K-pop star RM will be third BTS member to kick off solo venture; hints at collaboration with US singer Pharrell Williams

RM is leader and rapper of K-pop boy band BTS. Photo: Big Hit Music

RM, leader and rapper of K-pop boy band BTS, is gearing up for his much-anticipated solo album, the band’s agency Big Hit Music said on Tuesday (Nov 1).

“RM is in the final stages of preparing for his solo musical project, and we kindly ask for your understanding that we can’t further elaborate on the exact release date,” a Big Hit Music official told The Korea Herald.

Citing reports from the US music industry, Rolling Stone reported on Tuesday (local time) that RM is also preparing for a collaboration with Pharrell Williams.

The American rapper and producer said that his next musical project is tentatively titled Phriends, and during an interview with the music magazine, he hinted that among his new friends are the members of BTS.

Months after BTS dropped their anthology album Proof in July, the septet’s company announced that the rapper would expand his musical horizons with a new batch of songs.

RM, 28, is the third BTS member to embark on a solo venture.

J-Hope, also 28, was the band’s first member to do so with his debut solo studio album titled Jack In The Box in July.

Jin, 29, released his first solo single, The Astronaut, on Oct 28.

While the upcoming project will mark RM’s first official solo album, the musician has revealed aspects of his musical personality through mixtapes and collaborations.

He has produced BTS hits such as Spring Day (2017), Fake Love (2018) and Boy With Luv (2019).

RM – whose real name is Kim Nam-joon and who was an underground rapper with the alias Runch Randa – put out his first self-titled solo mixtape, RM, in 2015. It had 11 tracks, including the title track Do You.

In 2018, he dropped another mixtape titled Mono with seven songs including Seoul, a track produced by English electronic music duo Honne.

RM also has a long list of collaborations under his belt. He worked with Gaeko from South Korean hip-hop duo Dynamic Duo on the latter’s solo song Elephant and a side track on hip-hop guru Drunk Tiger’s 20th-anniversary album Timeless.

In September, RM lent his voice to the hip-hop crew Balming Tiger’s Sexy Nukim.

Apart from the new album, RM will also co-host tvN’s upcoming television programme, The Dictionary Of Useless Human Knowledge, set to premiere sometime this winter. – The Korea Herald/Asia News Network