Korean Media News

They’re still young rookies but they have started to accumulate experience. As they shake their bodies until they’re out of breath and carry on with their steady lives, their know-hows have increased too. ‘MAMA”s imposing sound, with the members who are like one during their strong performances, is oddly addicting. It’s barely been a month since they debuted and they have already started to show to the public their infinite possibilities and charms.

“Rather than being tiring, it’s amazing and fun. We’re also gradually getting used to the stage. I’m happy because we can show an image that’s a bit better” (Baekhyun)

The members introduced the positive reactions they received about ‘MAMA’ from the people around them with a bright expression. “They all said it was alright. My parents told me it was really cool after watching the broadcast. But they told me to always think about my health first and take care of my body a lot” (D.O)

After D.O’s history, the conversation suddenly moved on to parents. The members had a momentaneous dim expression and said “We last saw our parents last January for Seollal”. They knew their parents attended their debut showcase during late March but looked disappointed because they couldn’t meet them.

“It’s true that our parents came to the showcase but we couldn’t meet them because we were so busy. Since EXO-M’s parents are living in China they couldn’t come, we also felt sorry to be able to meet our parents only amongst us. On the opposite, when we had our showcase in China, the EXO-M members thought of us and didn’t meet their parents. We’re considerate of each other like this a lot” (Suho)

Chanyeol also expressed how much he missed his parents. “In the past I did a lot of voluntary service at halls for the elderly and welfare centers and there, an old woman I was cleaning for gave me a candy while telling me ‘Thanks a lot’. It’s been a long time since I’ve been separated from my parents and I can’t even go see my grandfather and grandmother during holidays so I suddenly felt like crying” (Chanyeol)

While holding in their longing for their parents that they have, EXO-K overcame their difficult trainee lives and had their strong debut stage, receiving as many favorable comments as the amount of time they spent on their intensive training. One of them was about Kai’s and the members’ awesome expression game. The part where he shouts”MAMA” to call the Gods while staring into the air with a slightly weak look is definitely ‘MAMA”s highlight.

“During the whole song, the expression game is a part that is absolutely needed. In our daily lives, we check our expressions when we take pictures of our faces with a self-camera” (Baekhyun)

On the other hand, Kai, the main actor of this expression game performance said “I do it as I feel when I listen to the song” while showing a relaxed image. But as opposed to the chic and arrogant image and the overflowing confidence he shows on stage, the fact that he gave only 10 points out of 100 to the ‘MAMA’ promotions caught our attention.

“There’s a lot more we can show in the future. I think we’re evolving little by little” (Kai)

While Suho, in contrast to shameless and cold Kai, gave to the team 50 points. “Because well begun is half done (laughs)”


Suho talked tenderly with deer-like eyes. He somehow seemed like he lacked charisma for a leader, when we asked him “Is there a leader-only secret to manage dongsaengs?” he tipped “I manage the members every week during family meetings. We resolve minor trivial things with love and hugs and I scold them a lot for big mistakes or if they act impolitely”.

Chanyeol then added and explained “Leader hyung doesn’t always scold us loudly but he leads the dongsaengs with quiet conversations”. When we joked and said “You look like someone who got scolded by his hyung a lot” he struck an embarrassed face, laughed as his face turned red and shook his head.

As we were reaching the end of the interview, we were very curious about one thing. Each of the 6, no, 12 members have different personalities, so with what convictions and values are they uniting with and towards what goal are they running to?

“The common motto we all attach importance to is ‘Training to give more than to receive’. You generally think that celebrities only receive, right? But we’re thinking that we are sharing the love we receive. To accomplish that we have done voluntary service since pre-debut” (Suho)

From leader Suho’s reliable answer, we could guess dimly EXO-K’s essence. Through ‘MAMA’, they are singing the pain of the modern age communication gap; they’re uniting on the basis of consideration for each other with warm hearts that understand that feeling.

EXO-K responded ‘No comment’ when asked about the follow-up song and the next concept. They piqued our curiousity by saying “If we get the opportunity, we could even promote with EXO-M”. They’re still doing their best promoting ‘MAMA’ in Korea. Like the ‘monster rookies’ they are, displaying their explosive potential on the music charts at the same time they did when they debuted, we’re looking forward to the day they’ll compete on worldwide stages, which is coming soon enough.

(*) Sehun unavoidably couldn’t participate to the interview that day because he was going to school.


source: bntnews
translation cr; emilie @ exok-trans