Profile BTS RM: The Lyrical Architect and Visionary Leader of BTS

Who is RM? 

RM. whose full name is Kim Namjoon, was born on September 12, 1994. He is a member of famous K-pop boy group BTS, and serves as the leader, producer, and rapper of the group. 

RM’s Biography

• Birth Name: Kim Namjoon
• Stage Name: RM (previously Rap Monster/Runch Randa)
• Date of Birth: September 12, 1994
• Zodiac Sign: Virgo
• Nationality: Korean
• Instagram: @rkive / @rpwprpwprpwp

RM’s Basic Information

RM was born in Dongjak-gu, South Korea and later moved to Ilsan-gu when he was young. He has a younger sister named Kim Kyung-min and attended Apgujeong High School as well as Global Cyber University as an Electronic engineering major.

RM’s Career

Before BTS

In 2007, RM began rapping in amateur hip-hop circles, even creating his first self-composed recording and participated in his first concert in 2008. 

Eventually as he became more active in the underground scene, RM assumed the stage name “Runch Randa” and released a few tracks and collaborations with other rappers such as Zico. 

In 2009, RM auditioned for Big Deal Records but eventually failed. He was later contacted in 2010 by rapper Sleepy, who encouraged him to audition for Big Hit, leading to RM joining Big Hit Entertainment (now Big Hit Music) shortly after he turned 16. 

RM trained for 3 years with Suga and j-hope, and during this time, he released 5 pre-debut tracks credited to BTS and worked as a songwriter for GLAM – Big Hit’s girl group at the time.

BTS

RM debuted with BTS on June 13, 2013, and has since produced and written lyrics for various tracks on all BTS’s albums. He originally used the stage name “Rap Monster”, which is taken from the lyrics of a song he wrote, inspired by San E’s “Rap Genius”. 

However, in 2017, RM formally changed his stage name to “RM” as he felt “Rap Monster” was no longer representative of who he was or the music that he creates. He also mentioned that “Real Me” is a possible current meaning to the stage name “RM”.

Additionally, due to his role as BTS’s producer, RM was announced as a regular member of the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA).

You can read more about the achievements and releases of RM with BTS via the profile of BTS.

Solo

As a soloist, RM released his first mixtape, “RM”, in 2015, followed by the 2nd mixtape “Mono” in 2018. He made his official debut as a solo artist with the studio album “Indigo” in 2022.

RM was also revealed to be the first-ever brand ambassador of luxury brand Bottega Veneta in 2023. 

Additional facts about RM 

As a child, RM self-taught himself English by watching the famous sitcom “Friends” with his mother. He later actively wrote poetry and even received awards for his works, all the while posting on an online poetry website for roughly 1 year. RM was also initially interested in pursuing a literary career but decided against it. 

At the age of 11, RM came across Epik High and became interested in Hip-hop music. He later delved into writing lyrics after being introduced to Eminem by his school teacher. It was then that RM grew fond of writing lyrics for songs.

RM is also quite a scholar, having scored in the top 1% of the nation in the university entrance examinations for language, math, foreign language and social studies and had an IQ of 148.

RM’s parents were strongly opposed to his interest in a musical career due to his academic achievement, and due to this, RM accepted Big Hit’s offer without telling his parents first.

Controversy

In 2015, a Twitter user claimed that BTS’s RM copied lyrics from himself and another. In response, RM apologized and explained that he wrote a lot of lyrics based on books, movies, interviews, and letters, and made the mistake of not confirming the source when he quoted, leading to the alleged plagiarism. The original accuser has since decided to forgive RM and even sent a formal apology. 

In 2023, RM came under fire from the Muslim community due to sharing Frank Ocean’s “Bad Religion”, which allegedly contains various “Islamophobic” messages, on his Instagram. RM has since directly addressed this controversy, stating that he never has any intention of disparaging any religion. 

Source: OSEN