The Real - Heung version (250330 The Performance)
The Real is my favorite title track. Aside from the music, which sounds like nothing else in kpop, I love the song's message and what it symbolizes about their journey. All the hardship they endured and what they overcame without losing an ounce of their humility and kindness.
I love Hongjoong's big swooping kick to start the song, I love the satoori dialect punctuating the lyrics, I love dance break, I love how much fun they always have performing it.
I once watched a pair of youtube reactors say that in 10 years if you were to ask about Ateez's musical legacy in kpop, you'd point to The Real. I think that's true.
Also, this was the performance directly following Wooyoung's infamous live where he declined to do the Like Jennie dance challenge bc of its choreographer (a former friend who plagarized the Say My Name choreo and never apologized), and who then received an avalanche of negative attention as a result. It was a rough night on twitter.
The following day, Ateez went out on stage STEAMING MAD. And they delivered a barnburner of a performance.
Watch Wooyoung during this song. At the beginning of their showcase, they made a last-minute switch to their lineup and did Say My Name (for obvious reasons). The camera was trained on Wooyoung the entire time as if waiting for something...and Wooyoung made them wait until The Real to deliver his statement.
First, he makes a pointed (almost mocking) gesture with his hands during the lines Frown your brows more / But bow in ninety degrees mimicking a 90-degree bow.
Then comes his iconic killing-moment: "chum deureogayuuu~~" and Wooyoung looks straight into the camera's lens, smirks...and does the "biting" move. BOOM.
This is why no one else is on their level. Their performances are infused with the meta-textual knowledge of who they are and where they've been and how they've grown. Each performance is a living document in the archive of Ateez.
I love them so much and I really can't wait to see them live again this summer.
