For greater than a decade, Suga has had the world’s eyes upon him: As a member of BTS, the MC-singer-producer lives on the epicenter of a pop frenzy. Since 2016, although, he’s been testing his creative boundaries with releases underneath the title Agust D — “Suga” spelled backward, with the letters “D” and “T” added to honor his birthplace of Daegu, South Korea. On these tracks, he muses on the fashionable age and flaunts his appreciation of pop and hip-hop from the previous.
D-DAY, the third Agust D launch, follows his self-titled 2016 mixtape and 2020’s D-2; the primary to be labeled as a correct album, D-DAY is a decent 10-track assortment that lyrically and musically probes the idea of freedom — what it means, whether or not it’s a blessing or a curse. Take the double-entendre title of the thundering “Haegeum,” which wraps round a drone from the two-stringed conventional Korean instrument of the identical title. “Haegeum” additionally might be translated as “liberation,” and Agust D unpacks that concept in knotty, spat-out rhymes that take purpose at conformity, the trimmings of “success,” and knowledge overload.
The darkly hued aesthetics of trap-pop and emo-rap energy cuts just like the collab with fellow BTS member j-hope, “HUH?!,” and the cavernous “AMYGDALA.” The smoldering “Snooze” has a easy but affecting piano line by the late Ryuichi Sakamoto at its coronary heart, and the distinction of Agust D’s depth with the soothing refrain intoned by WOOSUNG offers it further gravity whereas recalling the extra white-knuckle moments of Linkin Park’s discography.
Even the brighter tracks have a contemplative edge. “SDL” is a sun-dappled Tune of the Summer season candidate, its guitar filigrees and snatches of organ evoking lengthy days with not quite a bit on the agenda. However the lyrics query whether or not nostalgia for misplaced love might be confused with love itself, summoning a darkish but figuring out specter. It’s adopted by “Folks (Pt. 2),” a sequel to a track on D-2. The place the unique used skip-step entice snares and chimes to border Agust D’s ruminations on life’s temporality, its second chapter recollects heart-eyed early-2000s hip-pop, even when the sauntering beat drops out on its refrain. The lyrics get equally existential (“What’s it about loss that makes us so unhappy?/Actually, it’s the dread that makes us so unhappy,” he notes at one level), however the winsome counterpoint vocals of fellow Ok-pop star IU leaven the temper.
D-DAY closes with “Life Goes On,” which places Suga’s spin on BTS’ breezy 2020 smash of the identical title. It has a grittier, extra pensive vibe than its supply materials, though the best way it ends — with strummed guitars and deliberate piano chords being swept right into a stardust cloud of synths — hints at a greater future, or no less than one the place life’s large questions loom rather less ominously.
