The track appears on Suga’s debut solo album under his Agust D moniker.
BTS rapper Suga released D-Day last Friday (21 April) – his debut solo album which completes a trilogy of releases as Agust D following on from previous mixtapes Agust D and D-2. The 10-track release features a collaboration with the late Ryuichi Sakamoto and Woosung – who plays in South Korean rock band The Rose. Titled Snooze, the song is produced by El Capitxn. The album also features Suga’s fellow BTS bandmate J-Hope on HUH?!.
A documentary was also released alongside the album. In the film Road to D-Day, Suga gives insight into the making of the record. It also features footage of him meeting with Sakamoto, playing him Snooze which the late Japanese composer – who died at the end of March, aged 71 – would collaborate on. Suga also highlights the influence of Sakamoto’s compositions on his own music. Within the documentary, Suga details that he was first introduced to Sakamoto’s work through his score for the 1987 film The Last Emperor, which Suga’s parents took him to see a re-run of. “I went there when I was little and the movie is filled with Mr Sakamoto’s music,” Suga said, “so I was just blown away by it in the theatre.”
Earlier this year, Suga shared his 10 favourite pieces by Sakamoto as part of a project by Commmons – the late composer’s label. “There are many musicians who have inspired me but you are one of the people who have influenced me the most,” Suga wrote alongside his selections, citing Sakamoto’s live performance of Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence as his favourite piece.
Listen to Snooze below.
Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away on 28 March. His last album 12 – recorded in 2021 and 2022 – was released in January. To mark his 70th birthday, A Tribute to Ryuichi Sakamoto: To The Moon and Back was released last November featuring reworked versions of his music by artists including Thundercat, Devonté Hynes, Alva Noto and David Sylvian.
