How was RM from BTS found by BIGHIT Music?

Tests, selections, intense training in singing, dancing, acting, and more — these are some of the challenges faced for years and years on end for an artist to become a trainee and finally have the chance to make their long-awaited debut as an idol. of k-pop.

However, even though there is a certain pattern of actions to reach the spotlight of the South Korean music industry, there are several paths that lead singers, rappers, composers and dancers to become members of famous entertainment agencies, as evidenced by story of how RMby BTS, was found by BIGHIT Music.

How was RM from BTS found by BIGHIT Music?

To understand, you need to go back to your childhood. Kim Namjoonbetter known today as RM. The BTS leader fell in love with rap when he was in sixth grade and heard Epik High’s “Fly” for the first time, as revealed by the Koreaboo portal.

One thing led to another, and while he was in high school he was already working as a rapper, as in 2007 he performed under the name Runch Randa, performing at Jungle Radio, an underground hip hop café.

Some time later, RM He became part of a rap team that brought together the main underground rappers of the time. Called Daenamhyup, the formation also included Iron (Show Me The Money 3 finalist), Supreme Boi (Big Hit Entertainment producer) and KIDOH (from Top Dogg) as members.

Soon, RM became influential in the underground rap scene. So much so that as Runch Randa, he accomplished his first great feats, as he performed alongside artists such as Zicofrom Block B (which at the time was known as Nakseo).

Increasingly known, it didn’t take long for RM was invited to join a company as a trainee. He auditioned for an underground hip-hop agency, where Sleepyfrom the hip-hop duo Untouchable, was a judge for the audition.

In season, Sleepy passed the contact RM for the producer Bang Si Hyuk, responsible for founding HYBE, the company that subsidizes BIGHIT Music, the agency behind BTS’s debut. In the first episode of “BTS Monuments: Beyond The Star”, a documentary series that portrays the group’s decade of existence, Bang Si Hyuk reveals what it was like to discover RM.

One day, our producer, Pdogg, played a demo of Namjoon and I was shocked. I really thought that someone like him should debut anyway.”

With that, the idol auditioned for the company and became the first member to join BTS in 2010, also becoming the focal point of the group, as revealed Jinin the documentary: “Originally, the group would only do hip-hop and rap, with RM as the main member.”

So much so that, in 2013, when BTS debuted with the release of the mini-album “2 Cool 4 Skool”, which featured the track “No More Dream” as its title song, the album and MVs featured several references to rap and hip hop. However, the concept changed as new eras of the group emerged.