RM Kim Nam-joon

Indigo : Music & Art

RM Was BTS

It was around 2015 when I first heard about BTS. My niece in London asked me to take her to Korea. “I want to see BTS or just want to see their office and buy some goods there” she said. So we flew to Korea, visited Busan and Seoul, waited in front of the office? for 5+ hours before going shopping. It was so crazy and I wondered why, because my niece never liked Asian boys before…
So I started following BTS with her. I was working as a newspaper reporter/teacher so it was just my hobby to be close to my niece. We bought some CDs and goods, opened and laughed together.

When I see groups of people, my camera chooses one person. The focus always goes to the most charismatic person. In BTS, it was RM my camera followed. RM had to be the center, otherwise something was not right… RM is the coolest, and is always smiling. He can also speak English (bonus)!

However, at the same time, I saw RM as the busiest member-leader. He had to entertain and endure endless demands of many TV shows. Some hosts were so greedy, even rude, and very embarrassing, although RM was still smiling and kept his best attitude. Probably he is more mature than the other boys. I could be wrong but thought he knew love and break-ups, when I heard his voice from “I Need U” (Proof, Disc 3 RM’s Demo version).

Indigo Album

I read that it took about 15 years for RM to finish this debut solo album. He explained that it was difficult to pursue his own album because he was too busy as a member of BTS. I could not agree more: He just could not wear any other color than he was assigned to.

Now he can wear Indigo. That’s his color now. He sees himself as a wild flower living in Blue Period at this moment. I was touched by his quote of the late Korean artist Yun Hyong-Keun that “artists must strive to establish their own humanity before pursuing art…because humanity inevitably becomes reflected in their art.” After the long journey of training, RM now owns a brush and a canvas. He has just finished one artwork.

“Indigo is RM” he said in his published interview. He only wanted to finish the album before thinking about genre, trend, or business. All he wanted was to make a long-lasting album that fans will listen to for a long time.

Here are the two live shows you can watch in Youtube:

RM Live in Seoul @ Rolling Hall
RM wore casual jeans and a white T-shirt in this concert. The Rolling Hall was the place he adored when he was young. He also wanted to perform with the people whom he dreamed of. They helped him in the past now he asked them to join him. The voices of individual guest artists (Cherry Filter’s youjeen, Colde, Paul Blanco and Kim Sawol) were so strong and unique. They really contributed giving extra energy to RM’s first live show. I am not a music specialist, but heard something Jazz, Folk, Club, Disco, Hard Rock, Hip-hop and Rap… Many BTS fans will surely enjoy “Still Life” and “Hectic”.

RM Live in New York @ Dia Beacon
RM rent out this quiet museum and performed 4 songs. He put on Bottega Veneta clothes to fit in this quiet beautiful space.
-Wild Flower : RM became a part of art with the trees around him.
-Still Life : Warm and Natural lighting is visually perfect. He wore a brown leather jacket and leather pants that some middle/senior-aged men surely want to have.
-Change pt.2 : Green mono. The color tone fits the music well.
-No.2 : This is my personal favorite. Park Jiyoon (and her voice) is pretty enough to think that RM admired this person.

RM Is Human

I highly recommend to listen to the album INDIGO and watch these two complimentary live concerts again and again.