[Album Review] Rap Monster – RM Mixtape

It didn’t take long to decide which album would take 2016’s first Album Review. We’ve been checking out the first mixtape from BTS rapper Rap Monster, RM. Rap Monster has released his mixtape in true rap mixtape fashion, for free! You can check out the entire album on Soundcloud, and download it completely legally, for no cost, from the download links we’ll include at the bottom of our review. You’ve really got no excuse to miss this one.

The mixtape opens with the track Your Voice, produced by Slow Rabbit, this is an intro that leaves Rap Monster’s vocals with nothing to hide behind. Accompanied only by a piano RM’s voice is laid bare, and his talent is clear, it’s the perfect way to open his mixtape.

There are three tracks on the mixtape that have previously been released by Rap Monster, Awakening featuring the beat from The Alarm by Big K.R.I.T.; Joke with its original beat coming from Run The Jewels’ Oh My Darling; and Do You. Major Lazer’s Aerosol Can is the base beat for Do You.
There’s something a little reminiscent of older, more established Korean hip hop rappers in this track, at times you could believe you’re listening to Verbal Jint. Do You is an impressive show of RM’s understanding of rhyme and rhythm, and his ability to hold a beat.

Throw Away sample’s Hypest Hype by English electronic duo Chase & Status. The big beat is accompanied by RM’s show of rap strength. His rap is punchy, and possibly the most fitting of its sample on this mixtape.

I Believe closes the mixtape, it’s another Slow Rabbit production that showcases the full talent of Rap Monster, as a rapper, singer and lyricist. It is possibly I Believe and Your Voice that become the highlights of this mixtape, proving that RM’s skills as a rapper are best displayed when he’s showcasing his range in full.

Rap Monster is an Idol rapper, and it’s a title worth embracing by all rappers in idol groups. After all, being an idol has encouraged and developed the versatility of artists like Rap Monster, and that can only be a good thing.

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And as a bonus, you should definitely download Rap Monster and Jong Kook’s cover of Troye Sivan’s FOOLS; a track that shows off the versatility of Rap Monster nearly as perfectly as mixtape opener Your Voice.