Agust D, or BTS’ Suga has blessed this day with his surprise release of ‘D-2’. The accidental release of the new artist picture on Apple music had ARMY shook and we were having a new ArmyGoingToJailParty because everyone spontaneously changed their profile pic to the new Agust D picture. It was hilarious. Then we got the Weverse notification of a new music video and BAM! ARMY was dead.
Let’s dive in though, because I’m HYPED.
D-2
The first track is of ‘D-2’ by Agust D is ‘Moonlight’. The lyrics all talk about a battle with himself, with his anger, his laziness, his writer’s block. The track itself starts with old school vinyl scratches and I love that. Is an Agust D EP ever complete without some of his laughter at least once? I like the vibe of this track so much! The vibe kind of reminds me a little of ‘Seesaw’.
Next up is the title track ‘Daechwita’.
First of all, the music video is AMAZING. It’s like the Joseon era Agust D met up with current time Agust D and they’re having a stand-off. It’s iconic, epic and I’m in love with the Jin/Jungkook cameo at 0:58. The term ‘daechwita’ is a music style that is played during military marches. You can read more about it here, that also explains the traditional Korean instruments you hear in the instrumentation. The rap itself is fire and it goes hard with that rawness that we’ve come to expect with an Agust D release.
‘What do you think?’ is next. It’s a raw clapback to the haters, talking about how his success is not the reason for your failure. I really like the beat and how Agust D echoes himself in the chorus. The line ‘The ten zeros in my bank account, that money is the collateral for my youth’ kind of feels bittersweet. You can read the full translation here.
Features
After that we get the first collab of ‘D-2’, ‘Strange’ features our very own RM. It opens with a beautiful piano melody. Then we get Yoongi with heavy autotune going off. When RM starts his verse with his line ‘You think you got taste, how do you know’ I’m pretty sure I died for a second. Two brilliant minds together, how could it be anything other than A+.
‘28’ is his collab with NiiHWA, who you might know from his presence on the survival show ‘Signhere’. It’s a lot slower than the previous tracks. I feel like it’s also more introspective. He talks about his anxiety and growing older and feeling like nothing has changed. It’s absolutely brilliant. ‘28’ is the shortest track on the album, clocking in at just over two minutes.
So the next collab didn’t really come as a surprise. MAX is featured on the song ‘Burn it’. And we were all expecting it, since they released this tweet in January, though I had no idea it would be for his solo album. Regardless, it’s awesome. The electric guitar is so cool and it brings some weight to the instrumentation. MAX singing in the chorus is a blessing to the ears and it’s just such a great collaboration, you guys.
‘People’ starts off with some really nice instrumentals and then flows smoothly with Agust D’s rap. I’m pretty sure that’s Adora backing him up, like she did in ‘Seesaw’. It feels quite mellow, more relaxed with a crazy nice chorus.
Next up
Next up is ‘Honsool’ and dear God, this is definitely one of my personal favorites. The echoey intro with the heavy ass voice literally gave me a full body shiver and I didn’t know what was happening. ‘Honsool’ means ‘drinking alone’ and honestly, quarantine has me putting a mirror up, because yes I have been drinking alone. It kind of sounds like Jimin is singing in the background, but I can’t verify that. Jimin isn’t mentioned on the credit list of the track. You can find the lyrics here.
The ninth track is the ‘Interlude : Set me free’ and we get Yoongi showing his singing skills. Honestly I’m so glad this track is on the album, because I LOVE it. The electric guitar with the little birds chirping and the singing is just such a wholesome balance. It’s very reminiscent of his first solo EP. You can find the lyrics here.
‘Dear my friend’ is the last track and features Kim Jong Wan of the band NELL. What an amazing way to close off ‘D-2’. The lyrics kind of break my heart, but it’s an absolutely beautiful song. Bittersweet is all I can call it. It’s loving and hating and missing and resenting someone all at the same time. Kim Jong Wan never really disappoint and if you don’t know the band NELL, please go check them out. They’re great! NELL was also featured on ‘everythinggoes’ on RM’s solo EP ‘Mono.’.
Overall
ARMY has waited quite a long time for ‘D-2’ by Agust D but it was so worth the wait. It literally ticked every box and more. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to have a streaming party.
Listen to the album here on Spotify.
