On April 7, BTS’s SUGA released the song “People Part 2”, a follow- up of his song “ People” from the mixtape D2 (released 2020). Featuring another Korean behemoth IU, the song is a pre-release track from D-DAY, which is SUGA’s first official solo album, and also serves as the third instalment of the trilogy under the aegis of his solo moniker, AGUST D. This is not the first time the two superstars have collaborated. SUGA has composed and been featured on IU’s song Eight, which went on to win multiple accolades.
People Part 2 opens with IU’s signature mellifluous tone, but the beat harkens back to old school hip-hop, an homage to SUGA’s underground rapper origins. SUGA and IU also harmonize on the third verse, before SUGA engages in introspective and reflective storytelling, where he sheds light on the paradox of yearning for human connection, but the difficulty of sustaining those connections is one of the characteristics of the human condition.
This feeling is especially poignant because in a special segment of the music video, SUGA admits to writing this at the height of the pandemic three years ago, where it felt like he “lost everything”, so the song is addressed as much to other people, as it is to SUGA himself.
SUGA also engages in deft wordplay, playing with the words 사랑 [sarang] and 사람 [saram], immediately reminding ARMY of RM aka Kim Namjoon’s wordplay in Trivia : Love.[1] There are also direct references to Eight, when SUGA uses the sandcastle as a metaphor, and when he describes the transience of love, it reminds the listener both of “First Love” and “Seesaw”.
If the vocals are airy and bright, the whispery but powerful rap is silky smooth and comforting. One of SUGA’s greatest strengths in his storytelling and songwriting is his incredible insight and empathy and his ability to discuss often taboo subjects like mental health with real clarity, courage and cohesiveness, proving to be an inspiration for people all around the world. IU too, is an inspirational songwriter who writes from her own experiences and is a worthy collaborator in this introspective, vulnerable and deeply thoughtful song.
The full album, D-DAY, releases April 21, after which SUGA embarks on his very first solo world tour.
Listen to People Part 2 (Featuring IU) here :
