The Man That Goes By Agust D

If you know me you know that my favourite thing of all time is BTS. Since my early teenage years the seven-member group out of Seoul, South Korea, has cemented themselves far into my decrepit heart. BTS as a whole is a group that I have discussed deeply on this blog on multiple occasions (peep the 40-minute-long blog I made for the group’s 10th anniversary). However, I have yet to delve into each member’s career and impact on K-pop. As I enter my adult years and reach (and later pass) the ages of the boys when they debuted my appreciation and love for them only grow as I come to a better understanding of what they went through at such a young age in the gruelling world of Kpop.

With this new series on the blog, I take a deep dive into the careers of each BTS member in a bite-sized version of my career retrospect series. As someone close to leaving my 20th year around the sun, the best person to start this series on was the man who made his debut in the industry at the age of 20 as well. A love letter to my favourite Kpop idol if you will. This is the story of Agust D.

Who Is Agust D:

Born on March 9th, 1993, Min Yoongi (a.k.a Suga or Agust D), in Daegu, South Korea. The youngest of two sons, Suga attended school in Daegu and Seoul in his youth.

At the age of 12, he was introduced to the rap genre after the success of Rap Group Stoney Skunk’s 2005 hit record Ragga Muffin, opening the door to the idea of pursuing music as a career for him. It was not until the age of 13 when he discovered the group Epik High’s work that he began to pursue music as something more than a simple hobby.

By the mid-2000s the hip-hop genre was on a massive boom in Asian countries, South Korea included. After the success of acts such as Seo Taiji and Boys (yes YG was in a successful band back in the day) and Drunken Tiger, from the previous decade, the market for non-saturated and adult-centred music was on the rise. Bands like Epik High and Ragga Muffin getting signed to major record labels opened the door for many other artists to pursue the craft. Current Korean Hip-Hop powerhouses such as Dynamic Duo, Swings, The Quiett, Simon Dominic, and others would break out on the scene at this time. Not to mention the mid-2000s also saw the first few underground rappers merge into the K-pop scene such as T.O.P. and G Dragon from Bigbang.

One major city that felt the boom of the underground rap scene was Daegu. Although one of the smallest notable cities in Korea, its underground music scene, although quite new at the time of this part of the story, its early years would later produce powerhouses in the Korean Music scene such as Suga, Key (Shinee), Scoups (Seventeen), and Joohoney (my love from Monsta X), who all got their start from this underground music scene one way or another.

By his high school years, Suga independently studied songwriting and music production specifically the MIDI format. Working under the name Gloss (the rough translation of Yoongi in English), he became a member of the rap collective D-Town, producing the group’s most notable single “518–062” commemorating the Gwangju Uprising of 1980. During this time while working part-time jobs he would submit his mixtapes to a range of record labels in hopes of being scouted. This act garnered the attention of one Bang Si-hyuk of Big Hit Entertainment who invited the young rap prospect to his company’s newest audition program ‘Hit It’.

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Scoring high in Big Hit’s ‘Hit It” program, he was hand-picked by Bang PD to spearhead his newest group project, now known as BTS. At the age of 17, he left his home in Daegu, moving to the big city of Seoul to pursue his music career further. In later interviews, Suga mentioned it was around this time that his relationship with his family became strained as his parents believed he could not have a successful music career, rather wishing he’d continued his studies. However, no matter what his parents thought, Suga moved to Seoul and officially became the second member of BTS.

The Predebut Years:

Between 2010 to 2013 Suga was one of the main focal pieces to the creation of the group now known as BTS. Working a plethora of part-time jobs, his time pre-debut was spent producing, participating in rap battles, and working the odd minimum wage job such as food delivery (we will bring this back up later). He was also heavily featured as a part of BigHit’s rap club promotional tour around late 2011 into 2012 alongside BTS members RM and J-Hope. Consisting of mixtapes, demo tracks and covers, the rap trio was the first taste of what BigHit was bringing to the table in the world of Korean music. Below you can watch a piece of the Rap Lines promotional tour at a music club in 2011.

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Bboying:

[Now let me drop some unknown BTS lore onto your plate.]

To continue developing BTS into the prime hip-hop group that Bang P.D. envisioned with his original “Hit It” program, the trainees were formally trained in the art form of Bboying along with normal dance practice seen in usual Kpop training programs. One member who was the focal piece of this side project was you guessed it Suga himself. Although a person who has stated to hate dancing to his core, and someone who was promised not to dance much by Bang P.D. when he first joined the company, Suga was commonly one of the main dancers in BigHits dance showcases during their other promotional tours. Even was rumoured to be one of the lead dancers alongside Jimin and J-Hope when final preparations for the group were being worked out. But then the bike incident happened…

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For those paying attention, this is where that delivery job I discussed previously comes into play, and is one important detail when diving further into the career and life of Suga.

The Bike Incident:

Although in this career retrospect series, I try to mainly focus on the career and legacy of the person I am talking about sometimes context about said artist’s personal life must be brought up to better understand things that occur later on in one’s career.

A common thing that most Army (BTS fans know) is that Suga has always had a messed up shoulder, but some may not know how this BTS lore came about. In a 2018 documentary, he stated that his shoulder injury came about when he was hit by a car while driving a delivery bike at his part-time job. This incident popped his shoulder out of place. Not wanting to jeopardize his spot as a member of BTS, he would hide his injury from his bandmates and company, stating that he “fell down the stairs”. Although at the time his shoulder injury was only minor, he dropped out of his dancer position, spending the rest of his trainee days focusing on rap and music production.

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The Rookie Years:

The group BTS made their debut on June 12th, 2013, with Suga being introduced as one of the four main rappers alongside leader RM, J-Hope, and Jungkook (yes for the first year of BTS’s careers Jungkook was a rapper). Rapping about owning big cars and big rings, the mysterious rapper, wearing his signature beanie, bandana, and copious amounts of eyeliner has songwriting credits on all 5 songs from BTS’s debut ‘2 Cool 4 Skool’. When looking at early photos of the group the quiet boy that this article is about stands out with his emo-esque eyeliner and same hat combo in every single promotional photo one can only giggle at his attempt to fill the ‘scary-looking rapper’ persona that he was given early on in his career.

By the fall of 2013, the group released their first EP ‘O!RUL8,2?’, where Suga also featured heavily in the songwriting portion of its production. This EP included the rap line’s(RM, Suga, and J-Hope) first song together. Titled ‘BTS Cypher Pt.1’ the rap song is based on old school boom-bap sounds with diss track lyrics directed towards the ever-growing group of K-Hip-Hop artists who were questioning the group’s legitimacy in the Korean Hip-Hop world.

Speaking of hate towards the group and underground rappers, Suga was one of the two members of BTS heavily involved in the B-Free scandal in November of 2013. In an interview where RM and Suga were invited to talk alongside a group of famous underground Korean rappers about the impact of Hip-Hop in the community, rapper B-Free decided to turn the conversation into a diss on idol rappers, mocking the duo for wearing makeup and catering their music towards fangirls. [For those who don’t know much about Korean music there is always been a stigma between Idol rappers and underground rappers, with underground rappers believing that those who go down the Idol route are only doing it for the quick fame, and criticize how some Idol rappers are only given the position because they cannot sing. This honestly is a more complicated topic that deserves its article, but tldr is that underground rappers and Idol rappers don’t get along]. Remaining professional the now infamous interview shows Suga and RM state that there is nothing wrong with bringing Hip-Hop into the Idol world, stating that their dedication to getting the genre out to the general public would be good for the craft in the long run. And well BTS is one of the most successful groups in history while B-Free has spent more time in jail than on rap so we know who won the argument in the long run.

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Next followed the band’s second EP Skool Luv Affair, released on February 12th, 2014. This 10-song project was the first to feature a member of BTS on the production side of its composition. Suga was said member to be the first to produce songs for the group, these tracks being ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘Jump’. This EP also included the rap line’ssecond cypher titled ‘BTS Cypher Pt. 2: Triptych’. This track also followed a similar boom-bap style that the group’s previous one had, this time with a more targeted attack on the group’s haters (a.k.a the underground rappers that dissed them in the interview discussed in the previous paragraph). This cypher is also the first time that Suga would refer to his songwriting and craft as a lover of his which is a common theme in his work through the years (but that is also something I will bring up again later).

The last project to be released in the group’s early years was their debut studio album ‘Dark and Wild’. Released on August 20th, 2014. The first project of BTS to put them in the spotlight, this album’s leading B-Side ‘Let Me Know’ lyrics and production was spearheaded by Suga, making him the first member of BTS to have major creative control over both the lyrics and production of a song. And how can I not mention the rap-lines third cypher titled ‘BTS Cypher Pt. 3: Killer’ (featuring Supreme Boi)? My favourite cypher from the rap trio, this electronic-based song takes a different approach to the group’s previous diss tracks, being more heavily inspired by modern Western influences, with a touch of gaming soundtracks to match. Most notably in the lore of Suga, this song is where the meme of touge technology came from, as well as the first of many (and I mean many) hints in Suga’s career towards him being bi-sexual. (I swear to god this man has mentioned crushing on both sides a billion times now I don’t know why the Army’s still shocked by this revelation).

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A Beautiful Moment:

April 29th, 2015, marked the release of the group’s critically acclaimed EP ‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt.1’. A 9-song project, this EP was the first from BTS to have a solo opening track from a member. Written and produced by Suga and producer Slow Rabbit, the 2-minute opening track features a unique beat made out of electronic production, and sound effects. Describing that fighting to be happy and successful with that of fighting to be the best player on the basketball court, Suga uses his passion for the sport, to state that no matter what “field” you may be working in, it is a tough yet worth its climb to reach the top of the mountain.

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In this EP he also has production credits on the song ‘Boyz With Fun’, and was a featured songwriter on 7 tracks on this project.

SBS Dream Concert Special Stage:

In celebration of rap trio MFBTY’s (Tiger JK, Yoo Mirae, and Bizzy) debut album ‘Wondaland’ the group had a special collaboration stage during the 2015 SBS Dream Concert in Seoul. This special stage included the trio of rap pioneers alongside a crew of idol rappers from the era. Rappers LE (Exid), Baro (B1A4), RM and Suga would all tear up the stage performing the song Monster by MFBTY. This performance would be the first and only special stage Suga would participate in at a SBS concert.

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Part 2:

‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt.2’ was released on November 30th, 2015. Also a 9-song project, Suga would rack up another production credit, and another 5 songwriting credits on this project. The intro track ‘Intro: Never Mind’ was the 4th song by the rap line, and the first by the boys to chart on the Billboard World Charts, peaking at number 19. This emotional song delves deep into the topics of Suga’s struggles with mental health as a teenager, and vents about his frustrations towards the world he had in his youth. Later on, he was the catalyst for the sound he’d use for his debut mixtape the following year. Although a song ‘featuring’ all three members of the rap line, the original version of the song only has J-Hope and RM on the final chorus, so later on in the band’s run, the song was exclusively sung by Suga when performed live.

Young Forever:

The first compilation record from BTS was released on May 2nd, 2016. A compilation record of the previous two EP’s this album featured 3 additional new tracks titled ‘Fire’, ‘Save Me’ and ‘Young Forever’. All songs Suga has songwriting credits on. Most notably in Suga’s career, the song Fire would be the first BTS title track to feature him as one of the centers for the choreography. (Was the shoulder still screwed up… yep, he also has the shortest line distribution in the song, which mostly just consist of adlibs, but to be honest no one can notice because of all of his Hawaiian shirts that match his hair in the music video anyway. As I keep typing I realize that this was a weird comeback in the BTS lore).

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In the world of BTS, this was around the time when the group was starting to reach a worldwide audience, slowly dominating the K-pop scene through tours, media appearances, and relative shows. Although a full schedule, some members of the group were secretly working on solo music during their small glimpses of free time. In a 2016 interview with Marie Clair Suga hinted at a potential mixtape in the works, admitting that during travel days on tour, he had been working on music, however, BTS fans would not have to wait long for the said mixtape to be released. [4]

Also for those looking for some happy news in the lore of Suga, it was around this era of BTS’s legacy that he rekindled his relationship with his parents, most notably breaking down at a BTS concert in May of 2016 when noticing his parents attending the band concert. This moment has been mentioned multiple times in later interviews and songs of his.

Agust D:

Under the moniker of Agust D, he would release his debut mixtape on August 15th, 2016. The 10-track project was originally a SoundCloud release, before transitioning to Spotify and Apple Music in 2018. The second member of BTS to release solo work, this mixtape was written and produced by Agust D this 28-minute long project served as a sort of love letter to Agust D and his fans, as well as fulfill his desires to release a project without having to follow the mainstream framework of an album release.

This mixtape came out with minimal rollout, featuring dual music videos for its two title tracks ‘Agust D’ and ‘Give It To Me’. Dawning his iconic blonde hair and copious amounts of middle fingers, these music videos capture the iconic “edgy” image most idol rappers pursued at this time. Since this project was a mixtape, no official physical record was released, so the project does not officially have a submission on the music charts.

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Mainly focused on his struggles with mental health through his youth, this project is hands down one of the most raw albums I have heard in my life. An emotional record on which he lays out all of his emotions, its trap and electronic production produce a loud vibe to the album that further accelerates his moments of frustration and upset towards his feelings and experiences. One big thing that I always say when people ask me about what Agust D is about, is that his music is loud in the emotion it wants to convey. If the song is supposed to be angry, everything from production to; lyrics, and vocals will also be loud and influenced by an angry poetic voice. The same can be said for his sad songs, inspirational sounds, etc.

The alter ego of Agust D takes inspiration from his hometown of Daegu Town (DT), while the remainder of the name is Suga spelt backwards. Although the exact reason why he created this alter ego is unknown, when analyzing his work as a member of BTS, Agust D shows a more rugged and raw version of the man Yoongi who talks about life experiences in a truthful and straight-to-the-point sense, while Suga, who also takes inspiration from real-life situations, writes about said situations in a more poetic voice. Both versions tell the story about the same man, but in various degrees of poetic verse.

I think this is one of the reasons why this mixtape has struck a cord so much in my own life. It’s because Agust D describes his struggles in a way that is not only beautifully poetic but is so incredibly real and relatable to my situation when I discovered this album. When I first became a fan of BTS, I was in one of the lowest moments of my life and flat out this mixtape was the first piece of media that I consumed that let me know that I was not alone in my struggles. Although I listened to this album well over 5 years ago, the feeling that I had listening to this project, and learning the lyrics and meanings of the songs, filled me with a sense of hope and comfort that was so profound in my success in managing my demons, and still to this day is a musical project that I deeply respect for its craftmanship and relatability. It is because of Yoongi’s vulnerability towards this record that he became my ultimate bias in Kpop, and why I am so long-winded when talking about these very talented, and at times unappreciated artists.

First Love:

Released On October 10th, 2016, BTS released their fourth studio album Wings. The 15-track project would earn Suga another 5 song credits. Most notably this album featured the first solo song from Suga to reach the Billboard charts, reaching the Top 50 of the World Music Charts. Named ‘First Love’, the song delves into the topic of passion towards a hobby, with Suga comparing the experience of learning to play music for the first time to that of first love. Describing the piano, and music in general as a sort of guardian figure for him to come back to when going through rough experiences in his life. This song is a perfect example of the more metaphor-based poetic voice I discussed in the previous section.

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Cypher #4:

Wings also featured based songs that bring a more modern trap and base-heavy sound to their usual work. Unlike their other cyphers that serve more as a diss track, this one is mostly about them flexing on their newfound success (as the group was starting to reach superstardom around this time). Also reached the Top 50 on the World Billboard Charts.

Wine:

Along with his solo work and work as a member of BTS, Suga also has an extensive catalogue of production work with a range of artists, all of which have gone on to be extremely (and I mean extremely) successful. The song ‘Wine’ by Korean ballad singer Suran came about when she heard a sample of the track while visiting Suga at his studio, falling in love with its RnB-inspired slow tempo, she asked Suga for the song. Released on April 27th, 2017, the song served as the lead track for her debut EP. This was the first song of Suga’s to be independently released, and the first song of his to be solely produced by him. Commercially Suran’s debut project performed extremely well in South Korea, peaking at number two on the Gaon Charts, while it peaked at number five internationally. At the end of 2017, Suran and Suga received the ‘Best RnB Record’ and “Hot Heat Seaker’ awards at the 2017 Melon Music Awards. Making him the first member of BTS to receive a solo award at a music show. Below you can watch his and Suran’s acceptance speech:

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The Love Yourself Era:

Just like what I did with the original article, I am going to be roping all the ‘Love Yourself’ projects into one stand-alone section. The first project from this era was ‘Love Yourself: Her’. Released on September 18th, 2017, Suga was credited on four out of the 9 tracks on the EP. In this era Suga was prominently featured in the dances for both title tracks, even being featured as a center for the second time in his career in the performance of ‘Mic Drop’. Along with his work with the performance side of the project, he also was the lead writer in the closing song ‘Her’, featuring himself and the rest of the rap line. This track was the first from the rap trio to be more R&B-centred, focusing on the situation of having to conform to one’s identity to make their lover happy.

The second project from this era was ‘Love Yourself: Tear’. Released on May 18th, 2018. Suga is credited on 8 of the 11 tracks on this EP. Like the first project from this era, the outro to the project titled ‘Tear’ was performed by the rap line. The total opposite of ‘Her’, ‘Tear’ takes a more emotional approach to the RnB genre, heavily centred on a messy breakup surrounding two lovers who were hurting each other in the long run.

The final project of the Love Yourself era was ‘Love Yourself: Answer’. My personal favourite BTS project, this is the third compilation album from BTS. Released on August 24th, 2018, this project is most notable for including my favourite song Suga’s in his entire career, ‘Seesaw’.

Seesaw:

The twelfth track from ‘Answer’, ‘Seesaw’ is the second solo track from Suga on a BTS project. In a song about two lovers struggling to let one another go, Suga compares the back and forth of the relationship to that of a seesaw. Realizing that to heal himself he must step off of the seesaw and end this relationship for good, by the end of the song, Suga perfectly describes the pain of an unwavering and mentally taxing relationship that you wish would end. The soft in-production song is one of Suga’s most tender and calming songs of his career. For most of my life as an Army I just enjoyed this song because it is simply one of the prettiest songs to come from a BTS album, and it has an equally as beautiful performance, this song was quite crucial in my healing when I had to cut off a toxic relationship similar to that of the one that this song takes inspiration from. Likely now making it my most streamed song by BTS, because holy moly did I ever have this on repeat earlier this year. Below you can find one of my favourite performances of the song:

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Map Of The Soul Era:

Following the completion of promotions for the Love Yourself era, BTS as a whole transitioned into a newer, more Western-friendly era as the group reached their absolute peak of superstardom. The first project from this era ‘Map of the Soul: Persona’, was released on April 12th, 2019. Suga is being credited on 5–7 songs from the project. (Also in the lore of kra_music land this was the first project from BTS that I listened to and I pulled my one and only Suga photocard with this project, so the more you know).

The following year saw the release of ‘Map of the Soul: 7’. The 20-track project was released on February 21st, 2020. Featuring on the interlude track for the first time since 2016, Suga was the lead writer and producer for the 2020 song ‘Shadow’. Released on January 9th, 2020, the pop/trap-based track draws similarities to that of songs featured on his second mixtape the following year. Following the story of one discussing the hard parts of fame, it’s almost ironic how much the song is the polar opposite of the group’s debut song ‘No More Dream’, with the narrator wishing to give up the flashing lights and money, to feel human again. Following the brash nature of his Agust D persona, this song is probably the most blended song of the two versions of Yoongi to date.

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This era of BTS was also around the same time Suga started to branch out more in music, further developing his catalogue of music as a producer and solo artist. Featuring Lee Sora’s 2019 hit ‘Song Request’, this track created by Taplo of Epik High, was the first time Suga got to work with his idol in the music industry. Going on to produce the track ‘Eternal Sunshine’ for Epik High’s EP ‘Sleepless In’ the following month. With both songs performing well on the Gaon charts. By July of that year he was once again hitting the charts with the song ‘We Don’t Talk Together’ by Heize (featuring Giriboy), a personal favourite song of mine, this track was massive in the summer of 2019, earning him more Gaon chart submissions. His final non-BTS-related work came in December when he was featured as a singer and producer for the track ‘Suga’s Interlude’ on American pop artist Halsey’s record Manic. Which was the first time he collaborated solo on a song with a Western artist.

Eight:

Released on May 6th, 2020, Suga featured in IU’s 2020 hit song ‘Eight’. Based around the message of youth, and mourning those who have passed young the emotional RnB ballad was a major comfort to those who listened to it during the uncertain and hurtful year that was 2020. Presumed to be centred around IU’s relationship with her friends in the industry who had passed in the previous years. A wildly successful song (which it delivered in every right), relating to Suga’s career this was the first time that a song of his debuted at the top spot on the Gaon and Billboard World charts simultaneously.

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D-2:

The second mixtape of August D was released on May 22nd, 2020. A surprise release, this surprise 10-track project made Agust D the first member of BTS to release two solo projects. A project four years in the making, the project heavily centers around Agust D’s personal experiences from his time from his first mixtape’s release in 2016 to D-2 in 2020. Taking heavy influence from traditional Korean music, the song blends Trap sounds with Pop-Rap sounds from the West. Delving into topics of fame, status, and the complexity of wanting to continue on the path of success, but also wanting the desire to have a normal life. Told in a diss track-like flow similar to that of his work on the BTS cyphers, this mixtape is arguably the most laid back in nature in terms of its seriousness although it still asks many philosophical questions about modern society as a whole.

Its lead track, ‘Daechwita,’ was released ahead of the project, serving as the sole form of promotion for the record. It is told in the form of pansori (a traditional form of storytelling told by a drummer and vocalist), using kkwaenggwari percussion. These traditional Korean music elements were used to create a commercial version of Daechwita (traditional Korean military music). This song would debut in the Top 100 on the Billboard Charts, making this the first Korean solo song to reach the main Billboard charts.

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The mixtape, in general, was equally as successful, peaking at number eleven on the Billboard Top 200, number seven on the UK charts, and number two on the AIRA charts respectfully, making it the most commercially successful mixtape by a Korean artist worldwide. This feat also makes Agust D the first Korean artist to have both a song and album in the top 100 of the Billboard charts simultaneously. By the end of 2020, he also became the first Korean artist to reach number 1 on the Billboard Rap Chart.

The ‘BE’ Era:

Released on November 20th, 2020, the most recent album by BTS was released. The 8-track project includes 6 song credits from Suga. The most notable being the lead single ‘Life Goes On’, originally written by Suga, his version of the song would be scrapped by BigHit in favour of the version that made it on the record. However, you don’t have to fret much because this song will come back up later.

As the album rollout was commencing it was announced by BigHit Entertainment that years of torment on that shoulder finally caught up to Suga. After years of wear and tear, which became more prevalent to the public eye during the ‘Map of the Soul’ era became more prevalent with public displays of him favouring the injury. He was put on hiatus and received surgery for his injury. A lingering injury for almost a decade by that point, in a 2021 interview Suga stated that it was the choreography for the song ‘Black Swan’ that did his shoulder in for good. After a 3-month hiatus from the group, he returned in January of 2021 at the 31st Golden Disk Awards.

Samsung:

One big part of the lore of Suga is his connections to the brand Samsung. Becoming the official head ambassador to the brand in early 2021, he produced a remix of the brand’s iconic ringtone ‘Over The Horizon’ for the brand’s 2021 ‘Unpacked’ event. Featuring in a plethora of commercials and billboard ads, his strict Samsung contract makes it so that he is not even allowed to mention or even hold an Apple product in a public setting, which equalled some funny moments at his 2023 world tour where fans disguised their non-Samsung phones so Suga would take a photo with them (I am dead serious about this and it is as silly as you could imagine).

Girl of My Dreams:

In December 2020 Suga was featured once more on the Billboard Charts for his work on Juice Wrld’s posthumous album ‘Fighting Demons’ with a rap feature for the song ‘Girl of My Dreams’. This feat made Suga the first Korean artist with two Billboard Top 100 submissions.

Working With The Man Known As PSY:

Turning to the year 2022 Suga entered a working relationship with soloist PSY (yes the Gangnam Style guy) for the lead single on his 2022 album ‘Psy 9th’. Produced and written by Suga the single ‘That That’ was released on April 29th, 2022. Going on to one of the most successful K-pop songs of that year ‘That That’ would win the duo a bonsang at the Golden Disk Awards, and the ‘Best Collaboration’ award at the MAMA’s. As of November 2024, the song is currently in the top 10 most streamed K-pop songs of that year and has amassed over 500 million views on YouTube.

Suchwita:

In December 2022 BigHit Entertainment announced the release of a new show on the Bangtan Youtube channel called Suchwita. Hosted by Suga, this half-hour show aired weekly on the network. Featuring a range of Korean celebrities, Suga candidly interviewed each guest over drinks. Most notably this show featured guests such as IU, Taeyang, and Taplo, as well as all 6 members of BTS. Totalling 27 episodes the show ran until Suga enlisted in mid-2023.

D-Day:

The debut studio album of Agust D was released on April 21st, 2023. A 10-track project, the album creatively was spearheaded by Agust D and producer El Capitan. The most commercially constrained project of Agust D’s career the album still blends sounds found in his previous work with that of his sound as a member of BTS. A more deep and complex album than D-2, D-Day is more an extension of his debut project Agust D. Blending genres of rap with that of Rnb and rock, this project, just like the previous of his also is heavily influenced by Korean traditional music. Another album is based on political commentary, this album is both philosophical like that of D-2, but also is relatable and discusses life experiences like that of Agust D. It is an accumulation of all the themes Agust D has brought to the table before.

Songs like ‘Haegum’ delve into the more political side of Agust D. Another song that production heavily involves traditional Korean elements, the title track serves as a political commentary to liberation and questions the listener to contemplate why the world still deals with capitalism and bullying when ‘liberation’ exists.

Other more personal songs on this record such as ‘Amygdala’ draw much importance to the album. A heavy rock-rich song, this track delves into the hardships Yoongi himself faced while achieving his dreams as a musician such as the everlasting effects of his biking accident as a trainee, or not being able to be with his family as they go through health struggles. Almost toying the line between blaming himself for these scenarios, but later going on to admit that there was nothing he could have done to prevent these hardships.

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This project would also see the return to some more romantic-centred songs such as ‘SDL’ and ‘People Pt.2’, which is true ‘negative Nancy’ fashion brings some smooth groove towards songs discussing topics of nostalgia, fears of relationships, and the overarching want for a relationship, but fearing that it will not work out in today’s society.

If ‘Seesaw’ is my favourite Suga song then ‘Life Goes On’ is my favourite Agust D song. The original version of the lead track of ‘BE’ was released as the final track on August D’s 2023 album. A song serving as a sort of love letter towards Yoongi and his fanbase as this was going to be the last track until his return from enlistment in 2025, this song has Yoongi admitting that some of the fanbases will leave and grow up as time passes on but reminds them that whenever you need him and his music, he will be there. A pretty pop-ballad track, this is one of the songs that reminds me of the comfort that I feel when listening to BTS’s music, and why their work became so important to me through the rough portions of my life.

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Commercially this was a very successful project. Upon its release the project would debut at number two on the Billboard Top 200, tying Jimin with the highest placement on the charts by a Korean soloist. Also tied his bandmate for the most single-day sales with over 1 million copies sold on the day of release, making them the only two Korean artists at the time to do so. Outside of Koran, the project reached the top 10 in over 20 countries and currently is one of the most purchased records of the decade both digitally and physically in this decade so far. :ater being named by publications such as Rolling Stone and NME as one of the best records of 2023. After the 2024 DUI incident, most songs on this project re-entered the Billboard charts, as a way to clapback against anti-fans.

Promotions for this project were major including special broadcasting deals with Apple Music and Disney Plus. Ahead of the album release Agust D hosted a 5 episode radio broadcast show exclusive to the network. Disney Plus gained the rights to broadcast a documentary about the album’s creation as well as an exclusive online concert titled ‘Road To D-Day’ which was released in conjunction with the album on April 21st.

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The World Tour:

Announced in the spring of 2023, Agust D was set to go on his first world tour from April to August 2023. Titled ‘The Suga Agust D Tour’ the tour spanned 28 shows across two legs. Leg one ran in America through April and May of 2023 spanning 11 shows, while leg two spanned across Asia from June to August of 2023, culminating in a 5 show run in Seoul. A wildly successful tour for being the first by a BTS member, this tour drew over 200,000 fans internationally. For those individuals like myself who are pissed at BigHit for not taking the tour to Canada, you can find many videos from gracious fellow Army’s on YouTube to watch until your heart is content.

The Present Day:

After the conclusion of his world tour, Suga announced that he would be fulfilling his enlistment duties, enlisting as a social worker on September 22nd, 2023. Mostly inactive since his enlistment he was trusted into the public spotlight in August 2024 after it was leaked that he was involved in a drunk driving incident on his electric scooter. Charged with a DUI in September 2024, he paid over USD 13,000 in fines to the Korean government and had his scooter licence suspended for the crime. I am honestly not going to delve further into that because honestly looking at the CCTV footage I believe the sentencing was fair and further punishments were unessisary (i.e. anti-fans sending death threats and death wreaths to his place of work pissed me off so much that I had to clutch my poor Shooky plushy as tight as I could to stop myself from dropping my own diss track Agust D style on their sorry asses), but also because this is a music blog and we don’t want to get so political now do we (I say sarcastically).

In conclusion, I apologize for the long-winded article, when I went into writing this article I had the stupid idea that I would not be long-winded when talking about a member of BTS, but after five years of stunning the boys I should have known that was going to be a lie. The artist known as Suga (or Agust D), and the man known as Min Yoongi have been important to my life for a long while now and are someone that I wanted to dedicate the time and effort into writing an article about because his artistry and craft deserves to get its flowers. An artist who has only furthered my love for music over the years, it almost felt a disservice to not include him in this blog talking about the things I love the most about the world of music. From a kid who was dealt some rough cards to one of the members of the greatest boy band of all time, this article is written by one around the edges kid, who found inspiration and comfort in life from the art and story of another rough around-the-edges kid from the previous generation. This is the story of Agust D.

References:

[embed]Suga - Wikipedia Min Yoon-gi ( Korean: ; born March 9, 1993), known professionally by his stage names Suga (, Korean pronunciation: …en.wikipedia.org

[embed]SUGA I'm grateful for the award, but I enjoyed the concerts more, I wanted to share our music and who we are.SUGA…bts.fandom.com

[embed]'I Poured My Soul Into This Album': How Suga Let Go of the Past and Stepped Into His Future The BTS multi-hyphenate describes closing out his Agust D series with a wrenching new album and revelatory documentarywww.rollingstone.com

https://www.marieclairekorea.com/2016/08/celebrity/%EA%BF%88%EA%BE%B8%EB%8A%94-%EC%8A%88%EA%B0%80/

[embed]Suga of BTS: "You have to find what makes you happy, what brings you joy" South Korean musician and BTS rapper Suga talks to NME about his Agust D alter-ego and the importance of living in the…www.nme.com

[embed]SUGA IS A VOICE OF AUTHENTICITY IN A SUPERFICIAL WORLD VOGUE JAPAN's first ever solo male cover star SUGA opens up about mindfulness, procrastination, and how his…www.vogue.co.jp