Michel Schulz and Youngs Krysta Marie. Furthermore. RM and Jin have been included in the writing credits of Moon alongside Mikael Daniel Caesar, Hyung Kwon Do, Alex Ludwig Lindell, Park Soohyun, Candace Nicole Sosa and DJ Swivel.

Title Song ON MV & Collaboration With Sia

Keeping the guessing game aside, BTS saw to it that the title song of Map of the Soul: 7 would be revealed in the tracklist itself. Titled ON, ARMY will get to hear the track first when MOTS: 7 drops on February 21, 2020, while the official MV for ON will be out on February 28, 2020. Furthermore, on Feb 21, there will be a special featurette for ON; Kinetic Manifesto Film: Come Prima, performed by BTS.

But, that's not all! ON will also be getting the Sia treatment as the Chandelier songstress will be collaborating for the first time BTS for a special digital-only release to the title song. It was BTS themselves, who got in touch with Sia to collaborate on ON.

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Appearance

While BTS will appear on the Today show on February 21, 2020, which is the day Map of the Soul: 7 drops, an entire episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is being dedicated to the K-pop band. While their appearance was pre-recorded, ARMY gets to watch the full episode on February 24, 2020. BTS will be performing a new song, most probably the MOTS: 7 title song ON at Grand Terminal Cental and will also be going on a tour with Jimmy Fallon to iconic New York landmarks like Katz’s Delicatessen. While their interview will take place inside a subway, BTS will also be answering questions by ARMY, under the worldwide trending hashtag on Twitter, #FallonAsksBTS.

Map of the Soul: 7 Global Press Conference

The Map of the Soul: 7 global press conference will be held in Seoul on February 24, 2020, around the afternoon KST and will be shown as a live stream on BangtanTV's official YouTube Channel.

Map of the Soul Tour

BTS' Map of the Soul Tour begins from April 2020 and will have its concerts in South Korea, the US, Canada, Japan, the UK, Germany, Spain and the Netherlands. MOTS Tour commences at Olympic Stadium, Seoul from April 11, 2020, and will conclude at Tokyo Dome, Tokyo on September 2, 2020. According to StubHub, the ticket sales of MOTS Tour (first 72 hours, 560% growth) beat the likes of Ariana Grande's Sweetener 2019 Tour (first 72 hours, 378% growth) and Taylor Swift's Lover 2020 Tour (first 72 hours, 258%). Moreover, StubHub also shared that the amount of tickets sold by BTS is twice as many tickets as the whole Super Bowl. 

ALSO READ: BTS leader RM credits Jin's 'worldwide handsome' face as the reason why ARMY are so diverse

Are you excited for Map of the Soul: 7 to drop on February 21, 2020? Let us know your views in the comments section below.