Is this the return of cult leader Yoongi? BTS member Suga (real name Min Yoongi) just dropped a new mixtape under his Agust D alias, called D-2, plus, a music video for the track “Daechwita,†a reference to the genre of Korean military music. In “Daechwita,†Suga and his gang turn a Korean village into their playground as he plots to take down the tyrannical king, whom he also plays. “The theme ‘Daechwita’ was already on my mind when I first started working on this track, so I sampled the sound of a real ‘Daechwita,’†he told Time magazine. “The first thought I had was that I wanted to sample the music that is played during the ceremonial walk of the King, so naturally, Korean elements ended up being an essential component to the track as well as the music video.†While Suga handles this song on his own, the music video does feature two very familiar merchants, played by Jin and Jungkook.
D-2 comes after a week of cryptic teasers were shared on social media, confusing fans to no end — at one point, they had to cancel themselves for getting too eager. But the surprise release was worth it. The ten-track mixtape has four collaborations, “Dear my friend†with Kim Jong-Wan of NELL, “Burn It†with MAX, “28†with NiiWHA, and “Strange†with bandmate RM. Suga took on the Agust D persona in 2016, shortly before the release of his first, self-titled solo mixtape. Originally uploaded to SoundCloud with no promotion, the mixtape was re-released on streaming services in 2018. Elsewhere, Suga hopped on Halsey’s most recent album, Manic, on “Suga’s Interlude.†BTS was supposed to be on their worldwide Map of the Soul: 7 tour right about now, but the coronavirus pandemic forced them to cancel all 2020 dates. Don’t worry, Army, Suga’s got you covered.
*This post has been corrected to include all four featured artists.