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Actor

1994-09-12 · Seoul, South Korea · Male

93 series in the catalog

Kim Nam-joon (Korean: 김남준; born September 12, 1994), known professionally as RM (formerly Rap Monster), is a South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is the leader of South Korean boy band BTS, under Big Hit Music. Born in Seoul and raised in Ilsan, RM began his music career in the underground Korean hip-hop scene as a teenager, going by the name Runch Randa. He joined Big Hit in 2010, and debuted as part of BTS in June 2013.

RM released his first solo mixtape, RM, in 2015, followed by his second mixtape, Mono, in 2018. The latter became the highest-charting album by a Korean solo artist in the United States in history when it peaked at number 26 on the Billboard 200. He made his official solo debut in 2022, with the release of his studio album Indigo. The project featured contributions from various artists including Erykah Badu and Anderson.Paak. It peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest-charting album by a Korean solo artist of all-time. In 2024, he experimented with alternative music on his sophomore album Right Place, Wrong Person, which peaked at number five on the Billboard 200 and garnered critical acclaim. RM has also collaborated with artists such as Warren G, Krizz Kaliko, MFBTY, Primary, Gaeko, Wale, Fall Out Boy, Younha, Megan Thee Stallion, Tablo, and Lil Nas X.

Early life and education

Kim Nam-joon was born on September 12, 1994, in Sangdo-dong, Dongjak District, Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Ilsan District, Goyang, where his family moved when he was aged four or five. He has a younger sister and is part of the Gangneung Kim clan. As a child, RM largely learned English by watching the American sitcom Friends with his mother. As a student, he actively wrote poetry and often received awards for his writing. He posted his work to an online poetry website for roughly one year, where he received moderate attention. As a result, RM expressed interest in pursuing a literary career but later decided against it. When he was twelve years old, he studied in New Zealand for four months.

At age 11, in fifth grade, RM became interested in hip-hop music after hearing Epik High's "Fly". Finding that the song had provided him comfort, he decided to look further into the genre. He was introduced to the music of American rapper Eminem by his school teacher, which first sparked RM's interest in lyricism. He would print out lyrics that he felt were "cool" and shared them with friends. RM began songwriting at that time, stating that his poetry became lyrics when combined with music. In 2007, as a first-year middle school student, he began rapping in local amateur hip-hop circles, creating his first self-composed recording with the program Adobe Audition (then called Cool Edit) and later participating in his first concert in 2008. RM became more active in the underground Korean hip-hop scene under the moniker Runch Randa, releasing several tracks and collaborations with other underground rappers such as Zico.

As a student, RM had an IQ of 148 and scored in the top 1% of the nation in the university entrance examinations for language, math, foreign language and social studies. Because his parents had been strongly opposed to his interest in a musical career due to his academic achievements, RM initially decided to set music aside to focus on his studies. He eventually convinced his mother to allow him to be a rapper, asking her if "she wanted to have a son who was a first-place rapper, or a 5,000th-place student".

In March 2019, after graduating from Global Cyber University with a degree in Broadcasting and Entertainment, RM enrolled at Hanyang Cyber University's Master of Business Administration program in Advertising and Media.

Name

RM selected the name "Rap Monster" during his time as an idol trainee. The name derives from the lyrics of a song he wrote, inspired by San E's "Rap Genius". The lyrics contained a segment where San E declares he should be called a "rap monster" as he "raps non-stop". He adopted the stage name because he felt it was "cool". RM has described himself as having a love–hate relationship with the name, feeling that it was not selected for being of "incredible value" to him.

He formally changed his stage name to "RM" in November 2017, as he determined that "Rap Monster" was no longer representative of who he was or the music that he creates. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight in 2019, RM stated that the name "could symbolize many things" and "could have more spectrums to it", such as "Real Me".

Career

2010–2013: Joining Big Hit Entertainment and debut with BTS

In 2009, RM auditioned for Big Deal Records, passing the first round along with Samuel Seo but failing the second round after forgetting lyrics. However, following the audition, rapper Sleepy exchanged contact information with RM, whom he later mentioned to Big Hit Entertainment producer Pdogg. In 2010, Sleepy contacted RM, encouraging him to audition for Big Hit Entertainment CEO Bang Si-hyuk. Bang offered RM, then aged 16, a spot at the record label, which he accepted immediately and without his parents' knowledge. Bang and Pdogg soon began forming a hip hop group that would eventually become the idol group BTS.

RM trained for three years with fellow rapper Min Yoon-gi and dancer Jung Ho-seok, later known as Suga and J-Hope, respectively. During this three-year trainee period, RM performed on five pre-debut tracks credited to BTS in 2010 and 2011. He also worked as a songwriter for girl group Glam and helped pen their debut single "Party (XXO)", a pro-LGBTQ song that was praised by Billboard as "one of the most forward-thinking songs out of a K-pop girl group in the past decade." On June 13, 2013, RM made his debut with BTS and has since produced and written lyrics for many tracks on their albums. On August 29, 2013, RM performed the intro track to BTS' first extended play (EP) O!RUL8,2?, which was released as a trailer ahead of the EP's September 11 release, marking his first solo after debuting.

2014–2016: First solo collaborations, RM and Problematic Men

On August 5, 2014, Big Hit Entertainment released a trailer for BTS' first studio album Dark & Wild, which was set to be released on August 20. The rap track, officially credited to BTS as "Intro: What Am I to You?", was a solo performed by RM. Through reality television show American Hustle Life, which was used to produce Dark & Wild, RM formed a working relationship with Warren G, who offered to write BTS a beat. In an interview with Korean magazine Hip Hop Playa, Warren G stated that he had befriended BTS through the program and had kept in touch with the band after they returned to South Korea. On March 4, 2015, RM released a single with Warren G entitled, "P.D.D (Please Don't Die)" ahead of his first solo mixtape RM following an offer by Warren G to collaborate. The track reflected how RM felt towards those who hated and criticized him at the time, which he used to find very upsetting. That same March, RM collaborated with hip hop project group MFBTY, EE and Dino J on the song "Bucku Bucku". He featured in the song's music video and also had a cameo appearance in a music video for another song by MFBTY, "Bang Diggy Bang Bang". RM had first formed a lasting working relationship with MFBTY member Tiger JK after meeting and expressing admiration for him on a TV show in 2013, when Tiger JK was promoting his song "The Cure".

RM was cast as a regular on the Korean variety program Problematic Men, where cast members were given a variety of puzzles and problems to solve and work through by discussing their own thoughts and experiences. The program began airing on February 26, 2015; however, RM left the show after 22 episodes due to BTS' 2015 Red Bullet world tour.

On March 17, 2015, RM released his first solo mixtape, RM, which ranked 48th on Spin's "50 Best Hip Hop Albums of 2015". The mixtape addressed a variety of topics, such as RM's past on the…