Finally! The biggest band on the planet, BTS, got into the biggest car available for an epic version of ‘Carpool Karaoke.’ Along the ride, James Corden became the ‘Papa Mochi’ to Jimin’s ‘Baby Mochi’ — BTS fans lost it.
Everyone loves Carpool Karaoke. Everyone in the world loves BTS. So, in a case of “two great tastes coming together,” the biggest band in the world joined James Corden, 41, for an installment in the vehicular sing-a-long on Feb. 25. The band – V, 24, SUGA, 26, RM, 25, Jungkook, 22, Jin, 27, Jimin, 24, and J-Hope, 26 – decided to celebrate the release of Map of the Soul: 7 by filing into a Range Rover for a drive around Los Angeles. But, what is a drive without music? Thankfully, James had the radio – and seven of the biggest singers on the planet. They jammed along to BTS hits like “Black Swan,” in addition to American pop bops like Bruno Mars‘ “Finesse.”
When James and the seven members of BTS weren’t singing, they were laughing — a lot. Arguably, the best joke to emerge from the car ride was when Jimin decided to refer to James as “Papa Mochi,” after James raved about his love for the rice cake snack. The Late Late Show host adopted the endearing term right away, calling Jimin his “Baby Mochi.” And then, the sweetest moment ever to air on Carpool Karaoke commenced: Jimin clutched James hand as he exclaimed, “Papa! Papa!” The cherry on top was Jimin sweetly saying, “I miss you papa.” We ship this duo! Other highlights include BTS belting the Friends theme song, and crashing James’ dance studio class — you can watch the full clip above!
As it turns out, James seemingly willed this Carpool Karaoke to happen. “I want @BTS_twt to come on my show and perform serendipity to bad,” he tweeted on Aug. 29, 2018. “Maybe we could even sing it in a #CarpoolKaraoke?” Whether this is an instance of James using The Secret to get what he wants or just a case of –oddly enough—serendipity, the results are the same: BTS in his car for what might be the biggest Carpool Karaoke in history.
While the whole ordeal looked like fun, it also looked kind of cramped. In the previews of the event, it looked like it was the most packed edition of Carpool Karaoke ever. Lucky RM scored himself the passenger seat, while the rest of his crew had to find a spot in the back. Fans even felt bad for Suga, who seemed like he was sitting in the trunk of the car. “We were in the way back and they had all the recording equipment in the back,” Suga said during BTS’s interview with Radio.com. “So, it was really hot, actually. It was me, V, Jin – and we were burning up back there. A lot of groups that go on the show don’t have as many people as us. It was a nice car, a Range Rover, but we were packed in there.”
Next time, maybe they’ll just play Hide & Seek again? While visiting The Late Late Show on Jan. 28, James and Ashton Kutcher indulged in the James’ off-camera tradition. The seven members of the K-Pop group hid around the studio and whoever found four members first won the game. Suga and Jungkook employed some clever camouflage, but what happened when Ashton found Seokjin and Jimin really got fans talking. Ashton dragged Jimin out from under James’ desk and picked the singer off his feet. When That ‘70s Show star found Seokjin, he slung him over his shoulders. Despite this, Ashton still lost the game.