BTS’ RM has opened up about Erykah Badu’s “convincing” contribution to ‘Yun’, the opening track of his newly-released solo record ‘Indigo’.
The neo-soul icon is one of the collaborators on opening track ‘Yun’, lending her vocals to the song’s hook: “You keep the silence / ‘Fore you do somethin’ / You be a human / Till the death of you”. In an interview with NME, the rapper explained that he needed the veteran artist Badu to deliver the hook in order to make it “convincing” – something that he lacked the life experience to do.
“If I sing [the hook], I thought it wouldn’t be that convincing because I’m too young to preach or tell people to be somebody,” RM explained. “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.”
The rapper also shared how excited he was to have a cameo from Badu on his record, noting that the singer “barely” features on other artists’ songs. “Her voice is really magical and has its own power – it’s like a spell,” the rapper enthused. “It really changes me and moves me somewhere.” Read NME’s interview with RM in full here.
Besides Badu, other collaborators on RM’s new album – the last BTS solo release out this year following J-hope’s ‘Jack In The Box’ album and Jin’s ‘The Astronaut’ collaboration with Coldplay – include Anderson .Paak, Mahalia and Tablo of Epik High.
Apart from ‘Yun’, RM also discussed with NME ‘Change pt. 2’ and ‘Closer’ – English-language cuts from his debut record. The rapper, who has acted as BTS’ translator during the septet’s rise to fame, shared that ending up with two songs performed fully in English was an organic consequence of his music-making process.
“I think language has its own worlds or textures,” RM explained. “Sometimes I watch interviews [I’ve done] in Korean and English [and] it’s really strange – the frequency and the dynamics are really different. But I love it and I’m satisfied that I can do both because I’m lucky – I can be on the land or in the sea.”
Besides dropping ‘Indigo’ in full today, RM also released a music video for the single ‘Wild Flower’ featuring the singer Youjeen.