“사람 (People)” can be inferred in many ways. From his personal (and present) point of view, Yoongi reflects and recognizes the people that he has met through his life. He also notices that as he began to change, the people around him also began to change—in a either good way or bad way—and their everyday reality is completely different now. Yoongi also shared that this track is one of his favorite from D-2 mixtape and he listens to it a lot. Prior to launching his career as the rapper Suga of South Korean boy band BTS, Agust D began writing music lyrics and working with MIDI at age 13 and held a part-time job composing and arranging music at a recording studio at age 17. Active under the name "Gloss" as an underground rapper, Agust D originally entered Big Hit Entertainment as a producer in 2010 and trained under Big Hit Entertainment for three years alongside members J-Hope and RM before making his debut as a member of BTS in 2013. In the initial years of his career in BTS, both he and his fellow group member RM faced criticism from the South Korean underground hip hop scene for "selling out" and becoming K-pop idols.
Between his commitments as a member of BTS, Agust D took advantage of time on the plane and in hotel rooms after concerts to continuously produce and compose music. In an interview for Grazia Korea, Agust D expressed a desire to release the music he wanted to do without having to consider popular appeal or music ranking. He intended to release his music for free in the form of a mixtape to avoid such considerations, commenting that an album "has a feeling of being trapped in some sort of framework" due to the need for company involvement in promotion and advertising. Developing Agust D musically on the base of hip hop, much of Agust D's inspiration for the lyrics came from his own stories of dream, youth, and reality.