Happy birthday to the lovely producer, rapper, and second big brother of BTS, Min Yoongi.

As one of the first members of BTS I noticed, it feels as if I’ve known you for a long time. You were always a constant, always someone I’d look out for and notice in videos and songs. I love how old school hip hop influences your rap. You have a classic sound that I feel is missing in a lot of modern music. Additionally, after looking into your mixtapes and watching analysis videos on them, I was able to understand more about the person behind the music, behind the rap.

I love how your music is structured as stories and reflections into the person you are. You are not afraid to dive deep into your feelings and express them through music. It’s comforting to see someone face their fears head on, no excuses, and express the story of that through beautiful music. Through your mixtapes and solo songs I’ve seen that you’ve gone through a lot as a person but you’re still standing and still here, I think that’s a beautiful testament to your strength and the support of your team who’s always there. This vulnerability that you express through your music, your craft, is something I wanted to express through this painting.

I chose this particular photo to paint because of how natural it looks. I love how you were not afraid to show your beautiful scar, which I think is such a ‘you’ thing to do.

You inspire me to know that we all make mistakes, we all are not perfect, we all mess up, and we all have our own scars, however it’s those things that make us beautiful. It’s those fears that we have that makes us stronger because when we reach out, reach out to our inner strength and the people around us, when we are vulnerable, we can not only be on the road to becoming better but inspire many to keep going.

If you see this, I hope you have a lovely birthday and know that your music and stories you tell through it inspires many.