BTS Member Suga Embraces His Shadow In Map of the Soul: 7 Album Trailer

The brighter the light, the darker the shadow. This is a familiar phenomenon for the members of BTS. Last year, once asked about the group's global success, leader RM said, "Stepping higher is similar to how the shadow gets longer as you grow taller." Yet the key to overcoming these shadows, he told Metro a few months later, isn't to run away from them nevertheless to embrace them: some days it’s also much and also big for us, yet to survive as an artist and human, we should be companions with the shadows." In the first trailer for the Korean group's upcoming album, Map of the Soul: 7, rapper Suga comes to a understanding with his shadow as he grapples with the fear that comes with this maelstrom of fame and success.


"No one informed me how lonely it is up here," he raps on the moody, introspective "Interlude: Shadow." The raw track finds the emcee reflecting on his dreams — "I wanna be a rap star / I wanna be the best / I wanna be a rockstar / I want it all mine," he raps in English language — and the realization that no matter how tall he climbs or how high he flies "the shadow follows."


The song also samples the group's 2013 track INTRO : O!RUL8,2?, similar to how last year's scorching "Intro: Persona" sampled their 2014 song, "Intro: Skool Luv Affair." In this Map of the Soul era of BTS, it's all about looking back to move forward.


The visual for "Interlude: Shadow" depicts these themes of light and shadow both literally (Suga's shadow as he leans against the hotel door; the unforgiving gaze of cellphone light; faceless boys cloaked in darkness) and figuratively (Suga on stage in the limelight, rapping in front of a crowd; shards of damaged glass reflecting light). At one point, Suga is surrounded by bodies that grab and film him. According to a press release from Big Hit Entertainment, this crowd personifies his numerous egos and desires" — or, the fame and recognition he seeks.


It's then that the beat switches and the intensity builds as Suga seemingly begins rapping from the perspective of his shadow. "Succeed or fail, whatever way you flow / You can't escape." His shadow is his partner, a piece of himself that is as integral to light as darkness.


In late 2018, while in an episode of BTS's weekly variety program Run BTS!, Suga read a self-penned poem to his members to celebrate five years since their 2013 debut. Titled "What A Relief," it read, "Though we dreamt of a high sky, it is high here, cold, and thus hard to breathe / It is true that the more light that burns upon us, the more shadows appear / What a relief, that we are seven / What a relief, that we are with each other


With Map of the Soul: 7 set for release on February 21, the number seven is on every fan's mind. Seven, certainly, symbolizes the seven members of BTS — a symbol of unity and togetherness. More so, it's a statement: The shadows are dark, nevertheless they don't have to face them alone.