(mouse clicks)
♪ (dramatic chord) ♪
♪ (EXO-K, "Overdose") ♪
Oh my word, is this K-pop?
K-pop in the house.
(in song) Come in.
♪ (electronic buildup) ♪
♪ (singing in Korean) ♪
All right.
(Jesse) Yep, K-pop.
(Jeana) This is, like, the first K-pop video I've seen.
- ♪ So bad, no one can stop her ♪ - (laughs)
What the hell is this?
I feel like I'm having inappropriate thoughts right now. (laughs)
♪ Someone call the doctor ♪
(Dan) Are they all in the band? Let's count the members.
They're so good at dancing.
I'm suddenly attracted to Dragon Ball Z also right now.
♪ (singing in Korean) ♪
Superpowers!
Whoa, there's, like, 15 of them.
- (laughs) - They're multiplying.
(laughing) I'm trying to keep up.
- ♪ (holding note) ♪ - ♪ E-X-O ♪
Wow. That was fierce.
♪ (raps in Korean) can't stop ♪
♪ (singing in Korean) ♪
This is all right.
Do they not eat? (laughs) They all have perfect bodies.
I could do it.
I can say this 'cause I'm Asian,
but I can't tell how many of them there are.
Oh my god, I loved that. That was phenomenal.
♪ (Orange Caramel, "Catallena") ♪
(intrigued) Ooh.
♪ (disco-inspired pop melody) ♪
- ♪ (singing in Korean) ♪ - Oh, wow.
Oh my-- (bursts out laughing)
- (Phil) Whoa. - (Dan laughs) Amazing, amazing.
(chuckling) What?
What?
Mermaid sushi. I'd try it.
♪ (singing continues) ♪
Why are they, like, fish for sale?
I was like, "I'm on board." Argh, I'm not.
'Cause why make a normal music video? There's so many of them.
♪ (instrumental) ♪
(cracking up)
♪ (singing in Korean) ♪
♪ (trio sings each response) ♪
(confused) They're speaking Hindi.
I'm not sure if that's what women want to go for.
♪ (singing continues) ♪
(chuckles)
(both) Aww.
Emotional.
There's three of them, there's three of us.
- Uh... - Uh... coincidence?
What? (laughs boisterously) What was that?
♪ (TVXQ, "Catch Me") ♪
- (laughing uncontrollably) - ♪ Catch me, girl ♪
I don't know what is funny. It's just so intense.
♪ (holding note) ♪
- I'm so into this. - (laughs)
♪ (pronounced beat) ♪
- (silence) - (robotic voice) Catch me if you wanna.
- ♪ (music resumes) ♪ - I wonder if he actually talks like that.
♪ Catch me if you wanna ♪
(Jesse) Oh, they could be playing this in Atlantic City easy.
- This is fist-bump worthy right now. - (Jeana chuckles)
♪ (singing in Korean) ♪
Whoa!
- (both) Whoa. - That's cool.
Sick. (laughs)
It's like the centipede. Remember that movie?
(chuckling) Yeah, The Human Centipede.
(Phil) They're becoming a human Transformer.
(Dan) That's okay. No, Shinee are better at dancing though.
- (Phil mumbles) - (Dan) No, no, I've seen better.
I've seen better.
♪ (holding note) ♪
They have really high-pitched voices.
The dancing's cool, and the effects are really cool.
Those weird arm glove things-- I kinda want 'em.
♪ (dance break) ♪
(robotic voice) ♪ Catch me if you wanna ♪
Ooh, I love that.
- (Dan) What's happening? - (Phil) They're in milk.
So sick.
This is the most amazing music video I've ever seen in my life.
They're bringing the shiny suits back,
like Biggie and Puff Daddy.
- (song ends) - Did they died?
Why is this not my alarm clock tune every single morning?
I'm so confused.
Did they apparate, or is that what happens?
- (laughter) - They're wizards.
♪ (dramatic chord) ♪
(Finebros) So we just showed you three different K-pop artists.
What are your thoughts about K-pop overall?
The only thing I really know about K-pop is Psy.
I was just kinda watching that like...
"This exists."
I don't really get it. Like, it's--
Oh, I'm probably gonna get a lot of hate for that.
Oh no, what have I done? (laughs)
I love K-pop personally. I got into K-pop in 2012, 2013.
I live with Dan, and I just listen to K-pop
through the walls a lot. But I appreciate it.
I think people just want to have fun.
And when you see something visually stimulating
that looks cool and is entertaining, it's kind of like--
It transcends language.
Recently I've been watching more K-pop
just because it's better than what they produce in America.
To see that they're putting the same amount of time and effort
in their dance craft and their music videos and their singing
makes it kind of unstoppable,
and I feel like us Americans lost that.
(Finebros) So let's talk about each group.
The first music video was a group called Exo. Here they are.
A group of, like, 15... guys? Are they all guys?
- 12? Oh my god. - Very androgynous.
There's one for every single month.
So you're bound to like one that comes up.
They look like a Korean version of O2L.
Haven't they done songs in Chinese as well?
They're quite talented.
There should never be that many people onstage at any given time
unless they're doing "Bohemian Rhapsody."
I don't know what you do with seven more Backstreet Boys.
There's a lot of artists that can sing,
but they seem like they can perform.
They can sing, they can dance, and they do this whole--
(mouths) this really intimate thing into the camera
where it got me all in the feels right here.
(Finebros) The next group calls themselves Orange Caramel.
(through laughter) Okay, this one--
I don't know what was going on with this one.
That's some [bleep]-up [bleep], dude.
(chortles) They made themselves sushi.
I haven't eaten, so my stomach's rumbling.
I would eat them.
(laughter)
- (Finebros) Whoa. Whoa. - (Dan) That sounded weird. Okay, okay.
Don't flag this video.
So three girls. Or is it--
are there other girls that I'm missing as well?
- (Finebros) No, no, three girls. - All right.
I'm a fan.
Maybe it's the K-pop way to objectify women,
because Asians are so into sushi and stuff.
I think what you're seeing in this video is the result of what
feminists have fought for for many years.
They really wanted a video clip
where women were for sale as sushi.
- (Finebros) Finally is TVXQ. - Oh yeah, they're cute.
Those five could beat up that entire other group.
Their choreography was really cool.
This group is the truth!
They're like a video game. Those guys are stars.
I thought they were amazing.
Like, that video-- they had the whole flipping arm robot thing
moving all over the place. That was awesome.
The hand movement and everything, and all of that blew my mind.
It wasn't about how great they were as individuals.
It was like this unit. It was wonderful.
(Finebros) TVXQ has been successful for more than 10 years now.
Why have I not heard of these people?
So they're kinda like a K-pop Coldplay.
(Finebros) What are your thoughts about
the fact there's these massive stars in other countries
- that we don't even know about? - Oh, well, I'm from YouTube.
I know all about that life.
Just makes me feel like the world is a big place.
I think it would be neat if all the big groups
in different counties--
their music were actually played everywhere.
I don't know in their part of the world
if our traditional media and our big stars are known there.
It seems like there's more of that disparity
coming from that particular region.
Even with us as a band,
it's been tougher to break some of those markets.
We just went to India and thinking about
a population of a billion, 1.3 billion or something.
There are celebrities that we've never even heard of.
And it blows your mind to realize, like,
they're actually more famous than our celebrities are
because there's so many people around the world.
(Finebros) We always like to ask this when we cover K-pop.
What are your thoughts about how these groups
are so manufactured,
but it's not considered inauthentic
like it is in a lot of places? It's actually embraced there.
- (Jeana) Really? - (Jesse) Wow. Interesting.
- That's sad. - (Jeana scoffs)
'Cause I do-- I'm a big believer in independent authenticity.
It kinda limits your free will in a sense.
It makes sense for a boy band to be created that way,
because, I mean, what guy is just like,
"Oh, you know what? Let me call up my five other homeys,
who all look kinda similar to me
and have great dance moves and singing voices,
and we're gonna start a group together."
It's Lou Pearlman's dream. He wants to go over there and crush.
There's actually something to counter that that is interesting,
though, about artist development, you know?
Like, at least they are caring and really harnessing their talent
into helping these kids hone their craft.
I just think, especially in England, we're just too sarcastic
- about everything. - Yeah.
There is still a lot of authenticity to each different band
that you can really get into
without it being like a poetic singer/songwriter.
There's huge mainstream music in America,
and then there's also other types of music that are more indie.
So I'm curious if the same thing happens in Korea.
We might only be interested in the mainstream stuff,
but I'd be interested to see if there's
- small scenes in subculture. - Like an underground scene.
It's probably an extreme, but it's an extreme of something
that really happens behind the scenes everywhere.
If you have a model that works and you don't see a decline,
why change?
(Finebros) K-pop isn't going away.
It's just getting more and more popular around the world.
What makes it stand out versus pop music from where you're from?
Maybe because people can see it now,
and they just couldn't see it before.
They're attacking all the elements
of what an entertainer should be.
Depending on who you are,
the different groups are nice to look at.
K-pop is just the basics, really, isn't it?
It's something bright. It's something fun.
It's something that can just be manufactured quickly
at a high turnover rate.
I don't understand what they're saying,
so then I just get into the melody of it a lot more.
You've got something there.
I was watching those videos.
And yes, they may be musically talented.
But it's funny to me. I'm laughing at the video.
And that's something I'd show my friend.
The video has a lot to do with the whole effects
and the whole (imitates explosions)
and the camera angles and cha--
It's the same reason I used to love Power Rangers.
(laughter)
(Phil) Thanks for watching YouTubers React.
(Dan) You're not doing it. You're not doing it.
- No, no, it's like... - (both) Woosh.
If you like everybody that was a part of this episode,
make sure you guys check it out in the description box,
and click on that stuff, and subscribe to everyone's channel.
♪ Goodbye! ♪
I love K-pop! I still love it every day!
(laughs nervously) Don't hate me!
(cracks up)
♪ (end music) ♪