After a whirlwind 2020 and a year of career highs, BTS isn’t showing signs of slowing down. In their latest high-profile performance, the septet made their MTV Unplugged debut Tuesday night (Feb. 23). With lots to be excited about — including a Grammy nod for “Dynamite” and the recent release of BE (Essentials Edition) on Feb. 19 — BTS appeared on a stage from Seoul, South Korea, to perform some songs from their latest album for the first time.  

In true BTS style, the half-hour performance was filmed with five different sets to match the mood of each respective song. From an arcade room to an indoor field to a retro-style living room, RM, Jimin, Jin, Suga, Jungkook, V, and J-Hope sang acoustic renditions of tracks off of BE, along with a surprise cover of a Coldplay classic. In between each song, members of the boy band thanked their dedicated ARMY and gave behind-the-scenes details behind the making of their latest project.

Here are the five best moments from MTV Unplugged Presents: BTS.  

1. Sharing the Inspiration Behind “Telepathy”  

The septet opened with the Korean-language “Telepathy,” the fifth track on BE. To kick off their set, the group sang in a game room featuring a foosball table and a basketball hoop while dressed in a more relaxed attire of jeans and tees.  

After the song, the members casually interviewed each other and revealed that “Telepathy” was inspired by their fanbase, known as the ARMY. The single, which expresses BTS’ love for ARMY, describes the disappointment in their inability to tour and connect with their fans in the last year.  

2. Revealing the Emotions Behind “Blue & Grey”  

Following “Telepathy,” the boy band cut to a completely different set for their performance of “Blue & Grey.” For their second song, the group changed into matching gray suits and sang in an indoor field complete with blue flowers and gray walls to match the pop ballad’s lyrics.  

According to Jin, V had a big part in writing “Blue & Grey,” which has a more introspective melody. Explained V: “I tried to express my inner sadness and uncertainty, so I translated the feeling of burning out as ‘blue’ and the sadness of not being able to see the ARMY as ‘gray.’” 

3. BTS’ Cover of “Fix You” by Coldplay 

As a special surprise for their American viewers, BTS switched over to singing in English with their cover of Coldplay’s 2005 single “Fix You.” In a challenging year for everyone, Jimin shared, “This song gave us comfort, so we wanted to prepare this cover to comfort you as well.”   

4. The Changes in Sets and Costumes

With five unique sets and five wardrobe changes, BTS put their own K-pop spin on the classic MTV Unplugged franchise through the act’s attention to detail in creating a visual spectacle. From the indoor flower field to the vibrant arcade room, the South Korean boy band was able to translate the colorful world of K-pop into the MTV format. 

5. Jungkook’s Sweet Parting Words 

Toward the end of their set, members of the band shared their own goodbye message with fans. Looking ahead to what’s in store for 2021, Jungkook assured the ARMY, “We will continue to stay by your side this year with good music.”  

Lil Tjay and 6LACK notch their respective highest-charting Billboard Hot 100 hit to date, with “Calling My Phone” dialing in at No. 3 in the Feb. 27-dated week.

Previews of the song on TikTok helped the song blow up, but that’s exactly what the two artists hope their exes don’t do to their phones. The melancholic, trap-tinged piano melody contains Tjay and 6LACK’s wishes to be left alone so they can move on from their past relationships.

One of 6LACK’s lyrics — “Get a mood swing, I’ll be gone by tomorrow” — might be referencing Tjay’s previous hit collab with the late Pop Smoke, “Mood Swings,” which reached the top 20 of the Hot 100 last summer.

Check out the lyrics and music video below.

Dua Lipa brought some much-needed fun to 2020 with her Club Future Nostalgia remix album, which featured night out-ready twists on her original Future Nostalgia tracks — including a verse from Gwen Stefani on Mark Ronson’s “Physical” remix.

In a wide-ranging interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music on Tuesday (Feb. 23), Lipa recalled the pinch-me moment when Stefani agreed to sing on the track. “Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe it,” she gushed. “I sat by my phone and I was literally holding my face pretty much. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this is crazy. This is crazy.’ I was just pacing around the room. Yeah, like, ‘I’ve got it!’”

“And the way it happened was so cool because we basically contacted Gwen and her team to try and clear the sample for ‘Hollaback Girl,’ for Club Future Nostalgia,” she remembered. “And I was like, ‘Maybe we should just ask, put a feeler out, see if she wants to do something.’ And she loved Mark Ronson’s remix of ‘Physical.’ And she was like, ‘I’d love to jump on this.’ I’m like, ‘Hell yeah, let’s go. This is surreal.’ It was just so exciting. It was such an exciting period, especially because it was that period of lockdown and the whole project came together because of everyone being at home. But it just made lockdown so exciting. I was just dancing around the house, listening to songs that I guess I’ve known for so long, that felt so new. So I was really just rediscovering the music in itself in a different way.”

Lipa went on to thank The Blessed Madonna, “because I really couldn’t have done it without her. She was the orchestrator behind that. It was incredible to be able to work alongside her and learn from her, and she’s amazing.”

Reflecting on her Grammy-nominated sophomore album a year later, Lipa explained that “there was, in some sense with some lyrics, there was this false sense of confidence.”

“There were songs that I wrote because I wanted to feel a certain type of way, or there were songs that I put certain lyrics or certain feelings in that I was like, ‘I want to be able to listen to this song and feel that way, that necessarily I wasn’t always feeling,” she continued. “Or when I was creating this record, I wanted it to set it as a form of escapism. And I don’t know, it felt like during this time it did serve as a form of escapism for me. And I was so happy with the response that the record got and that, people were like, ‘This got me through lockdown and I did so many workouts at home.’”

Listen to the full interview via Apple Music below.

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