Baltimore has officially charmed K-pop band BTS.
Members of the South Korean group praised the city as they said their goodbyes to thousands of fans at M&T Bank Stadium earlier this week. The group performed for two nights as part of its “Arirang” World Tour but still found time to venture out.
J-Hope, the group’s main dancer, posted several photos on Thursday of the city’s Inner Harbor and restaurants, including the Thames Street Oyster House. He also included a photo of a meal from popular Asian fusion chain Ekiben.
The 32-year-old rapper said during the Monday night concert that he had an “amazing” meal but wouldn’t say where because he wanted make a return visit. But people online were quick to guess the meal that J-Hope was talking about.
Steve Chu, Ekiben’s co-founder, shared a screenshot of J-Hope’s post on Instagram.
“Hope you enjoyed the food and felt the love from our city,” he wrote in the caption.
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RM, the leader of the seven-member group, was also spotted “namjooning” at the Baltimore Museum of Art over the weekend.
The term “namjooning” was created by BTS ARMY. It is a play on RM’s full name, Kim Namjoon. It can mean a number of things: going to art museums, walking through parks, riding a bike. All things RM likes to do while on tour.
Campbell Mitchell, the BMA’s visitor experience associate, confirmed that the 31-year-old visited the museum Sunday, a day before the group’s first concert. The rapper was being discreet, Mitchell said, and was there with two others. She said RM checked out the Cone Collection, which includes one of the world’s largest collections of Henri Matisse’s artworks, and the exhibition “Fratino and Matisse: To See This Light Again.”
Fans were respectful, Mitchell said, and kept their distance. Some told Mitchell they had visited the museum hoping to see RM.
RM recently announced a collaboration with the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art that will feature artworks from his personal collection.
“This is probably one of the first celebrities I’ve heard promote the arts so openly,” Mitchell said. She recommended that fans check out the contemporary art wing section. “I would definitely encourage them to visit and maybe compare to some of the artists he has in his collection and see if there’s any crossover.”
Mitchell said the museum put a sticky note on the front desk asking people to let them know if they were visiting because of BTS. A few people asked staff members if RM was there.
“I was like, no, you just missed them,” she said.






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