D-Day is the debut studio album by South Korean rapper Agust D, also known as Suga of BTS. It was released on April 21, 2023, through Big Hit Music, as the third installment in a trilogy of works that includes the mixtapes Agust D (2016) and D-2 (2020). Comprising 10 tracks, the album features appearances by BTS bandmate J-Hope, IU, Ryuichi Sakamoto, and Woosung of the Rose.[3][4] Two singles were released in promotion of the project: "People Pt. 2" featuring IU on April 7,[5] and "Haegeum", which premiered alongside the album.[6] Music videos accompanied both singles, with a third released for the track "Amygdala" on April 24.
The titular opening track "D-Day" features "distorted guitar instrumentals" that "build up for a few seconds before launching straight into an intense trap flow."[2] In English, Agust D raps the lyrics "Future's gonna be OK / OK, OK, look at the mirror and I see no pain" followed by "D-Day is coming, it's a fucking good day" in an "almost joyous" manner, "as if this feeling of contentedness is a revelation".[1] He then expresses "a whirlwind of thoughts" that include "not wanting to be tied down to his past", reflected in lines such as "In a world full of hate / Hatе is even more unnecessary / Lotus flowers bloom brilliantly even in mud" and "Don't regret the past, don't be afraid of the future / I hope you can avoid getting hit and hurt enough."[2]
BTS bandmate J-Hope appears on the third track "Huh?!", a collaborative song that carries over some of the subject matter of "Haegeum". It opens with Agust D angrily rapping in part "What the shit do you know about me? Fuck that shit you think you know 'bout me". Built on a "shadowy drill foundation", both rappers trade verses calling out the spread of misconceptions and misinformation, particularly in regard to themselves, online and in the media ("Millions of news coverage and gossip, the villain in this age of information"). J-Hope's verse is performed with his voice dropped into a "menacing near-whisper", offering an aural contrast to the more "urgent delivery" of his counterpart. The opening refrain is repeated throughout the song's progression and again at its end.[1]
Agust D showcases his vocal abilities on the fourth track "Amygdala", a "guitar-laden, harmony-rich" song whose lyrics recall various painful moments throughout his lifetime, such as his mother's heart surgery, a hospital visit after his birth, an accident during his teenage years that resulted in a shoulder injury,[1] and his father's eventual diagnosis with liver cancer.[9] He sings, "Those things I never asked for / Those things that are out of my hands / Imma put it back"[9] and pleads in a "raw and raspy" voice with his amygdala, the brain's trauma processing center, to "Please rescue me, please rescue me / My amygdala / Please pull me up, please pull me up". Layers of Auto-Tune over the track's "murky rock riffs and clipping beats" serve to enhance "the cracks of emotion."[1] After questioning the purpose of his past suffering, the rapper concludes, "What didn't kill me only made me stronger / I'm blooming like a lotus flower now", suggesting that his trauma led "to a more resilient rebirth"[1] and emphasizing the album's underlying "connecting thread", the "idea of pushing forward through the difficult moments". "Amygdala" serves as a "transitional point" on the album, as softer, brighter[7] tracks follow.[9]
The album's fifth track, "SDL", features guitar and "snatches of organ" in its instrumentation. Agust D questions "whether nostalgia for lost love can be confused with love itself". Rolling Stone's Maura Johnston described the song as a "smooth groove" with "a contemplative edge".[7]
D-Day received critical acclaim upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 89 based on four reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[10]
According to the Hanteo Chart, D-Day sold 1,072,311 copies[a] worldwide on its first day,[12] surpassing the record previously set by Jimin of BTS, who sold 1,021,532 copies[b] of his debut solo album Face on its release day in March.[13] Agust D became the second Korean solo artist in Hanteo Chart history, after Jimin,[14] to surpass one million first day sales.
In Japan, the album debuted at number one on the daily Oricon Albums Chart, with 111,621 copies sold on April 21, 2023.[15] Eight of the album's tracks debuted in the top 20 of the corresponding daily issue of the Digital Singles Chart: "Haegeum" at number three with 3,524 sales;[16] "Snooze" at number 13; "Huh?!" at number 14; "D-Day" at number 15; "Life Goes On" at number 17; "Amygdala" at number 18; "SDL" at number 19; and "Polar Night" at number 20.[17]
In October 2023, D-Day received a nomination for Album of the Year at the MAMA Awards while "People Pt. 2" was nominated in the Best Rap & Hip Hop Performance and Song of the Year categories.[19] In November, it was nominated for the Million Top 10 award at the Melon Music Awards.[20] The following month, D-Day was nominated in the Album division at the 38th Golden Disc Awards.[21]
Continuing to listen to the album, in terms of meaning, the two songs that stick out to me from this album are AMYGDALA and People Pt. 2. These songs are quite reflective, containing somber lyrics that change the tone that the album had first started off with.
The newest mixtape by Min Yoongi under the alias of AGUST D was released Friday, April 21. D-DAY has only 9 songs going a little over 30 minutes. Since all of the songs are in Korean, each track will be linked to its own translation. This will be a 1-10 reviewing template, 1 being the worse, and 10 being the best.
The upbeat tempo and the smooth delivery of the lyrics make this song worthwhile. He questions what makes someone miss a relationship. The happy memories that they want more of, or the other person in the relationship?
Anybody who has seen Min Yoongi talk about his music writing and production process can see he can be self-effacing and heavily technical, his knowledge of song construction built over 17 years of work in the industry. This would be impressive on its own, but what makes it more admirable is that behind that knowledge and technique is a deeply human musician who uses every skill and sounds at his disposal to write songs that are always emotionally resonant and musically accessible.
The song features an evocative piano sample by Sakamoto over which Yoongi builds a hypnotic beat to lay out some of his most affecting lyrics. In numerous interviews and features about the album, Min Yoongi has explained that he wrote this song thinking of the young artists and musicians making their way in the music industry today to offer them the solace and support he himself did not receive in his early days as an idol and musician.
In the first track, D-Day, Agust D talks about freeing himself from the pain that he identified with and carried for so long, so much so that both of his earlier mixtapes centered on those themes.
He then sang the song during 28 fully sold-out concerts all over the world, which went on to set the record for the highest-grossing concerts by a Korean soloist in US history. He also became the first rapper to generate about $3 million from a single arena concert in the US.
The song talks about and visually highlights (through the music video) how excruciatingly painful it can be to constantly replay and remain trapped in the worst moments of your life. It shows how futile it is to try to escape your pain and how the only way to truly free yourself is to actually deal with it.
He flips the perspective in the next track, Polar Night, focusing on the complexity of the society and the problematic systems running it. Can you really be free in an unjust, hypocritical, and dog-eat-dog world?
The instrumental interlude leads nicely into the next track, Snooze, which features music from the renowned Japanese composer and pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto, who inspired Yoongi to start making music as a kid.
He revisits all the themes, talking about his fear, being abandoned/separated, changing times and people, memories, and his 10-year career in the industry. He ties it all together with a simple message: things happen, life goes on.
As soon as I had shown an interest in singing and dancing I was put into a local dance school where it became quite clear that I loved the Performing Arts. I trained at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester for three years and gained a BA (Hons) in Musical Theatre. I then began a career in the events industry whilst still performing for various different projects.
When I was performing for a company in 2014 I met Emily Jane who introduced me to the D-Day Darlings. It was then in 2015 that I auditioned and became a part of this amazing team. I am so grateful! Singing some of the most amazing songs from my favourite era is only a small factor of being a D-Day Darling. The fashion, music, history and remembrance of the era are fascinating!
Being a D-Day Darling means so much to me, I love singing with such amazing women, we are all very close and get to share incredible experiences but above all I am proud! Keeping the wartime spirit alive and raising morale for veterans past and present is an experience that I will always cherish. The emotion and memories that the music evokes is so special, from young to old, the music means something to everybody and we hope to keep this spirit alive in the new generation.
My family connections to the war come from my Great Great Grandfather, Private Leonard Lesley Hardy who served for our Country in WW1. He sadly lost his life in battle in 1916 at the age of 30 and is buried on the Somme. Leonard left his family of 3 children behind, the youngest being a baby in arms.
There have been so many highlights performing with the D-Day Darlings; celebrating 100th Birthdays, performing in the Isle of Man and singing for our Forces at RBL events. My proudest moment as a D-Day Darling so far has to be singing for Veterans in Normandy. We met some of the most incredible men and women who served for our country in WW2. Their stories are the kind that you only seem to find in books! Their spirit and gratitude was so moving, it was an experience that I will never forget. Seeing the memories that we bring back and the atmosphere that we create is very rewarding.
795a8134c1