RM

As the primary rapper and leader of K-pop behemoths BTS, South Korean multi-hyphenate Kim Nam-joon (born September 12, 1994 in Seoul), known professionally as RM (formerly Rap Monster), has broken records and topped charts all over the world. He began honing a love of hip-hop as a young boy, later pouring into this know-know into his offerings as Korean hip-hop scenester Runch Randa, releasing a number of tracks and collaborations with other underground rappers such as Zico. After two rollercoaster years with BTS, he launched his solo career to more rounds of applause in 2015, releasing a self-titled mixtape that peaked at number 12 on the US World Albums chart. As BTS's career went from one world-beating triumph to the next, he dropped his sophomore album in 2018, Mono, which shot to number 26 on the US Billboard 200, giving RM the highest-charting album by a Korean soloist in chart history. He has collaborated with an impressive line-up of artists including Wale and Fall Out Boy and in 2021 dropped the solo track "Bicycle." The following year he scored a feature on "Sexy Nukim" with Balming Tiger, releasing his debut solo album Indigo on December 2, 2022 with the lead single “Wild Flower” debuting at number 1 on the Billboard Digital Song Sales chart. RM's second studio album, Right Place, Wrong Person was released in May, 2024, featuring "Come Back to Me" which hit number 22 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and number 11 in New Zealand.