Fake Love (BTS song)
"Fake Love" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band BTS, released on May 18, 2018 by Big Hit Entertainment as the lead single from their third studio album . It debuted at number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100 with 29,000 digital sales, becoming BTS's first top ten entry and currently the second highest-charting song by a Korean group in the US.
An alternative rock remix of the song, the "Rocking Vibe Mix", was released as a single on June 4, 2018. A Japanese version of the song was early released in digital download format on October 16, 2018 before release in physical format with remix on November 7, 2018.
Composition
As described by Spin, "Fake Love" turns dark and marries the drama of Wings with the angst of their 2016 album . It was written and produced by "hitman" bang, Pdogg, and BTS member RM and it's about one realizing his love, what he thought was fate, turned out to be fake love. Digital Journal describes "Fake Love" as a combination of pop, hip hop, grunge, trap rock and adult contemporary music, which shows a darker side of their music. The song uses instrumentation from electric guitar, bass and trap drum beats and contains a "tense" chorus. The music resonates with the song's lyrics. Paper magazines Jeff Benjamin noted the use of dissonant and dark chord progressions "to describe the pain and identity crisis-like confusion that can come from the wrong relationship."Both versions of "Fake Love" were written in the key of D minor. While the original song has a moderate tempo and is seventy-eight beats per minute, the remix is 155. The song reflects the emptiness of giving so much of yourself to someone or something only to lose yourself in the process.
Reception
Upon release in Korea, it topped real-time charts of music sites such as Mnet, MelOn, Soribada, Bugs, Naver, and Genie. In the United States, it reached number 10 on the Hot 100 and number one on Digital Songs sales chart. The single also debuted at number seven on Billboards Streaming Songs chart with 27.4 million streams earned in the week ending May 24, giving BTS their first top ten on the chart and making "Fake Love" the first K-pop song to land on top ten since Psy's "Hangover" feat. Snoop Dogg in 2014.In September after announcing the track listing for their Japanese single album one of the title tracks was removed. Their agency stated, “Due to reasons concerning the production, the track list for the Japanese album scheduled for release in November will be changed. We apologize for any inconvenience." Following the announcement the song was replaced with remix versions of "Fake Love" and "Idol". Tower Records Japan reported the single album was the fourth best selling single album by a Korean artist in Japan for 2018.
Elle magazine voted the song the seventh best song of the summer in 2018. Los 40 ranked it 27th on their list "The Best Songs of 2018 ".
Music video
's official tally saw the "Fake Love" music video garner a total of 35.9 million views within 24 hours of its release, breaking BTS' previous record for most viewed K-pop group music video within the first 24 hours, and making it the third most watched music video within the first 24 hours in 2018. It accumulated over 3.9 million likes in the same 24 hour period, making it the most liked music video in a single day, beating its predecessors "DNA" and "Mic Drop", which both gained 2.3 million likes each. "Fake Love" went on to cross 100 million views in just eight days, eight hours and 45 minutes, beating the group's previous record with "DNA", which hit 100 million views after 24 days.An extended version of the music video, featuring an alternative rock remix of "Fake Love", was released on June 1. It contained additional footage of previous scenes from the original video, ending with Jungkook joining the other six members and a shot of them, hooded and masked, seemingly being crushed by a falling wall.
Both the regular and extended version of the music video's were done by the director Choi YongSeok of Lumpens. Other key personnel are Lee WonJu, Guzza, Park HyeJeong, and Jeong MinJe serving as assistant directors. The director of photography was Nam Hyunwoo of GDW and the art director Park Jinsil and Kim Bona. Song Hyunsuk worked the gaffer and the construction manager was Song Sukki. The special effects for the video was handled by Demolition.
Promotion
"Fake Love" made its worldwide television debut when BTS performed the song live at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards on May 20, 2018. The group also performed "Fake Love" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on May 25, marking their second appearance on the program. A pre-recorded appearance of BTS performing "Fake Love" on The Late Late Show with James Corden was aired on June 12 making it their second appearance on the show.BTS promoted the song on various music programs in South Korea including Music Bank, Show! Music Core, Inkigayo, and M Countdown, garnering twelve first place wins and three triple-crowns on Music Bank, Music Core and Inkigayo. On December 1, 2018, BTS performed the single at the Melon Music Awards. The rock version of the song was promoted at Mnet Asian Music Awards in December of the same year, and at the KBS Grand Song Festival the song was promoted. In 2019 it was performed at the Seoul Music Awards.
Track listing
Credits and personnel
Korean version
The credits are adapted from the CD liner notes of .- "hitman" bang – production
- RM – production
- Lee Taewook – guitar
- Jungkook – chorus
- Supreme Boi – chorus, digital editing
- Pdogg – vocal, rap arrangement, synthesizer, keyboard, digital editing, production, record engineering @ Dogg Bounce
- Hiss noise – digital editing
- Jeong Wooyeong @ Big Hit Studio – record engineering
- James F. Reynolds @ Schmuzik Studios – mix engineering
Rocking Vibe Remix
- Slow Rabbit – producer, keyboard, synthesizer, digital editing
- Pdogg – producer, vocal & rap arrangement, digital editing, recording engineer @ Dogg Bounce
- "hitman" bang – producer
- RM – producer
- Lee Taewook – guitar
- Lee Jooyeong – bass
- Jungkook- chorus
- Supreme Boi – chorus
- Hiss noise – digital editing
- Jeong Wooyeong @ Big Hit Studio - recording engineer
- Yang Ga @ Big Hit Studio– mix engineer
Charts
| Chart | Peak position |
| Argentina | 48 |
Japanese version
| Chart | Peak position |
| Japan | 1 |
| Japan Fake Love/Airplane Pt. 2 | 1 |
| Spanish Albums | 52 |
| Chart | Position |
| Hungary | 73 |
| Japan | 13 |
| South Korea | 19 |
| Chart | Position |
| Japan | 96 |
Certifications
! colspan="3"| StreamingAccolades
| Critic/Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
| Billboard | Billboard's 100 Best Songs of 2018: Critics' Picks | 22 | |
| Billboard | The 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2018: Critics' Picks | 3 | |
| CelebMix | CelebMix’s Top Music Videos Of 2018 | align="center" rowspan="2" | |
| CelebMix | CelebMix’s Top Singles Of 2018 | - | |
| Dazed | The 20 best K-pop songs of 2018 | 2 | |
| The Dong-a Ilbo | Best Songs of 2018 | 3 | |
| Gallop Korea | The Best Songs in 2018 | 3 | |
| The Guardian | The top 100 songs of 2018 | 67 | |
| HK01 | 20 Must Listen to K-Pop Songs of 2018 | 9 | |
| i-D | 2018 K-Pop Essentials | align="center" | |
| The Inquirer | Most covered K-pop song of 2018 | 9 | |
| JawaPos | 9 K-Pop Songs Popular Throughout 2018 | 3 | |
| Korea Portal | Top 10 K-Pop Songs Of 2018 | 1 | |
| KultScene | 50 Best K-pop Songs Of 2018 | 42 | |
| Matamata | 7 of the Best K-Pop Songs of 2018 | 3 | |
| The New York Times | The 65 Best Songs of 2018 | 20 | |
| PAPER | PAPER's Top 20 K-Pop Songs of 2018 | 1 | |
| Pop Dust | The 50 Best Songs of the Decade | align="center" | |
| Rolling Stone | Rolling Stone's 50 Best Songs of 2018 | 38 | |
| Sanook | 10 Popular Songs From 2018 | align="center" | |
| SBS | Top 100 Asian pop songs of 2018 | 5 | |
| Spotify | Best of 2018: K-Pop | 1 | |
| The Young Folks | The 20 Best K-Pop Singles of 2018 | 13 | |
| YouTube Rewind | Top 10 Most Popular Music Videos in Korea Released in 2018 | 5 | |
| YouTube Rewind | Top 10 Most Popular Music Videos in Korea From 2018 | 2 |
| Critic/Publication | List | Rank | Ref. |
| Consequence of Sound | Consequence of Sound's Top 100 Songs of the 2010s | 99 |
| Year | Organization | Award | Recipient | Result | |
| 2018 | Mnet Asian Music Awards | Mwave Global Fan Choice | BTS | ||
| 2018 | Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best Dance Performance – Male Group | BTS | ||
| 2018 | Mnet Asian Music Awards | Song of the Year | BTS | ||
| 2018 | Melon Music Award | Song of the Year | BTS | ||
| 2018 | Melon Music Award | Best Rap/Hip Pop | BTS | ||
| 2018 | MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards | Song of the Year | BTS | ||
| 2018 | MBC Plus X Genie Music Awards | Rap/Hip Hop Music Award | BTS | ||
| 2018 | MTV Video Music Awards Japan | Best Group Video - International | BTS | ||
| 2018 | Soompi Awards | Music Video Of The Year | BTS | ||
| 2019 | Gaon Chart Music Awards | Song of the Year – May | BTS | ||
| 2019 | Golden Disc Awards | Digital Bonsang | BTS | ||
| 2019 | Korean Music Awards | Song of the Year | BTS | ||
| 2019 | Korean Music Awards | Best Pop Song | BTS | ||
| 2019 | Myx Music Award | Favourite International Video | BTS | ||
| Professional Categories | Professional Categories | Professional Categories | Professional Categories | Professional Categories | Professional Categories |
| 2018 | Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best Choreographer of the Year | Son Sung-Deuk | ||
| 2018 | Mnet Asian Music Awards | Best Art Director of the Year | MU:E |
| Program | Date | |
| Music Bank | May 25, 2018 | |
| Music Bank | June 1, 2018 | |
| Music Bank | June 8, 2018 | |
| Show! Music Core | May 26, 2018 | |
| Show! Music Core | June 2, 2018 | |
| Show! Music Core | June 9, 2018 | |
| Inkigayo | May 27, 2018 | |
| Inkigayo | June 3, 2018 | |
| Inkigayo | June 10, 2018 | |
| Show Champion | May 30, 2018 | |
| M Countdown | May 31, 2018 | |
| M Countdown | June 7, 2018 |
| Award | Date | |
| Weekly Popularity Award | May 28, 2018 | |
| Weekly Popularity Award | June 4, 2018 | |
| Weekly Popularity Award | June 11, 2018 | |
| Weekly Popularity Award | June 18, 2018 | |
| Weekly Popularity Award | June 25, 2018 |