Was BTS being ‘sabotaged’ by EXO during debut days? American Hustle Life mentor’s claims about SM Ent spark outrage

In a latest interview that reignited discussions about BTS’ uphill climb to stardom, American songwriter and producer Nate Walka shared a in the support of-the-scenes account of his abilities with the community at some stage in their rookie days, one which has sparked a wave of backlash in opposition to SM Leisure.

Nate Walka, a Grammy-winning artist who performed a key mentorship feature in BTS’ sequence American Hustle Lifestyles, recently unfolded in a candid interview the build he reminisced about his time working with the now-global superstars. The 2014 actuality present, known among followers as one in every of BTS’ earliest and most defining initiatives, followed the community as they traveled to Los Angeles to like a look on the roots of hip-hop and endure artist pattern below alternate consultants, along with Walka and fellow mentor Tony Jones.

Walka explained that he was once already awake of BTS earlier than signing onto the mission and said their vitality and doable straight away stood out to him. Nonetheless, what followers weren’t searching at for was once his comely revelation that, on the time, there had been extreme efforts from others in the alternate to handbook him faraway from the BTS collaboration solely.

With out naming names straight, Walka revealed that at some stage in the same period American Hustle Lifestyles was once in pattern, he was once approached by a body of workers linked to a songwriting camp for EXO, one in every of SM Leisure’s leading acts. In step with him, there was once a sure push to divert his consideration faraway from BTS in prefer of working with EXO, who had been already dominating charts and participating in mainstream success.

“Today, there was once this writing camp for EXO going on,” Walka shared. “I feel EXO had a #1 file on the time, and their camp was once attempting to web me to now no longer pause the present and advance and work with EXO.”

The songwriter’s recollection didn’t stop there. He went on to characterize the in vogue doubt that surrounded BTS of their early days, noting that many in the alternate dismissed the community as a fleeting experiment. “They had been announcing, ‘BTS, they’re now no longer…” he persevered. “Factor in it or now no longer, there was once loads of doubters of them, announcing they felt love it was once an experiment and that it wasn’t going to, they had been calling them a filler originate of community.”

These statements rapid made waves online, especially among longtime ARMYs who like witnessed BTS’ transformation from underdogs to global icons. The interview clip, which has since long previous viral online, precipitated intense reactions from followers who expressed both outrage and vindication. Many accused SM Leisure of attempting to undercut BTS earlier than they had even received traction, calling it a deliberate strive to sabotage their debut-period initiatives by enticing key collaborators away.

The controversy has reawakened a long-standing story within the Okay-pop community concerning the challenges BTS faced as a community from a diminutive, then-unknown label. Backed by BIGHIT MUSIC (then Gigantic Hit Leisure), BTS debuted in 2013 with tiny mainstream reinforce and a fiercely competitive alternate stacked in opposition to them. Despite these obstacles, the community went on to rupture files, high global charts, and redefine the boundaries of Okay-pop on the global stage.