Greatest Hits:: EXO: Love Shot

 For the record, if anyone needed some proof that I am not actually picking what songs I do this month, then this would do it. For starters, I literally just did a Baekhyun post and I would never have chosen to do an EXO song that soon after it. The amount of spacing out I've been doing for the EXID posts should be proof enough for that. Secondly, I've got May planned at least by which songs I'm doing, though the order is still a bit flexible and I've chosen the first couple of June songs, and in that batch is an EXO song. So, apologies if you want more variety, but if you're an EXO-L, well, you'll enjoy the coverage the next six or so weeks. I decided to pull this song from the Roulette Wheel as well, and as a Carat, I'm sure you can guess what clip will be included for this one. I feel like I'm legally required. But more importantly, I love this song, so I'm the opposite of mad about getting to yap about how amazing this song is, even if the timing could be better. Iconic red suit, coming right up!

EXO is one of SM Entertainment's boy groups, and one of my beloved 2012 debuts. They originally debuted with 12 members, split between two subunits that would promote simultaneously in Korea and China, which was a bold and ambitious plan to be sure, but this is Lee Soo-man we're talking about here. Wild group concepts is practically his middle name. They're currently down to nine members and are currently only under the banner of just EXO, and various subunits.

Love Shot is the title track for EXO's fifth repackaged album of the same name, released in 2018. It was nominated for Song of the Year at two different award shows and got three music show wins, two on Music Bank and one on Music Core (which actually interrupted the win streak for Tempo, the title track from the original album, funnily enough). For the lyricists, we have Chen and Chanyeol, as well as Cho Yunkyung (NCT, Red Velvet, GFRIEND, Enhypen, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, ZEROBASEONE, SHINee, RIIZE, Kiss of Life, ILLIT, Super Junior, LE SSERAFIM, BTS, Taemin, ITZY, Wonwoo & Mingyu, Jun, The Boyz, LOONA, CLC, &TEAM, ASTRO, TWICE, Pristin, aespa, Taeyeon, 8TURN, Girls' Generation, AtHeart, IVE, Secret Number, Chung Ha, Weeekly, Jeon Somi, TWICE, IZ*ONE, KickFlip, Apink, Kwon Eunbi, Jo Yuri, f(x), LIGHTSUM, AleXa, Alpha Drive One, Hearts2Hearts, Tempest, TNX, Cherry Bullet, Hinapia, Verivery, VIXX, fromis_9, 8TURN, and gugudan), and Lu Yuqiu for the Chinese lyrics. For composers, we have Rice N' Peas (NCT, SHINee, Girls' Generation, CIX, and Super Junior), Bazzi (NCT, Girls' Generation, SHINee, and The Boyz), MZMC (NCT, Red Velvet, Girls' Generation, RIIZE, LOONA, VVS, Kang Daniel, Yoo Jae Suk, SHINee, TAN, CIX, GSoul, EPEX, The Boyz, Super Junior, Bumkey, Ren, TVXQ!, Yuju, BoA, and Ailee), and Anthony Russo (no, not one of the Russo Brothers...I don't think) (Seventeen, TOMORROW X TOGETHER, Kang Daniel, VVS, TAN, CIX, EPEX, Xdinary Heroes, NCT, Mark Tuan, The Boyz, and WHIB). And apparently contributing in some factor, we have Louis Tomlinson, who other people are going to be a lot more familiar with than I am, but I'm pretty sure he's a member of One Direction, though I know very little about either their music or his solo stuff (when they were popular, I was loyal to my 90s boybands and my country music) and given what I know about SM and their propensity for buying demos of western artists, this very well could have started life as one of his demos.

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Apparently, this music video gave SM their first music video to hit 600 million views, so we will recognize that here. Whoo! Go, EXO!

I can't believe this song turns eight. I know I wasn't around for it when it was released, but it's one of the songs that I first learned was by EXO when I was a fledgling kpop listener. This is just one of those songs, you know?

I have to congratulate and thank the editors because of the rhythm of this music video. Starting at :06, the rhythm of cuts matches the rhythm of the vocals, where it has a short cut, and then a longer one to match with the short notes and the longer one right there. That's what we call attention to detail and I'm delighted. It's not something that I necessarily would have noticed if they hadn't done it that way, but the rhythm is so subtly reinforcing for the song that this one choice made everything about this better.

And if you're paying attention, the entire music video uses cuts like that. It's amazing.

But it's not just the cuts. The music video uses camera movements and angles to, again, reinforce the sound of the song but also the choreography, and, if you watch dance challenges as much as I do, you may notice that dance challenges now do some of the exact same camera tricks as this music video.

I love that. I love seeing camerawork like this.

I also kind of love the fact that this is coded like a art heist, but the theft is bouquets of flowers, which is great because the entire thing, in colors, matches those flowers. It's very jewel-toned, and that's something reflected across the board, from sets to costuming. The only place that that is an exception is the gallery or entrance hall set. I wish I knew more about architecture because the moulding and the styling looks so familiar, but I'm not confident enough to say that it's neoclassical, which would be my guess. It also looks a bit French, but I don't know if that's because I'm familiar with French styling and I'm connecting it to something that I'm familiar with when it isn't, or if I'm completely off base and out of the ballpark. I don't know, but I like it because the lines imply the same elegance that the choreography has, and the first time we see it is during the first chorus.

But that set has the iconic red suit for Kai. It's also the most watched part of the video (:40-:52) by far, which is impressive because the bridge, as with most of EXO's songs, is a piece of beauty. This was during what I think was called Kai's main character era, when SM weaponized how pretty he is and paid extra attention to making sure that he stood out. We see that happening in smaller groups as well all the time (case in point, Road To Kingdom: Ace of Ace was formatted the way it was because they looked at how the smaller, younger groups try to highlight a single member so that they can become known and then pull more fans into the group as a whole and made that the concept of the show), so it's just amusing that SM would pull that same card on a group that was well-loved, well-known, successful, and only a few months shy of their seventh anniversary. 

It's also interesting to note that the color gets stripped out and the lighting gets very cool toned when they're having their fight with the other people, but then once they're leaving with their prize (the bouquets), everything gets colorful and warmed again. It's a very good use of lighting to support the story.

Have I actually talked about the song itself yet? Nope. But we have the performances for that.

I will say, though, that I love this song. Genuinely. It's been sitting in my The Jams playlist basically since the first time I heard it (Aug 2024, so right before I started writing this blog), but this is also The Song that I associate with EXO. I know there are a few others that I know almost immediately are by EXO, but this is the one that I can hear a single second of and know it's Love Shot by EXO. 

Such a satisfying song.

But the question is, where do I start now?

The answer is obviously Music Bank because they give me names with the lyrics and this has almost thirteen million views, which is more than some music videos. 

We're in the solid colors for their suits, which makes them look very clean for this stage. But I also need to point something out. Neither Kai nor Chanyeol are wearing shirts underneath their suits (which I feel like would be a little uncomfortable unless the suit and Kai's vest were lined with satin or silk), and while that could be sweat that's making them gleam like that, I'm slightly more inclined to believe that they got oiled up beforehand because they're very shiny, and that's the wrong group, though still SM.

And I love Kai's smirk at 1:03. He knows.

D.O has an in-ear out, which you can clearly see at 1:52. I'm not familiar enough with the group to be able to guess why, though it could range from audio issues to wanting to hear the audience.

But at 3:17, we've got some fantastic Baekhyun ad-libs going on, That entire last bit of chorus is the big vocalists just doing their job very well, but his vibrato caught me off guard. I do actually recommend you watch him as much as you can, because that man is playing to the camera almost as much as Kai is and he isn't even oiled up in a bright red suit. He is in a baby blue suit with a black turtleneck that has to be hot, but you'd never know it. 

I do find it a little curious that comments have been disabled for the video, but I assume something happened to cause that. But this one did get a KBS legend tag put on it, which it deserves.

KBS Song Festival from 2018! I'm not going to do too many of the comeback stages because there are so many other things to show you that I found that I love happened with this song. 

Okay. First up, Baekhyun has a quiet little gasp of an inhale right at the start (:15), and that's just the first of many. There are so many little puffs and gasps throughout the song.

The fans screaming and Kai's little winks make me smile.

This is such a smooth song. Legitimately, how are you supposed to resist the "It's the love shot, na nana nanananana" part and not get it just stuck in your head? (According to the comments, it's irresistible to even non-EXO-Ls, so I'm not sure it is possible). 

I love the recognition for D.O's part here at 1:22 as it's the most viewed part of the video, as it should be, because I was about to pause it and talk about it, when I realized that it's the most viewed part of the video. The transition from Kai singing, then falling to reveal D.O, who takes up the song is a brilliant one, but the way D.O's voice rubs against the line "매일 더 깊어져, calm down" is such a specifically good contrast. But then! It's not over! Because then the transition goes to Chanyeol, whose rap immediately sinks the song and gives the sound of the song a previously unheard rough edge. The movements of that verse are just so good. We also get a shot of Chanyeol's dimple at 1:52, which I didn't know he had and now I want to poke it.

You know what's interesting though? D.O has his in-ear out at 2:29 here too. He's got it out earlier, because I just went back and checked, but I didn't notice until that spot. That's so interesting. 

And if you watch Xiumin in the black on Kai's left at :52, wow. The man doesn't have a lot of parts, but when he looks back up after looking down right here, it's a little bit startling. In a good way. His makeup artist needs a raise.

Hopping forward a bit more in time, we're at 2023 and a fanmeeting. This had to have been right before Kai enlisted.

Speaking of Kai, I love his pants here, because they're of two different materials so the way his pants catch the light isn't uniform. He's also pretty adorable at :31, and I'd agree with the comments regarding that moment. 

I mean, all of them have something to that effect; I just noticed Kai and Chen first, Chen because of the way the green light reflects off his jacket and pants at 2:13.

1:41 is an interesting spot because Kai flips his jacket off his shoulders to show bare skin as Chanyeol starts rapping, and I would swear that his voice has gotten deeper. Do you hear that? Mmm, maturity sounds very good on him after hitting thirty.

Before that happened, and I actually have previously shared this stage on Tumblr because I love covers, but I thought that LE SSERAFIM did an amazing job of covering it for KCON in 2022, especially since they were, what, six months after debut?

And Kazuha, who has clearly taken Kai's parts, is wearing her version of Kai's iconic red suit and she looks stunning. This was an excellent choice on the part of the stylists and also the arrangers, because Kazuha steals the show. Chaewon has hers off her shoulders almost the entire time, and she does her thign exactly as I expect her to, which is very well.

But this is why women should wear suits more often.

And they handle the choreography so well because it requires such tight body control. I've been doing a very good job of not yapping about the choreography yet, but I am going to say something here, and it's that this choreography is sexy when EXO does it, but it's just as sexy when they did it.

Wow.

Instead of just a dedicated dance practice, have a dance practice behind. There are some highlights that I'm just going to list because I'm impressed, amused, or delighted:

1:30: when Kai smacks Xiumin in the hand so hard it echoes a little

1:50: Chanyeol and his bucket hat and dimple

2:28: the sweat flicking off Xiumin as he turns

2:44: Chanyeol and his bucket hat and dimple...again

3:01: Chen and D.O smiling and laughing while they work through the details

3:48: the body rolls

4:28: Maknae Sehun and his solo lesson

5:09: the move that has mesmerized me every single time I've watched any of the stages because of the amount of strength required for it feat. Suho facing the wrong direction

6:02: Sehun reminding Suho that they sing live

8:18: Chanyeol teasing his members and Sehun reminding another hyung to practice his part while they practice choreography

11:46: the entirety of Sehun and Kai bickering over the choreography while D.O just sits in the background smiling

13:36: I did mention how much I love the choreography here, right? It looks so cool

14:16: Kai, D.O, and Sehun "discussing" MBTIs

15:01: A surprise live vocal from D.O for a song that is not Love Shot

But wait! Have a random play dance from Hybe Game Caterers, feat. The8 and Dino from Seventeen; Yeonjun, Soobin, and Taehyun from TOMORROW X TOGETHER; Hayoung and Seoyeon from fromis_9; and Yunjin and Eunchae from LE SSERAFIM. 

Well done, Dino. Well done.

And last but not least, Joshua from Seventeen's version of the choreography for Love Shot. I don't know either (I've learned not to ask why from them), but the fact that he's done this more than once is hysterical.

And that's it, everyone! We've had some versions from EXO and they are stunning, and then we've gotten what the song has turned into and how well-loved it is by other artists. I love this song. Thank you, Universe, for giving it to me to do.

If you're an EXO-L and would like me to add a particular favorite performance, feel free to let me know what it is, and I'll add it and dig into the performance. Or if you've got a fancam you really like, I'd be cool with that too.

If you've got another song you'd like me to do, I'd love to for you to either drop a comment or leave a submission via The Form! We're moving away from the randomness of the universe and we can get back to our regularly scheduled, planned out...schedule.

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