“You can’t not change. Change is inevitable. What matters is how you change” said Agust D (also known as SUGA from the global hit boy band BTS) to his fellow Tomorrow X Together dongsaengs – a gender neutral korean term for a younger sibling or friend – in the latest episode of his variety web series ‘Suchwita’. And that’s exactly what he’s done with his new album D-DAY: he changed.
As D-DAY marks the final chapter of a trilogy under SUGA’s pseudonym Agust D, some fans theorise that, even if the album is signed by Agust D, it’s not him that we’re dealing with in this album. The album is (supposedly) a manifestation of his third persona. The harmony between SUGA and Agust D.
This final chapter follows the artist’ self-titled mixtape (2016) and D-2 (2020) and it delves into the rapper’s personal journey, offering an intimate portrait of his life as a musical artist. The album counts with ten tracks, including an interlude and a pre-release song that dropped on April 7 featuring the K-pop legend IU.
“While all seven members of BTS are exploring solo projects right now (and completing their mandatory military service), Suga has been ahead of the curve with his mixtapes”, said Rolling Stone. And not only mixtapes, but with his musical work as a whole. The artist has been producing for other artists, including the one and only PSY.
Suga has been working on his alter-ego since he was only 15 years old (mind you that he’s 30 now, that’s a whole 15 years of work). Since then, we’ve seen a lot of different aspects of the rapper. One thing that hasn’t changed, if so it has only developed, it’s his ability to wear his vulnerability as a strength. And that’s something we can clearly see in D-DAY.
A TRACK BY TRACK OF THE NEW ALBUM
- D-DAY
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SUGA opens his first studio album in a mood that isn’t commonly associated with his works as Agust D: “D-Day is coming, it’s a f*cking good day” followed by “Future’s gonna be OK / OK, OK, look at the mirror and I see no pain.” He sounds almost joyous here, as if this feeling consumed with contentedness is a revelation.
“Feels like I’ve wandered the maze until now for this day
Maybe the naive days of the past are over
Raise a toast once again to us who’ll be reborn”
Do I even have to say more? If I could, I would just say nothing and put the entire lyrics here for you to dive all the way into it by yourself. It’s truly an amazing song that says it all by itself, believe me.
In the first track of the album, we can see a mix of all styles that the rapper has explored until now. You can notice a bit of every little thing that makes Agust D, Agust D. Moreover, this track represents the change and liberation that the album is all about.
You can also notice, while reading the lyrics translation, the metaphor he uses through the image of a lotus flower: “As the lotus flower that blooms / Brilliantly even in the mud / Going lengths to compare with others, inferiority complex, self-hatred”. Finishing it with “While digging up injuries for no reason / Hope you don’t bring up a scar” and “D-Day’s coming, starting from the banned things / Your new chapter starts at the same time as the liberation”.
- Haegeum
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To start, you might be wondering what a haegeum is. Come with me to understand it better: As a non-korean person who also doesn’t speak fluent korean, I had to do a little searching. What I learned is that the word haegeum (해금) is commonly used as a term for lifting/removing a ban (또 다른 해금), but, in its essence, is actually the name of a traditional Korean two-string instrument that resembles a fiddle (which SUGA’s has previously used as a background instrument on “Daechwita, the main track from D-2.).
In an interview for the korean magazine Cine 21, SUGA shared that he was the one who wrote the storyboard for the track’s music video as well as the one for the “Amygdala” MV, right after the one from “Daechwita” was done.
The song’s lyrics, as well as the video’s visuals, are all places where SUGA discusses issues like finding liberation from selfishness and the harmful influence of others on our own self-expression. On episode 19 of “IU’s Palette”, he talks about his view on the meaning behind the title: “The word haegeum came to me. When I was young, I played rhythm games,” he shares. “I love playing rhythm games. When beating a certain stage, you would unlock a forbidden song, then you could play a new rhythm. It was ‘freedom from the forbidden.’ Why don’t I break free from those things?”
If I were to go through all of the symbolisms on this track, I would certainly have to do a whole dissertation about it. There is one in special that caught my attention so I’ll leave it here:
- HUH?! (feat. j-hope)
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Featuring none other than BTS member j-hope, this was one of the most anticipated songs on the album. It was produced by SUGA and co-written by the pair before jhope’s military enlistment. Some of that old Agust D we are used to appears here as the track is centred around a “shadowy drill foundation”. The rage expressed isn’t just for rage’s sake, though, it’s more than that.
Later in the song, he stands up to misconceptions with lines like: “Millions of news coverage and gossip, the villain in this age of information”. This is something we were used to seeing in BTS’ rap line (RM, j-hope and SUGA) past works, a cup of tea for the Dark & Wild era missers like me.
- AMYGDALA
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While filming season two of “BTS: In The SOOP”’, SUGA was already working on this album. For this track, we have a special behind the scenes moment where the rapper is working on the motor-home he lived at the time and one of his band mates, Jimin, comes in. He then proceeds to talk about ‘Amygdala’:
“The things that weren’t good or made you feel bad are all put into the amygdala, so if a similar situation arises, you can cope with it.While writing it, my emotions were going all over the place. To bring up those bad memories… But this is kind of the important thing, of all the treatments. To bring out all the bad memories, and learn to put it all together.”
After listening and reading the lyrics, you can really tell what he means by that. The song is beautifully written and has one of the deepest and most meaningful lyrics of all the tracks on the album. It reveals a new side of the rapper’s past and family life while he gets more on his introspective side.
When he uses the lotus flower metaphor in the first track, he’s referring to himself. This type of flowers bloom despite being in muddy waters, and that’s exactly what he did – he wasn’t in an “ideal” environment to grow and thrive, but he still did. This all ends up being even more meaningful after you understand the pain and hardships described in ‘Amygdala’.
- SDL
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One of the first things fans noticed about this track are the female background vocals. Later, it was confirmed that they are Adora’s – a close friend of BTS and one of their past producers (very loved in the ARMY fandom).
Marked by a smooth groove, the fifth track of D-DAY works as a bridge between “Amygdala” and “People Pt.2”. By being in the middle of an intense and a calm song, “SDL” is used as a transition of moods in the album. The song brings intensity as well as calmness, diving you even more in the experience.
As of the lyrics, the song talks about living both sides of love. One that resembles the sun in the spring and the calmest of the waves, and another marked by those strong waves at winter times. It’s about how human relationships are difficult, about the back and forth, the worrying and the trauma – something we see present in “Seesaw”, a solo track of his placed in BTS’ Love Yourself: Answer album.
“Is it them whom you long for?
Or is it the glorified time of back then in the other side of memories”
- People Pt. 2 (feat. IU)
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“People Pt. 2” is a pre-release single featuring K-pop legend IU, a past collaborator of SUGA’s – the pair worked together on “eight” in 2020. The song was released on April 7 followed by a music video and a live clip.
The title references his solo track “People”, which was a fan-favourite, so the expectations for this follow up were really high all over the fandom – and, through meaningful lyrics and another spectacular collaboration with IU, “People Pt. 2” delivered it.
Fans noted that, while in his self-titled track he was in a space where he affirmed that “life is a daily oscillation between revolt and submission”, in this track he goes another way, saying: “they say life is a struggle between resistance and submission, i say it’s a struggle against loneliness. if you can’t hold it back, it’s okay to cry”. Once more proving that he changed as a person, and for better.
As someone who has been following his works for a long time now, changes like these are clear and amazing to notice. I can’t help but feel proud, even more when I come to think about that I also went through changes like these. I believe we all do at some point, and to have an artist that you admire being so honest about is truly heart-warming.
- Polar Night
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“The ultimate decision that if you’re not on my side, you’re an enemy”. This line really describes what the seventh track came to say. With the simplest words, SUGA was able to describe society in depth. Mouth shut on bothersome issues, selective hypocrisy, and really any global subject can be applied here.
There’s a two way interpretation here, though. This line in specific can be seen as in favour, as said above, in the sense that if you’re completely neutral in situations of injustice you have automatically chosen the oppressor’s side. But it can also be interpreted as a mockery of the absence of “grey areas” in today’s society, where everything is seen as good or bad, with no in betweens, no hesitation or critical thinking.
Either way, this is surely the most politically charged song on the album, something we are very used to seeing from SUGA and the band as a whole. The lyrics are worth reading and the beat is phenomenal. Truly one of my personal favourites of the album.
- Interlude: Dream
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The interlude is a calm and setting instrumental of one minute and forty-five seconds that really sets the mood for the two last songs that follow. Fans speculate that the guitar solo by the end might have been done by SUGA, as he’s been learning how to play the instrument for a while now and appeared playing it in some of the SUGA: Road To D-DAY live clips.
- Snooze (feat. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Kim Woo Sung of The Rose)
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In the Disney+ documentary SUGA: Road To D-DAY, SUGA revealed that he finished writing this track while he was in the hospital after his shoulder surgery in 2020. Ryuichi Sakamoto, a world-renowned composer, and Woo Sung, from the K-pop band The Rose, appear on the song as features.
In the documentary, we can see Woo Sung performing the track side by side with SUGA, and also an encounter of SUGA and Ryuichi Sakamoto in the composer’s apartment. There is a very sweet scene where they play “Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence” on the piano for each other, which is followed by the rapper at the elevator leaving Sakamoto’s place while saying how honoured and pleased he feels about having the chance to not only meet the one and only Ryuichi Sakamoto but also to have him featured on his album. The rapper says he “wants to continue to make music when he’s older” just like Sakamoto.
As for the lyrics of the song, there are two things worth to point: Firstly, fans noted that the line “If you’re afraid to crash, I’ll willingly receive you” can be linked to one from “Nevermind”: “If you’re afraid to crash, accelerate even harder”. Proving that it’s about change, learning and choosing gentleness towards yourself, and turning that onto others.
And a more easy-to-catch reference is when SUGA uses a sample from one of his 2016 tracks “So Far Away” by the end of the song where he repeats the lyrics: “Dream, I will be there for your creation until the end of your life / Dream, wherever you might be, it will be lenient / Dream, you will fully bloom after all the hardships / Dream, though your beginning may be humble, may the end be prosperous”.
- Life Goes On
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Being the album’s final song, it couldn’t be more special. “Life Goes On” was written by SUGA, as well as the BTS members RM and j-hope, and it was originally released by the band as a title track on their 2020 album, BE. This version counts with SUGA’s original chorus that did not get chosen for the final production of the original song, as he mentioned when describing the full story behind “BE” in a YouTube video.
Just like in “Amygdala”, here he details feelings of fear that can be brought up by old reminiscences. But, instead of letting them have the best of him, he acknowledges what they are – just harmless ghosts and residue of past experiences.
While it’s a beautiful song that can be appreciated by anyone, it’s safe to say that it’s even more special to the fans that followed all the ‘BE’ development during the pandemic times. I for one got all emotional while listening, that’s all I’ll say.
WHAT’S COMING NEXT
On the same day that the album was released, a documentary travelling along with the production of D-DAY was posted on Disney+, the SUGA: Road To D-Day. The documentary includes behind the scenes of the production, meetings with the features (like Ryuichi Sakamoto), SUGA’s takes on the tracks and, even more, live clips of the songs!
Less than a week after the album’s release, SUGA will become the first BTS member to embark on a solo tour, with a slate of dates scheduled around the world this spring. The trek will kick off with two shows at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York, on April 26 and 27. Before that, we still have a dance practice video of “Haegeum” scheduled to be out this week and a music video for “Amygdala” on April 25.
When the “Amygdala” music video is out, the Agust D trilogy will be officially over. A trilogy marked by a humanised version of the idol figure most people have of SUGA. Not to be dramatic or anything, but having the chance to follow his works and listen to the art he creates has been an honour. He’s someone that I truly admire and respect, as an artist like-wise as a human. My respect for him is never ending, which might be difficult for people that don’t follow his career to understand, and I get that.
Overall, I’m excited to see where he’s going next. Will he continue to use his pseudonym Agust D or is it really over (as the “Haegeum” music video suggests)? Either way, there’s a whole tour ready to start, so there’s no need to get all sad. Let’s see what he has in store for us with that!
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The article above was edited by Milena Casaca.
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