Korean pop or K-pop, as it is known worldwide, is innately unique and addictive. It's hard to believe I was introduced to this music genre in May and have become a loyal fan since. K-pop's style of dance, fashion and handsomely selected boy and girl groups are as eclectic as they are beautiful.
My first introduction to the K-pop scene was with the uber popular boy band, EXO, from SM Entertainment, one of the many entertainment leaders in the K-pop industry in Seoul, Korea. Since the group's debut in 2012, they have been taking over the digital charts with their music.
EXO is made up of two subgroups, EXO-K and EXO-M, which represents their Korean and Chinese fanbase. Last year they earned one of the highest rankings on the billboard charts for male Korean acts. They also became the third K-pop act to hit the Billboard 200 chart last year.
Originally a 12 member group, EXO has been promoting with only nine members after three of them decided to leave the group. Even with the changes in the group, they have pulled through for the EXO-L fans that have followed them since the beginning.
They have received various awards for all of their achievements. Below are some of the many they have won.
- 2014-04-15: Tie V Chart Awards in the second artefact Album of the Year Award category Korea
- 2014-02-28: The 11th Korea Pop Awards' Best Dance & Electronic Song Award
- 2014-02-28: The 11th Korea Pop Awards' Musician of the Year Group Award Chosen by netizens
- 2014-02-12: The third chart heated K-POP Awards' Album of the Year Award (third quarter) awards
- 2014-02-12: The third chart heated K-POP Awards' Album of the Year Award (4Q09) Award
- 2014-02-12: The third chart heated K-POP Awards' Fan Choice Award vote Award
- 2014-01-23: EXO '23rd Seoul Music Awards' Grand Prize
- 2014-01-23: EXO '23rd Seoul Music Awards' Award bonsang
- 2014-01-23: EXO '23rd Seoul Music Awards' digital music award
EXO's second studio album, Exodus, was welcomed with great reviews since its release this past March. The songs showed a new level of maturity for the group since their debut album XOXO in 2013.
By far the best song on the album was "Hurt," which combined electro with some personalized lyrics. Besides the language barrier, this song is to die for!
"Call Me Baby" out of the Exodus album was the first video debuting the then 10 members of EXO before Tao left the group. This video is a great intro for people that have never been introduced to EXO because of its catchy hook and performance between the members.
The Internet was literally overdosing for "Overdose" capturing a million views in the first 10 hours of the video's release. The video currently has 73 million views and counting.
It's safe to say that I am now a fan of EXO. With that being said, I am not responsible for your conversion to K-pop, you have been warned. However, if you want to know more about the band like them on Facebook, you won't be disappointed.
