Rosa Diaz |
Barcelona (EFE) compulsory military service in South Korea, a stoppage in his meteoric musical career that has plunged him into “chaos”.
In an interview with EFE in Barcelona, the South Korean singer acknowledges that he is going through “a hard moment on a human level” because, after ten years of frenetic activity with his band, military service has forced them to stop everything.
But Kim Nam-joon, better known by his stage name RM, wants to be positive, saying that this circumstance “can be beneficial for him as an artist”, because “some great works are born in personally chaotic moments”.
RM prepares second solo album
After releasing his most personal album, “Indigo” at the end of last year, and in search of inspiration for a second solo album, RM traveled to Spain for the first time this week, a country where the ‘boy band’ has not never acted.
Their 2020 world tour, with which they wanted to reach the few corners of the world they had not yet set foot in, was canceled due to the pandemic.
“I have chosen Spain to travel with my family because I have friends who are not famous who have told me that it is a great place,” he reveals.
“I wanted to see works by Goya, Velázquez and Picasso to get inspired and I have gone to the Prado and other museums”, he added during his visit to Barcelona, where he arrived after passing through Madrid and Bilbao, and where he was impressed by the Sagrada Familia in Gaudi.
Military service forces RM to rethink his career
In South Korea, it is mandatory to do 18-month military service before turning 30 and the eldest of the BTS members, Jin, has already enlisted, as will the rest in the coming months.
This has caused the temporary dissolution of the formation at its peak, an inactivity that RM has taken advantage of to publish “Indigo”, a first solo album in which he is freed from the strict rules that being the main standard-bearer of ‘k-pop entails. ‘ and seeks its own identity.
“After ten years as a member of BTS, I didn’t know who I was and I wanted to know,” he says. I started out as a teenage rapper, then BTS came along and everything was very intense, and now that the group is inactive I have returned to thinking about the beginnings and the real reasons why I joined BTS”.
This reflection has led him to wonder about the meaning of a musical career always following the dictates of fashion.
The standard-bearer of k-pop wants to get rid of fads
“‘K-pop’ and ‘k-drama’ are in vogue,” he points out, “in such a way that, ironically, I am at the center of the trend at a time when I feel the need to get out of that influence and have time to think and create with a more timeless look”.
The first result of this reflection is “Indigo”, an album full of stellar collaborations that goes through hip-hop, neo-soul, r&b, folk, electronica and urban pop, and in which he assures that he recognizes himself in the character that social networks and fame have created.
But he does not deny everything, he is proud that many people have come into contact with Korean culture thanks to his music and he feels responsible for “marking a good path so that whoever follows it is comfortable in it.”
Visit Spain for the first time attracted by its painters
“I have entered Spanish culture through Velázquez, Goya, Picasso and Gaudí. I have come to Spain because of my love for his work and, if someone enters the culture of my country through my songs, it is an honor that makes me happy”, he affirms.
Nor does he deny the ability to influence that the fact of being famous gives him and that has led him to talk about racism in the White House or climate change at the UN.
“As an influential person that I am, I am very concerned about how I can help improve things, at a delicate moment like the present, in which we have serious threats, such as climate change or the war in Ukraine,” he argues.
An influence that could be lost if the forced two-year hiatus takes BTS off the top of the competitive global market for commercial music.
“When you’re famous, staying on top is very difficult,” he admits, “but I think BTS will get it. It will meet again when we finish our military service and we will seek new synergies between us to enter a second stage. Although, anyway, nothing is eternal.