Ron Does Stuff

Okay, I was supposed to watch this on Yoongi’s birthday but life got in the way so everybody’s getting this now. I did get to eat chicken though which Yoongi asked for!

The film opens with Suga contemplating probably one of the worst feelings for an artists to have — the feeling of no longer having anything to say. Creative burnout. The very thing they talk about in “Black Swan”.

Stream it on Spotify too!

One thing I’m feeling happy about is the fact that I didn’t immediately watch this as this came out because some of the things he talks about here — those disbandment rumors for one — had me feeling so raw during the time it was happening that I don’t know if I would have fully concentrated on this film. It’s only know, with a reunion in the horizon, that I feel confident enough that I would be a bundle of nerves hearing him talk about this.

Another thing that’s really sticking out to me as I’m watching this and something I really already know but this documentary just further cements it is how really into music and music production Suga is. Him recognizing the brands of the equipment Steve Aoki has in his studio? And that little smug face when Steve Aoki says “Amygdala” is a beautiful song? I wanna squish Yoongi’s cheekies.

Stream on Spotify too!

I also like how it’s stylistically different from J-Hope In The Box, which I think underscores the fact that the guys are very much their own people with distinct personalities that they bring to the fore in their solo efforts. This should be obvious, really, but you wouldn’t think that if you look at some of the ways people talk about them on social media.

Which he talks about a little bit when he visits Halsey, which is both a fun but also bittersweet scene to watch. Just like so many people have mentioned before, I am so happy that they were able to find other artists who saw them for who they are and supported them and became their friends.

I can also relate so much to Yoongi’s desire to be “free from information” as he calls it. Social media has done a number on the world and on my psyche and has kept me doomscrolling even when I know it will just paralyze me and make me feel bad about myself. It’s time to divorce myself from that and actually be in the world.

It was also so bittersweet to see Yoongi’s meeting with Ryuichi Sakamoto, who was already really sick by the time the two of them got to meet up. I love the wisdom that Ryuichi Sakamoto imparted to Yoongi and also how seriously he took Yoongi’s music, because he could have just as easily dismissed it as something he doesn’t want to be a part of seeing as he’s already had a long and storied career.

At the end of the documentary, you really feel like you’ve been given an intimate, up-close look at Yoongi’s whole music-making process as well as the work that went ito D-Day the album. It’s definitely spurred me to listen to the album again and all of you guys should as well!