- (Kenneth sings along) - Oh, iKON.
- Is that a cropped leather jacket?
♪ (punk rock intro) ♪
- Today, we have brought everyone together
for this special round table episode to discuss K-pop.
- Woo! - (gasps)
- Ooh.
Finally! - That was a mixed reaction.
- I'm so excited that I actually get to react to K-pop for once.
- I'm actually not a K-pop fan. I'm not a K-fan pop hater,
and I'm Korean. My mom's full South Korean,
and she speaks Korean. But since I'm only half
and my dad doesn't speak Korean, I never learned it.
- Hey, don't worry. I'm full Korean,
and I don't even understand some of it.
- ♪ They all want, they all want what we got ♪
- This came out like two days ago, Super M.
- ♪ We going straight to the top ♪ ♪ We go 100 ♪
- The EDM. - ♪ We go 100 ♪
- I feel like EDM has started influencing a lot
of different types of music. Is he wearing a Target symbol?
- Yeah, but I don't think it's actually affiliated.
- I mean, we're commenting on that it's Target,
so the ad is working. - ♪ Boom, boom, boom, boom, da-dum ♪
- The hair, the half red, half white, that's...
the anime character. - I just like their style.
- ♪ Let's give them something they be talkin' about ♪
♪ I said ♪ - See, the visuals are impeccable.
If there's one thing that SM never slips on,
it's the visuals. - And vocals.
- ♪ The only way is up ♪ - ♪ Only way is up ♪
- ♪ They all want, they all want what we got ♪
- I'm trying to figure out what the song's about,
and I have no idea. (chuckles) - ♪ Never fall, never quit,
never stop ♪ - The rain don't stop.
- ♪ Boom, boom, da-dum ♪
♪ Walk in like own it ♪ - So pretty!
- ♪ Ahhh ♪ - ♪ We goin' straight to the top ♪
- ♪ We go 100 ♪ - ♪ Hey! ♪
- ♪ We goin' all out ♪ ♪ We go, we go, we go,
we go 100 ♪
- Okay. - Wow.
- The whole English thing is because Super M was targeted
for the American audience. They took multiple boys
from either their solo work with SM Entertainment,
which is their company, or different other groups,
and they're kind of just like the combination.
- I don't really know the standard of K-pop, so I was pretty entertained.
- It's definitely, like, the SM standard is just trapping
a lot of attractive Korean guys in a light, blinking, flashing room
with dance moves. (laughs) - Period.
- That's not a bad strategy.
Oh, I like that. - My friends are obsessed
with NCT. (laughs) - I love the visuals
for this music video. At first I didn't like it,
but this song has grown on me. - A lot going on.
- Yeah, my friends played this all the time,
so through my friends, I've heard it. (laughs)
- Why is the hair so '90s, though? (chuckles)
- Honestly, I'm living for it. - Yeah, that's what
I was thinking too, like the blond streaks.
- Maybe it's 'cause they're doing Bruce Lee.
No, but that's way before I think. - Yeah.
- I-- yeah, NCT dancing-- - This one's more hip-hop-y. Yeah.
- Yeah. Mark is from Super M, the guy who's rapping right now,
and so is Taeyong right behind him with the beanie.
Okay, harmony! - Whip. (laughs)
- There was a period of time, where SM had their artists
outside of rooms, but I can see they've gone back now.
Now it's back to the status quo. - As a dancer, I love watching K-pop,
because their formations are so mind-blowing.
- It's like a performance. It's not just a music video,
you know what I mean?
When I first heard this song, I was like-- I didn't get it at all.
But the more you hear it, the more you like it,
so now I'm vibing with it. - Yeah, that's exactly
what it was for me. I did not like it
the first two times I listened to it,
but it was so popular that I heard it everywhere,
so I was like, okay, this is good.
- So, what you're saying is if I heard it two more times,
I'd like it. (laughs) - K-pop, it's like one
of the things they strive on is that it's entertaining
to watch in some shape or form, whether it's weird
or interesting. - Right.
It's like a tiny movie.
- (distorted) ♪ I want you, want you ♪ ♪ I want you ♪
♪ I want you, want you ♪ ♪ I want you ♪
- (voice-over) Incoming!
- Oh, wow. His flow. - I kind of like this.
- Oh yeah, this is Chanyeol. I think this is "Obsession."
I might be wrong, though. - It's also edgy boys.
- This is tight.
Yeah, this is EXO. - This is EXO? Wow.
I have not seen an EXO vid in a hot minute.
This is very... (laughs) It's so funny.
- They have lost a lot of members.
- I don't like that echo that sounds like a bug.
- I think EXO was my first boy group period.
It's really amazing how they've continued
to have such success.
- Yeah. Anna, what you said about the audio
just grates on that guy's voice. - The bug.
It sounds like a bug, yeah. - Yeah, it sounds like a dang cicada.
- (laughs) - "A vicious cycle of nightmares."
"The turned off exit light"?
- Chen can sing! - Is that a cropped leather jacket?
- Also, crop tops on men? (claps)
- I feel like K-pop fashion has evolved a lot
since the days of wearing a snapback
and an over large basketball jersey. - For sure.
- I was into EXO when they debuted for the first time.
Do you remember "What Is Love?" This is a very different vibe.
- Really good visually. Really liked the cinematography,
the costuming, all that. - The crop tops.
- The boys. - EXO was a really big introduction
to the western audience specifically and just the new sound of K-pop.
- Oh, I heard of this one for sure! This is still, like...
I know this one. - Is this a single guy?
No, no, no. It's not.
I'm trying to figure out if I like them speaking English.
- I like-- this kind of reminds me of 2011 music, like, you know...
♪ Can't see me, can't see me ♪
I feel like he's gonna be like ♪ In da club, in da club ♪
(laughs) - It reminds me of the visuals
on more of a K-drama, 'cause my mom watches those
all the time. - I don't have a good ear for EDM,
so a lot of the songs are sounding very similar to me.
- ♪ Bang, bang, bang ♪
- Oh, to be a Korean pretty boy doing these arms.
- Is this The Boyz? SF9? - That was a beautiful riff
at the end. - SF9. There we go.
- Reminds me of older K-pop, like from early 2000s
or late 2000s-ish, that era.
- I used to watch K-dramas with my mom,
and it reminded me of that. Honestly, love it.
- (Kenneth sings along) - Oh, iKON.
- I think I've heard this actually. - It won Song of the Year.
- Isn't this popular? They're all popular.
- This was so big. - I really like this one.
- (Kenneth continues singing along) This is the one song I know so well.
"Love Scenario." iKON, right? - "Love Scenario."
- Yeah. - Yeah?
- Oh, I like iKON. - There are so many of them.
Oh my god. I like their style so much.
- It's just a cool sound. - Bobby.
- This song sounds so different from the ones we've heard previously
on this episode. - Yeah, this is the type
of music I like. - I feel like this song
sounds refreshing. And it's interesting,
'cause it's like I feel like none of the other groups
are rap groups, but iKON's a rap group,
and this isn't necessarily a rap song.
They know to use rap tastefully. - This is one song
that I don't need subtitles for. (laughs)
- (chuckles) - I've heard this so many times.
- The vocals are so pleasant, the little high note he has
in the middle. - Giving me real Zayn vibes,
this guy, his voice. - Yeah, literally.
It sounded like him for a second.
- I think it's like-- I don't know.
It just is so refreshing. - This is the type of K-pop
to show non-K-pop fans. The dance music is good to watch
a music video, good to listen if you're doing something fast,
but if you're really trying to enjoy the music,
then things that are easier to consume and hear
instead of loud and bright everywhere...
- I am so mad right now that my mom did not teach me Korean,
because a girl can sing and dance, and I could just be like
boo, boo, boop, whatever. - What can't K-pop do at this point?
They've broken so many records. - Yeah.
- They have their own section in the MTV Awards.
- Because they know that they can't compare. (laughs)
- Thanks so much for watching this episode.
- If you enjoyed this episode, go ahead and drop us a like.
- Subscribe for all of the best React content.
- (all) Bye! - Hey, guys. It's Sierra,
producer here at FBE. All of the groups that you saw
in today's episode were requested by you guys down in the comments,
so who do you wanna see on the next episode?
Let us know. Bye, guys.