SUGA: Road to D-Day Goes on a Quest for Inspiration with the BTS Rapper/Producer: Review
The post SUGA: Road to D-Day Goes on a Quest for Inspiration with the BTS Rapper/Producer: Review appeared first on Consequence.
The Pitch: We are now well into the swing of the “second chapter” for BTS, a time designated for individual projects from RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, V, Jimin, and Jungkook, and members of the BTS ARMY have been enjoying a plethora of new content from the group. The latest of these releases, timed to coincide with the release of his first full-length solo project, is a documentary focused on SUGA, the talented producer, thoughtful songwriter, and spitfire rapper.
Road to D-Day jumps throughout locations and times leading up to the completion of the album D-Day, beginning in 2020, when the members of BTS took to the South Korean countryside together to recharge and rest during the height of COVID, and following the cancellation of the “Map of the Soul: 7” Tour. Most of the footage takes place in late 2022, in the months after BTS’s performance at the Grammy Awards and four sold-out shows at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. As SUGA pays visits to peers, collaborators, and musical heroes, he’s also working to reconnect with his own creative spirit. Spoiler alert: SUGA’s D-DAY album dropped today, April 21st (read our review here) — and it’s safe to say that he succeeded.
So Far Away: “There were so many stories I wanted to tell,” SUGA tells the camera as footage of BTS concerts and events flash across the screen. “Did I forget about them because so many of them already became true?”
Fans who have spent their time immersed in BTS content over the past few years will have noticed a conversation point the seven members touch on every now and then, a rarity from people at their level of superstardom, which is a general fear of becoming “too big.” There have been so many joys and victories that have come with their level of success, clearly far beyond anything they imagined when first starting out, but the unique pressures on the shoulders of the members also aren’t for the fainthearted.
At one point in the Disney+ documentary, as SUGA makes his way across the western US, a man (also of Korean heritage) approaches him in a parking lot and thanks him for all he and the band have done in the realm of representation, breaking barriers, and dismantling stereotypes. “You’ve made things a lot better,” he tells the bashful artist. “You’ve made your country proud.” It’s lovely, but it also leaves SUGA a bit shaken, and understandably so; that kind of pressure that leads to statements about your nation’s pride being on the line is certainly not easy to just let roll off the shoulders.
j-hope IN THE BOX, the documentary chronicling the lead-up to j-hope’s headlining Lollapalooza set, may have had a different narrative focus from Road to D-Day, but that theme of reconnecting with the joys that come along with the creative field feels present in both Disney+ projects. While all seven members of BTS appeared in j-hope’s documentary, only Jimin makes an appearance in Road to D-Day, but SUGA does spend time with BTS collaborator Steve Aoki and pays a particularly joyful visit to Halsey.
SUGA: Road to D-Day (Disney+), courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC
Since the day this second chapter was announced by the members in an emotional hour-long video, it’s become increasingly clear that the members needed the chance to shake up their creative processes. As they’ve each taken time to become reacquainted with that initial spark that pushed them to pursue music and performing in the first place, there have been some truly incredible results — while vastly different from j-hope’s solo project, Jack in the Box, D-DAY as an album feels like it provided the chance for SUGA to experiment and dig into his own voice and perspective when working outside of the framework of BTS.
Burn It: After members of the ARMY have the chance to immerse themselves in the new album release, they’ll be treated to live performances of select tracks here in the documentary. SUGA begins with “Polar Night,” revisits 2020’s “Daechwita,” features traditional Korean instruments for D-DAY focus track “Haegeum,” and pulls in Korean rock band The Rose’s raspy-voiced lead vocalist WOOSUNG for a live staging of “Snooze,” the track that also features piano contributions from Ryuchi Sakomoto on the studio version.
SUGA is just days from embarking on a solo world tour, a first for any member of BTS, but the documentary proves that he’s absolutely prepared to take the stage on his own.
SUGA: Road to D-Day (Disney+), courtesy of BIGHIT MUSIC
The emotional climax of the documentary arrives when SUGA is able to pay a visit to the late Ryuchi Sakomoto, in what could be one of his final on-camera appearances. The legendary Oscar composer’s health was already in decline at the time of filming, so SUGA travels to Tokyo to spend time with Sakomoto in his home — it almost feels like you’re intruding when you watch the two discuss artistry, holding onto inspiration, and finding ways to create through different eras of life.
The Verdict: SUGA: Road to D-Day is an hour and 20 minutes well spent for any BTS fan, of course. Beyond that, though, it’s a great introduction to the personality behind one-third of the group’s rapline and a personal look at one-seventh of one of the biggest acts on the planet right now. Aspiring songwriters and producers across genres will connect with many points of the documentary; young people curious about what the day-to-day experience of a successful artist is actually like have the opportunity to see it for themselves here.
Trailer:
SUGA: Road to D-Day Goes on a Quest for Inspiration with the BTS Rapper/Producer: Review
Mary Siroky
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