In an interview with Rolling Stone, RM opened up about how his Korean identity influenced their journey from a historical and artistic perspective.
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| YouTube / Rolling Stone |
BTS (Bangtan Boys) may be the biggest band in the world, but the identity of the members as Korean is still very strong. In an interview with Rolling Stone, RM (Rap Monster) opened up about how it influenced their journey from a historical and artistic point of view.
RM is known to be a huge fan, and one of his favorite Korean artists seems to be the famous abstract painter Kim Whan Ki. RM has been seen reading books about his artwork several times, and late last year, the BTS leader also shared that Kim Whan Ki was one of his main inspirations.
In a Weverse Magazine interview in November, RM revealed that a quote from Kim Whan Ki that has been on his mind lately is, “I'm Korean, and I can't do anything but Korean things. I can't do anything. Anything other than this, because I'm an outsider. "
When asked by Rolling Stone for his inspiration, RM began by explaining that most of the pop and hip-hop music he listened to growing up as an artist came from the United States.
RM stated, "As Korean people, I think we have our own characteristics and a kind of local identity." The owner of the name Kim Namjoon said that he struggled to articulate his thoughts, but he believed that there were some characteristics that only Koreans or perhaps Easterners had.
RM shared that BTS has tried to combine the unique character of Korean identity with musical influences from abroad. While doing so, RM said, "I feel like we are creating a new genre."
"Some people may call it K-Pop, some may call it BTS, or East-West combined music, but I think that's what we do," explained the 1994-born musician.
RM even discusses history, mentioning the Silk Route, a network of trade routes that connected the East (which represented most of Asia and the Mediterranean) with the West (including North America and much of Europe) until the 18th century.
The Silk Road was the main foundation of cultural, economic, and political relations between East and West for more than a thousand years, impacting the world as we know it today.
"If you think about the Silk Road in the past, there was the idea of Eastern people and Western people meeting in some sort of, like, big road and maybe buying and selling goods," he said.
RM went on to say that this story is repeated in the evolution of music from BTS's point of view. "Several kinds of new and exciting phenomena are taking place, and we are very honored to be in the midst of this big storm," he continued. (wk / chus)
