- BTS rapper Suga got candid about mental health in his latest music video, "Amygdala."
- The video contains references to death by suicide, a topic considered taboo in K-Pop.
BTS rapper Suga got candid about a suicide attempt in his latest music video, "Amygdala" — a rare move in the usually conservative, clean-cut world of K-Pop.
The music video, released on Monday, is for the fourth track on Suga's new album, "D-Day."
In the video, the rapper talks about his well-documented struggles with mental health, being hit by a car when he was a teenager, and two family tragedies.
At various point in the music video, the rapper is seen trying to hold himself back from hurting himself and contending with a nearly catatonic version of himself. The video also contains an unusually direct reference to overdosing — a topic often considered taboo in the country.
YouTube placed a content warning on the music video, which advised viewer discretion.
The video garnered more than 3.38 million views in 18 hours.
Suga's candor — and the fact that a message about mental health was coming from a member of the world's biggest boyband — was generally well received on social media.
"From the depression to the pills to the self-harm to the numbness. I'm so proud that yoongi shared so much with us and overcame his demons," wrote Twitter user Jiya, in a tweet that was liked more than 1,700 times at press time. "He's a survivor he's been through so much and still came out on the other side."
The release of the music video comes days after the high-profile death of the Astro boyband member, Moonbin. Korean police said Moonbin, 25, appeared "to have taken his own life."
Suga — whose real name is Min Yoongi — has mentioned his mental health struggles in songs he's released under his solo moniker, Agust D. In "The Last," a 2016 track from his first solo album, he describes seeking psychiatric help. The song also includes a veiled reference to an earlier suicide attempt.
Speaking to Rolling Stone in 2021, Suga likened his experiences with depression to "cold weather" — something he has to constantly deal with.
"I'm comfortable now and feeling good, but those sorts of negative emotions come and go," he told Rolling Stone in 2021. "It may come back in a cycle over a year, year and a half."
"I think, for anybody, these emotions are not something that need to be hidden. They need to be discussed and expressed," he added.
The "Amygdala" music video — and the "D-Day" album, by extension — marks the first time the BTS member has been this candid about his personal life.
"The stories that I have to tell as Agust D are heavier than those of Suga, right? I don't have much energy left in me to continue to tell those heavier stories, because I poured out my soul in this album," he told Rolling Stone.
Suga's agency, Hybe, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.