‘It Documents My Growth as an Artist and a Person’: RM on Creativity, Collaboration, and His First Solo Album

RM always had a deadline for his debut. The BTS leader has been topping the charts for the better part of the last decade, but today’s release of Indigo, a 10-track tribute to his 20s, sees him step into the global spotlight on his own. Fans have been waiting for a full-length RM project since the release of his namesake mixtape in 2015, but for the introspective star, this solo moment arrived right on time. “Currently, I’m 29 in Korean age, and I wanted to share my first official album before I turned 30,” he tells Vogue. “[This] represents my growth as a person and artist.”

Given that RM spent his 20s achieving international stardom at the helm of the world’s biggest boy band, his formative experiences are unique. However, on tracks like “Still Life” and “Lonely,” he delves into subjects—isolation, yearning, regret—that everyone can recognize. Though he’s given audiences glimpses of his inner world before, RM considers his debut record uniquely personal. “When I was working on my mixtapes, I was more focused on asserting my thoughts or my tastes, so it didn’t leave enough room for listeners to digest them,” he says. “Indigo still explores my emotions and learnings through my experiences.” The shift toward a more intimate kind of storytelling is something he hopes will resonate with listeners. “It’s more open in a way people can easily relate to,” he says. “[Indigo] represents my 20s and documents my growth as a person and artist.”

Sharing these stories meant branching out sonically so that each song felt true to the underlying message of the lyrics. Already proficient in blending rap and pop, RM pushed himself to explore other styles. “Usually, I have a specific concept or genre in mind when I begin working on music. But this time, I just focused on each track,” RM says. “I thought about what fits best for each song, [and] how I can put them together into one album. As a result, the album became an eclectic collection of music that reflects my thoughts and experiences. Many long-time fans might find the album quite new and unexpected. [Firstly,] eight out of 10 tracks have featured artists. Secondly, all 10 tracks are in their own genre, not only pop or hip-hop.”

To capture the highs and lows of an entire decade, RM worked with collaborators from around the globe, selecting artists like Anderson .Paak and Kim Sawol based on what their unique gifts could bring to the table. “My focus was not on having these many genres in the album, but rather trying new sounds. I wanted to explore different kinds of music, whether it’s folk, rock, or city pop, and digest them in the right way so that it doesn’t just end up as [an] ‘experiment,’” he says. “I reached out to artists I thought would make the songs more complete and enriching with their voices or frequencies.”

Familiarity with their discographies made the process easier. “When I was making ‘Wildflower’ I immediately thought of Youjeen of Cherry Filter and her powerful, rocking voice,” he says. “She is undeniably one of the top rock vocalists in Korea. She’s number one to me. So I called her and told her it had to be her.”

Similarly, the idea to feature R&B legend Erykah Badu emerged after RM began to think about who could bring gravitas to a track dedicated to the late South Korean artist Yun Hyong-keun. “I needed someone like her, with such influence and history in the music world,” he says. “Her soulful voice [could] persuasively deliver Yun’s lifelong message [that] you should be human first before you do art.”

A pioneer of the Dansaekhwa art movement, Yun’s stark and large-scale paintings were meditations on natural forms and materials. The artist’s legacy informs the album’s title and content. “Indigo is one of my favorite colors and the color Yun used in his earlier works,” says RM, who found inspiration in the artist’s perseverance and the way he channeled lived experiences into his creative output. “Yun went through many hardships when he was alive, [including] near-death experiences during the Korean War,” he says. “His black paintings reflected the extreme pain and emotions he felt when suffering. That’s why there is something very sophisticated and beautiful about his signature black. For someone who suffered so much, his artworks and messages felt genuine and had a deeper resonance to me.”

The art that inspired Indigo may be serious, but the album’s mood is uplifting. An addictive blend of rock, pop, hip-hop, and funk, this debut is but a taste of what RM has in store for the future. “I’m already working on the next steps of my new music; I can sense that it will be something different,” he says. Still, with Indigo hitting streaming platforms and record stores today, there’s plenty to enjoy right now. “My hope is that people will feel comfortable and true to themselves while listening to the album,” RM says. “If this album or any of the songs within could give them a brief moment to think about their own lives and be happy, I would be very grateful.”