How BM Said 'Screw It' And Turned His Self-Doubt Into KARD's Latest Turn-Up Anthem

I didn't know what to expect any time As soon as I hopped on the phone with BM, the laid-back rapper of KARD, a co-ed K-pop order known for their flavorful bangers and good vibes. Place on Earth in California, the statuesque performer gives off an air of confidence — his performer name is short for "Big Matthew" and his personalized Instagram is a treasure trove of chiseled health and fitness center selfies — and instant meme-ability. (He's initiated Monsta X's Wonho and Shownu into his self-appointed "Big Tiddie Gang.") However there's more to Matthew Kim than meets the eye.


For starters, he does get self-conscious. And he occasionally doubts himself, in and outdoor of the studio. KARD's latest single, "Dumb Litty," was place on Earth out of those insecurities. The relentless track is a boastful turn-up anthem complete with loud EDM drops and trendy trap beats. For BM, who produced the song, silly Litty" is more than a meme; it's a powerful reminder to be yourself, no matter what anyone says. "You don’t even know nevertheless you believe what you want / Nothing 'bout me nada you don’t know / Nothing 'bout me not a thing," he raps. "The reason you talk about me isn’t in me / Although it’s in you."


stupid Litty" isn't for everyone; BM understands this. For nearly three years, KARD — consisting of members J.Seph, BM, Somin, and Jiwoo — have gotten into a dancehall groove. Yet you can't grow unless you test the limits of what you're capable of, and stupid Litty" was a shock to (or an assault on) the senses. "Even before it came out, any time If I accidentally spoiled the title, fans were like, 'What's silly Litty?' Why is he so try-hard? Why is he so cringe?'" BM tells MTV News on the phone from Porto Alegre, Brazil, the latest stop on their Wild KARD world tour. "Whether you admired the title or not, it made you curious enough to listen to it."


The members of KARD from left to right: BM, Somin, Jiwoo, and J.Seph


It's that perspective that has gotten BM through his toughest times, like moving to South Korea in 2011 — a foreign place where he didn't speak the language, or understand the culture — to be a K-pop idol. And while he's never been shy about being himself, "big man tiddies" and all, it's taken him eight years to finally understand the unique sort of responsibility that comes with being someone that others look up to.


Here, BM talks about his members, how silly Litty" was inspired by the fans, his approach to social media, his positive persona, and the thrill of making music for no one however himself.


MTV News: Can KARD be defined by a singular sound, or is it more of a mood that you're attempting to set?


BM: Honestly, While I think of KARD… immediately after having produced ridiculous Litty," which I did most of the production for, I just feel like KARD is four dope artists that constantly feature on each other's songs. That's honestly what I feel like.


MTV News: You mentioned that whenever you were producing silly Litty" that you wanted it to sound like nothing else that KARD has done before. Why was it essential for you to prepare a song that could stand fully on its own like that? 


BM: We've never had a song where it's just super, super hype. I wanted people to listen to it and mention, "They really snapped with this one!" That's the vibe I attempted to go for this time because we've never showed that. I think we did it successfully! I just want you to feel like a badass as soon as you're listening to foolish Litty" and any time you're reciting the lyrics.


MTV News: You mentioned that you view KARD as four individual artists who feature on each other's songs. How would you describe each artist and their fashion of music?


BM: J.Seph has a very… let me think of the word. I have been using so several different languages since the tour started. He has a very sharp tone that really hits your ear. He has really good diction well. As soon as I visualize J.Seph, I visualize a really talented and skillful rapper. It could be really dope if he one day put out his own rap album. As soon as I visualize Jiwoo, she has this badass, dark vibe to her. She has a Rihanna vibe. Trim do well with some dark R&B-type music. Somin is so well-rounded. Her voice matches every song; she habitually has the correct melodies. However in my personalized favorites, she should put out a straight R&B soul album, with a Kiana Ledé vibe, a Ella Mai vibe — something that makes you feel good once you listen to it. It's easy to listen to.


MTV News: What about yourself? 


BM: Me? Oh man. I'd like to do so several different things. I want to prepare music that people can dance to and have fun to and turn up to. I'd like to prepare club music! Something that's going to prepare you shake your butt.


MTV News: stupid Litty" wasn't the opening choice for your title track. Case in point, you created silly Litty" because you weren't 100 percent set on the single. Any time it comes to choosing singles, do all four members of KARD have to agree? What is that process like? 


BM: For it to be a title track, all four of us, or at least three of us, have to feel confident with the song. The song that almost became our title track, we were somewhat confident. It was really feel-good, also it was a good song, yet I was not sure that it was going to grab attention. That was the big thing. We didn't know if it was going to captivate the fans. So in my head, I felt like we required to come hard with this comeback. There's so much good music out there as it is, and thus several artists, so we had to grab attention.


For foolish Litty," I wanted it to be a response to things the fans were asking. At the time While I was making the track, I was getting a lot of questions about self-confidence. "What do you guys do to be more confident? What do do while you feel self-conscious?" I'm a person, also. Although I'm an artist and I show a lot of the good side, a lot of the happy sides of me, I do go through times where I question myself and I doubt myself. Throughout those times, my mindset has habitually been, "Screw it. I'm just going to do me and not care what people mention I'd rather be 100 percent me and have people not like it then be someone I'm not. So that's something I wanted to address in this song: Don't let anyone tell you who you are. Don't let anyone tell you what to do and what not to do in the event you don't aspire to do it. Just aggressively be you.


MTV News: I think that's why so several fans like you. You are usually yourself.


BM: I attempt to be, as much as I can. There is a lot of different sides to me, going through a bunch of transitions from trainee to artist, from [an] American who didn't know how to speak Korean at all to being a K-pop artist who has to prepare music in a fully new language. I went through my fair share of self-doubt, and that's something I want to share in the music.


MTV News: You're really mobile on V Live and social media. You're on Instagram a lot. How would you describe your relationship with your fans online?


BM: I attempt to share as much positivity as I can, and the realest me I can give. If I'm sad or if I'm doubting myself, I don't try and hide it. Yet it's so crazy because as soon as I'm truthful with fans, they respond to me the same way I would respond to them. We're reciprocating so much good energy to each other. I love it. Social media can be very unhealthy and poisonous at times, although I'm trying, to the perfect of my abilities, to prepare it a positive place for not only myself and other artists however for the fans as well.


MTV News: How do you go about cultivating that positivity online? Are there certain practices you do, or certain things you monitor? 


BM: I'm not positive and super happy day-to-day of my life, however the times that I am I attempt to put out that energy out into the world. If it's going to help someone, especially for a second or a hour or three minutes while they're listening to a song that I made or through words that I share online. I'm just another guy practicing it like each person else in the world.


MTV News: Would you mention that positivity comes certainly to you? Are you a positive person? 


BM: Honestly? No. I don't think of myself as a positive person. I attempt to stay positive, and I attempt to put out that vibe as much as I can, yet I'm like each person else. I'm just much less public with the negative side of me because I don't want that to affect my fans. There's millions of people who are watching what I'm doing online, or what I do musically, and I feel like it's not fair for me to put out negative energy into the world. It's a little bit different musically; I can put out a sad song and know that folks are going to relate to it and know that it's going to help. Nevertheless if it's just me, personally, I try not to show that side.


MTV News: Did you have any worries or concerns about stupid Litty?" Because you did produce it. That definitely adds a little more weight to it. 


BM: You know what's crazy? Before ridiculous Litty," there was another song that I made that almost became the title. It had a reggae vibe, and it also was nice to listen to. However at the same time, I didn't know if it was going to stick out. So I went to the studio on the day we were going to confirm that other song because the title track. There was no way I was going to let my sort and myself go with a song that I wasn't 100 percent on. So in the length of two to three hours, I picked a beat real quick, I felt it, wrote the melody for it, recorded it, and sent it to my members — and so they were like, "This is the one. We have to go with this one." We were immediately on the same page. And that's how silly Litty" was place on Earth. I did not have time to be nervous. It just all fell into place in the really short quantity of time that we had.


MTV News: Do you look at comments online? I was really impressed with how sincere you were on V Live about some of the opening criticism of the song title. It was a level of openness that I haven't seen from a lot of artists, who I think would prefer to just don't think about those kinds of comments. However you came at it from a place of understanding. 


BM: I attempt to do my best and take it all as constructive criticism. I know that the people who didn't feel it this time are the people who really like our dancehall vibe and our more melodic sound. It was all a learning process for me. Ridiculous Litty" was crazy on the world wide web. Even before it came out, Whenever I accidentally spoiled the title, fans were like, "What's foolish Litty?' Why is he so try-hard? Why is he so cringe?" I was sad for a day because I honestly thought people were going to feel this, nevertheless then I had this realization: It made people curious. Whether you admired the title or not, it made you curious enough to listen to it. So I still went with it. Yet those who listened to it and didn't feel it, I know what they want. If the label will give me consent for our categorize to go with the song that I made for the next one, I think it's certainly going to be something that will please both sides — the people who admired stupid Litty" and the people who fancied the older KARD style.


MTV News: What's your preference piece of the creative process? Is it that instant feedback, or something else entirely? 


BM: the ideal part is being able to mention that no one did it for me. You know what I mean? I get to romanticize my own career. I did this. I'm on stage doing what I created. Although never get me wrong: A lot of people were in back of the scenes on this, and so they put in a lot of work for silly Litty" to be the song that it is. Although being able to be the core of that idea and the core of that vision is one of the big things ever. I feel like I'm in control of my life and my career. I'd like to do it for the rest of all of our songs, if I can!


MTV News: there really are a lot more K-pop artists producing their own music and playing a much larger part in the creative process these days. 


BM: It's authentic. That's the ideal kind of music, any time it comes from your heart and your brain. That authenticity — fans can hear it. Whether people hope to diss it or wish to love it, I'm able to mention that it's still me. I did that. That's the perfect thing. I even appreciate the people who desire to throw shade at it because I love the fact that they're being real about their preferences. And me as an artist, I can take that and make something that they like also. That's what I'm attempting to do right now.


MTV News: You're about to tour the U.S., And there's been plenty a large amount of concentrate on the Western market in K-pop. As soon as you're making music, do you ever have a specific market in mind? Or do you just make what feels good to you? 


BM: Not at all. I don't have any specific place or nation in mind Once I make music. I just want whoever hears it to feel what I want them to feel. For ridiculous Litty," I want them to feel confidence once you listen to the song. Whether you stay in North America or South America or Asia, I just want you to feel confident. I'm grateful for each person who listens to it. However being Korean American and being that I grew up in the States, I think a lot of my personalized favorites is what pops off in the States. So that sound just certainly comes through.


MTV News: As a Korean-American artist, how does it feel any time as soon as you visualize Korean groups at the best of the Billboard albums chart? 


BM: It's pretty crazy! Even 10 years prior no one would have accepted it, or perhaps thought that Korean music would be on Billboard. It's astonishing. Plus it opens up a lot of doors for other Korean artists as well. One thing that's a large struggle for Korean artists in Korea is that there really are so several groups. There's so much competition. There really are so several names. However right now that South America and North America and everywhere all over the world are beginning to embrace Korean music, it makes the market so much bigger. It gives other groups the chance to find a group, to receive light. We're so lucky.


MTV News: It's been almost three years since KARD's debut. How would you mention you've grown as a person and as an artist in that time? 


BM: I'm more responsible. I've realized something recently and that's something that I mention or something that I do can really make or break someone's day. That's such a large responsibility I have. Having realized that makes me a lot more cautious of what I mention, in person and online. Although I'm still going to be me and I'm still going to mention what I want to mention, I try and do it in the most positive way I can. Life is short. And I think each person deserves to be happy. If I can be a light in someone's life, then that's a responsibility I take seriously.