RM, leader of BTS: "If I died tonight, I think nothing would change. A farmer or a sweeper is more relevant to the functioning of society"
The South Korean rapper, singer and songwriter, who has become a world icon thanks to k-pop, has recently visited Barcelona to promote his first solo album, 'Indigo'
BIGHIT MUSIC
He has been answering the question of what are the factors that have made k-pop an overwhelming global mass phenomenon for a decade, but his response - assures RM (Kim Namjun; Seoul, 1994), leader of the boyband BTS - has been changing over the years.
"I think that in order for a cross-cutting audience to understand it, we can refer to the groups that triumphed in the sixties and seventies, to the first invasion of the Beatles, perhaps.
It's not that he's comparing us to them, but this is also a new event. All those who have in their DNA a love for movement and the energy it generates are susceptible to reacting to k-pop.We represent a group of young people who move in unison, with a common goal.
The dances, the visual component, the reactions on social networks, the relaxed vibrations... All this contributes to people being enthusiastic about it," reflects the rapper and composer in a video call with Vogue Spain that connects Madrid with Barcelona, where RM has spent 10 days alternating moments of rest with the promotional tour of his new album, after having attended the Bottega Veneta fashion show at Milan Fashion Week.
Indigo (Big Hit Music) is the title of RM's first solo studio album. A set of 10 songs in English and Korean that was released on December 2 and has collaborations of the caliber of Erykah Badu, Anderson. Paak or Tablo, leader of the South Korean hip hop band Epik High.
The work - whose first single, Wild Flower (with youjeen) already accumulates more than 54 million views on YouTube - is articulated as a return to the origins, to that nine-year-old boy who had not yet immersed himself in the maelstrom of fame and dreamed of being a poet. "The k-pop industry has not stopped growing since we debuted with BTS [in 2013]. It has become much more complex and has captured many more people in its structures.
I think there are a lot of lights, but also some slippery shadows.
Many of us started our career very early as a group: we slept and lived together when we were teenagers. We became a real family, which is great, but this culture has also affected me a lot, because sometimes it is difficult for me to be treated like an adult who has autonomy in his decisions. I am perceived as another gear of the crew, in the context of a massive phenomenon," reflects the artist, who still defends an approach in which an optimistic look predominates.
