Introducing: EXO

An introduction to EXO

It's been a little over a year now since I've begun dwelling in the depths of K-pop music, and almost a year since the 12 boys of EXO stole my heart.

Currently the latest group SMEnt (an entertainment company) dished out, EXO is made up of 8 Korean members and 4 Chinese members. They belong to 2 subgroups, EXO K (K for Korean) and EXO M (M for Mandarin).

Their debut album was a mini album called MAMA and it was released in both Korean and Mandarin


Three singles were released from MAMA, the first was 'What Is Love', followed by 'History' and then the album title track 'Mama'.

What Is Love - This song has a very unique sound that departs from the K-pop norm. It waxes lyrical about love and what it entails and is sung by the two lead vocalists of each group. The strong vocals and simple but incredibly exotic sounds of the song made me love it. The highest note in it is a freakin' F which even I wouldn't dare attempt if not after strenous warm-ups; Baekhyun (Lead vocalist #1 in EXO-K) and Chen (Lead vocalist #1 in EXO-M) seem to do so effortlessly.

History - The dance choreography is very catchy and complex. At first viewing, the shaky-hands-in-pockets seemed more silly than cool but after I learned the dance from slowed videos, I was happily shaking away :D

Mama - This song is really amazing, in my opinion. It's the first MV I actually downloaded after watching it countless of times on Youtube. The melody, storyline of the video and choreography is amazeballs. It exhibits each member's assigned 'powers' and boasts strong vocals and fluid movements from the boys. The only downside to the video is the introductory story. Funny stuff. The violin in this song gives it a dramatic feel in addition to their Gregorian chanting. In other words, this is the epitome of the drama and talent K-pop has to offer -I was then hooked on EXO.

There are 3 other songs which all deserve a listen -the songwriters of these 6 songs really know what they're doing.

Machine - A song about a girl whose heart is cold as ice. The melody is catchy and everything about it, from the feel to its instrumental timing is jizz. This is the one song EXO -unfortunately- has never performed live.

Two Moons - This song is designated to show off the rappers' talents with not much singing involved. SHINee's Key is also featured in its English rap section.

Angel - A beautiful song about love and its innocence. A nice song to sleep, study or walk alone while listening to.

EXO-K

Suho - Leader of EXO-K, 22, lead vocalist #3, Korean, looks like Siwon from Super Junior, cares for his juniors in EXO-K like a dad should.

Baek Hyun - Lead vocalist #1, 21, Korean, rocks eyeliner, has a good sense of humor, has nice-looking hands, very easily liked because of his easy-going personality.

Kai - Lead dancer #1, 19, Korean, obviously SMEnt's favorite, naturally attractive to non-k-poppers, has a finger on every pie; singing, dancing, modelling, rapping.

Sehun - Lead dancer #2, 19, Korean, the youngest in the whole of EXO, has an adorable lisp, conceals his sense of humor and the most babied member.

D.O. - Lead vocalist #2, 20, Korean, has huge eyes, deemed the mother of the group by fans, cooks, beatboxes, is very adorable.

Chanyeol - Rapper, 21, Korean, has model-worthy looks but laughs maniacally, the tallest in the group, has a deep voice, beatboxes, plays drums, guitar.

EXO-M

Kris - Leader of EXO-M, 23, Chinese+Canadian, Rapper #1, looks like an anime character, dances badly, lady killer, is super tall (187cm).

Lay - Lead dancer #1, 22, sings, plays guitar and piano, composes songs, Chinese, loves his mum, beatboxes.

Tao - Kung fu person, 20, dubbed Kung fu panda by fans, Chinese, raps, naturally looks like a bad boy with those distinctly Chinese eyes and killer smile, youngest in EXO-M.

Luhan - Lead vocalist #2, 22, Chinese, plays football, love ManU, lead dancer #2, easily likeable and has bromance relationships with everybody.

Chen - Lead vocalist #1, 20, Korean, is always smiling and laughing, dubbed the 'dancing machine' as a joke, as far as previous performances have gone, speaks bad English.

Xiumin - Vocalist and dancer, 23, most underestimated and under-roled member in the whole group, plays football, dubbed 'baozi' meaning steamed bun in Mandarin because of his adorable-ness.

My biases are Lay and Baekhyun, just in case you're wondering :)

Anyway, here is the link to my cover of Mama by EXO. Lemme know what you think :D

We Are One ! (Y)