Dynamite is a lot of things.
The first English-language single released by BTS in August 2020 debuted at No 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was the biggest debut on Spotify in the same year. It was also the lead single on the K-pop group's fifth album Be, and helped earn the band its first Grammy nomination, in the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance category.
While hopes were high that BTS could make history with a Grammy win, becoming the first K-pop ensemble to do so, those were dashed when Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande's Rain On Me won on Sunday at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards.
In a way, it wasn't all that surprising. For all the things that Dynamite is, there's one thing it arguably isn't: one of BTS's best songs.
It may be an unpopular opinion, but Dynamite, while uplifting and catchy, also feels generic, a bit bland and even uninspired at times.
There was a lot of hype surrounding the track when it released, because it featured the group singing in English for the first time. And they should be applauded for doing such an admirable job. But was the song good enough to win a Grammy? As proven at Sunday night's event, the answer is no.
Had they won, it might have even been a disservice to the group, who have been releasing music since 2013. One could even argue that if past singles such as Boy With Luv, Mic Drop or Idol could have been nominated, they would have fared far better in the category than Dynamite.
Songs don't necessarily have to be sung in English to be nominated for a Grammy, although the majority of them are. Since the first Grammy Awards in 1959, only one non-English song has won Song of the Year and Record of the Year: the Italian track Nel Blu Dipinto di Blu (Volare) by Domenico Modugno.
If there's any group out there that could potentially break this streak and be nominated for a non-English speaking track, however, it would be BTS. And I, for one, believe it'd be better if it were for a song that embodied who they are and what's made them so popular around the world; not one that seems to cater specifically to a Western audience.
So while it's disappointing that they didn't make history, there's still hope for what the future could bring.
After all, it's clear the world has taken notice of how brilliant the South Korean music scene is and, at some point, The Recording Academy will realise it, too.
Scroll through our gallery below to see BTS through the years:
Rocketman
Director: Dexter Fletcher
Starring: Taron Egerton, Richard Madden, Jamie Bell
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
PREMIER LEAGUE RESULTS
Bournemouth 1 Manchester City 2
Watford 0 Brighton and Hove Albion 0
Newcastle United 3 West Ham United 0
Huddersfield Town 0 Southampton 0
Crystal Palace 0 Swansea City 2
Manchester United 2 Leicester City 0
West Bromwich Albion 1 Stoke City 1
Chelsea 2 Everton 0
Tottenham Hotspur 1 Burnley 1
Liverpool 4 Arsenal 0
Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
The%20specs
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BEACH SOCCER WORLD CUP
Group A
Paraguay
Japan
Switzerland
USA
Group B
Uruguay
Mexico
Italy
Tahiti
Group C
Belarus
UAE
Senegal
Russia
Group D
Brazil
Oman
Portugal
Nigeria
STAGE 4 RESULTS
1 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 4:51:51
2 David Dekker (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma
3 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal
4 Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis
5 Matteo Moschetti (ITA) Trek-Segafredo
General Classification
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 12:50:21
2 Adam Yates (GBR) Teamn Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:43
3 Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:03
4 Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:43
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5