IU Admits THIS BTS Member Was Her First Choice to Collab With Before Suga

By Riely Miller Dec 27, 2023

IU has confessed that THIS member from BTS was her first choice to collaborate with prior to Suga's involvement.

What did the singer reveal?

IU Confesses BTS RM as Her First Choice in Working With in Collab Before Suga

On December 26, the 24th episode of Suga's talk show "Suchwita" was released, featuring IU as the special guest.

The episode is one of the most highly anticipated releases of Suga's talk show since the rapper is good friends with the legendary soloist. ARMYs, Uaenas, and the K-pop community have been fond of their chemistry, which resembles chaotic sibling energy.

Suga and IU have also been associated in 2020, when the latter released her iconic digital single "eight," featuring the rapper. When Suga released his first full album in April, the idol featured IU in his pre-release track "People Pt. 2" for "D-DAY" in return.

Yoongi even guested on IU's own talk show "IU's Palette.".

The duo's interactions and ventures together were gems for both fandoms. This was due to Suga and IU's creativity and passion for creating music, alongside their irresistible friendship.

While many enjoyed about the duo's bickering, fans have also learned something new from Suchwhita's episode 24. During her conversation with the rapper, IU revealed to Suga that he wasn't her first choice in doing a collab with but was BTS's leader RM instead.

IU then explained that initially, she asked Suga about RM's number. Afterwards, the two conversed on how the collab would've turned out if RM was the one IU worked with.

Read their conversation here:

Suga: "The first song we worked together was 'eight (prod. & feat. Suga of BTS)' in 2020. Why don't we talk more about it in detail? Our fans may want to know more."

IU: "Okay."

Suga: "I wasn't your first choice to do a collab with."

IU: "You really want to talk about that? (laughs)."

Suga: "We need to go into the details."

IU: "Oh, you want the details. At first, I asked Yoongi if I could have RM's number."

Suga: "If you had done a collab with RM, what kind of song would it have been?"

IU: "I think, it would've been something really serious. Because mentally at that time, I wasn't in the best place. I wanted to bring out those emotions in a song. So I asked you if I could have his number and got it, but I never called him."

IU then elaborated on how she gathered the courage to ask Suga for RM's number, but eventually, the soloist's plan to collab with the BTS leader and inspiration wore off, leading to the collab's cancellation.

This, however, was replaced by her idea of writing "eight." IU also followed up that it was better to do it someone with the same age as her, and Suga ended up among the long list of best K-pop producers she considered.

IU: "Asking you for his number took a lot of courage for me and I had this impulse to do this quickly. That's how I felt. But after I got his number, he's a total stranger, and I couldn't gather the courage to just call someone I didn't know at all."

IU: "So, anyway, in the end, I never called RM. After that, I just kind of lost interest in doing that song. Then I suddenly thought of 'eight' and I came up with the title first because,"

Suga: "You were 28."

IU: "Yes, I was 28."

Suga: "Right, I remember you talking about that."

IU: "The state I was in, those listless feelings were on a constant loop, like the number eight. Since I was 28 too, I thought I should go with 'eight' with someone my own age. That meaning was important to me."

Suga: "Right, you do like numbers."

IU: "And of all the producers our age, the best is... (points to Suga) (laughs)."

Suga: "(nods) I won't deny it."