RM - BTS's ultimate trump card, the true 'big brother' for the 'juniors' to rely on

Rap Monster or RM is the stage name of Kim Namjoon, a South Korean male idol and music producer. He is the leader and main rapper of the popular boy group BTS, under Big Hit Entertainment.

Not only possessing an impressive rap ability, RM is also known as one of the most talented and all-powerful leaders in Kpop. In addition to a successful career with BTS, he also has an impressive career of his own.

Namjoon was born in 1994 in Seoul, and grew up in Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province, where his family moved when he was about five years old. RM is the eldest child in the family and has a younger sister.

RM is famous as one of the male idols with remarkable academic achievements and intelligence. His natural talent was revealed very early when he mostly learned English through the series Friends as a child.

At the age of 11, he was again attracted to hip hop music after listening to Epik High's Fly and being introduced to American rapper Eminem.

However, RM's budding passion was fiercely opposed by his parents to maintain his academic achievements. He even had to secretly write the lyrics on paper and hide it carefully in the workbook to avoid being scolded.

Always a good student with excellent academic records and a bright future, it was very difficult for RM to convince his mother to make music. The leader of BTS shared in his autobiography that he struggled a lot and told his mother, "Mom, do you want a son who ranks 5000th, or a son who ranks number one? 5000th nationally, but if it's Rap, I can be number one."

After this sentence, his family let him pursue his musical dream and RM tried a lot to not betray his mother's trust in him.

To talk about the early days of RM's music, it can only be summed up in two words hopeless. No money, no relationship, what the guy from Ilsan had in his hand that day was just a burning love for music.

Having intended to pursue a career in literature, RM's exposure to music made him fall in love with writing lyrics. In 2007, he started working mainly in the local underground hip hop scene, especially at a cafe called Jungle Radio.

In 2008, RM first performed in public as a member of the group Black Pirates. This is also when his fame began to bloom, Namjoon became more active in the Korean Hip hop community under the stage name Runch Randa.

Along with Topp Dogg, he joined the group DaeNamHyup and collaborated with other underground rappers like Zico. He was so popular that he was mentioned in songs by many rappers from 2008 to 2010, most of which trumpeted his skill and fame.

In 2009, RM auditioned for Big Deal Records but failed in the final when he suddenly forgot the lyrics. However, he was unexpectedly contacted by rapper Sleepy after the audition and introduced him to Big Hit Entertainment's producer Pdogg.

The fateful meeting made Bang Si Hyuk and Pdogg intend to create a Hip hop group and then become the idol group BTS like today. RM joined the company at the age of sixteen and simultaneously attended Global Cyber University.

During his three years as a trainee, RM performed more than five songs before his debut. He also worked as a songwriter for girl group Glam and co-wrote his debut song Party (XXO), a pro-LGBTQ song that was praised by Billboard for its radical message and profound humanity.

Besides, he also had to go through the harsh days of adulthood when he practiced in the dark basement of an old building, often ate instant noodles, and had to do many extra jobs such as handing out leaflets, delivering customers, serving tables to feed the dream of singing.

After debuting, Namjoon still used his trainee stage name Rap Monster, which was derived from a song of his. Inspired by the lyrics of the song Rap Genius by San E, the name expresses the "non-stop rap" as a guideline of the young man.

Giving up the underground and becoming an idol is extremely difficult for even RM, because underground followers often have prejudices and hatred towards idols.

The fact that RM abandoned the underground at that time and debuted as an idol received much criticism and mixed opinions from many other underground rappers.

With unremitting efforts, the pillar of BTS has broken the stereotype of "losing rap" and has become a symbol of the unlimited possibilities of Hip hop. Not only a rapper with technical rapping skills, RM also has a talent for composing and producing music.

He has always been a key member in producing and writing lyrics for many of the songs on all of the group's albums. RM has always been likened to a genius musician, producer and composer, contributing to shaping the musical style of BTS.

His music style in the early days was still thorny coming from the underground, contrary to the majority and of course not well received by the public. Gradually, he saw the remaining limitations in his music and quickly sought to improve.

Limiting the introduction of negative and personal emotions into products, the leader of BTS seeks to reconcile the members' artistic egos with the public's tastes. Since then, songs that are close to the audience but do not lose the group's individuality were born.

If you include the time working as an underground rapper, RM has been active for ten years so far. Up to now, the male idol has overcome countless prejudices to prove that idols are also real artists.

In 2017, RM was honored to be mentioned in the list of 10 Korean rappers you should know by American hip hop magazine XXL. According to a Gallup Korea survey, RM was one of the most popular idols of 2018.

It is also worth mentioning the fifth-class Hwagwan Cultural Medal that he and the BTS members were awarded by the President of Korea for their contributions to Korean culture.

In particular, RM represented BTS and was the only K-pop artist honored to speak at the United Nations General Assembly (UNICEF) in September 2018 in an event to promote education, create investment opportunities. for the younger generation called Generation Unlimited.

After that, BTS together with UNICEF built Love Myself and ENDviolence campaigns to build a world filled with love together. The speech with meaningful messages that RM conveyed was spread around the world.

The BTS leader also shows a broad understanding of all areas of life through the group's reality shows. In the challenging puzzle show Problematic Man, RM showed his outstanding intelligence when being able to answer all difficult and troublesome questions from the program.

Not only possessing an IQ of 148 and excellent academic achievement, RM is also very good at foreign languages when he is fluent in many languages such as English and Japanese. His English is considered the best among Kpop idols with fluency and coherent word usage.

When going abroad to perform or have to give interviews in English, the group rarely needs an interpreter because RM always takes on the role of the group's spokesman and also the interpreter for the members. group.

In addition to his increasingly successful career, as a leader and solo artist, RM is also a great spiritual support for the other members. As the most mature and mature person in the group, he is the support for the members to confide or ask for advice.

The male rapper always put the group's interests first and led the group through many difficult times right from the very beginning of their debut. When the president asked RM to choose between a group and a solo career, he did not hesitate to choose BTS.

This is an act of firmly affirming that BTS is always a top priority for RM. If Bangtan is like a house, RM is a solid pillar for the members to rely on and support to help them overcome all challenges and obstacles.

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