BTS’ RM Drops Debut Solo Album ‘Indigo’ And Illuminating ‘Wild Flower’ Video
The album follows the rapper’s two mixtapes, ‘RM’ and ‘mono’
BTS’ RM has released his debut solo album Indigo and shared the illuminating, firework-filled video for its lead single “Wild Flower.”
The album follows the rapper’s two mixtapes – 2015’s RM and 2018’s mono – and is the third solo project to be released by a member of the K-pop group this year.
According to a press release, Indigo is a “record of [RM’s] twenties and a candid introduction of who RM truly is. Each track portrays RM’s outspoken opinions, prevailing thoughts, reminiscence of the past and instant feelings.”
The album features collaborations with artists from across the globe, including neo-soul icon Erykah Badu, Anderson .Paak, Mahalia, Korean R&B singer Paul Blanco, iconic Korean singer and actor parkjiyoon, Epik High’s Tablo, and more.
‘Wild Flower’ features Cherry Filter singer youjeen and finds RM conveying his desire to “live like humble and tranquil wildflowers rather than a flamboyant flame that quickly vanishes.” The accompanying music video finds RM traversing fields full of purple flowers, stormy, barren scenes, and nightscapes lit up by explosions of fireworks.
Speaking to NME, the rapper discussed working with Badu, who sings the hook on the opening track ‘Yun’. “If I sing [those words], I thought it wouldn’t be that convincing because I’m too young to preach or tell people to be somebody,” he said.
“With Erykah, it can be convincing because she has her own narrative through her life and she has a castle – she’s living in her own kingdom. She has nothing to do with the hype or the viral[ity] and the noise, but everybody knows her and respects her.”
In conversation with Variety, he added of “Wild Flower”: “Actually, the title was supposed to be ‘Flowerworks,’ which doesn’t make sense. When I see fireworks, it happens so fast — it’s so short and beautiful, but it’s gone. And seeing the fireworks, I thought, if I could do a fireworks with some wildflower — you know, not actual fireworks, because it’s just a metaphor — and if I hold some flowers and throw it to the sky, it could be like fireworks. And yeah, I just made up that word.
“I wanted to call it ‘Flowerworks,’ and then actually rhyming fireworks and flowers — in Korea, it’s rhyming, too. I’ve been thinking about the theme like since 2015, and so it took like actually almost seven years to actually, to make that into an actual song. But if I name it as ‘Flowerworks,’ I was afraid that (people would be) like, “What does this mean?” I changed it so people could feel it more it’s just ‘Wild Flower.’ But I think the song is a symbol of my twenties, and this album is as well.”
