RM's Debut Album Review

Michelle reviews RM's, BTS leader, debut album and shares insight about his lyrics.

Rm, Leader of the korean boy group BTS has made his anticipated debut album on December 2nd, 2022. Following the release of fellow members Jhope and Jin, fans were excited to hear what story RM’s album contained and if it would sound anything like his 2018 mixtape Mono. The album titled “Indigo” was said to be a “record of his 20’s” and has been in progress since late 2018 early 2019.

The album comes after Bts announced they would take a break from group promotions and focus on their solo music in “chapter 2” He is the third member to debut solo. The album carries a lot of sentiment with Rm and reflects on his life throughout his career being thrust into the spotlight and having his life displayed like an “exhibition” at only 19 years old. The album titled “Indigo” contains a total of ten tracks, eight being collaborations and two bening completely solo songs.

The Album starts off with “Yun'' with Erykah Badu known as queen of neo-soul , Rm states that the title “Yun'' actually comes from an artist that he admires Yun Hyong-keun with the artist's painting even being on the album cover. The song's lyrics show how important living life and being a human is before you go and create art as he states “I wanna be a human ‘Fore I do some art, It's a cruel world But there’s gon’ be my part”.

The second song on the album being title “Still life” with Anderson Paak, this track is 1 out of the 2 main title tracks and also shows Rm’s love for art with still life being a style of painting which Rm alludes to in the lyrics, “I’m still life,Ya can’t lock me in the frame, I’m movin’ I’m still life Life is better than the death, I’ll prove it. I’m still life, but I’m movin’ Just live now, goin’ forward yeah A still object that keeps on moving I keep on blooming my flower' ' in an interview Rm states “As a non-native english speaker, I interpreted the word as “Life still goes on. Even though the picture is stationary in a frame, it's still alive.”

Track number nine is the other main title song, Wildflower with Jo Youjeen. The song as Rm explains “The song is about my wish or confusion to live as enduring, quiet wildflowers” In the lyrics Rm sings “I wished to be a flower of fire I just wished to have a beautiful fall. Even before the beginning, I imagined that I’d be able to smile and applaud at the end I yearned for it." The lyrics show the turmoil that he has faced in his 20s.

The rest of the album follows similar themes of Rm navigating through his 20s and learning and changing from his experiences as well as learning who he wishes to be and discovering himself while also healing and moving forward. The album re-igniting Rm’s passion for making music and becomes an archive he can look back on as well as be able to help others struggling to navigate their twenties and needing comfort.