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EXO: The Band and the Korean Wave
Anyone who's known me over the past several years is probably aware of the fact that one of my greatest pleasure-only passions is following Japanese and Korean idol bands, but I've never quite had the opportunity to articulate well why I'm so passionate about the groups that I follow. To my immense delight, there were parallels that I found between the nature of my interest in idol bands and Stef's love of One Direction, and since she expressed an interest in learning about the group that I'm currently obsessed with, I selfishly latched onto the opportunity to put together a primer and share my love more broadly.
A lot of the draw that the Korean music industry has for me is the fact that there's such a uniqueness to its structure. If you've ever watched the Fine brothers' K-pop reaction videos, they touch on that point in every Q&A. There is, to my knowledge, no other existing market that has such a regimented process for creating mainstream stars, and even within Korea, it's still a relatively new phenomenon. So, in the process of sharing my ridiculous love for these specific stars, I also want to be able to provide background and context, which I think can make navigating the Korean idol space much easier.
Since Stef's One Direction primer was so delightful and well-structured, I'm going to take a note from her book and split each one of my band primers into two sections — performance and personality. Given that EXO is the first primer I'm putting together, I'm also going to tack on some broader industry specifics at the beginning.
I really hope, even if no one latches onto these artists deeply, that these primers can at least be an interesting read. ♥
Note: If you're either already familiar with or uninterested in details about the Korean music industry, skip ahead to pre-debut to be immediately immersed in EXO's music and performance.
THE KOREAN WAVE
The rise of the K-pop industry can be traced back to the late 1990s, during a large and ongoing push within South Korea towards greater cultural and media production. The motivation for the development dates back even further, to the mid-1950s, when South Korea entered a period of rapid economic growth following the end of the Korean War; as is hardly uncommon for a nation finding its footing following a great war, there was a strong desire to foster and develop domestic successes, increase national morale, and reduce general flight risk. Initially, quotas were placed on the import of foreign films and media, but following pressure from the US government to open its doors, South Korea lifted these bans, which resulted in a massive takeover of the market by Hollywood. What quickly began to strike some of the nation's leaders was the sheer scale of the economic impact that media exports could have — the profits that the US was making within South Korea alone outstripped many of Korea's main exports at the time. As a result, the government began to subsidize and foster the effort to crack into entertainment, not only for the economic benefit, but also to aid the intangible cultural influence that media could have on outside nations.
Cue the creation of many, many research industries created by the government with the sole goal of cracking the formula. What would South Korea have to produce in order to better establish its presence in an increasingly global world?
The first area of success for South Korea came from its television dramas, which quickly drew the attention of the Chinese market, whose television programs had been growing somewhat predictable and stale to the domestic audience. Not long after, the next breakthrough success came from S.M. Entertainment (Star Museum), headed by Lee Soo-Man; in 2000, S.M.'s main boy band, H.O.T., became the first modern K-pop artists to sell out concert venues in Beijing. What naturally followed was a scramble of other agencies to join in the race, each of them seeking their own unique brand and identity as Korea's influence continued to spread across Asia.
This movement is commonly referred to as the Korean Wave, or Hallyu.
Currently, there are three entertainment agencies that tend to dominate the Korean music scene: S.M. Entertainment, Y.G. Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment, each with their own unique brand. If you don't want to wait for further primers, the overviews of the agencies might give you an idea of where to at least start looking for music.
S.M. Entertainment: The first agency that reached consistent mainstream success and has remained unseated since as the company with the most presence in the Korean market. Even though most of their artists cater to a younger audience, there is generally a lot of good will still aimed at the company by the broader Korean population; even older generations will recognize the name of their founder, Lee Soo-Man, and respect him heavily as someone they perceive to have propelled South Korea in the eyes of the international community.
Out of the three agencies, S.M. is definitely the most formulaic in its approach. It knows the equation that makes for a popular band, it knows how to spot a catchy tune, and it's unafraid of churning out groups in an almost cookie-cutter fashion. They are the agency that's most likely to use numbers to their advantage — their three arguably most popular current groups are Super Junior (peaked at 13 members, not counting those uniquely added to their international subgroups; currently 10), Girls' Generation/SNSD (originally 9; currently 8), and EXO (originally 12; currently 10). The logic seems to be that somewhere in the mix, fans will find a bias, and comprehensively the sheer technical skill in performing as a part of a large group is impressive in of itself.
There are some negative consequences that stem from S.M.'s approach. For one, the almost replaceable nature of groups that are so formulaic results in heavy pressure on groups as S.M. milks the successful ones for everything that they're worth for the entirety of their shelf life. For another, S.M. puts the majority of its artists through at least one of a trifecta of cosmetic procedures — eyes (double-lid, corner widening), nose (smoothing the bridge, narrowing the tip), jaw (shaving, chin implants). I'll touch on these matters more individually in personality profiles where applicable.
Y.G. Entertainment: While not quite as prolific as S.M., there's no doubt that Y.G. is a solid second place as far as popularity is concerned. It was founded by one of the members of Seo Taiji, which was the first modern successful band in South Korea, predating even S.M. Entertainment's first hits. Yang Hyun-Suk (nicknamed Yang Goon, hence Y.G.) founded the agency with his younger brother with the intention of establishing hip hop's presence in the mainstream South Korean music industry. And they were pretty successful.
What Y.G. is unparalleled in is the ability to curate strong individual brands in its artists, and the common underlying theme behind each one of these brands is swag. (They don't say as much, but that's the only way I've been able to describe it.) There's a certain confidence and charisma that Y.G. is able to foster in its artists, all the way from personality, to fashion, to appearance. It isn't as easy to confuse individuals in Y.G.'s leading artists, which include Big Bang, 2NE1, Epik High, and PSY. Yes, that's right. Y.G. is responsible for "Gangnam Style."
Controversies around Y.G. are pretty standard for the industry, mostly around dating scandals. There's some criticism that gets cast on Y.G. by international fans who complain about inappropriate cultural appropriation, but that feedback is pretty much only given by Western audiences.
JYP Entertainment: A trailing third place, and recently experiencing a lot of trouble staying above the water, JYP Entertainment is something of a catch-all for all the highly talented and decently marketable artists who don't immediately gravitate to the scale of S.M. or the brand of Y.G. The artists they've produced with the most recognition include Wonder Girls, Rain, and Jay Park. Of the three groups, JYP has the most soloists who aren't also performing as part of a group. Unfortunately, while all of these names are pretty much household staples and often recognized as more influential than current stars, they are also largely inactive and/or artists that JYP has failed to retain once their contracts were up.
If they've got a theme behind their artists, I haven't honestly discovered it yet.
Phew. Tired yet? That's enough history — let's move onto the current reality of idol life.
TRAINEE LIFE
History aside, there's also a lot about the industry from the perspective of training hopefuls that is good to know and, at least for me, has greatly impacted the amount of appreciation I have for current artists.
In Western cultures, the rise of an artist to fame usually involves at least a couple levels of individual enterprising spirit. Building the skills necessary to draw a scout's attention is a self-driven effort. You find your own vocal coaches, you find your own way to act in community theater, you find classes that are within your means. If you're talented enough, maybe you can get away with being self-taught and take things to the next level of individualism. But, point is, while management will certainly put in effort to polish artists up, the circumstances of a mainstream artist's rise to fame generally vary. A lot.
Less true in South Korea.
Entertainment agencies usually employ some mix of auditions and active scouting among kids and young adults (sometimes as young as early elementary school, but mostly in the middle-high school range), at which point accepted trainees will enter an entertainment boot camp, where they are treated to a mix of demanding courses, including vocal, dance, acting, and general image training. There, they will remain for anywhere from six months to the greater part of a decade, usually living in dorms provided by the entertainment agency. Room and board are often covered, but terms of talent contracts often have some type of clause where once debuted, idols aren't able to keep their income until said income has paid back the costs of training.
And that's where the funnel becomes stifling. Because not all trainees will get to debut as a group. And most groups that debut flop within months. Of those that make some decent splash, the average lifespan as a group is two, maybe three years. Beyond that, it's incredibly rare for groups to be actively promoting for more than five years — among fans, there's even the notion of the five year curse, where even the most popular bands will start to unravel at that milestone. This can result in trainees putting years of their life into an attempt to gain fame, only to never make any income, and often return to the workforce significantly behind peers who stayed in school and gained broadly applicable skills.
In some ways, the parameters are at least predictable. If you haven't debuted by age twenty or within three years of entering training, odds are that you're done and should look elsewhere. And provided one signs on with a reputable agency, there's also a relatively small chance of falling into deep debt. But there are flaws in the system that have received more exposure in press as of late; it'll be interesting to see if they get addressed.
By the end of their time in boot camp, successful trainees generally get cast into one or more of four main roles: vocalist, dancer, rapper, or face (combination of striking physical appearance and charisma).
Okay. Take another breather. We're finally ready to address EXO's group career and music.
FORMATION AND PRE-DEBUT
The six members of EXO-K in their first teasers. I tried to find a similar set for EXO-M, but alas. They'll get GIFs later.
If there's one thing that S.M. Entertainment excels at, it's hype. The goal in the formation of EXO was to truly create an international group; Lee Soo-Man announced that his aim was to create a super band composed of two subgroups which would promote the same songs in Korean and Chinese.
Part of this was likely driven by the somewhat shaky but still considerably successful subgroups of the then dominant boy band, Super Junior (also under S.M. Entertainment), which had spawned a subgroup called Sunior Junior-M, which saw the addition of a couple of Chinese members and promoted almost solely in Chinese-speaking countries. Many believed that Super Junior-M never managed to quite reach their full potential due to the fact that they weren't formed until years after Super Junior's main band, and by then, some purist fans were extremely resistant to the idea of new members being added to the group. The notion of Chinese and other international members being part of Korean bands was hardly new at the time; S.M. Entertainment's girl group f(x) features Victoria, from mainland China, and Amber, a Taiwanese-American member. Still, the notion of groups being created to encourage equal promotion in the homeland of Korea and the most influential market of China was novel, and sparked interest from the start.
These two subgroups were to be called EXO-K (for Korean) and EXO-M (for Mandarin), based on the languages they would sing in.
The marketing that led up to the group's debut was extensive, and highly successful at piquing the interest of teens and young adults across South Korea. No fewer than twenty-three teaser videos were created, showing off the skills of the EXO members, with a heavier focus on the stronger dancers in the group. Each one of the teaser videos featured a song by EXO as its background music, thus drawing some attention to the sound being produced by the group as well. Even through today, not all of the songs featured in these teasers have made it to market — one of the most popular songs, "El Dorado," is only now being promised to show on EXO's next feature album, over three years after it was initially teased to the public.
By the time that EXO officially debuted as its two subgroups, the individual members already had pretty considerable fanbases, which allowed EXO to secure plenty of spots on popular television shows in both South Korea and China within days of their debut.
The twelve members of the band at debut; top row: EXO-K, bottom row: EXO-M.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
There are quite a few teasers, but all of them are quite short (1-2 minutes), so I took the liberty of including more.
MAMA ERA (2012): DEBUT
Top: EXO-M; Bottom: EXO-K.
The teasers weren't the end of the hype that S.M. Entertainment wanted to drive with EXO. In addition to the twenty-three video teasers, the two subgroups of EXO released a pair of prologue singles each, "What Is Love" (Chinese ver.) and "History" (Chinese ver.), in January and March of 2011 respectively. Both of them saw decent success on the South Korea's renowned Gaon Music Charts, breaking the top 100 releases. "History" saw even higher commercial success in China, where it placed number six on China's Sina Music Chart.
A few days before their mainstream debut release, EXO-K and EXO-M held showcase concerts in Seoul and Beijing to show off the full extent of their preparation and skill. The demand for these concerts was so high that S.M. Entertainment ended up relying on a raffle system to pick and choose the fans who would be allowed to attend, which only further cemented the groups as the latest and greatest. It was at this time that the concept behind EXO also finally came to light; the twelve members of EXO are boys with extraordinarily talent who hail from another planet entirely — the Exoplanet. (Yes, I know.) Each one of the boys has a superpower that's attributed to them. Rather than listing them all out, I'll let you watch them in their debut single, "MAMA."
EXO-K's version. I still don't know what it means to 'shoot anonymous.'
EXO-M's version. I picked a version without the intro, since that section is identical between the groups.
The band skyrocketed to popularity with the release of "MAMA," reaching number one on the Gaon Music Chart, as well as number one on many of China's top music streaming sites, and even making waves in Billboard and YouTube's global charts. They were selected as the Best New Asian Artist Group at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards, which can more or less be considered the Asian equivalent of the Grammys.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
WOLF ERA (2013): GROUP PROMOTION
Are they wolves or are they cubs?
After all the work that went into the initial promotion of EXO, there's absolutely no question that they had a bit of an identity crisis after their breakthrough success. How were they supposed to maintain momentum and not dissolve into some type of one-hit wonder? S.M. Entertainment quickly rushed to capitalize on the success; about half a year after EXO had earned the title of Best New Artist across many different awards ceremonies, they came out with the release of a full album, XOXO, which showcased EXO's vocal skills across a number of different genres.
Although there were other songs that were arguably more impressive vocally, the single they chose to promote and film was "Wolf." What's notable about this single, beyond... well, you'll see when you watch the video, is the fact that this was the first song that the two subgroups of EXO promoted and recorded together. (The rest of the songs on XOXO were recorded by EXO-K and EXO-M for their respective markets.) Shortly before its slated release date, a very rough preview of "Wolf" leaked, likely seeded by S.M. Entertainment themselves, which drew a lot of ridicule and criticism. The final single saw similarly mixed reactions, although many were able to point out the skill required to bring twelve young men together in group choreography, particularly focusing on the unique 'tree of life' presented at the beginning of the video.
Korean version. The concept of the song is a werewolf who has fallen in love with a woman and sings of his obsession.
Chinese version. I never stop staring at the interesting hair choices.
Honestly, "Wolf" is probably my least favorite lead single by EXO, but if you come at it from the perspective of looking for something campy and unique, it can be fun. This era of EXO was arguably the shortest, as S.M. Entertainment accelerated the release of their next (and most breakthrough) single.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
GROWL ERA (2013): MAINSTREAM SUCCESS
Werk that swag, Lay.
For EXO, "Growl" marks the true turning point of their career, when they went from a promising upstart group to arguably the most prolific band in South Korea at the time. The release of "Growl" came a mere two months after the release of "Wolf," while EXO was still honestly in the midst of promoting their former single. No one really knows how or why these releases were planned in the timeframe that they were; maybe early "Wolf" demo backlash had S.M. Entertainment scrambling to find a better track, or maybe "Growl" was the ace in their pocket that they held onto in order to surprise everyone. Whatever it was, the popularity of "Growl" spread like wildfire, between the catchy tune and the then unprecedented true one-take music video.
Korean version. This is the main music video version, which was filmed in a single take. You can spot a couple of missteps during (watch for Kai dropping his hat), but it's all the more charming for how quickly they recover.
Chinese version. This is the second music video version, which features close-ups and multiple outfits. Both languages have one of each music video version, but I figured it'd be efficient just to show and hear one of each.
"Growl" very quickly dominated just about every domestic measure of success possible. They set new trends for percentage of votes on listener determined charts, won ten trophies over the three weeks following the single's release, and reached number one on all four of Korea's major music programs. EXO's first studio album, XOXO, quickly came out with a repackaged version which included "Growl" and a couple of other new songs, and that album helped EXO break the record for fastest-selling K-pop artist in twelve years. (Yes, including other breakthrough groups like Girls' Generation.) The album was also named Album of the Year at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards, making EXO the youngest boy band to ever win the award.
The increased popularity of the group led to plenty of opportunities outside of the music space. For one, they secured their own pseudo-reality show, "EXO's Showtime," which followed the boys' everyday lives and special trips over the course of twelve episodes, and really helped to showcase the boys' individual personalities. (I heavily encourage watching this show and will link to it in the personality primer.) Other television opportunities also arose, including stints on extremely popular Korean reality shows like Running Man, or television dramas and films. Essentially, "Growl" was really the song which made EXO into what it is today.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
OVERDOSE ERA (2014): LEGAL DISPUTES
Someone, call the doctor.
Once more, after achieving massive success with their previous single, the question began to arise if EXO could really keep up the unprecedented amount of success that they had seen over the previous year. This time, their comeback was not a rapid one; it would take over half a year after promotions for "Growl" slowed before they released their next single, "Overdose."
While both "Wolf" and "Growl" focused lyrically on a young man aggressively pursuing their love interest, "Overdose" takes on a slightly darker theme. Instead of centering on the singer's efforts to pursue the person they adore, the lyrics speak of love as being an overdose, as the obsession that the singer has being too much, being like poison in his system:
Someone call the doctor, hold me and tell me
Love is a sickness, an addiction, overdose
It's harder to control as time goes by
I'm falling deeper into her
Oh too much, it’s you, your love, this is overdose
Korean version. "Overdose" carried a far darker theme than EXO's previous singles, reflected in the intro sequence.
Chinese version. The M and K subgroups swapped sections for the different versions, including the first and final moments of the intro sequence.
Whether intentionally or not, the theme of "Overdose" paralleled well with the reality of EXO's fan situation at the time. After the success of "Growl," EXO gained a very dedicated and admittedly obsessive fan base, to the point where it was impossible for them to go anywhere without having fans find out and follow them, often shoving gifts at them, and sometimes latching on physically without permission. Many have speculated that S.M. Entertainment actually encourages or seeds the opportunities for such obsessive behavior by letting specific media outlets or diehard fans know in advance when EXO members are taking a trip somewhere, which is why there are countless candid shots of the boys at airports. In effect, EXO's most obsessed fans fell somewhere between paparazzi and stalker-like behavior; the term for this type of fan in Korean is 'sasaeng.'
As this behavior persisted, little hints began to be dropped that the EXO boys were actually very annoyed by this behavior, some more visibly so than others. The sasaeng wave swelled again after the actual release of the single, which quickly topped all of Korea's most well-known charts, earning it the title of an "all-kill." S.M. Entertainment naturally gave them an aggressive touring and television segment schedule; the boys were often up as early as 3 or 4 am, and sometimes wouldn't return until midnight or later. Because of the fan craze, even on the rest days they had while touring, it was often impossible for the EXO members to leave the hotels, where fans would camp out day and night, finding even the most obscure of back exits.
Perhaps due to the increased scrutiny, some scandals began to leak to the public. Baekhyun, the most popular member of EXO, was discovered to have been dating Girls' Generation's leader, Taeyeon, which created a huge wave of backlash among fans. Perhaps more than most markets, the unique idol structure in South Korea and Japan eagerly encourages the fan and star relationship to be one of wish fulfillment, further bolstered by very common dating bans among active members of these top idol groups. While in their prime, members are expected to avoid dating and focus on their career. While S.M. Entertainment did not punish Baekhyun and Taeyeon for their dating, probably in large part because both artists are signed with S.M., a lot of hate mail was sent to Baekhyun and spammed across all his social media accounts, causing Baekhyun to clear out many of his accounts and lay low. Other smaller scandals arose as well, as pictures of EXO-M member Tao kissing a girl, but none caused quite as much of a scandal as Baekhyun.
But the biggest shock to the group came mere days after they began their public promotion for "Overdose," when EXO-M member Kris filed a lawsuit against S.M. Entertainment and sued them for permission to break his contract and leave the group. His reasons for filing the lawsuit included the heavy physical strain of EXO's promotion schedules, which were said to have affected his health, causing irregularities in his heart rate and overall extreme exhaustion. Furthermore, the lawsuit included a deep summary of how there was a disparity between the opportunities afforded to Korean and Chinese members. While the Korean members of EXO, particularly those in the subgroup EXO-K, were often able to land commercial deals, reality show spots, and even movie and television drama roles, EXO-M was only brought out for full group music promotions.
The fallout was immediate. As the lawsuit was being filed, Kris flew out of South Korea and over to China, leaving behind all of his belongings at the band's dorms, and also leaving them at the critical period before their planned global tour (which was slated to be the most extensive in the history of their career). Morale in the band was shaky, and the eleven remaining members had to quickly regroup and reorganize much choreography and distribute lines in time for their concert. Most signs and speculation indicate that Kris gave absolutely no warning of his plans to the rest of the group before leaving, and even today, there is no indication that the current members of EXO have kept in touch with him (although he, notably, still follows many of their social media accounts).
Kris' departure was not the first of its kind. Another Chinese member, Hangeng, of the famous S.M. band Super Junior, had filed a lawsuit of an almost identical nature, and in fact used the same law firm that Kris turned to. One important thing to note is that there is still a lot of inter-country racism that exists between China, Japan, and Korea as a result of the various wars in their history, as well as the often highly different ways the countries are treated by the West. Departures such as Hangeng's and Kris' draw additional scrutiny and pressure to the currently promoting Chinese members within S.M. Entertainment; in particular, Chinese member Tao, who was once arguably the closest to Kris, became very vocal in decrying Kris' choices and actively spent time declaring his own loyalty to S.M. Entertainment and the band, and was often spotted crying when the topic was brought up in television shows. S.M. Entertainment launched a large smear campaign of sorts to ruin Kris' reputation and reassure that he was an unusual bad egg; in spite of their best efforts, Kris skyrocketed to popularity in China, taking on the new stage name of Wu Yi Fan.
EXO's schedule became even more frantic after Kris' departure. The global tour was considered a high success, and the boys were shoved onto a multitude of variety shows and select other acting opportunities. Injuries were speckled throughout the group, including main dancer Kai's back and waist problems. Again, problems came to a head when the most popular member of EXO-M, Luhan, began complaining of heavy anxiety and exhaustion, visible in his constantly swollen eyes. In a surprise move, S.M. Entertainment allowed Luhan to take off a few concerts they were scheduled for; unfortunately, at the end of those heavy promotions, word began to leak out that Luhan had petitioned the president to give him some type of change in his contract, lessening the physically exhausting schedules and increasing opportunity for Luhan to pursue acting or to simply have more rest days, period. According to Luhan's representative, S.M. was unyielding, and so a mere few months after Kris' departure, Luhan filed a nearly identical lawsuit against S.M. with the same Chinese law firm representing his case.
Unlike Kris, Luhan's departure was met with much sympathy from his fellow members, and most assume that he had been clearly outlining his plans to the rest of the band so that they wouldn't be left similarly at a loss as when Kris left. The two remaining Chinese members, Lay and Tao, expressed support in the public light. Lay even went as far as posting on his Weibo account (the most popular Chinese blogging platform), vaguely mentioning how he wished his 'brother' all the success and hoped to share a stage again someday. This made it harder for S.M. Entertainment to throw a smear campaign of the same magnitude, but they did their best regardless, retroactively claiming that they did their best to give Luhan adequate recovery time and to lessen his strain, but that he (and Kris) had the true aim of taking their popularity in EXO and leaving as soon as their names were known.
If possible, Luhan's popularity in China skyrocketed even beyond Kris', and he earned many Chinese awards in the months after his departure. Both Kris and Luhan have managed to secure segments on far more renown shows in China than EXO usually managed.
As the year came to a wrap, EXO still managed to secure some of the most prestigious awards of the year, the most notable being Mnet's Asian Music Awards. It was visibly clear how shaken and grateful the band was that they had not completely lost their time in the spotlight, and they entreated their fans not to lose faith in them, as they wanted to return stronger than ever in 2015.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
EXODUS ERA (2015): COMEBACK
So don't wait; don't wait too long.
And now, here we are. All eyes were on EXO to see if their first comeback since Kris and Luhan's departure would be a successful one. Many believed that EXO's comeback was accelerated for the purpose of showing how the band can continue to be as strong, if not even stronger, without the two members who left; speculation and buzz went on for months as EXO started another multi-country tour, where they introduced a number of new songs that immediately drew the attention of the fandom. While there is some amount of closer attention on S.M. Entertainment to see if they treat their members well given the nature of the lawsuits that Kris and Luhan filed, for the most part, deep criticism only seems to take place outside of Korea (although S.M.'s stock price did waver for a time as people worried about the potential loss of investment of other countries with the high member flight risk). Domestically, fans are of the opinion that there's an unfortunate risk when employing Chinese members, which has increased the pressure on members Tao and Lay to continue being loyal and enthusiastic in their promotions with EXO.
But S.M. has successfully rerouted the attention from company matters to the phenomenal single and album that EXO dropped — "Call Me Baby" and EXODUS, respectively. "Call Me Baby" seems to be a herald back to the traditional boy band feel, sexier than most of EXO's other releases, and with a few choreographed segments that help to keep viewer interest throughout their performances. And EXODUS is even stronger, their best album to date with songs that are thematically aligned; many even argue that in spite of the loss of Luhan and Kris, EXO-M's Chinese version album has never sounded better, with the members really pulling their weight to improve their vocal skills with the loss of one of their primary vocalists. S.M. Entertainment also knew exactly how to market the album, releasing no fewer than twenty different physical versions, two for each member (one Korean, one Chinese). Physical sales of EXO have been off the charts, and they've been snagging award after award on music shows, showing even more momentum than last year's "Overdose."
Korean version.
Chinese version.
The fun doesn't stop at the single. EXO has also recently started releasing their own romcom drama, EXO Next Door, which aims to slay the hearts of all fangirls as it focuses on a young woman who happens to have a few members of EXO move into the house right next to hers. Additionally, EXO has been making a ton of radio appearances, as well as widening the breadth of their variety show appearances as well, allowing fans plenty of opportunity to listen to the boys and hear their endearing stories. Jury's still out on whether or not they improve their presence in China, however — there haven't been any major variety appearances there yet since the release of "Call Me Baby," but both Lay and Tao have had filming opportunities, the former even opening up his own entertainment studio in China with S.M.'s "blessing."
In short, EXO is a force that doesn't look like it'll be stopping anytime soon.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
So, there you have it. EXO's journey as a band, complete with some background information on the K-pop industry. I hope that this has been an enjoyable read, and that you've found some fun jams among the songs included. If you want downloads of any of the songs, just let me know. Next up will be EXO's personality primer, focusing on the boys as individuals, as well as some of the strongest friendships between the bunch. After that, if there's enough interest, I will put together primers for some other notable bands. (At the very least, I definitely plan on writing primers on 2NE1, my favorite girl band with a completely different feel than EXO.)
Comments, inquiries, everything is welcome! I love these boys so ridiculously much and they give me such delight; I hope that they can bring happiness to some of you as well.
A lot of the draw that the Korean music industry has for me is the fact that there's such a uniqueness to its structure. If you've ever watched the Fine brothers' K-pop reaction videos, they touch on that point in every Q&A. There is, to my knowledge, no other existing market that has such a regimented process for creating mainstream stars, and even within Korea, it's still a relatively new phenomenon. So, in the process of sharing my ridiculous love for these specific stars, I also want to be able to provide background and context, which I think can make navigating the Korean idol space much easier.
Since Stef's One Direction primer was so delightful and well-structured, I'm going to take a note from her book and split each one of my band primers into two sections — performance and personality. Given that EXO is the first primer I'm putting together, I'm also going to tack on some broader industry specifics at the beginning.
I really hope, even if no one latches onto these artists deeply, that these primers can at least be an interesting read. ♥
Note: If you're either already familiar with or uninterested in details about the Korean music industry, skip ahead to pre-debut to be immediately immersed in EXO's music and performance.
♥ THE KOREAN WAVE
♥ TRAINEE LIFE
♥ FORMATION AND PRE-DEBUT
♥ MAMA ERA (2012): DEBUT
♥ WOLF ERA (2013): GROUP PROMOTION
♥ GROWL ERA (2013): MAINSTREAM SUCCESS
♥ OVERDOSE ERA (2014): LEGAL DISPUTES
♥ EXODUS ERA (2015): COMEBACK
The rise of the K-pop industry can be traced back to the late 1990s, during a large and ongoing push within South Korea towards greater cultural and media production. The motivation for the development dates back even further, to the mid-1950s, when South Korea entered a period of rapid economic growth following the end of the Korean War; as is hardly uncommon for a nation finding its footing following a great war, there was a strong desire to foster and develop domestic successes, increase national morale, and reduce general flight risk. Initially, quotas were placed on the import of foreign films and media, but following pressure from the US government to open its doors, South Korea lifted these bans, which resulted in a massive takeover of the market by Hollywood. What quickly began to strike some of the nation's leaders was the sheer scale of the economic impact that media exports could have — the profits that the US was making within South Korea alone outstripped many of Korea's main exports at the time. As a result, the government began to subsidize and foster the effort to crack into entertainment, not only for the economic benefit, but also to aid the intangible cultural influence that media could have on outside nations.
Cue the creation of many, many research industries created by the government with the sole goal of cracking the formula. What would South Korea have to produce in order to better establish its presence in an increasingly global world?
The first area of success for South Korea came from its television dramas, which quickly drew the attention of the Chinese market, whose television programs had been growing somewhat predictable and stale to the domestic audience. Not long after, the next breakthrough success came from S.M. Entertainment (Star Museum), headed by Lee Soo-Man; in 2000, S.M.'s main boy band, H.O.T., became the first modern K-pop artists to sell out concert venues in Beijing. What naturally followed was a scramble of other agencies to join in the race, each of them seeking their own unique brand and identity as Korea's influence continued to spread across Asia.
This movement is commonly referred to as the Korean Wave, or Hallyu.
Currently, there are three entertainment agencies that tend to dominate the Korean music scene: S.M. Entertainment, Y.G. Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment, each with their own unique brand. If you don't want to wait for further primers, the overviews of the agencies might give you an idea of where to at least start looking for music.
S.M. Entertainment: The first agency that reached consistent mainstream success and has remained unseated since as the company with the most presence in the Korean market. Even though most of their artists cater to a younger audience, there is generally a lot of good will still aimed at the company by the broader Korean population; even older generations will recognize the name of their founder, Lee Soo-Man, and respect him heavily as someone they perceive to have propelled South Korea in the eyes of the international community.
Out of the three agencies, S.M. is definitely the most formulaic in its approach. It knows the equation that makes for a popular band, it knows how to spot a catchy tune, and it's unafraid of churning out groups in an almost cookie-cutter fashion. They are the agency that's most likely to use numbers to their advantage — their three arguably most popular current groups are Super Junior (peaked at 13 members, not counting those uniquely added to their international subgroups; currently 10), Girls' Generation/SNSD (originally 9; currently 8), and EXO (originally 12; currently 10). The logic seems to be that somewhere in the mix, fans will find a bias, and comprehensively the sheer technical skill in performing as a part of a large group is impressive in of itself.
There are some negative consequences that stem from S.M.'s approach. For one, the almost replaceable nature of groups that are so formulaic results in heavy pressure on groups as S.M. milks the successful ones for everything that they're worth for the entirety of their shelf life. For another, S.M. puts the majority of its artists through at least one of a trifecta of cosmetic procedures — eyes (double-lid, corner widening), nose (smoothing the bridge, narrowing the tip), jaw (shaving, chin implants). I'll touch on these matters more individually in personality profiles where applicable.
Y.G. Entertainment: While not quite as prolific as S.M., there's no doubt that Y.G. is a solid second place as far as popularity is concerned. It was founded by one of the members of Seo Taiji, which was the first modern successful band in South Korea, predating even S.M. Entertainment's first hits. Yang Hyun-Suk (nicknamed Yang Goon, hence Y.G.) founded the agency with his younger brother with the intention of establishing hip hop's presence in the mainstream South Korean music industry. And they were pretty successful.
What Y.G. is unparalleled in is the ability to curate strong individual brands in its artists, and the common underlying theme behind each one of these brands is swag. (They don't say as much, but that's the only way I've been able to describe it.) There's a certain confidence and charisma that Y.G. is able to foster in its artists, all the way from personality, to fashion, to appearance. It isn't as easy to confuse individuals in Y.G.'s leading artists, which include Big Bang, 2NE1, Epik High, and PSY. Yes, that's right. Y.G. is responsible for "Gangnam Style."
Controversies around Y.G. are pretty standard for the industry, mostly around dating scandals. There's some criticism that gets cast on Y.G. by international fans who complain about inappropriate cultural appropriation, but that feedback is pretty much only given by Western audiences.
JYP Entertainment: A trailing third place, and recently experiencing a lot of trouble staying above the water, JYP Entertainment is something of a catch-all for all the highly talented and decently marketable artists who don't immediately gravitate to the scale of S.M. or the brand of Y.G. The artists they've produced with the most recognition include Wonder Girls, Rain, and Jay Park. Of the three groups, JYP has the most soloists who aren't also performing as part of a group. Unfortunately, while all of these names are pretty much household staples and often recognized as more influential than current stars, they are also largely inactive and/or artists that JYP has failed to retain once their contracts were up.
If they've got a theme behind their artists, I haven't honestly discovered it yet.
Phew. Tired yet? That's enough history — let's move onto the current reality of idol life.
History aside, there's also a lot about the industry from the perspective of training hopefuls that is good to know and, at least for me, has greatly impacted the amount of appreciation I have for current artists.
In Western cultures, the rise of an artist to fame usually involves at least a couple levels of individual enterprising spirit. Building the skills necessary to draw a scout's attention is a self-driven effort. You find your own vocal coaches, you find your own way to act in community theater, you find classes that are within your means. If you're talented enough, maybe you can get away with being self-taught and take things to the next level of individualism. But, point is, while management will certainly put in effort to polish artists up, the circumstances of a mainstream artist's rise to fame generally vary. A lot.
Less true in South Korea.
Entertainment agencies usually employ some mix of auditions and active scouting among kids and young adults (sometimes as young as early elementary school, but mostly in the middle-high school range), at which point accepted trainees will enter an entertainment boot camp, where they are treated to a mix of demanding courses, including vocal, dance, acting, and general image training. There, they will remain for anywhere from six months to the greater part of a decade, usually living in dorms provided by the entertainment agency. Room and board are often covered, but terms of talent contracts often have some type of clause where once debuted, idols aren't able to keep their income until said income has paid back the costs of training.
And that's where the funnel becomes stifling. Because not all trainees will get to debut as a group. And most groups that debut flop within months. Of those that make some decent splash, the average lifespan as a group is two, maybe three years. Beyond that, it's incredibly rare for groups to be actively promoting for more than five years — among fans, there's even the notion of the five year curse, where even the most popular bands will start to unravel at that milestone. This can result in trainees putting years of their life into an attempt to gain fame, only to never make any income, and often return to the workforce significantly behind peers who stayed in school and gained broadly applicable skills.
In some ways, the parameters are at least predictable. If you haven't debuted by age twenty or within three years of entering training, odds are that you're done and should look elsewhere. And provided one signs on with a reputable agency, there's also a relatively small chance of falling into deep debt. But there are flaws in the system that have received more exposure in press as of late; it'll be interesting to see if they get addressed.
By the end of their time in boot camp, successful trainees generally get cast into one or more of four main roles: vocalist, dancer, rapper, or face (combination of striking physical appearance and charisma).
Okay. Take another breather. We're finally ready to address EXO's group career and music.
The six members of EXO-K in their first teasers. I tried to find a similar set for EXO-M, but alas. They'll get GIFs later.
If there's one thing that S.M. Entertainment excels at, it's hype. The goal in the formation of EXO was to truly create an international group; Lee Soo-Man announced that his aim was to create a super band composed of two subgroups which would promote the same songs in Korean and Chinese.
Part of this was likely driven by the somewhat shaky but still considerably successful subgroups of the then dominant boy band, Super Junior (also under S.M. Entertainment), which had spawned a subgroup called Sunior Junior-M, which saw the addition of a couple of Chinese members and promoted almost solely in Chinese-speaking countries. Many believed that Super Junior-M never managed to quite reach their full potential due to the fact that they weren't formed until years after Super Junior's main band, and by then, some purist fans were extremely resistant to the idea of new members being added to the group. The notion of Chinese and other international members being part of Korean bands was hardly new at the time; S.M. Entertainment's girl group f(x) features Victoria, from mainland China, and Amber, a Taiwanese-American member. Still, the notion of groups being created to encourage equal promotion in the homeland of Korea and the most influential market of China was novel, and sparked interest from the start.
These two subgroups were to be called EXO-K (for Korean) and EXO-M (for Mandarin), based on the languages they would sing in.
The marketing that led up to the group's debut was extensive, and highly successful at piquing the interest of teens and young adults across South Korea. No fewer than twenty-three teaser videos were created, showing off the skills of the EXO members, with a heavier focus on the stronger dancers in the group. Each one of the teaser videos featured a song by EXO as its background music, thus drawing some attention to the sound being produced by the group as well. Even through today, not all of the songs featured in these teasers have made it to market — one of the most popular songs, "El Dorado," is only now being promised to show on EXO's next feature album, over three years after it was initially teased to the public.
By the time that EXO officially debuted as its two subgroups, the individual members already had pretty considerable fanbases, which allowed EXO to secure plenty of spots on popular television shows in both South Korea and China within days of their debut.
The twelve members of the band at debut; top row: EXO-K, bottom row: EXO-M.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
There are quite a few teasers, but all of them are quite short (1-2 minutes), so I took the liberty of including more.
EXO Teaser 1: KAI (1) • She's my baby; at the end of those pale fingertips, there's melted chocolate. • A must-watch, as the very first EXO video that was released. This gives you an idea of the amount of investment that S.M. Entertainment puts into hyping up its new groups. The featured member, Kai, is the group's strongest dancer, and therefore was the face most often seen over the twenty-three teaser videos produced; even today, he's often the central face in EXO's music videos, highly recognizable and undeniably charismatic.
EXO Teaser 2: KAI & LU HAN • Time control; supernatural power. • The second teaser released showcased the first member of EXO-M, the subgroup slated to promote in China. Luhan is originally from Beijing, and up until his departure from the group in 2014, was by far the most recognizable face of EXO-M. This teaser plays directly into the wheelhouse of S.M., whose groups are generally well-coordinated and more likely to be strong dancers than top competing agencies. The background track in this video has not yet been released as a proper song.
EXO Teaser 8: SE HUN • While Sehun's first appearance was actually in teaser number seven, where he showed off his prowess as also being a strong dancer, this teaser is more notable for being the first teaser to reveal how many members would be in EXO. Halfway through the teaser, eleven additional boys are shown standing in Sehun's reflection, indicating that EXO would promote as two subgroups of six. None of the other boys' faces can be seen clearly, again adding to the simultaneously delightful and frustrating hype.
EXO Teaser 13: SE HUN (2) • I lost my mind the moment I saw you; except for you, everything is in slow motion. • This one is included simply because I think it's pleasing, showcasing Sehun approaching the same choreography while standing and sitting. Plus, bonus Kai at the end. (Did I mention, he shows up everywhere in these teasers?)
EXO Teaser 15: TAO (2) • The reveal of Tao as a member of EXO showcased the fact that the members have individual skills even outside of what's standard for K-pop performance. Tao has been training in martial arts since he was very young, and this skill is often implemented in subtle ways into EXO's choreography, with Tao being the most acrobatic of the group. He is also a Chinese member, hailing from Qingdao.
EXO Teaser 20: CHAN YEOL • Not all of EXO's teasers are so heavily focused on choreography and acrobatics; there are quite a few more that are atmospheric and hint at the group's concept (more on that in the debut section). Chanyeol was the last member of the twelve to be introduced in a teaser that drew a lot of attention, not only for his perceived physical beauty, but also for the appealing background track — which is, as mentioned above, a song that is finally being released this year.
EXO Teaser 23: KAI (8) • This moment feels like I was born as a child who knew nothing; I closed my eyes again in case it would be a dream. • The final teaser, in spite of being labeled as a Kai solo teaser, was the first to showcase a majority of the boys dancing together. Only three members were excluded — Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Chen, who were the last three to be added to the band, two of whom only had about six months' training at the time of EXO's debut.
Top: EXO-M; Bottom: EXO-K.
The teasers weren't the end of the hype that S.M. Entertainment wanted to drive with EXO. In addition to the twenty-three video teasers, the two subgroups of EXO released a pair of prologue singles each, "What Is Love" (Chinese ver.) and "History" (Chinese ver.), in January and March of 2011 respectively. Both of them saw decent success on the South Korea's renowned Gaon Music Charts, breaking the top 100 releases. "History" saw even higher commercial success in China, where it placed number six on China's Sina Music Chart.
A few days before their mainstream debut release, EXO-K and EXO-M held showcase concerts in Seoul and Beijing to show off the full extent of their preparation and skill. The demand for these concerts was so high that S.M. Entertainment ended up relying on a raffle system to pick and choose the fans who would be allowed to attend, which only further cemented the groups as the latest and greatest. It was at this time that the concept behind EXO also finally came to light; the twelve members of EXO are boys with extraordinarily talent who hail from another planet entirely — the Exoplanet. (Yes, I know.) Each one of the boys has a superpower that's attributed to them. Rather than listing them all out, I'll let you watch them in their debut single, "MAMA."
EXO-K's version. I still don't know what it means to 'shoot anonymous.'
EXO-M's version. I picked a version without the intro, since that section is identical between the groups.
The band skyrocketed to popularity with the release of "MAMA," reaching number one on the Gaon Music Chart, as well as number one on many of China's top music streaming sites, and even making waves in Billboard and YouTube's global charts. They were selected as the Best New Asian Artist Group at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards, which can more or less be considered the Asian equivalent of the Grammys.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
EXO Showcase: Most Aegyo? • Since I've already bombarded with performance videos above, this video is much more focused on the early personalities of the boys during their debut period. This segment (complete with English subtitles) features a fan asking the members which one of them has the most aegyo, which is a term roughly meaning 'cuteness' or 'coyness.' Aegyo is a highly popular concept in South Korea, which you can probably sense from the fan screams. What I love about this video is that it showcases just how shy the boys were during their debut; other than the highly sociable Baekhyun, most of the boys had a lot of initial jitters while promoting.
EXO Showcase: Most Humorous? • Another example of how Baekhyun hit the ground running. I'll cover off on him more in the personality primer, but there's a reason why he's consistently been the most popular member of EXO in South Korea.
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
Since their debut EP, MAMA, consisted of only six songs including the three I've linked to above, here I will simply link to versions of "History" (my favorite track) with the member names included, in case you'd like to start trying to recognize them by appearance: EXO-K Version • EXO-M Version
Are they wolves or are they cubs?
After all the work that went into the initial promotion of EXO, there's absolutely no question that they had a bit of an identity crisis after their breakthrough success. How were they supposed to maintain momentum and not dissolve into some type of one-hit wonder? S.M. Entertainment quickly rushed to capitalize on the success; about half a year after EXO had earned the title of Best New Artist across many different awards ceremonies, they came out with the release of a full album, XOXO, which showcased EXO's vocal skills across a number of different genres.
Although there were other songs that were arguably more impressive vocally, the single they chose to promote and film was "Wolf." What's notable about this single, beyond... well, you'll see when you watch the video, is the fact that this was the first song that the two subgroups of EXO promoted and recorded together. (The rest of the songs on XOXO were recorded by EXO-K and EXO-M for their respective markets.) Shortly before its slated release date, a very rough preview of "Wolf" leaked, likely seeded by S.M. Entertainment themselves, which drew a lot of ridicule and criticism. The final single saw similarly mixed reactions, although many were able to point out the skill required to bring twelve young men together in group choreography, particularly focusing on the unique 'tree of life' presented at the beginning of the video.
Korean version. The concept of the song is a werewolf who has fallen in love with a woman and sings of his obsession.
Chinese version. I never stop staring at the interesting hair choices.
Honestly, "Wolf" is probably my least favorite lead single by EXO, but if you come at it from the perspective of looking for something campy and unique, it can be fun. This era of EXO was arguably the shortest, as S.M. Entertainment accelerated the release of their next (and most breakthrough) single.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
Weekly Idol: Superpowers! • The superpower concept of EXO has been, on many occasions, the bane of the boys' existence. This video is cute as simply another example of how not all of them were so willing to play ball. You can see which members have more charisma and willingness to play than others, and which members tend to be more embarrassed and distant. You can tell that they're still settling into their individual brands, and it's just a really endearing video of the boys shortly after they got their start in the business.
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
Baby Don't Cry • Just let my love be like a memory. • The first ballad by EXO that personally struck me, and benefits from largely featuring the vocal line of each subgroup. The lyrics aren't especially special, though what the English title of the song doesn't reveal is the fact that this song is themed around a man who's letting his love, a mermaid, go. What I love most about it are the harmonies, and when performed live (as in that link), it really does showcase the fact that this group has legitimate singers among their numbers. Album versions with English translations can be found here: Korean / Chinese.
Black Pearl (Korean) • I don't need a map; my heart leads me to you. • A more determined ballad than "Baby Don't Cry," this song is perhaps one of the most popular of EXO's non-single releases, particularly in the Chinese market (hence, me linking the Chinese version first). In general, the Chinese market tends to enjoy ballads more than the South Korean market does, and it helps that the Chinese lyrics of this song are less clumsy than most, which indicates that it may have first been written in Chinese and later translated into Korean.
Let Out the Beast (Chinese) • When the lights shine on me on the stage, I don't miss a single gaze on me. • Arguably one of the more aggressively sexy songs in the album, which combines long stretches of rapping with a few more melodic breaks and runs. It's also one of the first songs that, in my opinion, focuses more on the boys' own stage presence than it necessarily does the pursuit of a single girl. Still kinda questionably alpha male, admittedly, but a good song to work out to.
Werk that swag, Lay.
For EXO, "Growl" marks the true turning point of their career, when they went from a promising upstart group to arguably the most prolific band in South Korea at the time. The release of "Growl" came a mere two months after the release of "Wolf," while EXO was still honestly in the midst of promoting their former single. No one really knows how or why these releases were planned in the timeframe that they were; maybe early "Wolf" demo backlash had S.M. Entertainment scrambling to find a better track, or maybe "Growl" was the ace in their pocket that they held onto in order to surprise everyone. Whatever it was, the popularity of "Growl" spread like wildfire, between the catchy tune and the then unprecedented true one-take music video.
Korean version. This is the main music video version, which was filmed in a single take. You can spot a couple of missteps during (watch for Kai dropping his hat), but it's all the more charming for how quickly they recover.
Chinese version. This is the second music video version, which features close-ups and multiple outfits. Both languages have one of each music video version, but I figured it'd be efficient just to show and hear one of each.
"Growl" very quickly dominated just about every domestic measure of success possible. They set new trends for percentage of votes on listener determined charts, won ten trophies over the three weeks following the single's release, and reached number one on all four of Korea's major music programs. EXO's first studio album, XOXO, quickly came out with a repackaged version which included "Growl" and a couple of other new songs, and that album helped EXO break the record for fastest-selling K-pop artist in twelve years. (Yes, including other breakthrough groups like Girls' Generation.) The album was also named Album of the Year at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards, making EXO the youngest boy band to ever win the award.
The increased popularity of the group led to plenty of opportunities outside of the music space. For one, they secured their own pseudo-reality show, "EXO's Showtime," which followed the boys' everyday lives and special trips over the course of twelve episodes, and really helped to showcase the boys' individual personalities. (I heavily encourage watching this show and will link to it in the personality primer.) Other television opportunities also arose, including stints on extremely popular Korean reality shows like Running Man, or television dramas and films. Essentially, "Growl" was really the song which made EXO into what it is today.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) 2013: Growl + Wolf • This is arguably my favorite live musical performance by EXO. There's a little bit of a wish-fulfillment aspect, where the camera is clearly presented from the perspective of a girl that two halves of EXO are fighting for the attention of, but more importantly, these boys were just on their game and really settling into their skin. Notably, D.O. sprained his ankle very badly as he was jumping down from his desk in the beginning of the segment, and had to be transported to the hospital immediately afterward. These boys are hardcore.
Kai & Chanyeol: Ttaeng Ttaeng Ttaeng • EXO's forays with rap never fail to amuse me. Chanyeol is arguably the only member of EXO who has a decent sense for rap (with Tao being a climbing second), and here he tackles one of the most popular Korean rap songs from 2010 with Kai as back-up. Most amusing for the other boys dancing in the background, some of them far more awkward and clueless than the others.
EXO'S Showtime: Silent Game • Even though I don't plan on covering "Showtime" in full until the personality primer, I wanted to give a sneak peek into its delightfulness. It was filed during the Growl era, and is just delightful for showing the way that these boys interact. After arguing on how to decide between dinner options, the boys are challenged to remain silent as a group for as long as possible. They decide to pass the time by playing a game, which unfortunately, isn't familiar to the Chinese members of the band. Hilarity ensues.
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
Lucky (Chinese) • The day I wore nice clothes, the fact that I met you like that? Lucky. • One of the three additional songs added in the repackaged version of the XOXO album, this song is an example of a purely feel good song. It's cute, it's lighthearted, and judging by how often the boys will break out singing this song, it seems to be one of their favorites.
Peter Pan (Korean) • Your Peter Pan feels a little lonely leaving you; come back to our Neverland. • Technically, this song was released in the original version of the XOXO album, but I wanted to space out the songs more equally, so sue me. This one is even more obnoxiously cute than "Lucky," if you ask me, fitting very well with the fairy tale theme. This song is also pretty popular in China, hence linking the Chinese version first, which I also think has slightly better harmonies in the chorus.
Open Arms • Lying beside you, here in the dark, feeling your heart beat with mine. • Again, as you can tell by the boys' clothes, this was technically released during "Wolf" promotions, but I'm trying to even out the numbers. Just a wonderful example of these boys' vocal abilities, featuring two members of EXO-M (Chen, Luhan). Also, as Melly pointed out when she listened, the varying degrees of accent are adorable.
Someone, call the doctor.
Once more, after achieving massive success with their previous single, the question began to arise if EXO could really keep up the unprecedented amount of success that they had seen over the previous year. This time, their comeback was not a rapid one; it would take over half a year after promotions for "Growl" slowed before they released their next single, "Overdose."
While both "Wolf" and "Growl" focused lyrically on a young man aggressively pursuing their love interest, "Overdose" takes on a slightly darker theme. Instead of centering on the singer's efforts to pursue the person they adore, the lyrics speak of love as being an overdose, as the obsession that the singer has being too much, being like poison in his system:
Love is a sickness, an addiction, overdose
It's harder to control as time goes by
I'm falling deeper into her
Oh too much, it’s you, your love, this is overdose
Korean version. "Overdose" carried a far darker theme than EXO's previous singles, reflected in the intro sequence.
Chinese version. The M and K subgroups swapped sections for the different versions, including the first and final moments of the intro sequence.
Whether intentionally or not, the theme of "Overdose" paralleled well with the reality of EXO's fan situation at the time. After the success of "Growl," EXO gained a very dedicated and admittedly obsessive fan base, to the point where it was impossible for them to go anywhere without having fans find out and follow them, often shoving gifts at them, and sometimes latching on physically without permission. Many have speculated that S.M. Entertainment actually encourages or seeds the opportunities for such obsessive behavior by letting specific media outlets or diehard fans know in advance when EXO members are taking a trip somewhere, which is why there are countless candid shots of the boys at airports. In effect, EXO's most obsessed fans fell somewhere between paparazzi and stalker-like behavior; the term for this type of fan in Korean is 'sasaeng.'
As this behavior persisted, little hints began to be dropped that the EXO boys were actually very annoyed by this behavior, some more visibly so than others. The sasaeng wave swelled again after the actual release of the single, which quickly topped all of Korea's most well-known charts, earning it the title of an "all-kill." S.M. Entertainment naturally gave them an aggressive touring and television segment schedule; the boys were often up as early as 3 or 4 am, and sometimes wouldn't return until midnight or later. Because of the fan craze, even on the rest days they had while touring, it was often impossible for the EXO members to leave the hotels, where fans would camp out day and night, finding even the most obscure of back exits.
Perhaps due to the increased scrutiny, some scandals began to leak to the public. Baekhyun, the most popular member of EXO, was discovered to have been dating Girls' Generation's leader, Taeyeon, which created a huge wave of backlash among fans. Perhaps more than most markets, the unique idol structure in South Korea and Japan eagerly encourages the fan and star relationship to be one of wish fulfillment, further bolstered by very common dating bans among active members of these top idol groups. While in their prime, members are expected to avoid dating and focus on their career. While S.M. Entertainment did not punish Baekhyun and Taeyeon for their dating, probably in large part because both artists are signed with S.M., a lot of hate mail was sent to Baekhyun and spammed across all his social media accounts, causing Baekhyun to clear out many of his accounts and lay low. Other smaller scandals arose as well, as pictures of EXO-M member Tao kissing a girl, but none caused quite as much of a scandal as Baekhyun.
But the biggest shock to the group came mere days after they began their public promotion for "Overdose," when EXO-M member Kris filed a lawsuit against S.M. Entertainment and sued them for permission to break his contract and leave the group. His reasons for filing the lawsuit included the heavy physical strain of EXO's promotion schedules, which were said to have affected his health, causing irregularities in his heart rate and overall extreme exhaustion. Furthermore, the lawsuit included a deep summary of how there was a disparity between the opportunities afforded to Korean and Chinese members. While the Korean members of EXO, particularly those in the subgroup EXO-K, were often able to land commercial deals, reality show spots, and even movie and television drama roles, EXO-M was only brought out for full group music promotions.
The fallout was immediate. As the lawsuit was being filed, Kris flew out of South Korea and over to China, leaving behind all of his belongings at the band's dorms, and also leaving them at the critical period before their planned global tour (which was slated to be the most extensive in the history of their career). Morale in the band was shaky, and the eleven remaining members had to quickly regroup and reorganize much choreography and distribute lines in time for their concert. Most signs and speculation indicate that Kris gave absolutely no warning of his plans to the rest of the group before leaving, and even today, there is no indication that the current members of EXO have kept in touch with him (although he, notably, still follows many of their social media accounts).
Kris' departure was not the first of its kind. Another Chinese member, Hangeng, of the famous S.M. band Super Junior, had filed a lawsuit of an almost identical nature, and in fact used the same law firm that Kris turned to. One important thing to note is that there is still a lot of inter-country racism that exists between China, Japan, and Korea as a result of the various wars in their history, as well as the often highly different ways the countries are treated by the West. Departures such as Hangeng's and Kris' draw additional scrutiny and pressure to the currently promoting Chinese members within S.M. Entertainment; in particular, Chinese member Tao, who was once arguably the closest to Kris, became very vocal in decrying Kris' choices and actively spent time declaring his own loyalty to S.M. Entertainment and the band, and was often spotted crying when the topic was brought up in television shows. S.M. Entertainment launched a large smear campaign of sorts to ruin Kris' reputation and reassure that he was an unusual bad egg; in spite of their best efforts, Kris skyrocketed to popularity in China, taking on the new stage name of Wu Yi Fan.
EXO's schedule became even more frantic after Kris' departure. The global tour was considered a high success, and the boys were shoved onto a multitude of variety shows and select other acting opportunities. Injuries were speckled throughout the group, including main dancer Kai's back and waist problems. Again, problems came to a head when the most popular member of EXO-M, Luhan, began complaining of heavy anxiety and exhaustion, visible in his constantly swollen eyes. In a surprise move, S.M. Entertainment allowed Luhan to take off a few concerts they were scheduled for; unfortunately, at the end of those heavy promotions, word began to leak out that Luhan had petitioned the president to give him some type of change in his contract, lessening the physically exhausting schedules and increasing opportunity for Luhan to pursue acting or to simply have more rest days, period. According to Luhan's representative, S.M. was unyielding, and so a mere few months after Kris' departure, Luhan filed a nearly identical lawsuit against S.M. with the same Chinese law firm representing his case.
Unlike Kris, Luhan's departure was met with much sympathy from his fellow members, and most assume that he had been clearly outlining his plans to the rest of the band so that they wouldn't be left similarly at a loss as when Kris left. The two remaining Chinese members, Lay and Tao, expressed support in the public light. Lay even went as far as posting on his Weibo account (the most popular Chinese blogging platform), vaguely mentioning how he wished his 'brother' all the success and hoped to share a stage again someday. This made it harder for S.M. Entertainment to throw a smear campaign of the same magnitude, but they did their best regardless, retroactively claiming that they did their best to give Luhan adequate recovery time and to lessen his strain, but that he (and Kris) had the true aim of taking their popularity in EXO and leaving as soon as their names were known.
If possible, Luhan's popularity in China skyrocketed even beyond Kris', and he earned many Chinese awards in the months after his departure. Both Kris and Luhan have managed to secure segments on far more renown shows in China than EXO usually managed.
As the year came to a wrap, EXO still managed to secure some of the most prestigious awards of the year, the most notable being Mnet's Asian Music Awards. It was visibly clear how shaken and grateful the band was that they had not completely lost their time in the spotlight, and they entreated their fans not to lose faith in them, as they wanted to return stronger than ever in 2015.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
Happy Camp: EXO's 11-Member Message • An extremely emotional segment. Happy Camp is a Chinese show that EXO had promoted on a number of times and has a very good relationship, and it was the first show on which they were asked so directly about Kris' departure. The members separately filmed some thoughts on brotherhood and their bond. Even though the relationship with their agency is often shaky at best, I think this video illustrates how much these boys do care for one another.
Happy Camp: EXO Dormitory Tour • After that heavy video, this segment is a much cuter watch. EXO takes the audience through the dormitory that they live in, and you can see some of the boys' personalities shine through. Very notable points: D.O. watching Lord of the Rings (subtitled!) on his tablet, Chen and Xiumin's stuffed animals, and Suho's love of Iron Man and comics. It's a pretty great example of the types of living conditions that K-idols have; even the most popular groups generally live together in small dormitories like these.
Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) 2014: The New Age of EXO • The first major performance that EXO had after Luhan's departure, as a group of ten. There was a lot hinging on this performance being smooth, as EXO sought to prove that they were still a strong group after the loss of two of their members. Chanyeol (the main rapper and tallest member) performed in spite of being sick with the flu. Also, main dancer Kai's solo was the first time someone danced barefoot at MAMA.
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
Sabor a Mi • We enjoyed this love for so long, and our souls got so close that now I carry your flavor. • I'm an absolute sucker for singers tackling non-native languages. Listening to the Korean members (especially Chen and Xiumin, Korean members in EXO-M) master Chinese pronunciation gives me great joy. But here's an example of the boys of EXO-K tackling Spanish, which none of them have studied conversationally, and I think they sound pretty great. (They clearly enjoy rolling their r's.)
Thunder (Korean) • You're like lightning, an instant ray of light; the world is lit up, then hidden again. • One of my favorite songs ever; I am an absolute sucker for its concept, that of the singer being like thunder, always slightly too late to catch up to the lightning of their love interest. It's pretty sexy, especially with Chen's rolling vocals. There's also a pretty awesome live performance that combines the best vocalists of both subgroups, and then fades into their main single "Overdose." Also, body rolls in suits. What more could you want?
Moonlight • A place where I can't touch you and can't even hold you, the reflection on the surface is not her. • As the ballads often are, this song is incredibly popular in China, and benefits vocally from only featuring the strongest vocalists of either group. Due to Luhan's departure, it doesn't get performed in Chinese often (which is unfortunate, since I like that version more, and Chen's Chinese is so improved in it). But I love the visual of the other boys dancing in their chairs while the main two sing; is that weird of me? Album versions with English translations can be found here: Korean / Chinese
So don't wait; don't wait too long.
And now, here we are. All eyes were on EXO to see if their first comeback since Kris and Luhan's departure would be a successful one. Many believed that EXO's comeback was accelerated for the purpose of showing how the band can continue to be as strong, if not even stronger, without the two members who left; speculation and buzz went on for months as EXO started another multi-country tour, where they introduced a number of new songs that immediately drew the attention of the fandom. While there is some amount of closer attention on S.M. Entertainment to see if they treat their members well given the nature of the lawsuits that Kris and Luhan filed, for the most part, deep criticism only seems to take place outside of Korea (although S.M.'s stock price did waver for a time as people worried about the potential loss of investment of other countries with the high member flight risk). Domestically, fans are of the opinion that there's an unfortunate risk when employing Chinese members, which has increased the pressure on members Tao and Lay to continue being loyal and enthusiastic in their promotions with EXO.
But S.M. has successfully rerouted the attention from company matters to the phenomenal single and album that EXO dropped — "Call Me Baby" and EXODUS, respectively. "Call Me Baby" seems to be a herald back to the traditional boy band feel, sexier than most of EXO's other releases, and with a few choreographed segments that help to keep viewer interest throughout their performances. And EXODUS is even stronger, their best album to date with songs that are thematically aligned; many even argue that in spite of the loss of Luhan and Kris, EXO-M's Chinese version album has never sounded better, with the members really pulling their weight to improve their vocal skills with the loss of one of their primary vocalists. S.M. Entertainment also knew exactly how to market the album, releasing no fewer than twenty different physical versions, two for each member (one Korean, one Chinese). Physical sales of EXO have been off the charts, and they've been snagging award after award on music shows, showing even more momentum than last year's "Overdose."
Korean version.
Chinese version.
The fun doesn't stop at the single. EXO has also recently started releasing their own romcom drama, EXO Next Door, which aims to slay the hearts of all fangirls as it focuses on a young woman who happens to have a few members of EXO move into the house right next to hers. Additionally, EXO has been making a ton of radio appearances, as well as widening the breadth of their variety show appearances as well, allowing fans plenty of opportunity to listen to the boys and hear their endearing stories. Jury's still out on whether or not they improve their presence in China, however — there haven't been any major variety appearances there yet since the release of "Call Me Baby," but both Lay and Tao have had filming opportunities, the former even opening up his own entertainment studio in China with S.M.'s "blessing."
In short, EXO is a force that doesn't look like it'll be stopping anytime soon.
VIDEOS TO WATCH:
Fancam: Promise at EXO'luXion • This song wasn't included on the EXODUS album, so I'll include it as a performance. One thing that's good to bear in mind is how much the remaining boys have riding on this comeback. You can tell that they're trying harder than ever; this is the first album where there will be a lot of the boys' compositions featured (including the background song in this clip), and many have expressed their worry over fans no longer caring now that two of their popular members have left. Here, you can see Chanyeol crying the first time they introduced one of their band-composed songs, Promise — and he is not a crier.
Call Me Baby/Exodus at Inkigayo • EXO's first Inkigayo win in their current comeback, showcasing two of the songs on their album.
EXO Pathcode Teasers • Before S.M. Entertainment dropped the "Call Me Baby" music videos, they released one teaser per day of each one of the members filmed at a different location. These teasers were, if you ask me, unbelievably beautiful.
MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS:
Exodus (Korean) • My heart is broken into pieces, shining in midair. • My favorite song on the new album, Exodus has an air of desperation and an almost spy-like quality in its tone, sexy to a fault.
Transformer (Korean) • I hand everything to you, letting you become my ruler. • So. Damn. Sexy. I know that opinions on this song are pretty split, and not everyone can take it seriously, but the rapping and the harmonies are enough to completely win me over. Also, I like how the lyrics focus on the girl/subject being a badass bitch.
Hurt (Korean) • But in my heart, the sparks of my memories have turned into smoke in a blink. • I first fell in love with this song because of its instrumental (which was featured in a teaser), and then loved it upon hearing the release thanks to the amazing harmonies and falsetto. I'm a sucker for a good high note.
Playboy (Chinese) • I had fallen so deeply for you; my hands were tied. • This song employs a different type of sexiness than the others. Instead of being boyish and exuberant, this song is a little bit laidback and deeply confident, kind of the musical equivalent of lots of swagger. Highly enjoyable.
So, there you have it. EXO's journey as a band, complete with some background information on the K-pop industry. I hope that this has been an enjoyable read, and that you've found some fun jams among the songs included. If you want downloads of any of the songs, just let me know. Next up will be EXO's personality primer, focusing on the boys as individuals, as well as some of the strongest friendships between the bunch. After that, if there's enough interest, I will put together primers for some other notable bands. (At the very least, I definitely plan on writing primers on 2NE1, my favorite girl band with a completely different feel than EXO.)
Comments, inquiries, everything is welcome! I love these boys so ridiculously much and they give me such delight; I hope that they can bring happiness to some of you as well.
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But, again — thank you so much for reading and leaving feedback. This definitely made my day. ♥
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The evolution of the industry will definitely be interesting to watch. I think such a big part of growing up for people in a system like this is reclaiming their voices in the face of authority figures that believe that since they "made" them they should have the right to exploit them for every last drop they have to give.
And I totally support the writing of further primers! :D
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It's so weird, how similar some of these events sound compared to boybands when I was teen. XD
Also, Growl is still my favorite.
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I definitely wouldn't be surprised if there are parallels. I'm willing to bet that a lot of the research the agencies put into how to make media popular probably had them modeling after American successes; the first big Korean boy band, H.O.T., debuted a couple years after Backstreet Boys did. XD But it's definitely interesting to see how it's still all a big machine in South Korea.
Growl is most everyone's favorite. >_> Probably my all-up favorite, too, though sometimes I have Overdose moods and put that on repeat.
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