BTS World just dropped, and a new BTS movie is on the way, but that doesn’t mean that new music isn’t also on the horizon. Though it’s been less than three months since BTS released Map of the Soul: Persona,  BTS’ new Map of the Soul album name theory reveals so much! So let’s be clear, there has been no official announcement about the next Map of the Soul album, and BTS is about to release an entire BTS World soundtrack. However, the ARMY is convinced that BTS’ upcoming album will be titled, Map of the Soul: Shadow.

So why are they so convinced? Let’s dig into the clues, shall we?

Our first clue comes from Map of the Soul: Persona’s intro track — RM’s “Persona” music video. If you recall, the video dropped way back on March 27th, and the focal point of the entire thing is a chalkboard with a ton of writing and drawings. ARMY members took a closer look and noticed that the words “Persona,” “Shadow,” and “Ego” were written on the board.

Essentially this means that Map of the Soul is probably going to be a trilogy with the upcoming albums being titled, Map of the Soul: Shadow and Map of the Soul: Ego.

If the theory is correct–then Map of the Soul would follow previous BTS trilogies. They included School Trilogy, The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, and Love Yourself.

We got a glimpse of “Shadow” again during BTS’ 2019 Festa. The chalkboard appeared in photos, which means that BTS wanted to make sure the ARMY noticed it.

So what does this all mean?

It looks like BTS was inspired by Murray Stein’s book Jung’s Map of the Soul. Chapter 5 is titled, “The Revealed and the Concealed In Relations with Others (Persona and Shadow)” and Chapter 1 is called, “Surface (Ego-Consciousness).” Since Map of the Soul: Persona is light and whimsical, we’re going to assume that Shadow is about to take a much darker tone.

Now we’re convinced that BTS’ new song “Lights” which drops July 3rd will give us our first glimpse of the new album.