BTS's RM Changes His Stage Name Again... For April Fools' Day

BTS‘s RM has gone by many names now.

Firstly, his legal name is Kim Namjoon.

| @_minni_/Pinterest

He also has cute nicknames, such as “Joon” or “Joonie.”

RM also previously went by several different stage names as an underground rapper pre-debut, including Largo, The Nexist, and Stealo.

His most well-known pre-debut name is Runch Randa, though.

Of course, ARMYs will be most familiar with the fact that RM originally debuted as “Rap Monster.”

Yet, in 2017, he changed it from “Rap Monster” to “RM,” which he has gone by now ever since. He has said that it means “Real Me,” although that’s up for debate among members. He has spoken about the name’s significance previously, including in a blog post.

When I was a trainee, I started calling myself Rap Monster because of a song I did.

Then naturally, I just kept saying this was my stage name and it stuck.

After promoting under this name for awhile, I realized my name was really long and the name Rap Monster wasn’t representative of the type of music I wanted to do in the future.

Also, as time went by, people referred to me was Rapmon or RM for short.

I have decided to change my name to RM to mark a different period in my artistic path.

I will broaden my scope in my music and work towards a change with this new name, RM.

— RM

| @joeguk/Tumblr

Now, RM has changed his stage name again…

BTS’s annual April Fools’ Day traditions of changing their social media account as a prank has begun again. This time, with the inclusion of their new Instagram accounts, it’s getting even more interesting.

BTS APRIL FOOLS TWITTER LAYOUTS pic.twitter.com/NUfypXB0xo

— hope⁷ | rong day 🥳 (@winnttaebear) April 1, 2022

Jimin has updated both BTS’s shared Twitter account and his own Instagram account.

Jimin on

Twitter Instagram pic.twitter.com/vD5UjuEZGz

— Lavender⁷ (@Lavende03) April 1, 2022

Jin, too, has got in on the fun with Instagram.

april fool's with bts (1) : seokjin's instagram!

jin's profile pic: jhin, a character from the league of legends game
jin's bio: "and there i bloom like a flower in the dawn" (a modified quote, originally taken from jhin) pic.twitter.com/21OSl1NUh2

— 「 claire ⁷ 」 (@btstranslation7) April 1, 2022

So, RM has too attempted to update his Instagram for April Fools’ Day. Yet, Instagram has not made it easy for him.

ah… insta isn’t helping

— RM

RM shared some screenshots on his Instagram Stories. He explained that he was trying to change his display name from “RM” to “MR” for the day, but Instagram told him it was under review.

@instagram, let me change it to MR right now.

— RM

Ultimately, RM’s display name on Instagram was updated to “MR,” and the description read “Removed.” So, it spelled out “MR-Removed,” which means “Music Recording Removed.”

MR Removed video is that of isolated live vocals. It is when all background music and instrumentals of a live performance are artificially removed therefore leaving only vocals.