By Amalia Theocharidou,
Kim Namjoon or RM, the leader of BTS, the known South-Korean boyband, is not just a rapper. Not just a musician. He’s a lyricist and a poet. In 2018, Namjoon launched his mixtape, Mono, a work of three years that talks about struggles, life itself, the feeling of being lost and unable to move on from situations. As an artist, Namjoon is the type of person who writes music to connect with people, a quality rare for artists nowadays. Being the literal definition of quality over quantity, Mono stands out as one of the best pieces of music in the Kpop history. As a huge fan myself, this article will dive in the hidden meanings and tracks behind this work.
What Namjoon has expressed over the years of him being in the public stage is the fear of what kind of relation he can build with the listener. This is a point expressed in Mono, widely. As he’s stated, “What would they [the audience] think of this music? How would they respond? These are what keeps me going”. RM describes one thing in this mixtape. All people, no matter profession and status, share the same worries. No life is as perfect as it seems and there’s no doubt about that. People actually share their insecurities and problems. This point is stressed in one of my favorite songs of the mixtape, Tokyo. With RM’s excellent wordplay, we discover that the word “Tokyo”, written in Korean actually means “longing from afar”. With that outstanding piece and the continuing parallelisms, the artist describes to us, When will we feel the sentiment of familiarity within ourselves? When we will finally feel at home, in our city (Tokyo)? How can I accept myself?
“Life is a word that sometimes you cannot say
And ash is a thing that someday we all should be
When tomorrow comes
How different is it going to be?
Why do love and hate sound just the same to me?”
The second track I personally highlight is Everythinggoes. In Everythinggoes, the artist is being optimistic and confident. He describes that no matter what, no matter how many hardships and hatred one might stumble upon, it’ll all be gone in the end, like a wave. Everything goes, everything leaves. No matter the uncertainity, time knows best. He accepts the fact that pain and unhappiness is a part of life and they serve as even greater highlighters of joy.
“Just as morning comes after night, summer comes after spring
Just as fruit ripens when the flower dies, everything needs to go through pain
Embrace the world and take a deep breath, the hot air that fills up my lungs say everything
The long, painful, dull times I wanted to run away are right there
Everyday I pray — That I may become a slightly better adult
And everyday I stay — Because both people and pain die eventually
You can’t stay in a dream forever
Instead of saying vague words like “cheer up” and lies like “we’re all like that”
Just pray that this will pass like the wind“
Forever rain sums up my three top songs of the mixtape. What Namjoon is trying to pinpoint here is the rain’s different use, a more poetic one. He refers to the rain as a way of camouflage, the harshness of the pouring is creating the perfect “curtain” for him to hide his feelings. What kind of a person are you when nobody’s watching? What is your kind of self? These existential questions are covered by the incredible and relatable lyrics. While putting on a happy face all the time, sadness comes when the rain comes, when you can hide. The world is moving slower, everyone gets to focus on themselves for once, so the pace slows down. It’s a moment of self-reflection, within the distress.
“I wish it would rain all day
Because I would like someone to cry for me
I wish it would rain all day
Because then people wouldn’t stare at me
Because the umbrella would cover the sad face
Because in the rain, people are busy minding themselves“
As we walk further into winter, Mono is, in my opinion, the best companion. With self-reflecting lyrics, smart wordplay and phylosophical questions that the answer is hard to be found, Namjoon asks us all to look back to ourselves and wonder who we really are. Throughout his music, we get to discover not only more about ourselvs but even more over who the artist actually is. At times of emotional closure, Namjoon envites us to let ourselves get freed from the societal ties, to feel and to cherish each one of these feelings.
Reference
- Mixtape Review: “Mono” by RM. Medium. Available here
