RM

One of the primary songwriters behind the Grammy-nominated group BTS, rapper-producer RM has long loved words and the shapes they make. “Yeah, my beginning was poetry/It’s the one and only strength and dream that has kept me going,” RM sings on “Wild Flower,” the lead single off his 2022 debut solo album Indigo, designed to be a musical archive of the artist's late twenties. Born as 김남준 (aka Kim Nam-joon) in Seoul, South Korea, in 1994, RM followed his love of poetry into the world of hip-hop, citing artists like Epik High and Eminem as early influences. In middle school, he was rapping in amateur hip-hop circles and writing his own songs. In high school, he began performing in the underground rap scene under the moniker Runch Randa, leading to a spot as a trainee at Big Hit Entertainment, the K-pop company that would launch BTS into superstardom. In 2013, RM debuted as a member of 방탄소년단 (or Bangtan Sonyeondan), aka BTS, alongside JIN, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook. As the group’s leader and fluent English speaker, RM has often taken the reins in global press events, including when BTS was invited to speak in front of the UN in 2018. Alongside SUGA and j-hope, he has been one of the main behind-the-scenes voices in BTS’s music-making, and has over 200 songs attributed to him as a songwriter and composer across BTS, his three solo projects (2015’s RM, 2018’s mono., and Indigo), his co-members’ solo work, and collaborations with artists such as Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, and So!YoON!. He’s also known for his clever wordplay and deep sincerity, as he shows on songs like “Wild Flower,” where he sings, “When everything I bеlieved in grew distant/When all this fame turned into shackles/Please take my desire away from me/No matter what it takes/Oh, let me be myself.”