"Jopping" by SuperM

"Jopping" by SuperM

SuperM - Group under SM Entertainment
Debut: October 3rd
From left to right:
Lucas, Mark, Taetong, Taemin, Kai, Baekhyun, Ten

Okay, for this one let me just start off with AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now that I've got the fangirling out of the way, let's get into what exactly has me losing my mind.  This one is probably going to be long and disorganized as hell, so sorry in advance for that.

A few weeks ago, SM Entertainment announced that they were putting together a supergroup containing seven members of pre-existing groups, those being NCT, SHINee, and EXO.  From NCT and WayV we have Lucas, Taeyong, Ten and Mark (give him a break, omg).  From SHINee, there is the only member who is not currently serving in the military, Taemin.  From EXO we have Baekhyun and Kai.  On October 3rd at 11:02pm CST, the premiere of their debut track "Jopping." 

Ten from NCT WayV and SuperM

I admit that I was very apprehensive at first, especially since the name of the title was weird and SuperM looks a little too much like the word sperm.  Like, I get it.  SM entertainment + supergroup = SuperM.  Great group name, honestly, I love it!  Still a little weird.  First of all, I think "Jopping" is a dumb name because it doesn't actually mean anything.  It makes more sense in the lyrics because they combine words like "we jumping, we popping, we jopping".  But it's still a made-up word.  But that is where my actual critique of things I dislike stops. 

The song is a bop.  From start to finish, the song was actually amazing.  As I write this, the song has been out for 52 minutes so I can't tell what the line distribution is like but everyone has excellent lines.  Somehow, the song fits all seven voices.  At first glance, it seems like a random assortment of boys that was maybe pulled out of a hat at an executive meeting and you think "how the hell is this going to work?"  But it DOES WORK.  Their voices compliment each other really well.  It is a pretty hardcore song, so another test of compatibility would be if they ever released a ballad (there might be one on the album but I'm not sure yet).  But then again, these boys are trained and they're trained well so that shouldn't be a problem. 

Taeyong from NCT and SuperM

The dancing was fun and exciting and I high key want to learn this with my dance group that I'm a part of at my school.  I'm not sure how much they would be willing to learn since it is really hard, but I'm going to learn it anyway.  I'm not even that great of a dancer, but I make do.  It would be hard and take forever but it would give me an excuse to look at Baekhyun all day.  Not that I need an excuse, I can do that anyway.  Boy group dances are usually a hit or a miss for me since a lot of them feel kind of random and don't always fit the music but recently I've been encountering more and more that actually DO fit the song and this is one of them.  The dance is powerful as hell and hits right on the words when it's most important.  The crazy footwork at the end is too fast for a normal human to do.   I can hardly wait for a live stage or the dance practice (*slides SM Entertainment $20 with a wink*) because I need it like I need to breathe air to live. 

I feel like I almost need to go frame by frame to discuss everything I liked because I honestly loved everything.  The styling was excellent, and they somehow made some outfits that would otherwise be ugly look hot (i.e. most of Lucas's outfits.)  The dance locations were excellent.  The boys looked AMAZING.  Honestly, what is there not to like?  I'm sure that if you did enough digging then something problematic could be found, but it's now been 60 minutes and no one is complaining yet. 

One thing that I was a little worried about was the diversity in sound from each boy and how they would fit together.  Taeyong's voice is really unique and fits the style of NCT amazingly well.  Taemin also has a distinct sound that fits perfectly into SHINee, almost like a puzzle piece.  His solo work is incredible, to say the least, but his voice is also unique.  At this point, I'm pretty sure that Taemin basically his own genre.  Baekhyun is one of my all-time favorite male vocalists.  He has proven time and time again that he is versatile and can basically do whatever he wants.  I am working on another post that basically describes in great detail how I feel about him and his vocals.  My point being, each of these three boys has separate sounds (not to mention the others) and when I first heard that they would be in a group together, I had a hard time hearing it in my head.  I just was not sure if I could go there with this because of it.  

But OH BOY am I there and I am all about it.

I am not going to talk about EVERY boy because I would bore you and we would be here forever, but here are just a few thoughts about some of the members that really stood out to me. 

Lucas from NCT and SuperM

As much as I hate to admit it, I know for a fact that I am sleeping on NCT.  I listen to their music and I enjoy it and I think they're all incredibly talented.  For some reason, I just can't get super deep into them, but it is honestly no fault of theirs.  I've been around since their debut and every member is talented and fits in his own respective way.  I can also name maybe seven of them.  And one of them is my new bias, Lucas.  Lucas SNATCHED me from the arms of my first NCT bias, Johnny.  I was going fine, and then the first shot of him in his music video left me WEAK.  His lines are excellent and his line in the first verse that's just "Gimme that, gimme that, gimme that" was like... A+, I don't know.  Out of all of them, I think Lucas probably has the worst styling.  Although all the styling was actually pretty good and he SOMEHOW made it work, his outfits were... not great.  For example, in the scene in the desert, he has on a cow print suit?  Then in the dance scene where they're in the stadium, he has a light brown jacket and I can't figure out what it's made of and a cow print shirt under it?  Like??  Okay??  Somehow he still looks hot and his amazing looks and incredible talent 100% made up for it.  His voice is amazing and his dancing is fire.  His voice just floors me and I am SO glad that he's in this group because he honestly shines so bright.  He's an amazing rapper and dancer and, like, have you seen his eyebrows?  He has some incredible and powerful lines (they all do so this is basically a given, but I'm saying it anyway) so stan Lucas. 

Mark from NCT and SuperM

In my humble opinion, and also from knowing Mark for a really long time, the boy has honestly never looked better.  The look in the parking garage scene?  Like honestly why doesn't he look like that every day and why did it take them so long to make him look like that.  We all know and love the all talented Mark, so I have nothing new to say about him that you haven't read already.  He's hilarious and talented and deserves a REST.  He's in like 19 subunits for NCT and now SuperM?  Mark is a busy man and I hope he takes a day or two for himself to do a facemask and take a bath with a bath bomb and some candles because you know this guy deserves it. 

For YEARS, I have been having problems with Kai being a bias wrecker in EXO.  My ultimate bias has been Chanyeol since "Call Me Baby" came out in 2015.  Kai has always been a runner up, but there has been one member that has been running around and basically begging for my attention and finally, I am owning up to it and admitting that I have a problem with Byun Baekhyun.  Not a problem where I hate him.  A problem where he won't stay in his LANE and leave my bias list alone.  The other day, I was telling my mother about Baekhyun and she honestly put me in my place. 

ME:  Idk man, Baekhyun is really talented and he looks really good in these SuperM teasers.  He's been sneaking up on me for years. 

MOM:  Um, no.  He hasn't been sneaking up on you at all.  He's been dancing around in your face for YEARS and you're just now acknowledging that you're kind of in love with him. 

ME:  You didn't have to call me out like that.

Baekhyun from EXO and SuperM

Baekhyun has been ruining my bias list since 2015 and only now am I finally conceding.  My best friend in college and I used to pretend not to notice him or say "who is this?"  when sending each other pictures of him on Tumblr looking fine as hell just because he was wrecking us so hard.  I haven't decided if he's made it to the ultimate bias level, but he's definitely my ultimate wrecker and this music video put in some WORK.  First of all, my favorite hair color on Baekhyun is either red, gray, or pink.  So hallelujah, his hair is gray in the promo pictures and pink the music video.  Second of all, have you HEARD this guy sing?!?!?  Am I the only one that heard his high note in the last chorus?!?!  Hello?!?!?!!  His voice FLOORED me and I was literally left with my jaw on the floor.  His dancing was AMAZING and he kept up with and matched up to people who are considered MAIN DANCERS in their original groups (Kai, Taemin, Taeyong.)  The fact of the matter is (and I'm not saying this isn't true for the others because it is and I could write another blog post on this subject alone) Baekhyun is a center.  He was in the center maybe three or four times and each time was intense as hell and left me shaking.  His utter CONTROL over you, while he's in the center and dancing and looking into the camera, is staggering.  He controls the room and holds so much power that even when he's not in the center, he demands your attention.  Maybe that's just me, though.  

But, I genuinely think that Baekhyun is one of the most powerful centers that K-Pop has ever seen.  His energy and his stage presence is something I haven't seen in many idols, at least not at this level.  That is absolutely NOT to say that every idol does not have stage presence or tons of charisma, I am just pointing out Baekhyun and his massive amount of it.  (I kinda hope he never sees this, the boy does not need the ego boost.)  I do believe that the other six boys in the group are ALSO some of the most powerful centers in the industry and it was right to put them all in a group together.  This, SuperM, is what happens when you put seven centers into one group.  SuperM was deemed a Super Group, and yeah.  They are.  Without a doubt. 

Stan Talent.  Stan Power.  Stan Super M.

Taemin from SHINee and SuperM
This guy debuted in THREE different eras of K-pop
He's a legend, honestly.

KAI from EXO and SuperM
Main Dancer from EXO

Stan Talent.  Stan SuperM
Left to Right:
Lucas, Ten, Mark, Taemin (center), Kai, Taeyong, Baekhyun