In a past live stream, KARD's BM once spoke out about being held at gunpoint while visiting his friends and family in the United States.
He said that back in either 2014 or 2015, BM had gone back to the United States to visit his family and friends. While he was out with his friend in the middle of the night, they decided to go to a local fast food place to get some snacks because they were hungry. While on the way, they got stopped by the cops.
The reason they had gotten stopped was because the vehicle they were riding had tinted windows. Despite the small reason, they had pulled out their guns on them and BM and his friends were held at gunpoint. BM recalls being told by the cops, "Don't move a muscle or my partner's gonna blow your head off."
He recalled that his friend remained calm in the situation and kept their hands in the air, but BM was so terrified that his legs were shaking. He said the the situation happened around the time of the Mike Brown shooting. Back in Korea, he had heard the rumors about police brutality and how trigger happy the cops were in the United States, which led him to be horrified at the situation he was in.
He recalled how one of the cops who had pulled them over was Korean while the other was African-American. He said that that event was the first time in his life that he thought he might actually die, and it was over tinted windows. He recalls seeing videos of cops telling people not to move and then getting anxious if the person makes one small movement, leading them to fire. He was scared, thinking, "What if that happens to me?"
BM repeatedly mentions that in the situation, he was so cared that something might happen to him. In the live stream, he puts the spotlight on the Black Lives Matter movement, saying "This is something that black people gotta be worried about every time they walk out their home." He continues, saying, "This is something black people have to go through all the time and I don't think it's right."
He says that that situation was so terrifying for him, and the fact that it happens to people, especially those of African-American descent, just because of their skin color, is something he can't even imagine and doesn't believe it is right, showing his support for the Black Lives Matter movement.
The Black Lives Matter, also known as BLM, is a movement started in the United States that protests against police brutality and all racially motivated violence against African-American people. Though the movement started back in 2013, it saw a resurgence following the killing of George Floyd, who was murdered by Minneapolis police officers, one of which is Derek Chauvin. The Black Lives Matter movement is one of the largest movements in U.S. history.
BM debuted with the co-ed group KARD as the main dancer, lead rapper, and vocalist back in 2017, but the group had started releasing pre-debut music in 2016. He was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. His career in K-Pop started when he was part of a dance team in college. After his mother had seen him perform, she signed him for the show "Kpop Star" and though reluctant to go due to his poor Korean skills, he ended up going and passing the auditions. He went to the televised auditions and was saved three times by judge BoA.
Prior to debuting with KARD, he was originally meant to debut in a hip-hop duo with member J.Seph. The two ended up debuting with two female members, Somin and Jiwoo, in KARD. He has also released solo music and has appeared in numerous artists' music videos, such as Rainbow's "Sunshine" and KARA's "Mamma Mi." Other than music, BM has established his own clothing line, "Staydium".
