THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO EXO | REACTION

[@milindawilson9175]

Yes, you will discover that all the members of EXO -- and most idols in general -- are actors, and all of them have starred in K-dramas and movies and/or are stage actors. Promoting as a group only takes up a few weeks a year -- on average Kpop Idols only promote their latest comeback on music shows and attend variety shows or do interviews, etc. to promote their newest comeback for about 2 weeks -- so in order to fill their time and continue to make money, all Idols have side projects, which means most idols also spend time as TV and movie actors, musical stage actors, models, Radio DJs, authors, music producers, songwriters, regular/main cast members on variety shows, etc. Their side projects also are part of their cross promotions as idols. Someone who doesn't know them may watch them in a drama or movie or see them promoting their favorite brand or product, etc., which leads to them discovering their group and music, or the person may be a fan of them as a singer and this makes them want to watch their movie or drama, etc. It's all about getting their name and face out there in as many ways as possible in order to drive sales and viewership of everything they are involved in.

[@milindawilson9175]

No Lay is the only Chinese member who has NOT left EXO. As they said in the beginning of the guide, Kris, Luhan and Tao are the Chinese members who left EXO in 2014/2015. This guide only highlights the members who are still members of EXO. Sehun is part of the Rap duo of EXO. You almost never see Chanyeol rapping without Sehun rapping right alongside him, that's why they have a sub-unit called EXO-SC. Kai also has most definitely NOT left the group, he is currently serving in the military, which is why you didn't see him in the Killing Voice performance or in their new "Cream Soda" MV, but he is the main dancer and is most often in the front and center of everything EXO does. You have actually seen Kai in almost ALL of your reactions to EXO's MVs. For example, he is the one that does the screamo part in EXO's "Mama" MV that you loved, and he is the one who drives the car in the beginning of their "Call Me Baby" MV -- the one that is sitting on the car in the thumbnail on your reaction video.

[@milindawilson9175]

EXO was one of the first Kpop artists to have a lightstick with bluetooth technology. (Although a lot of newer versions of other groups' lightsticks now also have bluetooth.) At events and concerts, this allows the lighting technicians to have control of the fans lightsticks in order to make it flash and pulse to the music however and whenever they want. In EXO concerts, the lighting technicians will set up whole light shows using the fans lightsticks that corresponds with the performances on stage, which makes fans even more a part of the show. EXO's lightstick is called Pharynx, or more commonly Eribong -- Eri comes from the nickname given to EXO-Ls (EXO's fans) and Bong means light in Korean. EXO's lightstick has EXO's official hexagon symbol on top and it's made up of the letters E X O -- you see the E on the left edge of the hexagon with the X in the center and the 🛑 shape makes the O -- which is close to EXO's original logo for their debut "Mama" MV. Almost all Kpop groups have an official lightstick. It's a pretty standard item to have for anyone who attends a Kpop event. Therefore, if you Google any group with the word lightstick you will find several sites where they are for sale. But be warned, they are usually fairly expensive because most are more than just a light. :D As you saw, EXO's fan color is "Cosmic Latte" (greyish-tan) like the color of a latte coffee -- Cosmic Latte is said to be the color that is created when you combine all the colors of the stars together. (As otherworldly beings, even EXO's official color is linked to the group's concept.) However -- as we see introduced in EXO's "Power" MV -- each of the 9 EXO members also have their own official color. Most lightsticks are primarily one color -- whatever color represents the group. For example, BigBang's lightstick is yellow and it has a crown on top because BigBang are known as The Kings of Kpop. SHINee's official lightstick is shaped like a diamond, and if you hold it up to a solid surface and look at the reflection the diamond makes, you will see a 5 point star to represent the 5 members of SHINee. SHINee's symbol is a diamond because they SHINe(e) like diamonds and it lights up an aqua blue/teal color because pearl aqua is SHINee's fan color. NCT's lightstick has a big square block on top, which is supposed to look like a building because NCT and their fans are part of the Neo City, and it lights up Pearl Neo Champaign (neon lime green). Red Velvet's lightstick has the letters RV inside a cupcake shaped dome that lights up red. Mamamoo's lightstick is shaped like a green and white radish because moo sounds like the Korean word for radish. BTS' lightstick is the ARMY bomb so it looks like a TNT-type bomb and it lights up purple. BlackPink has a pink hammer. Stray Kids' lightstick has a red and silver compass symbol on top and it glows red because their official color is red, etc. However, what makes EXO's lightstick extra special is that it's multi-colored to represent each of the member's individual colors. And, depending on which member of EXO is on stage at the moment, the lighting technicians often change the color of the lightsticks to the color that represents that member, or goes along with the theme of the stage, etc. (When attending a concert fans now use an app to sink their seat number with their lightstick, so that the lighting technicians can have control of their lightstick.) Although, some group's lightsticks aren't even sticks, but they are bracelets or watch-style lights that you can wear. It all depends on the group concept. And some groups that have been around a long time, or whose company likes to continuously come out with new merchandise, have multiple versions of lightsticks. Each are very unique and specific to the group. Although, in some older Kpop group's performances, from their older concerts or live performances -- such as any EXO live performance that took place before 2015, which was when EXO's official lightstick was released -- you might see that the audience only has plain stick lights or even just glow sticks, because before there were lightsticks, fans brought or were given glow sticks in the group's color. And even before glow sticks were a thing, fans would all wave a balloon that was the color of their group. The disadvantage to waving balloons was that the artists on stage couldn't see the balloons when the lights were off, which is one of the reasons why they now have lightsticks. Fun fact: G-Dragon, BigBang's leader, was the one who came up with the idea for the first lightsticks, because he wanted to be able to see and identify all of the VIPs (BigBang's fans) in the audience. G-Dragon was the one who designed the very first lightsticks and they were so popular among VIPs that other groups started to come up with their own versions of fan lights, which has now become a standard part of the Kpop industry. During award shows and events where multiple groups are present, the group's lightsticks and balloons are, and were, an important way for fans to show their support for their group and to tell everyone around them who they are there to see, etc.

[@ReactWithPaul]

Sorry guys, this video is taking a very very long time to upload. My apologies React With Paul Family!!!!

[@sodabella]

Lay is still EXO. Recently Lay introduced himself as Lay of EXO. Lay is huge in China as a solo artist and I guess EXO will remain as 8 + 1. I think EXO is protective of their relationship with each other and with the 2 countries still with political issues, they rarely mention each other. They have their own chat group and based on some things that they talk to the fans, they are always in contact with each other. Lay also recently visited S. Korea and also mentioned his meeting with Sehun to the fans in China. D.O. has a latin song called Si Fueras Mia if you want to react to it. All the members shown here are still in EXO. You didn't see Kai because he's in the military right now. EXO has 9 members. Currently 2 members (Sehun and Kai) are enlisting. When you check out Blooming Days by EXO-CBX, please check out the dance practice too.

[@luzledo]

You have to look for videos of Chansoo are Chanyeol and D.O, Ch2adores D.O says that he is his number 1 fan (along with his family, Chanyeol's mother loves D.O even without telling Chanyeol he goes to the presentations of D.O's movies and series and his sister says that when he gets married she wants him to sing at her wedding) Chanyeol loves to annoy D.O together with Baekhyun to see their reactions and they are called Tom and Jerry...

[@milindawilson9175]

The reason why you may not have noticed Chen as the amazing singer that he is, is because you haven't watched any of EXO-M's MVs. Chen is one of the Korean members of EXO-M. If you watch the Mandarin Chinese version of EXO's MVs you will see that Chen takes over most of the parts you have seen Baekhyun singing in the EXO-K MVs. If you want to see more of Chen you have to start watching the EXO-M MVs as well. How EXO was designed to work was that each member in EXO-K also has/had a partner in EXO-M that fills the same role in their respective group. For example, Baekhyun is the main vocalist in EXO-K and Chen is the main vocalist in EXO-M; D.O. is the other main vocalist in K and Luhan was the other main vocalist in M; Chanyeol is the main rapper in K and Kris was the main rapper in M; Sehun is the lead rapper in K and Xiumin is the lead rapper in M; Kai is the main dancer in K and Lay is the main dancer in M; and then it's Suho is a lead vocalist in K and Tao was a rapper/vocalist in M, (I'm not sure how these two really work together because Tao is more of a rapper and Suho is a vocalist, but because they are the last two they are put together.)

[@wahyuningsih9653]

For kai, i think you should watch "FILM : KAI" it's like an official video spoiler of his first solo album called MMHH..

[@ReactWithPaul]

Thanks, I'll most definitely look into it.

[@tatyanicktheone7387]

​@@ReactWithPaulyeeey! It's a masterpiece! Kai was the first to make such a film to introduce his songs on such a grand scale!

[@JessicaSilva-qx8pr]

Exo members songs : -Lay : Lit , Sheep, veil , honey , flying apsaras …….. -Kai : Confession , Mmmh , peach , Rover , Kai film …….. -Chanyeol : stay with me , Yours , Good enough ….. -Baekhyun : Candy , village , Bambi , All I got , love Again , Amusement park …….. -Chen : hello , light of my life , ( OST’s king …….) -D.O: Tell me what is love , that’s okay , somebody , Rose ………. -Xumin : brand news … -Suho : made in you …..

[@ReactWithPaul]

Thanks

[@milindawilson9175]

One of the main reasons why Suho was a trainee for 7 years was because he originally started out training to be a member of SM's legendary second-generation group, SHINee. However, right before SHINee was to debut in 2008, Suho injured his knee and he couldn't train for their debut showcase, so SM decided to debut SHINee without him. He ended up having to wait 4 more years before he debuted as the leader of EXO. But, by all accounts, this worked out for the best because he became the leader, and as the other EXO members say, he was born to be a leader. If he had stayed a member of SHINee he never would have become a leader, because Onew -- who is the leader of SHINee -- is 2 years older than Suho, and at the time of SHINee's debut it was pretty much a given that the oldest member would automatically be the leader. However, 4 years later when EXO debuted, the rules within the industry had kind of changed and it was no longer a hard and fast rule that the oldest would be the leader. Case in point, Xiumin is the oldest EXO member and, yet, Suho became the leader. Being a trainee for 7 years isn't that uncommon. If you start to really look into it, you will find a lot of Idols who have trained for a very long time before they debuted. However, it all depends on how talented someone is or how much experience they have had before becoming a trainee as to how long they train. Some idols only train for a few weeks or a few months, whereas others could take years and they may be on the verge of giving up when the company finally decides they are ready to debut. And some trainees may never debut and end up leaving the company or industry. Unfortunately, just because you are a trainee doesn't guarantee you will debut. A lot of it is pure talent and luck combined with sheer dedication.

[@exoguardiansuho5866]

Regarding the Leader things. I think during that time they still stick with concept the oldest is the leader. During OT12 The oldest in EXO-M is Xiumin. He got offered to be the leader but he doesn't want it, so they give the position to Kris. While in EXO-K Suho was the oldest. Since the three member left I think they decided to just stick with Suho as the leader since he already is. Correct me if I'm wrong 😊

[@milindawilson9175]

@@exoguardiansuho5866 I think one of the reasons why Xiumin didn't want to be the leader of EXO-M -- the Mandarin Chinese sub-unit of EXO -- was because they promoted in China and he wasn't fluent in Mandarin, so in order to be an effective leader he felt it would be better to have a member who spoke Mandarin and could be the representative for the group more easily. For the short time that EXO-M promoted in China, Xiumin was learning Mandarin, but he never became fully fluent, so he relied on his Chinese members and translators to help him out a lot in Chinese interviews and variety shows, etc. EXO-M's leader was Kris, who is Chinese-Canadian, so he is fluent in English, Mandarin and Korean, which made him a better candidate for leader at the time. Which is also why Chen and Xiumin are so close because they were each others' support systems being the only EXO-M members who weren't fluent in Mandarin and the fact that they spent the first couple of years of their career working and living in China a large part of the time.

[@kiki-bc5yx]

update: both lay and kyungsoo have left sm but still in the group also the nng thing is over chanyeol has his own channel now

[@LorinFransiska]

Thanks for EXO reaction ❤❤❤

[@ReactWithPaul]

More EXO to come on KZbin and also my Patreon.

[@myatimus7390]

I will be looking forward to your watching.

[@ReactWithPaul]

More EXO videos coming on KZbin and Patreon.

[@kaikim9394]

Kai's in military right now that's why he's not in the killing voice and cream soda music video.

[@ReactWithPaul]

Thank you

[@sallybacaoco9743]

Welcome to EXO journey, they are called Emperor of Kpop not only king of vocals, im here ur new subs❤️❤️❤️🇵🇭

[@ReactWithPaul]

Thank you. More EXO videos coming up on KZbin and Patreon.

[@ksooexo7742]

D.O. or do kyungsoo have a spanish song in his first album. please check out the album 😉

[@ReactWithPaul]

Thank you

[@emiliaf27]

Lay, kai and sehun are the members of exo, they dont leave exo, the members who left exo are kris, luhan and tao

[@ReactWithPaul]

Thank you

[@emiliaf27]

@@ReactWithPaul please react exo live performances, i think u would love it - exo elyxion 4 diamond+coming over+run this+drop that+power live performance and - exo mama+monster+wolf live performance That’s definitely bangers!!

[@ReactWithPaul]

Will do soon. Thank you.

[@luzledo]

Kai and Sehun are now in the military, Sehun has recently joined and Kai has a year to go, so Kai is leaving in early 2025 and Sehun in late 2025.

[@АннаСтепина-т7л]

😃ехо ❤️‍🔥💖❤️‍🔥👍

[@milindawilson9175]

Unfortunately, the political climate between Korea and China was only a little better for a short time. However, since this guide was made, China's Idol culture has become even more restrictive after the election of their new president. Plus, Lay left SM Entertainment in 2022 -- when his contract was up after 10 years -- but he has made it clear that he hasn't left EXO. Although there are still several obstacles in his way to being able to work with EXO. Therefore, we may never get to see Lay working in person with the rest of EXO again, but we can always hope. However, one good sign is that Super Junior's Chinese member Zhoumi, who has also been restricted from being able to work with Super Junior for the past 6 years or so, was actually back in Korea for several months last year and he released a new song with one of his Korean Super Junior members and the song was in both Korean and Mandarin and he even did promotions and appeared on Korean programs while he was there. As mentioned, Lay's hiatus from EXO is not something he has chosen, but it's something that has sort of been forced upon him by the government. When China first began cracking down on their citizens working in Korea around 2016 -- as a political protest over South Korea's alignment with the U.S. and China's support of North Korea, etc. -- there were rumors that the Chinese government was threatening to revoke the citizenship of any mainland native Chinese person who continued to do business with a Korean company and lived outside of China. This rule would have prevented Idols, such as Lay, from visiting family and doing business in China, etc. The only way for them to avoid this from happening was for them to come back to China right away and stop doing business with their Korean companies. I don't know if this was really true or if it was just a rumor, but that is what I heard. Which would explain why some Chinese Idols don't feel any pressure to stop working in Korea because they have nothing to lose if they don't have family or a life in China or they aren't mainland Chinese citizens, etc. Lay's whole career is tied to being able to work and live in China and he is closely connected to the Chinese government, so he has to tread lightly when it comes to how he conducts himself and who he chooses to associate with, etc. He can't afford to be blacklisted in the Chinese entertainment industry. For a long time, Lay was even discouraged from mentioning EXO by name in TV shows and interviews, but he always finds subtle ways to make it clear that being a member of EXO, and his EXO brothers, are always very important to him. We finally got to see Lay in an EXO project in 2021 -- the first time since 2016 (besides his brief solo appearance in EXO's "Tempo" MVs in 2018) -- with EXO's "Don't Fight The Feeling" MV, but he really didn't get to work with EXO because of the pandemic, etc. Everything he did for that MV was done remotely and independently and inserted into the song and MV. You should check out his official lyric video for his song "Jiu," a song on his East album, which was released after he announced his departure from SM. This song is evidence that he has not left EXO and that he still considers himself part of the group, as every word of the song is a tribute to EXO. I have also read that on Webo (the Chinese internet server) he mentioned how he was working out a deal with SM that could possibly allow him to still continue to do projects with EXO in the future. (I mean it's possible, Taecyeon from 2PM left JYP Entertainment, but he worked out a deal with his new company that has allowed him to continue activities with 2PM. And even more encouraging is the fact that Girls' Generation had a comeback as a full group in 2022 even though 3 members left SM more than 5 years ago.) I mean, SM has been supporting Lay in everything he has been doing so far, including endorsing him when he started his trainee company Chromosome. And I don't think there is any bad blood or uneasy feelings between Lay and SM, so anything is possible.

[@vi3l3s]

Thanks for your genuine reaction to EXO. I love your facial expression especially when you get to be surprised. Please react also to EL Dorado live by EXO. ❤

[@ReactWithPaul]

Thank you, I will check it out.

[@halima-L-1485]

I don't know how you though chen is rapper You already react EXO mv you haven't noticed chen vocals in there killing voice he was one who hit high note in monster obsession too growl love shot too cream soda let me in . he is the King of High note King of ost Ballad he can also sing rock songs ,btw lay is still EXO member he only left sm company, he have his own company he is the CEO we have now three CEO lay D.O baekhyun, Pls react lay Solo too , sehun and Kai are the youngest they are now in military service they will be back 2025 , pls react each member guide too , pls react exo album in order their first album till now . 9/7 have their own Solo, Chanyeol and sehun have solo songs.

[@ReactWithPaul]

I'm just finding out about the group. I didn't know Chen was a singer. And thanks for the recommendation.

[@yenmayasarisimaibang237]

React for exo live performence too.. 😊

[@ReactWithPaul]

Will do

[@ninaasophiee]

Please do a SEVENTEEN Guide too

[@ReactWithPaul]

Will do soon

[@Anounymoys]

1:07:47 lol it was from "EXO ARCADE" SEASON 1 u didnt saw wht chanyeol was doing lol😂 .. am suggesting it SO HILLARIOUS❤

[@ReactWithPaul]

Im going to be reacting to EXO ARCADE soon.