Play in this article ↓BTS LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer': IDOL and the End of the LOVE YOURSELF Story
Published:
- Category: Album guide
- Artist: BTS
KPOP NO1 Editorial · Sources checked November 6, 2026
Every story needs an ending, and LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer' is the one BTS wrote for theirs. It's a repackage album, two CDs and 25 tracks, built around one line: loving oneself is where true love begins. Its lead song "IDOL" came out on August 24, 2018, and the album gave BTS their second No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in just over three months.
Here's how Answer ties the series together, what's on each CD, the IDOL videos and the chart run.
The idea: the final piece of the puzzle
BIGHIT's tagline for the album is "Loving oneself is where true love begins," and it calls Answer a celebration with the ARMY. BIGHIT album page
The LOVE YOURSELF series builds a narrative by linking the key songs from each album into a single theme: loving yourself is true love. BIGHIT compares it to a well-written novel with an introduction, development, twists and a conclusion. The four characters in the series titles, 起, 承, 轉 and 結, follow that same order, and 結 is the conclusion. In BIGHIT's words, Answer is the final piece of the puzzle.
Even as a repackage, it isn't just a reissue. Answer includes seven brand-new tracks.
Start with IDOL
IDOL is the lead song, track 15 on CD A. It fuses traditional Korean sound with South African music, and it topped the major Korean streaming charts when it came out on August 24, 2018. The Korea Herald The music video went up on HYBE LABELS the same day.
That video had the best 24-hour debut in YouTube history at the time. It passed 50 million views in its first 20 hours, beating the first-day record of 43.2 million that Taylor Swift had set in 2017 with "Look What You Made Me Do."
Two weeks later, on September 7 (Korean time), a second version arrived with Nicki Minaj. BIGHIT's album page lists both videos.
Official video · HYBE LABELS / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗
Archival photo: BTS performing "DNA" on the Love Yourself tour in Los Angeles, September 8, 2018, two weeks after Answer came out. DNA is track 4 on CD A. Credit: I DARE U JK, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0. Linked from Wikimedia Commons at a smaller size; no other edits by KPOP NO.1.
Epiphany, the comeback trailer
The era opened with a comeback trailer set to Epiphany, track 13 on CD A. It went up on August 10, 2018 (Korean time), two weeks before release.
Official video · HYBE LABELS / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗The IDOL teaser followed on August 23, one day before the music video.
Official video · HYBE LABELS / YouTube
Watch the original on YouTube ↗Like Tear, Answer has four sets of concept photos named with single letters. This time they're S, E, L and F. Put together, they spell SELF.
The two CDs
CD A is a concept album. BIGHIT says its 16 tracks are all connected lyrically, to show BTS as both artists and storytellers. It runs from "Euphoria" to "Answer : Love Myself." BIGHIT album page
| # | CD A | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Euphoria | 3:49 |
| 2 | Trivia 起 : Just Dance | 3:45 |
| 3 | Serendipity (Full Length Edition) | 4:37 |
| 4 | DNA | 3:43 |
| 5 | Dimple | 3:16 |
| 6 | Trivia 承 : Love | 3:46 |
| 7 | Her | 3:49 |
| 8 | Singularity | 3:17 |
| 9 | FAKE LOVE | 4:02 |
| 10 | The Truth Untold (Feat. Steve Aoki) | 4:06 |
| 11 | Trivia 轉 : Seesaw | 4:06 |
| 12 | Tear | 4:45 |
| 13 | Epiphany | 4:00 |
| 14 | I'm Fine | 4:00 |
| 15 | IDOL | 3:43 |
| 16 | Answer : Love Myself | 4:11 |
Notice the three Trivia tracks, each named with a series character: 起, 承 and 轉. Our take: they work like chapter markers, each one sitting among the songs of that part of the story.
CD B has nine more: Magic Shop, Best Of Me, Airplane pt.2, Go Go, Anpanman, MIC Drop, DNA (Pedal 2 LA Mix), FAKE LOVE (Rocking Vibe Mix) and MIC Drop (Steve Aoki Remix) (Full Length Edition).
Our take: CD A is made to be heard in order, as the whole series in one sitting. The story ends on "Answer : Love Myself," and the title says what the answer is.
A second No. 1 in just over three months
Answer topped the Billboard 200 for the week ending August 30, 2018, with 185,000 equivalent album units. Of those, 141,000 were traditional album sales. The Korea Herald Tear had reached No. 1 in May with 135,000 units.
Billboard noted that BTS were the only K-pop act with a No. 1 album, and the first with two. They were also the first with a top 10 album, when LOVE YOURSELF 承 'Her' debuted at No. 7. Answer was the first non-English album to top the chart since Il Divo's Ancora in 2006. It came in four collectible editions, which Billboard said likely lifted sales. Yonhap via The Korea Times
The streak kept going. MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA made it three No. 1s in less than a year, in April 2019. Yonhap via The Korea Times
Official Answer videos
Dates are the YouTube publication dates in Korean time.
| Type | Official video | Channel | Published, KST |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comeback trailer | Answer 'Epiphany' Comeback Trailer | HYBE LABELS | August 10, 2018 |
| Teaser | 'IDOL' Official Teaser | HYBE LABELS | August 23, 2018 |
| Music video | 'IDOL' Official MV | HYBE LABELS | August 24, 2018 |
| Music video | 'IDOL (Feat. Nicki Minaj)' Official MV | HYBE LABELS | September 7, 2018 |
Keep exploring
Want the chapter before? Our LOVE YOURSELF 轉 'Tear' guide covers FAKE LOVE and the first No. 1.
What came next: MAP OF THE SOUL : PERSONA, then MAP OF THE SOUL : 7 and BE.
Answer calls itself a celebration with the ARMY. Meet them in our ARMY fandom guide, or start from the top with the BTS starter guide.
Sources
- BIGHIT MUSIC, LOVE YOURSELF 結 'Answer' album page
- The Korea Herald, "BTS tops Billboard 200 again with 'Love Yourself: Answer'," September 3, 2018
- Yonhap via The Korea Times, "BTS tops Billboard 200 albums chart with 'Love Yourself: Answer'," September 3, 2018
- Yonhap via The Korea Times, "BTS on par with Beatles: having 3 Billboard No.1 albums in single year," April 22, 2019
- Official YouTube channel: HYBE LABELS