Discussion around BTS’s ARIRANG continued to grow after a music critic of Pitchfork, Joshua Minsoo Kim, made a comment that made ARMY (that is the name BTS fans have) angry. Initially, the critic posted his review of the album on March 23, 2026, giving it a 5.3 out of 10. As the critique gained traction, many fans reacted with frustration and took to Kim’s X account to confront him about what they perceived as a low score. Following the initial online controversy, the critic said on March 24 that he had been fired from Pitchfork and claimed the outlet believed BTS’s ARIRANG should have received an even lower score.
The review and his posts continued to gain attention, with many users reacting and interacting with the news that he had been dismissed from the outlet. However, Kim later said that the post was meant to be a joke, but by then the discussion had already become much bigger. As fans debated the review, past Pitchfork ratings for major artists also started circulating again. Michael Jackson’s Xscape was mentioned with a 4.1 rating, while Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl was noted at 5.9. These comparisons prompted ARMYs to question whether the rating of ARIRANG was fair.
One of the editors of this website asked me to write a review for a BTS member’s album and once I told them that it would be negative (after I heard the promo and didn’t like it) he said, “if you don’t love it you can just sort of describe it in a neutral way.” Zero integrity. https://t.co/jKsk8WQJgb
— Joshua Minsoo Kim (@misterminsoo) October 3, 2025
The backlash also revived an older conversation from October 2025, when Kim said an editor from Rolling Stone asked him to write a review for a BTS member’s solo album. When he responded that his write-up for the album would be negative, the editor told him to make it in a “neutral tone.” That remark surfaced under a Rolling Stone post connected to Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, which the outlet rated a 5 out of 5 album. Because of that history, many users linked the new controversy to broader concerns about editorial standards. Despite these online controversies, BTS released ARIRANG on March 20, 2026, marking the group’s first full return in four years after all seven members completed their military service in South Korea. The album contains 14 tracks, with “SWIM” leading the rollout.
