RM
김남준- Name
- Kim Nam-joon
- Born
- 12 September 1994
Came to BTS from the underground rap scene and is also known as a collector of Korean modern art.
Their story
Rap Monster
Kim Nam-joon was born in Seoul, grew up in Ilsan and rapped in the underground scene before BIGHIT made him the leader of BTS. He was still called Rap Monster when his first mixtape, RM, came out in March 2015. In late 2017 he shortened the name to the two letters he already used as a title.
mono. and Indigo
His second solo set, mono., arrived in October 2018 and was presented as a playlist rather than an album, with songs such as "seoul" and the rainy, animated "forever rain". Then came Indigo, his first studio album, led by "Wild Flower" with the rock singer Cho Youjeen of Cherry Filter. It climbed to No. 3 on the Billboard 200, higher than any Korean soloist before him.
Right Place, Wrong Person
His second album came out in May 2024, while he was serving. It moves between jazz and hip-hop, with guests such as Little Simz and Moses Sumney. The video for "Come back to me" was made by Lee Sung Jin, the director of Beef, and "LOST!" puts him in a maze that ends on a talk show set. The documentary RM: Right People, Wrong Place covers the eight months before he enlisted.
Where he is now
RM left the army in June 2025, on the same day as V, and returned to BTS for ARIRANG and the world tour that followed. Alongside the music he collects modern Korean art. In October 2026 SFMOMA opened RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me, where pieces from his collection hang next to the museum's own, with wall texts he wrote and an audio guide in his voice.
