All About Bangtan Boys

RAP MONSTER

Rap Monster

Background information

Native name: 김남준

Birth name: Kim Nam-joon

Born: September 12, 1994

Ilsan-gu, Goyang, South Korea

Genres: K-pop, Hip hop, R&B, Rap

Occupation(s): Rapper, Songwriter, Record producer

Instruments: Vocals

Years active: 2013-present

Labels: Big Hit Entertainment, Pony Canyon

Associated acts: BTS, Suga, Zico, Warren G, Krizz Kaliko, Primary,MFBTY

Website: bts.ibighit.com

Korean name

Hangul: 김남준

Hanja: 金南俊

Revised Romanization: Gim Nam-jun

McCune-Reischauer: Kim Namchun

Stage name

Hangul: 랩몬스터

Revised Romanization: Raepmonseuteo

McCune-Reischauer: Raepmonsŭt'ŏ

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Kim Nam-joon (Hangul: 김남준; born September 12, 1994), better known as Rap Monster, is a South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is the leader and main rapper of the South Korean boy group BTS, managed under Big Hit Entertainment. In 2015, he released his first solo mixtape, RM. To date, he has recorded collabs with artists such as Wale, Warren G, Gaeko, Krizz Kaliko, MFBTY, and Primary. Rap Monster is notable for his large input in songwriting and production in BTS's discography. He has over 60 songs accredited to his name by the Korea Music Copyright Association.

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Biography

Rap Monster was born on September 12, 1994, in Ilsan, South Korea and has one younger sister. Before his debut with BTS, he was an underground rapper under the stage name "Runch Randa". He released a number of tracks and once collaborated with fellow underground rapper Zico. He is part of the underground Korean hip hop crew called Daenamhyup, consisting of the members Marvel J, l11ven, Supreme Boi, Iron, Kyum2, Kidoh, Samsoon, Illipse and DJ Snatch. The group had been active from 2009 until 2013, although Rap Monster has not participated in recent years to concentrate on BTS. The activities seem to have stopped with some members participating in a new crew.

Rap Monster has many notable academic achievements. He achieved an 850 on the TOEIC when he was in junior high. He was part of the top 1.3% of the nation in the preparatory university entrance exams for language, math, foreign language and social studies, and has an IQ of 148. Alongside his native language Korean, he is also fluent in English and Japanese. He watched the popular American sitcom Friends multiple times to help him learn English. He has described himself as an atheist.

Career

BTS

Main article: BTS (band)

Rap Monster was recruited as BTS's first member back in 2010 during a Big Hit talent audition. Rap Monster trained for years with two other underground rappers, Jung Ho-seok (J-Hope) and Min Yoon-gi (Suga). On June 13, 2013, Rap Monster made his debut as a member of BTS on Mnet's M! Countdown with the track "No More Dream" from their debut single album 2 Cool 4 Skool. He has produced and written lyrics for a variety of tracks on all of BTS's albums.