Sitting up straight at his desk, quietly listening to the questions posed and thinking carefully before responding, Kim Namjoon is a teacher’s dream. So attentive and polite! But he’s not in a classroom, and he’s not a student. Better known as Rap Monster, the young rapper has an IQ of 148, his high school mock exam scores were in the top 1.3% in all of his subjects, and is fluent in English (self-taught).
Rap Monster is a Rising Star, and, with everything he’s accomplished in just the last two years, the title suits him well. The 20-year-old brainiac debuted with hip hop group BTS in 2013 and has been on a non-stop schedule of music show performances, variety show appearances, fan signs, and touring ever since. In less than two years, BTS already has four mini-albums, a full-length, and a Japanese release under their belts. It sounds like a lot, but it’s only slightly busier than your average idol group schedule. Maybe it’s not quite what he pictured for himself when he started rapping at age 13 or later, but he chose the idol rapper life and finally seems to be embracing the title. He is BTS’s leader, and he takes the group’s success very seriously.
Way back in October 2013, Rap Monster and BTS announced an incredibly special 7" featuring "Do You" b/w "Joke" as part of Vault Package #18. These two tracks were a fierce battle cry heralding the announcement of a brand new Rap Monster album that was to be released in a revolutionary fashion. Teased out over the past year and a half via a series of 7" singles, the physical versions of which were ONLY available via The Vault , the group promised this would culminate in a brand new album in 2015. The second BTS LP would be a full length album comprised not only of the previously released 7" singles, but newly recorded, previously-unheard material. Today, Rap Monster officially announce his new album Mixtape.
Mixtape will be released worldwide in September 2015 and will feature eight brand new songs, along with the four previously released tracks remixed and remastered. Rap Monster, Suga, Jimin, J-Hope, V and Jin spent their rare and sporadic free moments over the past year recording together in Seoul. With the members of the band heavily involved in other projects, BTS will not be touring in support of the new album. Thankfully the thick and heavy Mixtape will satisfy your urges for the dark magic that is Rap Monster for a very long time.
