Songs I Like

Song 25

First Love by BTS (Sugas solo) (English translation in video)

Review:

Like many others, I have been captured and intrigued by BTS. They are a very versatile and talented group that explore many concepts, topics and genres. Once you get past the language barrier, you're in for some amazing music, vocals, messages. visuals, dancing and even acting. One thing to know about them is that they each have solos on their records, and separate solo careers, giving each member a personal moment to shine.

One member that caught me from the start was rap line member Min Yoongi, also known as Suga in BTS and Agust D in his solo work. The first BTS song I ever saved to a playlist was Interlude : Shadow, his solo from the 2020 album Map of the Soul 7, which is still one of my favourites from him and the group. He's a very powerful rapper, and even if you can't speak a word of Korean, you can definitely feel the emotion and sometimes even the topic he's trying to convey in his music. Some of my other favourite pieces from him include his verse on BTS Cypher 2, Daechwita and Agust D under his solo name Agust D, Never Mind and his verse on Butter. I'll link those all below.

However, as great as all those tracks are, and how great so many other tracks from BTS are, ever since I heard it, Sugas solo on my favourite album of theirs Wings/You Never Walk Alone, First Love, has still stuck with me. Wings is a very interesting album. Each member has a solo track, and unlike other records where they're scattered throughout, they're all in order in the tracklist, and along with their subsequent short films, form a story. Suga's First Love is the fourth of these solos, following Jungkook's Begin, Jimin's Lie and Taehyung's Stigma. If anyone wanted to learn more about the oldest member of the Rap Line, I'd highly recommend this song, Daechwita or Interlude : Shadow, songs that fully demonstrate his style

The production on this track is fantastic. It builds up until a dramatic bridge and a quieter, but still powerful, outro; a repetition of the songs first lines. Sugas rapping builds with the instrumental as well, delivering a powerful performance full of emotion and passion. On the side of lyrics, it tells a story of Suga and the piano in his childhood home, from when he was a small boy up until he was a young man, selling out shows globally as a part of one of the biggest groups in the world, and all time. It goes deeper than that though; the song is called First Love, a title that indicates it could be a song about the good, the bad and the ugly about a first relationship. It is, but it's about the relationship between Suga and his music, the thing that gave him a career and the life he has now. In a way, it shows that music is not only his first love, but also the love of his life.

The first time I listened to this song was the first time I listened to Wings, as I was first getting into BTS. I was talking to my friends online and writing on here, so I wasn't that in tune to the actual music. But when this song played, I stopped everything for the few minutes, and I actually cried a little. I could tell the song was one full of emotion and about something that meant a lot to Yoongi personally, despite the language barrier. That says a lot about the song, as well as Yoongi as an artist. It's also proof that, while songs in another language make it harder to fully understand the lyrics, with great talent, emotion and production, your message can be universal.

The other songs (videos also with English translation):

Interlude : Shadow:

BTS Cypher Pt 2: Triptych (Sugas part at 3:29):

Daechwita:

Agust D:

Intro: Never Mind

Verse in Butter: