K-pop stars BTS to drop new album 'Map of the Soul: Personal' in April

The immensely popular boy band will release their seventh album ahead of their world tour

epa07398418 South Korean boy band 'Bangtan Boys, BTS' membes attends the Edaily Culture Awards at the Sejong Cultural Center in Seoul, South Korea, 26 February 2019. Edaily Culture Awards is an award ceremony that awards works that have contributed to the Korean performing arts industry.  EPA/KIM HEE-CHUL
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K-pop boy band BTS have announced they will release their new album Map of the Soul: Personal on April 12.

The news comes ahead of the band’s Love Yourself: Speak Yourself world tour, which will kick off on May 5 in the United States and finish in Japan in July.

BTS have become one of the most popular music acts to emerge from Korea, and had a massively successful 2018.

The historic year saw them become the first K-pop act to debut at No 1 on the US Billboard Hot 200 charts with their album Love Yourself: Tear, as well as the first K-pop act to be nominated for a Grammy (for Best Recording Package). BTS also set a record for having the most-viewed music video in a 24-hour span on YouTube thanks to Idol.

They also won the Top Social Artist award at the 2018 Billboard Music Awards for the second year running, beating out artists like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande.

The group's last two albums debuted atop the South Korean and US charts. BTS is short for Bangtan Boys which roughly translates in English to Bulletproof Boy Scouts. The seven-member group consists of Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V and Jungkook, and was formed in 2013. Album pre-orders for Map of the Soul: Personal begin on March 13 globally.

How the Army reacted: 

Even though their last album came out in August 2018, BTS' fans (also known as the Army) still took to social media to express their excitement over the news (and yes, lots of gifs were used):

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