Rob Grimaldi: It probably sounds crazy to say that we took a month-and-a-half to get to a point and then another month-and-a-half fixing whatever we came up with. JA: We really wanted to dig in and make sure that we were doing the best thing for the group - that was important to us - so we went over each lyric with a fine tooth comb over six weeks of rewriting and rewriting every day. But every time we’d land on something, there would be one person who would be, like, “That’s not it.” We have hundreds of versions of the song.Īlex Bilowitz: I was going to say a month-and-a-half of doing lyric edits on “Butter.” It was a staggering amount of rewrites and really pushed all of us to the max in a way that I don’t think any of us knew we could be pushed. RP: I would say it took a month to try different versions of the verses and melodies, different lyrics on the chorus, different tracks. So that got us to be, like, this is the concept - and it all started from there. JA: “Smooth like butter, like a criminal undercover,” literally came from Ron’s references. And I heard the melody(written by Stephen Kirk) and thought, “This is incredible.” And I played it to Ron, who has the magic ears… Alex had been coming over and writing with me every day during quarantine, and Rob had sent me the song with a hook that he and Stephen had written. Jenna Andrews: The chorus and the melody is basically what existed in the beginning. I had a vision for this song that was Michael Jackson “Smooth Criminal” meets Daft Punk. Ron Perry: When Jenna played me the hook. Let’s start at the beginning, when was “Butter” born? “No pressure” on the follow-up, snickered the “Butter” creators. Of course, some of this is familiar terrain for the group comprised of members J-Hope, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Suga and V, whose 2020 single “Dynamite” is among the biggest of that year, logging 2.8 million song project units to date, according to Alpha Data. Is it any wonder every single Top 40 station added “Butter” to its rotation upon release? That’s only happened twice before in recent history: with Taylor Swift’s “Me!” featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco in 2018, and with Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber’s “I Don’t Care” in 2019 (though it’s worth noting that both these songs are duets and features and BTS is a singular act, and an international one at that). (BTS member RM is a credited writer and composer as well.)Īlso highlighted: how Columbia’s promotion department, led by EVP Peter Gray, hit the road with 12 tour buses, bringing “Butter” to decision-makers across terrestrial and satellite radio coast-to-coast where programmers were able to hear the song for the first time. Songwriter-producer Rob Grimaldi and co-writer Alex Bilowitz, both signed to TwentySeven Music, and Stephen Kirk round out the creative team. She also helmed vocal production on “Dynamite.” Perry, who sold his stake in SONGS Publishing (The Weeknd, Lorde) before joining the Sony Music label in 2018. The players: Andrews, a Canadian hitmaker (Benee’s “Supalonely”) who co-heads Sony/ATV-affiliated TwentySeven Music Publishing and serves as an A&R consultant at RECORDS, home to Noah Cyrus and 24kGoldn. currently on the heels of record-breaking showings on Spotify, YouTube and virtually every other platform frequented by music listeners since its May 21 release, was a long one as its writers and producers detail to Variety in an exclusive interview about the making of the song. Jenna Andrews, the seasoned songwriter-producer-publisher-A&R executive and all-around industry badass, played it for Columbia Records chairman Ron Perry, himself a skilled musician and creative, who immediately thought of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal” and a smash was born.īut the road to “Butter,” the No. As hit songs often go, BTS’ “Butter” started with a simple hook.
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