Agust D aka Suga of BTS has dropped his highly anticipated mixtape, D-2. The 10-track album was released on all major music platforms in the early hours of May 22, 2020 in the US and at 6pm in South Korea. Despite the album also being released on SoundCloud for free, D-2 quickly went to number one on US iTunes, and 9 out of 10 songs are in the top 10 singles chart on US iTunes (the 10th song is number 11 on the chart as I write this up).
Along with the drop of D-2, Agust D released a music video of the song “Daechwita” and observant BTS fans were quick to spot other members of the group throughout the video. The “Daechwita” music video, which is set during the Joseon dynasty, rose to the #3 spot among trending videos on YouTube and racked up 12+ million views within hours of its unveiling.
During his interview with Time, Suga talked about sampling the sounds of a real “Daechwita” – particularly the part during the ceremonial walk of the King. “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,” explained Suga in the Time interview.
Suga also spoke with Billboard to promote the mixtape. Asked what inspired him musically, Suga said, “The answer to this question is always the same: every moment and every incident. It’s a habit of mine to record and take notes, so sometimes, I get a pleasant surprise when I dig through and rediscover lyrics. Some of the lyrics I scribble without thought have, at times, become real precious.”
Among the artists featured on the surprise release are BTS bandmate RM on “Strange,” Korean artist Niihwa on “28,” American artist MAX on “Burn It,” and Kim Jong Wan of NELL on “Dear My Friend.”
D-2 Track List:
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Moonlight
Daechwita
What Do You Think?
Strange Ft. RM
28 ft. NiiHWA
Burn It ft. MAX
People
Honsool
Interlude: Set me Free
Dear My Friend ft. Kim Jong Wan of NELL.
D-2 arrives after a nearly four-year wait between it and his first self-titled mixtape, Agust D.
For those new to BTS, the group consists of seven members: four vocalists and three rappers. The three rappers – RM, Suga, and J-Hope – have all released mixtapes. In 2015, the group’s leader, RM, released his mixtape for free. In March 2018, J-hope released his mixtape Hope World which led him to become the Korean soloist to chart the highest on Billboard 200 at number 38. Later in 2018, RM released his second mixtape, Mono, which went number one on iTunes in 91 countries around the world, breaking BTS’s previous record. RM also charted high on the Billboard 200, debuting at number 26 and taking over the top spot as the Korean soloist to reach the highest spot on that chart.
All four mixtapes were released for free on SoundCloud.
