Stage Name: RM

Full Name: Kim Namjoon

Position: Main Rapper, Leader

Birthday: September 12, 1994

Age: 26

Height: 181 cm (5'11.3")

Personality Type: ENFP

The leader of BTS Kim Namjoon was born on September 12, 1994 in the Dongjak district of South Korea and grew up in Lisan District.

As a child, RM largely learned English by watching Friends with his mother. As a student, he actively wrote poetry and often received awards for his writings. At the age of 11, RM became interested in hip-hop music after hearing Epik High's "Fly" in fifth grade. He found that the song had provided him comfort, and, due to this, decided to look further into the genre. Following an introduction to American rapper Eminem by his schoolteacher, RM grew interested in lyricism, printing lyrics he felt were "cool" and sharing them with his friends. In school, RM 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.

In 2009 he auditioned for Big Deal Records where he failed the second round though his excellent rap skills caught the eye of Rapper Sleepy, who later recommended him to Big Entertainment Producer Pdogg. When Big Hit CEO Bang Si-hyuk offered him a spot in the record label, Namjoon accepted the offer immediately without the knowledge of his parents. RM had joined Big Hit Entertainment at the age of sweet 16 and trained for three years with fellow group mates Min Yoon-gi and Jung Ho-seok. During his 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)", an explicitly pro-LGBTQ song which was praised by Billboard as "one of the most forward-thinking songs out of a K-pop girl group in the past decade.

In the year 2013, Namjoon finally debuted with BTS, and since then has produced and written lyrics for a variety of tracks on all of BTS' albums.

In their early days, RM struggled a lot with his identity as a musician. After his career as an underground rapper, he received a lot of backlash from the community for joining BTS. Meanwhile, he received a lot of criticism from the Korean music industry that he didn't fit the beauty standards for an idol group.

These issues understandably caused a lot of internal turmoil for him. But through his music and fans he has been learning to love himself as he implores others to do the same in his lyrics. These days, he seems a lot more comfortable and happy in his own skin which is a great sight to see!

In his spare time, you can find him Namjooning – spending time in nature, riding his bike, and visiting art museums.

RM selected the name "Rap Monster" during his time as an idol trainee. Though commonly misunderstood that the name means that he "raps like a monster", it actually 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".

On August 5, 2014, released a trailer for BTS' first studio album Dark & Wild, which was set to release on August 20. The rap track, later released as collectively under BTS "Intro: What Am I To You", was a solo performed by RM.

On March 17, 2015, RM released his first solo mixtape, RM, which ranked 48th in Spin's "50 Best Hip Hop Albums of 2015". The mixtape featured a variety of topics such as RM's past on the track "Voice" and the idea that "you're you and I'm me" in the track "Do You". When discussing his work on the track "God Rap", RM described himself as an atheist, believing that the only thing that determines his fate was his own self. The entirety of his work on the mixtape took around four or five months, with RM working on it in between BTS' activities.

That August, RM collaborated with Marvel for Fantastic Four's soundtrack in Korea, releasing the digital single, "Fantastic" featuring Mandy Ventrice through Melon, Genie, Naver Music, and other music sites. In August 2016, vocal duo released a single titled "Dilemma" which was co-produced by RM and Bang Si-hyuk.

In 2018, RM released his second mixtape entitled Mono that October, which he referred to as a "playlist". He became the first Korean artist to rank number one on the Emerging Artists Chart in the United States with the playlist.

Kim Namjoon has openly been supportive of the LGBTQ+ community. During his UN speech, Namjoon said, "I want to hear your voice. I want to hear your conviction. No matter where you're from, skin colour, gender identity, just speak for yourself. Find your name and find your voice".

Fun Facts:

Tallest Member. RM is the tallest member in BTS with a height of 5'11".

RM acts as BTS' spokesperson

RM was an underground rapper before debut and went by the name Runch Randa.

RM loves reading

RM a.k.a. 'God of Destruction'.