BTS Survived Not One, But Two Black Oceans

The topic of “black ocean” resurfaced in the K-Pop fandom spaces recently after veteran singer Rain was speculated to have received it during his recent appearance at KCON LA 2023. A “black ocean” is an organized protest of an artist during their performance, where audience members turn off their lightsticks, leaving the audience completely dark. Hence, the name “black ocean.”

Rain allegedly received a “black ocean” during his performance at “KCON LA 2023” | Twitter

In the case of Rain, fans had organized to voice their dissatisfaction with his management of CIIPHER, a fourth-generation boy group under his label. This was probably the first time in many years that fans had planned for a “black ocean,” as the practice has slowly lost its relevance over the years. But in the past, many big names in K-Pop faced this dreadful incident, and BTS is no exception.

One of the biggest K-Pop girl groups, Girls Generation, received a “black ocean” in 2008 | @elfinssi/Twitter

BTS’s official lightstick is also referred to as an “ARMY Bomb,” and with the group’s rising popularity, the device has upgraded significantly. As a result, BTS’s live performances boast spectacular visuals even in the audience area.

bts concerts always look so pretty with the army bombs ???? pic.twitter.com/a6apyggXVm

— val ♡ (@gcfntokyo) April 11, 2022

Seeing the thousands of bright lights cheering the group on during their last concerts, it might be hard to believe that they once had to endure the “black ocean” multiple times not too long ago.

Both incidents happened in 2016 when BTS were promoting Wings. During the 2016 Golden Disk Awards, BTS had to perform in front of a “black ocean” despite their rising popularity. The “black ocean” was allegedly started as a retaliatory fan war with fans of EXO, with both sides blaming the other.

BTS performed in front of this audience in 2016 during the “Golden Disk Awards”

The same sentiments were carried forward at the 2016 Melon Music Awards, where BTS again received a “black ocean” during their live performance, with only ARMYs holding up their lightsticks in the audience.

The audience during BTS’s performance at the 2016 “Melon Music Awards”

But these incidents never held back the group, who went on to achieve one historic milestone after another on the global stage. In the following years, BTS performed in many overseas award shows, including the American Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, and the Grammys, and fans showed up every time, ensuring that there is never a lack of an ocean of ARMY Bombs when their boys took the stage.

remember when bts turned mama into their own concert pic.twitter.com/b8l6Ch9fjZ

— myrcka⁷ (@bffjeongguk) July 29, 2019

bringing back this moment when we all realized that the ENTIRE jingle ball arena was there for @BTS_twt https://t.co/oILdCkeAks

— meg ⁷ ʟᴀʏᴏ(ꪜ)ᴇʀ (@gddaengit) July 22, 2020

Could there be any better a glow up?