Kim Namjoon is a member of the sensational boy group BTS. When it comes to his solo work he goes by his rapper stage name RM which is said to be an acronym for “Real Me”. The south Korean rapper dropped his 1st official mixtape in 2015 and throughout the years he improved himself with all his hard work and experiences and dropped the highly anticipated mono mixtape that he refers to as a playlist. He thought naming it a playlist would make it more personal and serve as him just simply sharing music with his fans who he considers his friends. Mono gathered 90 #1’s on the iTunes chart breaking the record for any South Korean artist.

The 1st track of mono is “Tokyo” and it is the only fully English track on the ep. As soon as it starts, your ear is filled with city noise and the sounds of cars passing by and beeping. The piano begins and makes you feel as if you're walking down the streets of Tokyo while listening to your music and imaging you’re in a movie. This song gives vibes of wanting someone to comfort you for the reason that you are unsure with a lot of things in life. “Life is a word that sometimes you cannot say, And ash is a thing that someday we all should be; When tomorrow comes; How different it's going to be? Why do love and hate sound just the same to me?” He is facing the dilemma that is life in which the future is unknown. The mellow song ends with whistling which sends chills over you. It was a great intro into the topics he will later speak on.

The 2nd track is “Seoul” and you can hear the sound of nature as if you’re standing in the middle of the woods. Very funky upbeat sound and soft-spoken rap. A song about him loving the city of Seoul that has now become his home. He uses a play on words with Seoul and soul. Towards the end, the beat slows down and then gradually again it begins to grow. A track that makes you want to groove with your whole body.

RM then continues on the talk of although you may not feel good enough, everything will be alright. His 3rd track “Moonchild”  has slight autotune on his voice to make it distorted.  With lyrics that are targeted towards anyone who feels alone or not good enough. It serves as a comfort song. “Yeah, all these pain and all these sorrows; That's our destiny, see? You and my life was like this. We gotta dance in the rain, Dance in the pain, Even though we crash down, We gon dance in the plane.” This song speaks volumes on how although we go through hard times we will be just fine. Life is life and we can’t do anything about it then just accept it.

It then transitions into “Badbye” his 4th track. It’s a very short song. Serves as an interlude and is a collab. The beat is very complex so the lyrics are not the main focus half of the time. The sound is very dark and mysterious. Makes you feel like strutting down the runway.
The next 3 tracks work together in tying his journey that mono allowed us to have insight on. They serve as a body paragraph and conclusion to the realization that yeah you might go through struggles and suffer but we must not let that haunt us but strive to overcome all the pain and hurt. With track #5 “uhgood” having lyrics like, “To be out of place, it hurts so much, If you don't experience it, it cannot be known, My ideal and what is reality, They're so far, far away, But I still want to cross that two bridges. To reach myself.” It is the tip of the iceberg of the epiphany he has. In track #6, “everything goes” he really speaks on letting things be because that’s just reality. “Everything needs to go through pain Embrace the world and suck in a breath” He ends it here with his realizations on life and decides to end his mixtape with track #7 “forever rain”, speaking about how although life will go on he is still sad but will decide to keep on living.

If you look away from the language barrier and focus on the lyrics and beats you will see that music really transcends languages, races, genders and etc. Anyone can enjoy this mixtape you just have to have an open mind. The beautifully executed album will serve as a metaphorical hug for those who feel as if the lyrics speak to them. For the people who go through these thoughts every day. For the people who are doubtful and feel alone, mono is the reassurance that will possibly help you continue on your own journey that life will be.