BTS - “BTS Cypher”, Pts. 1, 2, and 3
All of BTS’s Korean albums, whether mini or full-length, follow a parallel format. All of them start with a track labelled as “Intro” and end with “Outro”; some have skits, and some have interludes, but never both on the same album; and up until this latest release, they all had a rap-heavy track with “Cypher” in the name. Starting from their second album, O!RUL8,2?, the Cypher tracks get numbered, and there are three parts in total.
As we saw with “Outro: Circle Room Cypher”, these aren’t strictly freestyle tracks. Rather, “cypher” here merely refers to the practice of taking turns one after the other. The real purpose of appropriating the word “cypher” is that it’s appropriative — it’s to indicate that the rapping is the point of these tracks, and to enhance their aura of rap authenticity over other BTS tracks.
Though the songs are credited to BTS, the vocal line is entirely absent in the numbered Cyphers. The only personnel across all three tracks is Rap Monster, Suga, J-Hope, and producer Supreme Boi, a member of Rap Monster’s crew DNH and a former Bangtan trainee. Across the three tracks, the Cyphers evolve, not just in tone — after the B-Free incident, they go from casually defensive like in “We Are Bulletproof Pt. 2” to muscular and aggressive — but in accordance with the rappers’ increasing abilities and confidence. As we’ll see under the cut, the Cyphers are a benchmark for the evolution of each of the rappers’ styles over a relatively short amount of time.
