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AGUST D

BTS’s SUGA releases ‘AGUST D’, the first mixtape album, featuring ‘Agust D’ and ‘give it to me’

Kim Daily

Kim Namjoon reveals stunning gothic wardrobe in his recent twitter pictures

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pt. 2

1st Edition • September 2016

BTS continues HYYH series with a darker and critical take on music

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Editor’s Notes Hello and thank you very much for getting this magazine!

This magazine is dedicated to one of my favorite musicians, BTS. They have been putting out a lot of content with really high quality, so I thought I’d catalogue them in a serialized magazine for easier and organized access. When I made this magazine, I thought, as a fan, what do I want to see most from BTS? I decided on three things that BTS has done well in before, which are music, fashion, and lifestyle. Their albums are fantastic, their members put out their own solo projects time to time, which gave me enough material to write for the magazine. Their fashion choices are always on point, be it during music 3

promotions, outfits of the day, or whenever they dress up for travel when doing another tour in another country. And of course, they always update their twitter about how they are doing, and anything else that goes on in their life.

I’ve had some complications when organizing this magazine, but it has finally been released. I hope you enjoyed the content!

- Ray P

Contributors Articles Ray P Allkpop Soompi Marie Claire Grazia Airport Pictures Hopeful Wish HELLO!

BY ALL MEANS kookiecookie Final Destination Jin NiceDay 4

Editor’s Notes_______________ 3

Bon Voyage__________________________ 16

Table of Contents____________ 5

Featured Article_____________________ 18 AGUST D

Kim Daily___________________ 6

Album Talk__________________________ 26 The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pt. 2

Airport Fashion___________________14

References__________________________ 30

Table of Contents 5

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Kim Daily Kim Namjoon reveals stunning gothic wardrobe in his recent twitter pictures, which we compiled into a photo essay of his fashion styles.

Article by Ray P

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A common staple for fashion bloggers, OOTD (outfit of the day) can be found astray on BTS’s official twitter, @BTS_twt, highlighting the fashion choices of Kim Namjoon of that day.

It has been a habit of his to post pictures of his clothes on twitter since 2013, but he started to put the tag #KimDaily on them since 2015.

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His preferred style of fashion is dark and gothic, Which can clearly be seen throughout his pictures. His clothing are often black or monochrome in color, but they look in no way drab.

The clothes he wear are often contrasted with colorful background or breathtaking landscapes from all over Seoul, a city with clean and aesthetically pleasing landscapes.

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The other members are aware of this as well. They often reference Kim Daily as they talk. Members talk about times where they would gift him accessories of the same style.

“I hope the tendency to belittle individuality or a person’s unique way of expression will change.”

-Kim Namjoon

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There are times when the wardrobe chosen for him are a bit over the top or just plain disasterous, such as his appearance in Weekly Idol 203 with a jarring pink shirt. In Kim Daily, he proves that he isn’t the fashion disaster everyone takes him for, by dressing up in bright colors and still pull it off nicely.

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Pictures by Park Jimin from the official BTS Twitter

Namjoon also reveals the photographer of his Kim Daily pictures, which turns out to be another BTS member, Park Jimin.

They posted a video of Jimin having fun on taking pictures of him, going as far as to take different angles by laying down on the floor.

Airport Fashion K-pop idols are known for their excellent taste in airport fashion, and airports have been a great place for fansites to hunt photos of their favorite idol. BTS is of course of no exception.

Article by Ray P

Wrapping up their promotions for ‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life’ series, BTS holds an Asia tour titled ‘HYYH On Stage: Epilogue’. The tour brings the group to seven countries and ten cities, and as such, they are

seen frequenting the airport more often than before.Fansite masters brought their cameras to Incheon airport to get a snap of the members in their casual outfits. Although not in full make-up nor full costume, they 14

can be seen strutting the airport, owning whatever it is they are wearing on that day. Their styles have been seen as eye candy to some fans, so check out the outfits they rocked on various times in the airport!

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Bon Voyage Filming for their V Live+ cotent, BTS traverses through three Northern Europe countries in celebration of their youngest’s coming of age day.

Article by Ray P

BTS packed their bags up for a oneweek trip around Northern Europe one evening after a tiring schedule at a local music show, Inkigayo. They were asked by BigHit staff about their ideal vacation place a month prior to

the announcement, and none of the members knew beforehand where they are going and what they are doing. They were expected to do everything themselves, from checking into the plane to finding the best 17

route to the hotel they’re staying in. The group went in without staff but accompanied with camera crews, and the footage is then put up onto their V Live+ channel where fans are expected to buy coins to view them.

AGUST D 18

Min Yoongi yawns as he stretches his knuckles. After a small amount of pause, he can be heard typing away something at his computer. The beat starts, and he raps about his early days as a trainee and a snippet of his struggles, in the one and a half minute track “140503 at Dawn”.

Article by Ray P

It has been since three years ago that BTS’s SUGA teased about his mixtape and fans had been looking foward to it ever since. However, the wait is over as right in the middle of August 2016, he finally launched it along with the music video for the title track “Agust D”.

The mixtape didn’t disappoint the anticipation that comes before it. In just under 24 hours, the music video for “Agust D” reached 2 million views on Youtube. It gained recognition from both Korea and abroad as soon as it was released, as the mixtape ranked on Billboard and Fuse, a 19

success signifcant since there is no special promotions beforehand. His mixtape is also featured on the new music streaming site TIDAL.

The mixtape starts out with “Intro: Dt sugA (ft. DJ Friz)”, a remix of the title track that follows after, “Agust D”.

The fast-paced beat was accompanied with his hard-hitting rap, boasting about his fame and success and simply deflecting the attacks from those who put him down before.

“Paris to New York, damn, ain’t got no empty slot in my calendar.”

-Track 2: Agust D The track that comes after, “give it to me”, provides an interesting take to the mixtape as it goes with a deranged-sounding beat, an intense but slightly calmer compliment to the second track Agust D. He spits fire not unlike the previous track, the lyrics seemingly connecting to what he was talking about in the previous track. A music video was also released to compliment this track.

A skit was inserted in the middle of the mixtape as the fourth track, “Skit”. He talks about how he’s doing to his brother, who in return says how proud he is of him.

The fifth track, “724148”, talks about when he first stepped on the streets of Seoul, adjusting from the humble countryside Daegu. His lyrics start to take a dark turn as he addresses a little bit about his social phobia.

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The sixth track “140503 at dawn” is a short addition to the mixtape, lasting only around a minute and half.

In it, he talks about his struggle with social phobia, not being able to make connections and hiding himself from the world around him.

The mixtape climaxes with “The Last”, a powerful track that addresses his

mental health in depth. He claims that depression and compulsion clouded his mind ever since he was young, and had seeked help from doctor. He added how fame changed him, it made him into a monster that chases success. It was a powerful move, as he not only boasts his success, but also show his vulnerability to the world through his mixtape.

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The track “Tony Montana” continues this, accompanied with guest rapper Yankie.

The last two tracks, “Interlude; Dream, Reality” and “So Far Away” was delivered in a slow and calm pace, accompanied by vocals by Suran. It it, he muses how important it is to have a dream and chase after it.

What does Agust D mean?

“I flipped ‘DT Suga’, which was used in some lyrics before.

DT means D Town and it signifies my hometown Daegu.

I think I will be using this name when I work aside [from BTS] since it has a good meaning and also sounds cool.

Plus I have a good feeling [about the name] because my mixtape was released in August.”

What is the concept of the mixtape?

“I wanted to reveal my honest thoughts about youth and try out the things I wanted to do. Things that was restricted for my work for BTS.” Why release a mixtape instead of an album?

“I wanted to express myself transparently with the purpose of doing everything I wanted to do. I also wanted to put out music with no restrictions on genres and lyrics. The mixtape has everything I wanted to do with hip-hop as the foundation. There are strong lyrics that will make people say ‘Huh? He did this?’ and ‘Is it okay for him to write such lyrics?’ Anyway, I feel relieved since I was able to tell my stories.”

Who influenced your style and sound?

“I guess it would be Lupe Fiasco? I also gather inspiration from Desiigner, YG, and XXX. I listened Suran-noona’s demo album and was very impressed, I immediately asked her to feature in my mixtape. I’m glad she accepted.”

How did the rest of BTS react to the mixtape?

“The members are very supportive. They sent me various messages on twitter about the mixtape. J-hope’s favorite track seems to be ‘The Last’, while Jungkook’s seems to be ‘So Far Away’. Both actually featured in the background vocals of my mixtape, actually.”

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-SUGA

“I wanted to reveal my honest thoughts about youth and try out the things I wanted to do.”

Following the buzz of his newly released mixtape, SUGA reveals his thoughts on putting out himself as a solo rapper in an interview with us.

Pictures by Grazia and Marie Claire

Your members seem close.

“I’m also pretty cheerful, but I don’t really like noisiness. However, it gets crazy in our group Kakao Talk chatroom. We’re really funny. We post ugly photos of ourselves and share ugly photos that were taken without permission. Yesterday, a video of Yang Se Hyung got posted and we burst out into laugher. There are a lot of ‘kekeke’s. It’s tough because we’re all individually working and promoting but we laugh, be loud, and support each other.”

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The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pt. 2 “It’s like a wind that gently strokes me It’s like a dust that gently drifts along You’re there but for some reason, I can’t reach you, stop You, who is like a dream is a butterfly high to me.”

An evocative lyric that you can find in the deep and thoughtful new release of BTS. Article by Allkpop

BTS has warmed up Spring with part 1 of ‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt. 1,’ featuring the hit songs “Dope” and “I Need U.” Following that success, they released the second part of the series, ‘The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pt. 2, featuring nine

all-new tracks and the single “Run,” which debuted at No. 1. The members wrote many of these tracks on this new release,too, adding a personal touch to this album.

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The first track, “Intro : Never Mind,” is a tough track. It starts out slow with an occasional slow piano riff, and continues with SUGA spitting the lines he wrote himself. This song stands in defiance of the haters, saying they’ve succeeded, no matter what anyone thought.

Title track ‘Run’ conveys a similar feeling to the title track of the previous album, “I Need U”. There are little details that made the song different, however, such as the transition between tough raps and

smooth bridges.The song was penned by members SUGA, J-Hope, Rap Monster, and Jungkook.

The ballad “Butterfly” is sweeping and sweet, with wafty vocals and sugary harmonies. It’s definitely a switch from the first part of the album, and the lyrics are quite evocative as well.

“Whalien 52” is a slow, soft rock tune.

The song is earnestly sung with raps that are less angry and more downcast. Written by Rap Monster, Suga, and J-Hope, the title refers to the 28

52-hertz whale, dubbed the “world’s loneliest whale” by Smithsonian magazine. The title is meant to convey alienation, similar to this whale, which appears to be the only one of its kind, a feeling delivered well by the song.

The frenetic tune “Ma City” has all kinds of description about where they live, and what to find there, and the difference between real life and life on the stage. Drums and electric guitar help keep the raps on point.

“Outro : House Of Cards” is the final track, and again has a kind of dark vibe running through it. It’s fairly spare, and is significantly different than the intro. The Echo-ey feel of the vocals that makes the song even darker. It manages to compare the relationship to house of cards, easy to knock over.

Relevance: 9 Album Production: 8

Album Concept: 9 Tracklisting: 8

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-Track 6: Silver Spoon

“Autumn Leaves” starts with synth warps and gives way to soft vocals. It is delivered in a way that takes the edge off this tune. Underlying the raps is a deep, ominous, lowing synth that gave an ethereal feel to the song.

Overall, this album is a solid follow-up to The Most Beautiful Moment in Life pt. 1. The raps are awesome, and some of the lyrics are really evocative, and it’s no wonder that the album made it to the top 5 best-selling albums of 2015 in South Korea.

“They call me a try-hard. In the media they go on saying my generation has given up.”

“Silver Spoon” has a very creepy main melody that doesn’t let up even into the chorus. It’s rapped in a rather mocking sound, adding an even darker note to the production.

References eric_r_wirsing (2015) [Album & MV review] BTS - ‘HwaYangYeonHwa part 2’. Available at: http:// www.allkpop.com/review/2015/12/ bts-hwayangyeonhwa-part-2 (Accessed: 24 September 2016). btsdiary (2016) [Picture/Scan] BTS Suga #AgustD for Marie Claire Korea September issue [160820]. Available at: https://btsdiary.com/2016/08/21/ picturescan-bts-suga-agustd-formarie-claire-korea-september-issue-160820/ (Accessed: 24 September 2016) kokoberry (2016) BTS’ Suga opens up about being Agust D and his dreams.

Available at: http://www.soompi. com/2016/08/18/bts-suga-opensagust-d-dreams/ (Accessed: 24 September 2016). btsdiary (2016) [Picture] BTS on bon voyage [160705]. Available at: https://btsdiary.com/2016/07/08/ picture-bts-on-bon-voyage-160705/ (Accessed: 24 September 2016). http://bts0726.tumblr.com/ (Accessed: 24 September 2016).

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Bangtan Daily

1st Edition • September 2016

By Ray Pratiwi

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