mono. Tracklist
mono. is RM’s second solo mixtape following his 2015 release, RM. The cover art of the album incorporates the word ‘playlist’ rather than ‘mixtape’ because the tracks were stylistically produced to effortlessly flow from one song to another, evident with the rain at the end of “지나가 (everythingoes)” as it transitions into “Forever Rain.”
The mixtape was released on October 23, 2018 and was first disclosed on BTS’s twitter. It was released for free on multiple platforms, emphasizing RM’s desire to simply share his voice and thoughts with others.
mono. debuted at No. 1 on the iTunes charts in 86 countries including the US, Germany, the UK, and Brazil, making RM one of the first solo Korean artists (alongside fellow member J-Hope) to chart at the top in the US and UK. With only three days of tracking, mono. debuted at number 26 on the Billboard 200 album chart with 21,000 album units sold, 16,000 of which were traditional album sales.
In addition, Billboard wrote an article reviewing the mixtape:
(mono.) does an about-face from (RM) release’s largely bellicose nature in favor of a more introspective mixtape. Featuring songs performed in both Korean and English.
“mono.” Q&A
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Translations
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How was the album received? What records did it set?
Worldwide:
mono. has reached #1 on iTunes Album Chart in 123 countries, becoming the highest charting album in iTunes history worldwide. It’s even more impressive as the mixtape was also available to legally download it for free.
The album has surpassed 223M streams on Spotify.
It also surpassed 57M streams on SoundCloud.
US:
The album debuted at #26 on Billboard 200 chart making RM the highest-charting Korean solo act on on that chart.
It also reached #2 on Billboard World Albums chart.
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Why the album is called mono.?
The ‘mono,’ as many of you expected, can mean black and white which is the most obvious thought too. The word mono is great because it also can mean “alone” or “one”. Words like monologue, monopoly, and mono drama carry that meaning. When mono is stuck with another meaning, it starts to have this intrinsic characteristic. And as you all know, it is kind of the opposite of stereotype. So when I was working on this album I thought that there would be no better title than “mono”. I think it’s the best title that can bring all the tracks together.
– RM via V Live
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Why the concept of the playlist rather than the album?
The one thing that I wanted to focus on was losing the tension. So that’s why I didn’t make a teaser. And I released the track list just two days before the releasing date. It was totally unexpected and then I just released it. And I didn’t even appear in the music videos. […] So I released it as a playlist. This was very important to me. So a lot of you might be unfamiliar with the concept of a playlist instead of an album but I thought that I’d appreciate it if the listeners would regard it as a playlist. I think that the concept of an album is becoming less important. Too many people are focused on the title or the single and don’t listen to the other tracks.
– RM via V Live
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Why there are no official lyrics for the album?
According to RM’s DAUM fancafe post no official lyrics will be released. He stated:
Are you listening to it [referring to mono.] well?
For a person who does music, there would not be a greater joy than knowing there is someone who would listen to them!I heard through friends and family that it suits Seoul’s weather today. It’s a relief.
Ah, I purposefully did not put in official lyrics. In the eagerness that many people would listen to it with their own language and expression. In the hope that it becomes fuller through individuals filling in the missing blanks!
While there are many things I want to say, another rain shower is imminent.
Thank you so much for listening
– Namjoon
