#blexo

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Izumo Kamiki - Blue Exorcist

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Baekysha: can i get a YEERRRRRRRR?!

DaeJon and Chandel: YERRRRRRRRRRRRR

Junye: *whispering to himself* are they saying "yes"?

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Yukio Okumura - Blue Exorcist

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Shiemi Moriyami - Blue Exorcist

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Rin Okumura - Blue Exorcist

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Lotto Champions - “We run the city”

(Lotto by EXO x Champions by Kanye West)

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EX’ACT and The Future

This is the fourth piece in the series “So, What is Blexo?” . Enjoy, share your thoughts, and tell us what you think!

One of the greatest things about EXO is their ability to never give us the same thing twice. As we all know, EX’ACT fits the mold of “ex’actly” that. It’s been about two months since the release of the album, and by far in our own opinion, it’s EXO’s best.

What makes EX’ACT the best album in our opinion, is that it’s so polished, so refined, and the sound production and quality of the music is so familiar, they have never sounded better. Part of the reason why we coined the term “blexo” came in result to our reactions to this album. The music, the members vocals (I’d like to note that each and every one of them were in their feelings throughout the whole thing), it was just so refreshing and this album is SOLID. 

We didn’t think of concerts while listening, it was nice to just LISTEN to EXO for once. This entire album was so well pieced together, the theme was cohesive, and it was a straight R&B/Pop album. Many didn’t like this “new” EXO, but this? They’ve always shown hints that this is the music that they’ve wanted to do, they got the chance to SING again, and just focus on that. It reflects in the concerts as well. 

Below the read more is a breakdown of a few songs off the album that again, fits the theme and nature of this blog.

To touch on a few songs off the album, let’s look at Monster, Cloud 9, One and Only and They Never Know

Monster: When the demo dance practice came out, we already KNEW what EXO was about to do. The choreography? The song? The bass??  It screamed “black influence”. And that was the “culture shock” that Suho was referring to. Also, “Shawty I got it”, I could get into a whole post just to talk about the use of that word in this song. The whole thing is just.....I still can’t believe that this is EXO, it’s wild. 

Cloud 9: This song reminds me of the greatest sings to come out of 2007/2008. It’s so nostalgic, and straight to the basics in terms of music production. From Chanyeol’s and Sehun’s hook throughout the song, to Baekhyun’s constant vocal runs, to the breakdown before the bridge. It’s so GOOD. 

One and Only: Okay, this song by far, is one of EXO’s best songs that have ever been put out. A lot of people didn’t like the airhorn at the beginning of it, but as you know, for most of us what that means in the black community. The first time I heard it, I had to nearly stop the song because I was like “No....did they really just do that??”. And then we have throwback production, where this song is so familiar to the point where you can place it back to a point in your life where you’ve heard another record just like this. And the members vocals? They were singing their life away on this song, it’s straight R&B, and they do it so effortlessly. And they were all up in their feelings with this song, and so are we.

They Never Know: Despite the “controversy” of it sounding like Dead Leaves, I would like to point out BOTH of these songs sampled from another, which is a popular thing to do, so that irritating discourse behind it was pointless because that concept isn’t anything new to the music industry. But, if we’re gonna be biased here, They Never Know has it beat. Going into the genre of progressive R&B, EXO executed the basics with a great twist, and it’s hard to be able to have a song morph back and forth between two separate music points. It can either go very well, or very wrong. So yes, it’s different from previous tracks, but this also is one of their best. It’s just so tangible, and it’s not many artists can do that with their music.

THE FUTURE:

Based off of EX’ACT alone, I truly believe that this is now going to be the EXO that we will be getting from here on out. It took awhile for them to get to this point in terms of cohesiveness, but this just suits them so WELL. I really think that this is the new and improved EXO, and if songs like Do It Together (which Chanyeol produced)  is any indication that this is something that they want to do, I already know that SM’s producers are going to make it happen. I can only imagine what the repackage album is going to sound like, but we are ready for whatever happens next. 

After all, not to be biased, but EXO really can do no wrong.

So what are your feelings on EX’ACT? And what do you hope to hear from them in the future?

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EXO: The Music

This is the third piece in the series “So, What is Blexo?” . Enjoy, share your thoughts, and tell us what you think!

So, EXO’s discography is fairly extensive, and diverse. But there we wanted to focus a little on some of our favorites, and yours too!

What’s so great about EXO’s music, is how it’s so nostalgic, it brings you back to something that you’ve heard somewhere else, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. They have a very good blend of 90s Boyz II Men vibes (What If, Tell Me What Is Love), The songs you heard back in middle school (Heart Attack, XOXO, First Love), the songs that put you in your feelings (One and Only, Moonlight) and the ones that make you wanna dance (Transformer, Monster).

It’s so refreshing, and not many groups can do it so effortlessly. But despite that the music itself is familiar, it’s still new and it’s still THEM. The perfect balance.  

So below, we rounded up some of our favorite R&B/Pop/Soul EXO songs that feeds into a little of what we’ve been talking about over the past few days. Feel free to tell us your opinions on them!

Mama (The 1st Mini Album): What is Love, Angel, Two Moons

The 1st Album ‘XOXO’: Growl, XOXO, Baby Don’t Cry, Heart Attack

Miracles in December: Christmas Day, The Star, My Turn to Cry, First Snow

The 2nd Mini Album: Overdose, Moonlight, Love Love Love

EXOLOGY Chapter 1: Love Love Love (acoustic version), December 2014

EXODUS: Call Me Baby, Transformer, What If, Lady Luck, Beautiful

Love Me Right (Repackage): Tender Love, First Love

EX’ACT: Monster, Cloud 9, One and Only, They Never Know

Non Album Tracks: Tell Me (What is Love) (both versions), Full Moon, Lil Something, Do It Together

So what are some of your favorites off this list? Which songs remind you of a non-kpop track that you’ve heard?