"Butter" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band BTS. It was released as a digital single on May 21, 2021, through Big Hit Music and Sony Music Entertainment, as the band's second English-language single. A disco-pop, dance-pop, and EDM track, the song was written by Jenna Andrews, RM, Alex Bilowitz, Sebastian Garcia, Robert Grimaldi, Stephen Kirk, and Ron Perry, with production handled by the last three.
Upon release, "Butter" received positive reviews from music critics, with praise towards its catchiness. It was a commercial success, topping charts in Hungary, India, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, the United States and Vietnam, as well as Billboards Global 200 chart. The song also reached the top 10 in over 30 other countries worldwide. A remix featuring American rapper Megan Thee Stallion was also released.
Recording
Speaking on how "Butter" came about, Variety quoted RM in an interview with Apple Music as saying that "[the band] never expected to release another single, but the virus is getting longer and longer so we thought we need another summer song. We thought we needed another summer number, and 'Butter' was perfectly fit for that. And now we're here". J-Hope described the recording process as "smooth" and the song as "focus[ed] more on showing each of the members' charms compared with 'Dynamite'".
Composition and lyrics
Initial reports about "Butter" called it "a dance pop track brimming with the smooth yet charismatic charm of BTS". Rolling Stone described it as "a pure, swaggering dance-pop celebration in the retro vein of Bruno Mars, with layers of Jam and Lewis-style synths", and RM told the outlet that the song "[is] very energetic" and "very summery". Forbes called it an "infectious disco-pop track" similar to "Dynamite", with a "pulsating, bass-heavy beat and delectable chorus". Following its release, "Butter" was categorized as a 1980s and 1990s-influenced dance-pop and EDM song with elements of pop rap. The song is in common time in the key of A-flat major with a tempo of 110 beats per minute. BTS' vocal range span from A♭3 to E♭5.
At a press conference held on the day of the song's release, RM revealed that while the band wanted to participate in the writing of their next single, they believed "Butter" already sounded "pretty good" and "pretty complete" when they received it, so they chose it out of "many, many songs" that had been sent to them for consideration. He further explained however, that he "changed or added to about half of the song's original rap sections" because "some of the parts like the rap were not fully compatible with our style", and despite there still being "some gaps" in his fluency with English "it came together really quickly since there weren't that many rap sections in the song". Suga also tried writing for the song, as he had actively been studying English during the year prior, but the language barrier was still a problem, so his suggestions were "immediately dropped. No questions, no consideration — just immediately binned". Lyrically, like "Dynamite", "Butter" has "no heavy message"; Jimin noted that there was no profound meaning behind the track and that the goal was for it to be "easy to listen to".
A video teaser released on May 18 offered the first preview of the song's lyrics; the line "Get it! Let it roll!" was briefly heard at the end of the clip. Korean news media later reported that the lyrics to "Butter" "cutely confess a sweet, romantic love", and had "BTS' smooth-like-butter unrivalled charms melted into the song".
Release and promotion
On April 5, 2021, days after the release of their Japanese single "Film Out", it was revealed that BTS would release a new song in May. However, Big Hit Music announced that "we will reveal our artists' plans after they are finalized". On April 26, the single's title and release date were announced in an hour-long YouTube live stream of an animated stick of butter melting. The video featured a countdown with kitchen sounds in the background, and the text "Butter" and "May 21, 2021" appeared at the end of the stream. The livestream amassed over 12.8 million views. Concept photos and video teasers for the song, set to be BTS' second English-language single, were shared through the band's official social media in the weeks following. They held a global press conference one hour after the single's release.