Oh, Rolling Stone—what were you thinking? On August 8, 2025, your “Every BTS Solo Song, Ranked” feature dropped like a grenade in the ARMY fandom, and let me tell you, it exploded not with admiration, but with rage. Written by Jae‑ha Kim, the article threw some serious shade at Jungkook, implying that the guy who basically is vocal prowess needs autotune to sound like himself. Seriously? His 2023 banger Somebody got slotted at a soul‑crushing 172 out of 177, with this jewel of commentary:
“Somebody is singing at the beginning, but it doesn’t sound like Jung Kook. But it is! The vocal distortion is a good effort, but when you’ve got someone who can sing like Jung Kook, why disguise his voice?”
Yeah, because why let the actual voice of a generational talent shine through when you can basically doctor it into unrecognizability? You painted a picture of Jungkook as a singer who can’t string a melody together without vocal effects—utterly absurd, and a personal offense to millions of fans.
Cue the ARMY backlash. On X it was burning hot—fans weren’t just upset, they were incandescent:
“We demand APOLOGIZE TO JUNGKOOK for slandering his vocal abilities, undermining his talent, and making false claims about his supposed use of autotune.”
Ouch. That’s some fiery, well‑fueled fan fury.
But wait—there’s more. Rolling Stone didn’t stop there. They also managed to misconstrue Seven and 3D, because turning confusion into a theme seems to be the editorial strategy. For Seven, the insightful commentary was:
“Jung Kook doesn’t apologize for singing about things that men his age (and younger) do.”
So… Jungkook singing about adult things is a problem? What, because conventional journalism still thinks 28 is toddler territory? Please. And for 3D, the prose peaked at:
“Jung Kook is all grown up and not shy about expressing his carnal desires… But some of you may be wondering if the youngest member isn’t talking about something more innocent, like pickleball maybe? Mmmm ‘k, but look up what his promise of champagne confetti means.”
What? Pickleball? Champagne confetti? Is this avant‑garde commentary or someone ran out of metaphors and grabbed the weirdest cereal box in the pantry? It baffled and infuriated fans alike.
And then we had a reality check: Seven co‑writer Jon Bellion spoke on The Zach Sang Show, acknowledging the demo was “so much autotune.” But—and here’s the kicker—even amid all that tuning, Jungkook’s raw vocals still shone brighter than your critique could ever hope to. So sorry, Rolling Stone—Jungkook doesn’t need autotune to be epic.
Don’t forget 3D’s real-life success: it earned Gold certification in France, crossing 15 million equivalent streams. That’s not just trivial—it’s proof that actual listeners, not editors in sunglasses, recognize Jungkook’s real talent.
To wrap it all up:
Plainly put:
- You ranked Somebody near the bottom and insinuated Jungkook can’t sound like himself.
- You accidentally made Seven sound like a crime for being mature, and 3D sound like pickleball.
- You ignore the fact that even an autotuned demo couldn’t hide Jungkook’s natural ability.
- You overlooked that 3D’s gold status demonstrates its undeniable impact.
Rolling Stone, here’s some advice off the blog: apologize, retract, and remember that the BTS maknae doesn’t need filters to carry the world on his vocal cords. His talent is real, his voice is real, and fans will always call B.S. on sloppy slander masquerading as music critique.
