SUGA wraps up his Agust D trilogy with balanced bangers, thoughtful lyrics, and striking symbolisms found in the D-Day album
Today, music has established its impact on the mind and memory. When one creates music or simply listens to it, the way the brain reacts with a beat or strum can say a lot about you as an individual. This is something BTS has always understood with their meaningful music. But this time around, SUGA takes the connection of music and the mind with much more gravity in his persona Agust D and album D-Day.
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Keeping memory of movement
Emphasizing on what it takes to free the forbidden in the mind, Suga invites his listeners to think about the double-edged sword of information and liberation with “Haegeum.” In its literal essence, a haegeum is a traditional Korean instrument made of different materials. This oneness formed by a variety of elements is echoed in the song and music video. As a producer, Suga married hints of folk tunes with trap beats, interpreting the actual haegeum’s characteristics of a hybrid of a string and wind instrument.
Maintaining the flavor of the first two albums, both the track and MV remain to be a commentary on capitalism’s modern form of slavery. However, when he says, “This song’s a haegeum,” it acts as an invitation for a new tradition wherein there is consciousness into our ways of consumption, especially with information.
Moving forward through memory
There is a famous saying that goes, “Begin with the end in mind.” Suga follows this rule but leaves room for breaking it, too, in the second MV for the album. With “AMYGDALA,” he ends with his beginning in mind. Singing an ode to the brain’s almond-like parts responsible for interpreting emotion and determining the best option between fight or flight response, the rapper explores his past, which involved his motorcycle accident, as well as his parents’ health troubles before his debut.
With his move of bringing in his memories to his artistry, the rapper finds a way to take charge of them. “This is actually a very important process,” he said in Suga: Road To D-Day, the documentary that shows his making of the album. “It’s part of the treatment to bring back bad memories from your past and learn to control [them.]”
There is always room for ambiguity and interpretation in Yoongi’s thought-provoking art, and “AMYGDALA” poses this array of meanings to the song and music video. While it serves as a cry to numb himself from suffering, it is also an affirmation that the rapper’s amygdala works enough to process his emotions. More so, to respond by wanting to escape from the influx of pain and doubt of decision-making with survival in the line.
Forwarding a moving memory
Overall, the 10-track album features songs that still exude Suga’s passionate flow, but this time with a newfound perception of clarity, control, and courage. Listening to D-Day in chronological order depicts the progression of the album from remains of angst to reminders of hope. From “D-Day” to “HUH?!” that also features the heightened energy of fellow BTS member J-Hope, the hard-hitting hip-hop beats are still present. “AMYGDALA” is track four, the perfect buffer dividing two parts of the album.
To ARMYs and fans of Agust D, Suga spewing facts as his persona is nothing new. In fact, he has been lauded for his literal and figurative force in rapping. But on D-Day, we are also reminded that while SUGA exists, there is a Min Yoongi ready to snooze from his fast flow, offer you a lending hand through his music, and remind you that after everything, “Life Goes On.”
Photos and Featured Image: SUGA (via Instagram)
