🏆 RM has reached No. 36 in the K-pop Idol ranking for in January 2026.
Artist Profile
- Real Name: Kim Nam-joon
- Native Name: 김남준
- Nicknames: RM
- Birthday: Sep 12, 1994 (31 years old)
- Blood type: A
- Height/Weight: 181 cm (5’11”) / 73 kg (161 lb)
- Gender: Male
- Zodiac Sign: Virgo
- MBTI: ENTP
- Birthplace: Seoul, South Korea
- Nationality: South Korea
- Profession: Rapper, songwriter, record producer
- Language Skills: Korean, English
- Current Agency: Big Hit Music
- Debut: June 13, 2013
- Years Active: 2010–present (16 years)
- Group: BTS
RM (Kim Nam-joon) is a South Korean singer and rapper, born on September 12, 1994. He is active primarily in South Korea within the K-pop music industry. RM serves as the leader and main rapper of BTS.
Early life
Kim Nam-joon was born in Sangdo-dong, Dongjak District, Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Ilsan, Goyang, where his family relocated when he was approximately four or five years old. He has one younger sister and belongs to the Gangneung Kim clan. During childhood, he learned English mainly by watching the sitcom Friends with his mother, wrote poetry, received multiple poetry awards, and published works on an online poetry website. At the age of 12, he studied abroad in New Zealand for four months.
During his school years, he recorded an IQ score of 148 and ranked within the top 1% nationally in the college entrance examination across subjects including language, mathematics, foreign languages, and social studies. Due to his academic performance, his parents opposed his pursuit of a music career, leading him to focus on his studies for a period. In 2010, at the age of 16, he auditioned for Big Hit Entertainment through a recommendation from rapper Sleepy and was accepted as a trainee without informing his parents. Bang Si-hyuk and Pdogg subsequently began forming a hip-hop group that later became BTS.
Career
In 2010, RM auditioned for Big Hit Entertainment through rapper Sleepy and was accepted as a trainee at the age of 16. On June 13, 2013, he debuted with BTS as the group’s leader and main rapper.
On March 17, 2015, RM released his first solo mixtape, RM. The project included collaborations with Warren G on “P.D.D (Please Don’t Die),” MFBTY on “Bucku Bucku,” and Primary featuring Kwon Jin-ah on “U.”
In 2017, RM collaborated with Wale on “Change,” Gaeko on “Gajah,” and Fall Out Boy on the remix version of “Champion.”
On October 23, 2018, he released his second mixtape, mono. The release featured collaborations with Tiger JK on “Timeless” and Honne on a remake of “Crying Over You.”
On March 25, 2019, Big Hit Entertainment released “Intro: Persona,” performed by RM, for BTS’s album Map of the Soul: Persona. On January 6, 2020, he collaborated with Younha on the single “Winter Flower.”
On December 2, 2022, RM released his first solo studio album, Indigo, with the lead single “Wild Flower.” The album included a collaboration with Balming Tiger on “Sexy Nukim.”
On May 24, 2024, he released his second studio album, Right Place, Wrong Person, with the singles “Come Back to Me” and “Lost!” On September 6, 2024, RM collaborated with Megan Thee Stallion on the single “Neva Play.”
On June 10, 2025, RM was discharged from mandatory military service after enlisting on December 11, 2023. He received the Favorite K-Pop Artist award at the American Music Awards and the Best R&B/Hip-Hop Award at the Seoul Music Awards.
Fun facts
- He is nicknamed “the God of Destruction” by the other members due to frequently breaking items such as sunglasses, door handles, and bunk bed ladders.
- He enjoys humorously imitating other members.
- He once used a meme image of himself as his Instagram profile picture.
- He often gets lost within group hugs during BTS huddles.
- He broke a phone while taking photos for the album Wings.
- He gently blew on Jimin’s elbow after Jimin hit it on a table.
- He taught himself English by watching Friends and speaks the language fluently (Instagram).
- He reacted energetically by jumping and turning his head when meeting Jin for the first time, an incident Jin continues to reference humorously.
- He once held a broken microphone after rapping intensely on stage.
- He has an interest in cute items and keeps a Pokémon ball on his bed.
- He has been seen laughing loudly with J-Hope while watching humorous videos.
- He once posted a selfie that was immediately copied by the other six members.
- He is skilled at ice skating despite his powerful on-stage image.
- He delivered the line “Jimin, you got no jams,” which became widely known as a humorous remark.
- He appeared shy when meeting Sienna Lalau, the choreographer for “ON.”
