From Stories of Hardship to Tearful Episodes

SUGA of BTS reflected on their past with their best friend, composer Jang YiJeong.

On March 26, a video of “Shuchita (short for SUGA and Drunk Time) EP.27” featuring Jang YiJeong as a guest was released through BTS’s official YouTube channel “BANGTANTV.”

They recalled the episode where they cried during SUGA’s solo concert. First, SUGA said, “On the last day of the concert, before singing the last song, I heard ‘Min Yoongi (SUGA’s real name) I love you’ through my earpiece. That was Jang YiJeong’s voice. Why were you crying so much backstage?” Jang YiJeong said, “SUGA cried while singing ‘Dear my friend’ and the aftermath still hasn’t gone away. At first I thought there was an accident. I was monitoring her with an earpiece, but she didn’t sing, so I looked over and saw (SUGA) crying. When I saw that, I cried too,” he revealed.

Jang YiJeong said, “It was 2017 when we produced the song ‘Dear my friend. At that time, we were going through a hard time; BTS was doing so well, but Min Yoongi personally was struggling. At that time, I quit my career as a singer, and I was just making repetitive music, which was difficult. It was a dark time, but when I saw SUGA crying on the big stage with the music I had produced back then echoing through the air, it was like a running light for me,” he added.

Before becoming a composer, Jang YiJeong made his debut on the MBC audition program “The Great Birth” Season 2. He said, “I started music when I was in the fourth grade. I went to karaoke with my family and sang “Azalea” by Maya, and they praised me for being so good. At that time, I felt joy and started music. It was a time when audition programs were popular, and although “Super Star K” did not make the deadline, he participated in “The Great Birth” Season 2. After failing to make the top 10, they took a break from their activities and were contacted by an agency. After I debuted, I also saw the debut stage of BTS. That was 12 years ago,” he recalled.

Jang YiJeong then said, “One day I had to sing a song on stage, but the song did not go well. I was supposed to sing a routine song that I have always done, but I couldn’t control it. My voice was going to turn inside out. I thought it wasn’t a big problem, ‘It’s probably just a condition issue,’ but it got worse as time went on. The symptoms manifested themselves in everyday conversation. I couldn’t find the cause, and I don’t know how to solve it. I think the problem is from nerves,” he confided.

SUGA said, “I wanted him to continue singing. I wanted him to continue singing, so I suggested that we treat his throat and said I would support him no matter how much money it would cost. I told him that if he wanted to continue singing, he was right to stay in that office, but he should get his throat fixed first. That was around 2016,” he said. Jang YiJeong responded, “At that time, we were like business partners. No one else talked to me that way about the problems I was having. He spoke those words to me as he drove, and I was very greatly moved,” he added.

Jang YiJeong, who became associated with BTS through “DDAENG” after a failed second attempt as a singer, joined BIGHIT MUSIC and is now actively working as a composer.

Referring to his solo song “Daechwita,” which they produced together, SUGA said, “It is the most hit song among our songs. That was the time when we decided on the concept for a song based on traditional Korean music.” Jang YiJeong added, “‘Daechwita’ was something I saw when I saw the original video of the traditional music and thought, ‘What is this? It was unusual from the title. I was in a panic, but I listened to it again”. SUGA responded, “At that time, we thought we had to finish it within a week, so we worked on it while in a training camp, but we somehow managed to finish it. I came up with the idea and he materialized it. That was the beginning of ‘Daechwita. It was fun,” he recalled.

Jang YiJeong said that he has a lot of trust in SUGA. “I was stressed at first when he told me that my direction was different from the one I had in mind. Since we had different ways of thinking and met from different walks of life, it was not easy to narrow our opinions, but that is not the case at all now. As it turns out, SUGA was right about everything. I don’t interfere anymore; if SUGA says, ‘1 + 1 = 5,’ I would think, ‘I was wrong. If SUGA says, ‘1 + 1 = 5,’ I will think, ‘I was wrong, that’s right.