Post by haeksk（ハクサク） on Apr 22, 2021 1:44:16 GMT
RM (formerly Rap Monster, real name Kim Nam-joon (김남준), born September 12, 1994)
Member of: BTS (방탄소년단)
Vocal range: E2 - B4 - F#5 (3 octaves and 2 semitones)
Background and Vocal Summary
RM (real name Kim Nam-joon) is the leader of Korean group BTS, and is known for his lyrical, clever, and versatile rapping. With the exception of other rap members Suga and J-Hope's verses, he is responsible for a very large percentage of the lyric writing of BTS' discography, as well as the melody writing especially in older albums. He is thus known to have recorded many demo or guide versions for melodic parts of songs, although judging from the available snippets, often a few keys down ("Serendipity") or a whole octave down ("Converse High"). Although usually playing his (ostensibly) poor singing skills for laughs, he began to experiment with giving himself a few sung parts in final songs, with a good few of his early melodic ventures lying around an average C3-C4 range and employing a breathy tone ("Hold Me Tight"). In later years, as BTS' style has experimented increasingly with less rap-adjacent genres, he has sang more to fit in ("Dynamite", "Permission to Dance"). He often showcases his sang vocals on his mixtapes where he does his own hooks; although occasionally lathered in auto-tune for effect, many of his best vocal moments can be found here. In terms of vocal type, RM likely lies in a baritone or even bass area, able to sing well in the E2-G2 range ("Don't") and often also rapping in a low voice around this area. His falsetto is more developed than the other rappers of the group, and he has shown an ability to transition relatively seamlessly between head and chest even in earlier recordings. Most of his known belted notes from G4 and on are screamed ("Mic Drop") or yelled with auto-tune. Overall, while RM is not a powerhouse vocalist like the dedicated singers of the group - nor does he attempt to be nor need to be - he knows his way around a melody, has a distinctive voice when both singing and rapping, can incorporate melodic elements into his rapping flawlessly, and sounds great when in his comfortable mid or low registers.
RM (real name Kim Nam-joon) is the leader of Korean group BTS, and is known for his lyrical, clever, and versatile rapping. With the exception of other rap members Suga and J-Hope's verses, he is responsible for a very large percentage of the lyric writing of BTS' discography, as well as the melody writing especially in older albums. He is thus known to have recorded many demo or guide versions for melodic parts of songs, although judging from the available snippets, often a few keys down ("Serendipity") or a whole octave down ("Converse High"). Although usually playing his (ostensibly) poor singing skills for laughs, he began to experiment with giving himself a few sung parts in final songs, with a good few of his early melodic ventures lying around an average C3-C4 range and employing a breathy tone ("Hold Me Tight"). In later years, as BTS' style has experimented increasingly with less rap-adjacent genres, he has sang more to fit in ("Dynamite", "Permission to Dance"). He often showcases his sang vocals on his mixtapes where he does his own hooks; although occasionally lathered in auto-tune for effect, many of his best vocal moments can be found here. In terms of vocal type, RM likely lies in a baritone or even bass area, able to sing well in the E2-G2 range ("Don't") and often also rapping in a low voice around this area. His falsetto is more developed than the other rappers of the group, and he has shown an ability to transition relatively seamlessly between head and chest even in earlier recordings. Most of his known belted notes from G4 and on are screamed ("Mic Drop") or yelled with auto-tune. Overall, while RM is not a powerhouse vocalist like the dedicated singers of the group - nor does he attempt to be nor need to be - he knows his way around a melody, has a distinctive voice when both singing and rapping, can incorporate melodic elements into his rapping flawlessly, and sounds great when in his comfortable mid or low registers.
Significant High Notes:
F#5 ("MIC Drop", "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" (for The Disney Holiday Singalong) , "Throw Away")
E5 ("always", "Forever Rain", "I Believe")
E♭5 ("Awakening", "Dead Leaves")
D5 ("everythingoes")
C#5 ("Answer: Love Myself", "Monterlude", "Rush")
C5 ("Black Swan", "Favorite Girl", "moonchild", "seoul")
B4 ("Bicycle", "I Know", "Throw Away")
B♭4 ("Change", "MIC Drop" (original version only) , "Mikrokosmos", "Serendipity" (RM's demo version) )
A4 ("Best Of Me", "Respect")
G#4 ("Hold Me Tight", "Life", "Magic Shop", "MIC Drop", "tokyo")
G4 ("Adrift", "Change", "Telepathy", "Trivia 承: Love", "U")
F#4 ("Boy With Luv" (RM's demo version) , "Champion (Remix)", "I Know", "Stay", "uhgood", "moonchild")
F4 ("4 O'CLOCK", "Dis-ease", "Favorite Girl", "Fools" (Troye Sivan cover) , "Trivia 承: Love")
E4 ("always", "BTS Cypher 4", "Dynamite", "ON", "Outro: Tear", "Permission to Dance", "Respect", "seoul", "UGH!", "WINTER FLOWER")
E♭4 ("4AM", "Airplane pt.2", "Awakening", "Dead Leaves", "Fake Love" (RM's demo version) , "Fantastic", "Seoul Town Road", "Where You From")
D4 ("Adrift", "Black Swan", "Outro: Her")
Significant Low Notes:
C3 ("All Night", "Fools" (Troye Sivan cover) , "Heartbeat", "Let Go", "Not Today", "Respect", "Spring Day", "U", "We are Bulletproof: the Eternal", "Your eyes tell")
B2 ("24/7=Heaven", "Dynamite", "Change", "EPILOGUE: Young Forever", "Fix You" (Coldplay cover, for MTV Unplugged Presents: BTS) , "Good Day", "I Believe", "I Know", "Monterlude", "My Universe", "Path", "Something", "Telepathy", "Whalien 52")
B♭2 ("Answer: Love Myself", "Bicycle", "Crystal Snow", "Dis-ease", "everythingoes", "Film out", "Hold Me Tight", "Life Goes On", "Outro: Her", "Save ME", "Too Much", "Trivia 承: Love", "UGH!")
A2 ("2! 3! (Still Wishing For Better Days)", "always", "Just One Day" (album version only), "Let Me Know", "ON", "Reflection", "Stay Gold", "Voice", "Where U At")
G#2 ("Converse High" (RM's demo version) , "Don't Leave Me", "FOR YOU", "Monterlude", "Seoul Town Road", "uhgood")
G2 ("134340", "Bicycle", "Black Swan", "Coffee", "EoGiYeongCha", "Lights", "Louder than bombs", "moonchild", "seoul", "WINTER FLOWER")
F#2 ("Don't")
F2 ("Adrift", "Life", "tokyo")
E2 ("Don't", "P.D.D", "Throw Away")
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Blue marks falsetto notes.
Underlines mark notes that are obscured in the song mix (including octave unisons, etc.). Some may be linked to since their presence is often not obvious.
Boldface marks notes that are particularly impressive for the vocalist's standards.
Vocal Ranges by Release:
Albums (with BTS):
Dark & Wild (2014) - A2 - A3
The Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever (2016) - B♭2 - E♭4 - D#5
Wings (2016) - A2 - E4
Love Yourself: Tear (2018) - G2 - E4 (G#4)
Love Yourself: Answer (2018) - B♭2 - E4 - G4 (C#5)
Map of the Soul: 7 (2020) - G2 - E4 (B♭4 - C5)
BE (2020) - B♭2 - F4 (G4)
EPs (with BTS):
2 Cool 4 Skool (2013) - B2 - C4
O!RUL8,2? (2013) - G2 - E3
Skool Luv Affair (2014) - A2 - E♭4
The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 1 (2015) - B♭2 - G#3 (G#4)
The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2 (2015) - B2 - E♭4 - D#5
Love Yourself: Her (2017) - B♭2 - B♭4 - F#5
Map of the Soul: Persona (2019) - D3 - B♭3 (B♭4)
Solo Mixtapes:
RM (2015) - (E2) F2 - D4 (B4) - G4 (F#5)
mono. (2018) - F2 - F#4 - C5 (E5)
Japanese Albums (with BTS):
Wake Up (2014) - A2 - A3
Youth (2016) - G#2 - B3
Face Yourself (2018) - G#2 - B♭4 - F#5
Map of the Soul: 7 – The Journey (2020) - G2 - D4 (E4 - C5)
BTS, the Best (2021) - G2 - B♭4 - F#5
Other:
BTS World: Original Soundtrack (2019) - C3 - C4
Questionable or Omitted Notes:
G#6 ("tokyo" whistling in the outro )
G#5 ("High Note Battle at Fan Meeting", "In The Soop Falsetto Ad-Libs")
E♭2 ("Life" implied, but seems to be entirely air )
