Kim Nam-joon

Rap Monster
Rap Monster at the KCON 2016 in Los Angeles, on July 31, 2016
Background information
Native name	김남준
Birth name	Kim Namjoon
Born	(1994-09-12) September 12, 1994 (age 22) Ilsan-gu, Goyang, South Korea
Genres	K-pop Hip hop R&B Rap
Occupation(s)	Rapper Singer Songwriter Record producer
Years active	2013 (2013)–present
Labels	Big Hit Entertainment Pony Canyon
Associated acts	BTS Suga Zico Warren G Krizz Kaliko Primary MFBTY
Website	bts.ibighit.com

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. 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.

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 as Rap Monster continued studying Japanese after debut since all Big Hit trainees received basic Japanese tuitions. He watched the popular American sitcom Friends multiple times to help him learn English.

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.