The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 (Korean: 화양연화 pt.1;Hanja: 花樣年華 pt.1;RR: Hwayangyeonhwa pt.1) is the thirdextended play by South Koreanboy bandBTS. Released on April 29, 2015, byBig Hit Entertainment,[3] the nine-track album was made available in two versions, with "I Need U" as itslead single and "Dope (It's awesome쩔어)" as a promoted follow-up single.
Shifting their sound and image from solely aggressive, masculine hip hop to more diverse styles,[4] BTS wanted to express the beauty and anxiousness of "youth" and settled on the title of "花樣年華" (Korean: 화양연화; RR:Hwayangyeonhwa), loosely interpreted to define "youth" as "the most beautiful moment in life."[5] On April 6, 2015,BTS announced their comeback date for April 29, and revealed that all members participated in writing songs for the album.[6] On April 17, an animated comeback trailer[7] was uploaded on Big Hit Entertainment's officialYouTube channel, which featured the album's intro track performed by Suga.[8] On April 19, Big Hit Entertainment announced the title of the album, and the first set of member concept photos[9] was posted on their officialTwitter account. Along with the reveal of the second set of concept photos,[10] it was stated that two different cover design versions of the album would be released, Pink and White. The album would also include a 120-page photobook and a random photo card.[11] Big Hit Entertainment released the first music video teaser for the album's lead single "I Need U" on April 23.[12] On April 26, the album's track list was revealed, and an album preview was uploaded on Big Hit Entertainment's YouTube channel.[13] Two of the album's tracks, "Boyz with Fun" and "Converse High," had previously been previewed at the2015 BTS Live Trilogy Episode I: BTS Begins concert held inSeoul on March 29.[14]
On June 14, BTS posted concept photos[15][16] for the follow-up promotion track "Dope (쩔어)" through their officialFacebook page, captioned with the opening line of the song: “Welcome, first time with BTS?"
Two tracks from the album, "Boyz with Fun" and "Converse High", were deemed unfit for broadcast byKBS due to lyrics containing swears and brand names, such asConverse,Chanel, andAlexander McQueen.[17] The latter track was also deemed unfit for broadcast byMBC.[18] "I Need U" was approved for broadcast and BTS held their first comeback stage performance onM Countdown on April 30.[19] A music video for the song was released that same day.[20] On April 29, prior to the release of the music video at midnight, BTS broadcast a live comeback special,I NEED U, BTS ON AIR, through Naver Starcast.[21][22] The group went on to successfully promote across multiple channels and various programs, including on KBS, MBC,SBS, andArirang TV.[23] BTS wrapped up promotions for "I Need U" with a final performance on the May 31 broadcast ofInkigayo.
On June 13, BTS announced plans to hold follow-up music show promotions with the track "Dope (쩔어)".[24] A music video for the song was released on YouTube on June 24.[25] It features each of the members dressed up to represent various occupations, such as apolice officer oroffice worker, while dancing fast-paced choreography.[26] The dance was choreographed by Keone Madrid, and the music video was produced and directed by GDW.[27] BTS held their first performance of the song on the June 25 broadcast ofM Countdown,[28] and concluded promotions on July 5 with a final performance onInkigayo. "Dope" gained considerable attention internationally as it became the subject of numerous reaction videos on YouTube, the most noteworthy being from theFine Brothers channel,[29] and went on to become BTS' first music video to surpass 100 million views on the platform. This made BTS the first K-pop group outside of the "big three" Korean entertainment agencies—SM,YG, andJYP—to achieve the feat.[30]
The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Part 1 debuted at number two on theGaon Weekly Album Chart in South Korea and rose to number one the following week.[31] It peaked at number two on theMonthly Album Chart in May.[32] In China, BTS ranked number one for two consecutive weeks on the Gaon Weibo Chart,[33] a weekly rank of the top 10 most popular Korean artists based on data gathered from China's most popular social media platform,Weibo. In Japan, the EP debuted at number 24 on theOricon Weekly Album Chart[34] and number 45 on theOricon Monthly Album Chart.[35] The EP ended 2015 as the sixth best-selling album of the year in South Korea, with 274,135 copies sold.[36]
In the United States, the album debuted at number two on theBillboard World Albums Chart, peaked at number six on theHeatseekers Chart, and entered theIndependent Albums Chart for the first time at number 20, all of which were the highest for any BTS album at the time.[37] Six of the EP's songs debuted on theWorld Digital Songs chart, with "I Need U" ranking the highest at number four, followed by "Dope" at number 11, "Hold Me Tight" at number 12, "Boyz with Fun" at number 13, "Converse High" at number 15, and "Outro: Love is Not Over" at number 25.[37] "Dope" peaked at number three in July after BTS completed promotions for the single.[38]
