To cope with loneliness and artistic recognition, BTS’ Suga returns as Agust D – Billboard

Most famously, Suga from BTS – but under the moniker August D as well as his birth name Min Yoongi – wants to remind his audience of the artist who works as a rapper, singer, producer, dancer, fashion muse and NBA ambassador. Above all, he is human.

Today, April 7, marks the return of Agust D, who will be using Suga to release solo projects away from BTS, with his new single “People Pt.2” featuring K-pop superstar IU. It doesn’t just feature the duo’s latest collaboration after hitting No.1. Billboard“Eight” tops the World Digital Song Sales Chart as of May 2020, and also acts as an extension of “People,” a fan-favorite cut from August D’s. D-2 The mixtape was released that same month. While the first “People” saw Suga reflect on himself and how others judge and change him, Episode 2 misses his interactions with others.

While the world of Suga is multifaceted, loneliness is a constant source of inspiration and fascination for the 30-year-old. Hours before “People Pt.2” dropped around the world, his call Billboard It happens together with several international teams who work round the clock for Suga and Bijit music artists. Some are physically by his side, others are through amplified communication – but solitude remains a star-studded musician, helping him find his inner self and speak to listeners in bigger and more universal ways.

Since its inception, BTS’s musical appeal has reached a global level, translating into possible storytelling with the septet’s extended styles and images, boundary-pushing compositions and choreography. Suga’s material is extensive, having produced on basically every BTS album, not to mention high-profile collaborations with everyone from Halsey and Juice WRLD to Epik High and Japan’s ØMI. But now he’s focusing on topics that move him personally — and he’s making sure he feels right.

Despite already having a packed spring and summer of album promotions, a solo world tour, an ambassadorship, and a YouTube series, Suga cheekily shuts down our conversation because he has no time to waste. Read on for the release of “People Pt.2” and his rundown of everything that went into this dazzling pop/hip-hop collaboration.

We are hours away from the release of “People Pt.2” for your official comeback as Agust D D-day album. Is there a different mindset when you produce music like Agust D solo or like SUGA with BTS?

Suga: They are all music composed by a man named Min Yoongi. So, I don’t have a specific opinion for each moniker – but I will say that the purposes may differ somewhat. Ultimately, the goal of releasing this music is for as many people as possible to listen to my music. Therefore, “Pople Pt.2” was to make people think about how they would receive Agust D’s music, which is why we featured IU. It’s kind of an experiment to release this music under the name of August D. I’m actually a little nervous.

“People Pt.2” (featuring IU) is actually “People” from D-2 Mix. What was important to continue this story with IU?

This is a story you personally love: The title wasn’t originally “People Pt.2”. Actually, “people” from D-2 It’s my personal favorite song – and we worked on “People Pt.2” three years ago. When I leave my painting [Photo-Folio Wholly or Whole Me] Photo shoot, the company has really explained the instructions [demo] version and gave it to the public. But anyway, while we were working, it was already over D-2 So I was thinking, “Oh, I’ve got to solve this, I’ve got to solve this.” But we had to go with “Butter” and “Dynamite” to avoid the chance.

At first the title was “”.Sarah” without the “M (ㅁ)” consonant in Korean — because that means, one consonant is shorter than the word “ㅁ”.Saram ()”, which is Korean for “people”. Sarah (사라) can be either “Saram (사람)” or “people” depending on the consonant you put at the end of the word. “Sarang Da.” Or “love” in Korean. Therefore, it is the listener’s choice which consonant to put at the end of “Sara” (사라). But I had my friend listen to this kid and people heard him say, “salah (salah)” which kind of means “live” in Korean and I was like “this doesn’t work”. So, we have finally finished the title “People”.

And some people call me August D, some people call me. ah-gust D, but I’m actually August D. So, you know, people take my name differently and we had to match the person SUGA and Agust D. This is a similar song. We wanted that bridge and synchronization between my mix and this official solo album. To put that sync together, I had to make this really pop song. We didn’t try to make the music video that strong – and in that sense, IU played a big role in doing that. I also think this is a genre I can do better, this pop-oriented song.

There is this similarity between the songs, but the theme and the lyrics are very different, right? “People” was about self-reflection and examining other people’s judgments, but “People Pt.2” seems to be more about relationships and fighting loneliness. What separates the two in your mind?

In the past – and I’ve always said this in my interviews – personally, I think loneliness is coexistence in modern society. I always talk about loneliness in my interviews, but unfortunately, not always in the final interview. Not just me, but everyone has this loneliness inside of them until the day they die. No matter how deep you are in a relationship, no matter how often you meet other people, how many friends you meet, or how often you see your family, you will always be lonely inside.

So, I started with this “loneliness” keyword three years ago, and I wouldn’t say there’s much difference because everyone can feel pain and suffering. It’s the same with me. Whether I’m from BTS, SUGA, Min Yoongi, or Agust D, I always have it in me. People may see me as someone who doesn’t feel any stress or anxiety or feel any pain, but I feel those emotions too. I’m trying to find a way to fight those and overcome those.

This album doesn’t quite wrap up everything in its message. So, there might be a possibility of a “part 3” later on. For now, we are trying to say, “Let us not hate one another.” Let’s find a way.

I like it – because even in The road to D-Day Documentary, there are times when you have to think twice about quitting music. But when people get together, you can do it and have fun. Is this related to the themes of “People Pt.2”?

This is a difficult topic since I started making music and writing lyrics. [when] I was 11 or 12 years old. I have been making music for all these years, and now I am 30 years old. Writing “People Pt.2” and the album as a whole wasn’t easy, but people don’t really know the whole process of that. Even though I’ve been making music for more than half of my life – and you understand this, Jeff – when we first started in the K-pop scene, we were in this ambiguous position of not being accepted. It will not be accepted as musicians and idols. But the musicians who approach me know that I am very serious and sincere about my music and that I am a very natural person.

And the documentary started because I wanted to capture and show this process. It started with the intention of featuring Sugan as a producer and singer, but he has also given the world view of the process of making an album. I tried to show my normal, individual side as much as possible, but like I’m a Korean idol, or a K-Idol, many scenes were edited out; There were those nature scenes and some really cool scenes that you couldn’t do in the final version. The documentary and “People Pt.2” try to show Min Yoongi’s natural side. I want to show that I am this humane person. I am human.

You should release your “Director’s Cut” someday. While D-day And the documentary is coming, I want to congratulate you for its international release D-2 And August D this week. My favorite song “Agust D” with the sample “Man’s Man’s World” was finally streamed. J. Cole shared how he approved the sample for BTS’s “Born a Singer,” what can you share about the process from the James Brown estate?

I was released August D When I was a little kid, when I listen to it now, it seems immature – if you listen to the sound, rap itself wasn’t organized, I wanted to do a lot of things at that time. . It just kind of goes on very tightly and quickly. But after doing a lot of different and varied music, I think people like the songs that were released more recently than the songs that were released at that time. So I dare say people are starting to recognize and recognize these songs now. The musician has indeed passed away, I think it was his family who decided to acknowledge that.

Same thing with [clearing] “Born Sinner” – and I don’t know what the path was for the musician himself, but it was clear. And I take it as recognized as a musician like BTS, and Min Yoongi, and SUGA, and August D. I don’t think many users or audiences will accept it, because it’s not really popular music. However, I would venture to guess that it is clearing up as we are finally being recognized as musicians.