Map of the Soul: Persona is one of the recent albums released by BTS. It is also the title of RM’s solo track in the series. This album is a homage to BTS’s career. It heavily features RM as he was the first member confirmed for the band. In addition to being the band’s leader, he is also a composer and the main lyricist.

When BTS started out in 2013, they were all fairly young, so a lot of their videos were set in classrooms with the members decked out in school uniforms. Their earlier songs were also quite rebellious; among the “tough guy” songs were songs that questioned the “system” that schools operation under.

In 2019, we see RM revisiting these ideas but as an adult. He’s set both in a classroom and in a courtyard on the school’s premise. The song starts with RM questioning the idea of himself that he has compared to his public persona. Luckily, he has grown out of the need to project a “tough guy” act and instead is asking what he can do for others when they struggle.

As RM was the key to BTS, I picked him as the representative of this era since it was the era of reflection. Not only does the schoolboy look suit him well, he is also one of the most scholarly members of the group, and someone who constantly tries to improve himself. During the beginning of his career, he got into a lot of trouble with appropriating Black culture. Over the years, he has learned to change those habits. It is fitting that his song talks about personas because he has lived a very public life and is constantly trying to find himself. In 2017, he changed his stage name from “Rap Monster” to “RM,” which stood for “Real Me,” which just highlights his growth as a person.