“You become an adult the moment you stop dreaming.” We know that SUGA had to grow up quicker than the other members of BTS. Given that his parents didn’t support his choice to pursue a music career, he was largely providing for himself before he had even left Daegu to come to Seoul—before he was even out of high school. This is a mindset that never really left SUGA, even long after BTS debuted and started to become successful. By the time the Pandemic hit and he released D-2 in 2020, SUGA (both in his solo music and with BTS) had done what he needed to do to get where he suddenly found himself—reaching new heights of fame and celebrity. And he found himself no longer dreaming. In 2021 he began working on his next solo project. His youth was behind him, how would he navigate creativity in his thirties? He realized he’d need to leave the past behind, but how? How could he acknowledge the loss of his youthful outlook, and still embrace himself with grace and acceptance in the now? The answer was simple enough—he would need to take a long look in the mirror at his scars, and then say… “D-Day’s coming, it’s a fucking good day…”

The four years between 2016 and 2020 were full of huge successes and massive change for BTS. They began making a name for themselves outside of South Korea—winning at American award shows and climbing the Billboard charts. Their schedule was brutal, constant recording and travel around the globe with little to no rest was fruitful for their career, but at what cost? Burnout became the elephant in the room, and, in 2018, the members of BTS almost called it quits. They worked it out—along with a delicate contract renegotiation—and came out stronger on the other side. Throughout it all, SUGA continued to write music, recording the ways in which he felt himself changing alongside the group. On May 22, 2020, AGUST D dropped D-2, his second mixtape. The main theme of the album is feeling stuck while trying to explore one’s own humanity. Though it was written before, it felt relevant to present times, as the entire world was experiencing its own sense of arrested development in the face of a global pandemic.

Have you ever met someone who you felt seemed particularly meant to live the life they were living? When we talk about our “seven normal boys from Korea” we often throw around words like “fate” and “destiny”, because it truly feels like there was some sort of grand cosmic plan to bring them together into one group. But there is, perhaps, one member of BTS who seems more intrinsically bound to the creation of music than any of the others. One whose origins were ill-suited to provide support for seeking a career in entertainment, but whose determination and drive also made it impossible for him to pursue anything else. And with a name that literally translates to “gloss” or “shine”, he was clearly pre-destined for greatness. Over the next few weeks, we’ll explore the rise of Min Yoongi… from “Gloss” of D-Town to SUGA of BTS to solo rapper AGUST D. We’ll see how a fierce determination to prove his worth led him to make unlikely choices that could have blown up in his face, but ultimately instead helped him discover his dreams, and face his demons.