SUGA : The genius composer of BTS

It is on this 9th of March that MIN YOONGI, or SUGA from BTS, celebrates his anniversary. Born in 1993 in the city of Daegu, let’s go back on his journey!

Suga - BTS — Suga (BTS) with his older brother, Min Geumjae on the right.

Who is he?

Rapper, lyricist, composer, producer, musical arranger and musician in today’s most famous boysband on the planet, MIN YOONGI (민윤기 – 閔玧其 – ‘ユ’), also known by the pseudonyms SUGA (슈가 – ガ), AGUST D and GLOSS, has had a very modest career. He attended Taejeon Primary School and Gwaneum College in the city of Daegu, and comes from a low-class social family. It was in 2006, at the age of thirteen, that the teenager discovered a passion for music, through his interest in bands like Stony Skunk and Epik High. From then on, he made a promise to do everything possible to make his passion a dream come true, and decided to try his luck in the underground hip-hop scene by joining the band D-TOWN in 2010. He then adopted the nickname GLOSS, in reference to his first name YOONGI translated as such into English. He is, among other things, the lyricist and producer of this group, and one of their best known titles is “518-062” which deals with the uprising of the city of Gwangju, with its heavy historical past. That same year, he began working in a recording studio, and played regular basketball in his school’s team.

(unofficial video)

On the personality side, MIN YOONGI has an INTP profile, which designate introverted people, whose intuition and perception are more developed than normal, and wo are thinking a lot. With a rational, logical and frank temperament, he is a hard worker in the various tasks he undertakes. If he hadn’t joined BTS, he would have turned to careers such as a basketball player, DJ, firefighter, architect or music teacher. Fate have had decided otherwise when he showed up for an audition for BIG HIT ENTERTAINMENT. The rules of the audition were simple: rap on a rhythm imposed by the agency. But the young boy took the initiative to rearrange the track to make it in his image, which succeeded him because the agency integrated him the next day in its training. He then moved to Seoul, and joined Apgujeong High School, and began his new life.

(unofficial video)

After three years as an trainee, YOONGI made his debut with BTS on June 13, 2013, under the stage name SUGA. This name was not chosen at random, as it has two meanings. The first is that it comes from the term “shooting guard” (슈팅 가드), representing the role he played in his basketball team. The second was chosen by the agency’s CEO, Bang Sihyuk, by linking it to the term “sugar“. Later, when he began a solo career, he adopted the name AGUST D, as a return to his roots. This name reads backwards, with TD referring to the city of Daegu and its first group, D-TOWN, and AGUS for SUGA.

“I got the stage name SUGA because my skin is pale, I’m cute when I smile, and I’m of a gentle temperament.” – SUGA

His prestigious career

Soon after his debut, SUGA established itself in the Korean rap world with its powerful lyrics. He currently has recorded more than 100 songs, self credited at the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA), and works continuously for BTS, his career as AGUST D, or for other artists. His musical inspirations come from artists such as Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Lil Wayne or Hit Boy, and the youngster never loses a second to compose. Light on his productions!

In the various BTS albums, there are five songs performed entirely by SUGA. The first, “Intro: The most beautiful moment in life“, was released on the occasion of the group’s comeback with the eponymous album, Part 1, in 2015. It was an opportunity for him to address his fear of becoming an adult, and thus to leave the carefree world of childhood. The same year, for part 2 of the album, he offered us the title “Intro: Never mind” where he returned with more details about his adolescence. In 2016, it was the autobiographical song “First love” that we discovered on the album “WINGS“, and two years later “Trivia 轉: Seesaw” on the album “LOVE YOURSELF: ANSWER“, which tells the story of the ups and downs you feel when you fall in love with someone.

Finally, the title that attracted the most attention is “Interlude: Shadow“, released in 2020 as part of the album “MAP OF THE SOUL: 7“. The MV, which has racked up nearly a hundred million views, talks about the popularity of the band and the artist, and the weight of fame. Billboard’s Tamar Herman will say that this song represents the dichotomy between a celebrity’s relationship with his audience, and how it affects his perception of himself.

The young man’s motto is “Let’s live while having fun. Making music as a hobby and for work is different.”, and it is an affirmation that is well felt when comparing one’s work as SUGA and AGUST D. On August 15, 2016, he unveiled his very first mixtape bearing his name, “AGUST D“. Carried by the videos “Agust D” and “Give it to me“, the themes were powerful because it directly addressed his depression, a rarity for an idol. He talked about his problems of self-esteem, obsessive-compulsive disorder and social phobia. It currently is ranked in the Top 20 best mixtapes by Fuse TV. In February 2018, he reposted it to make it available for digital purchase, and thus entered the Billboard’s World Albums chart at number 3. He also finished 5th in the Heatseekers Albums chart, 46th in the Emerging Artist and 74th in the Top Album Sales.

Last year, on May 22, 2020, he unveiled his second mixtape, “D-2“, with the title “Daechwita” which draws its sources from the history of Korea. Highly anticipated by fans of the artist, the mixtape ranked 7th in the charts in Great Britain, 11th in the Billboard Top 200 – the highest album in the American charts by a Korean soloist – and 76th in the US Billboard Hot 100. His career as a solo rapper having nothing to envy to that which he has as SUGA, he thus creates the tracks of his wish, not being constrained by his work environment.

Punctually, SUGA has been working with other artists since 2017. He began composing the song “Wine” for singer Suran, who reached second place in the Gaon digital chart. It was not until 2019 that Lee Sora’s “Song request” was released, where he lent his rap to the title after composing it. Again, the charts were excellent, as the song was second on Billboard’s World Digital Songs chart, and 3rd on Gaon Digital. He continued his collaborations with Epik High’s “Eternal Sunshine” which he produced. “We don’t talk together” by Heize that he composed and produced. “SUGA’s interlude” by the American singer Halsey – who collaborated with BTS on the track “Boy’s in luv” – which he produced, and where he rapped. And finally with the title “Blueberry eyes” of the American singer MAX – who participated in one of his mixtape – where again, he lended his voice, in 2020. His most acclaimed production, to this day, is IU’s “Eight” which topped the Gaon digital chart and Billboard’s World Digital Songs last year. He also has received awards for this collaboration.

MIN YOONGI’s solo career has won several awards over the years. First, he won the award for Best R-B Song of the Year and the Hot Trend at the Melon Music Awards in 2017 for the title “Wine“. In 2019, at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, he won two awards for best collaboration with “Song request” and “Eight“. With this last song, he continued to string successes since 2020, again at the Melon Music Awards, where he won an award for best rock song, and then for artist of the year for a digital song at the Gaon Chart Music Awards, which took place on January 13, 2021. The young man has proven to his fans that, whatever name he adopts, his compositions are always successful, and that he is a multi-talented artist.

“After we started, I went back to the dorm, and I sat with a stare. I could not believe that a child from a poor family in Daegu was capable of doing that.” – SUGA

Human being, before being an artist

Today, BTS is an undeniably successful group all over the world, but on multiple occasions, each member has proven to us that, deep down, they are nothing but young adults like others. Focus on YOONGI, and what defines him on a daily basis!

He is known to be one of the frailest health members in the group. In December 2013, as BTS prepared to participate in end-of-year ceremonies, the young man underwent emergency surgery for appendicitis. Unfortunately, a post-operative infection would stop his activities for a month, before being able to return to the stage. Then, in 2016, he opened his ear and again was unable to participate in the December ceremonies. His most serious injury, however, was his shoulder. When he was still a trainee for the agency, he worked as a delivery driver so he could pay for his studies in Seoul. There, he had a scooter accident and it was only in November 2020, more than eight years after his accident, that he had surgery on his shoulder for a tear in the labrum that never fully healed. He did not participate in the promotions for the group’s latest album, “BE“, nor at the end-of-year ceremonies. While continuing to spare himself, he gradually resumed his activities, after a five-months break and rehabilitation. He also talked about this injury in his first mixtape, through the title “The last”.

The group describes YOONGI as a highly educated person who is willing to share his knowledge at any time to help others. Looking cold and seeming not to care about others, he is actually a keen observer and analyzes everyone’s behavior. Passionate about music, he dwells a lot on the details, but he is also someone very shy, stubborn and frank. If today he was not a member of BTS, the members would have seen him being a turtle, a lion, a baseball player, a candy, or even a stone. Having been fighting his anxieties for a long time, he used to bite his nails until last year, and he speaks in dialect when he is nervous, which makes it his charm for his fans.

He is very involved in the society around him because he is a strong advocate for the well-being of mental health and never hesitates to talk about his depression or social anxiety in interviews to help eliminate societal stereotypes about it. He also supports the LGBTQ+ community, making himself a part of it. Indeed, he has stated several times (2014, 2020) in the media that he was not only interested in girls, but in the personality of the person, regardless of their sexual identity. In fact, like the other characters in BT21, the cookie representing him, SHOOKY, is non binary. In conclusion, YOONGI is a generous person who has donated to orphanages (2018), to foundations for pediatric cancer research (2019) and for the prevention of Covid19 in the city of Daegu.

To discover SUGA‘s musical interests of the moment, you can listen to his Spotify playlist: