Music / EXID

from left to right: Hyelin, Jeonghwa, Solji, LE, Hani

Who's that girl?
EXID!
Hello, we are EXID!

EXID is a 5-member Korean Pop Music group managed by Banana Culture (formerly Wellmade Yedang) Entertainment. The group debuted in 2012, and initially experienced very limited success, all while enduring the loss of three members and the addition of two new members.

In 2014, EXID debuted the single "Up & Down" after a two year hiatus. After a fancam of member Hani performing the song went viral, their popularity skyrocketed. Their 2015 follow-up single "Ah Yeah" was also a hit, and since their newfound success, EXID has received much more attention in Korean and international media.

In addition to their music, they also have also starred in or made appearances on several Korean variety shows. They also have a recurring video blog show called ButBut TV which is produced by the girls and their management, and available on their YouTube channel.

Members of EXID:

• Solji (Main Vocalist)
• LE (Main Rapper)
• Hani (Lead Vocalist, Face of the Group)
• Hyelin (Lead Vocalist)
• Jeonghwa (Maknae, Main Dancer, Rapper, Vocalist)

Former Members:

• Yuji (Leader, Main Vocalist)
• Dami (Lead Dancer, Vocalist)
• Haeryung (Lead Dancer, Vocalist)

EXID's Discography

• Singles
  • "Whoz That Girl"
  • "I Feel Good"
  • "Every Night"
  • "Goodbye" (Hani & Solji subunit Dasoni)
  • "Up & Down"
    • Chinese Version (2016)
  • "Ah Yeah"
  • "Hot Pink"
  • "Only One" (Hani and Solji only)
  • "L.I.E."
  • "Cream" (Chinese debut)
  • "Night Rather than Day"
  • "DDD (덜덜덜)"
  • “Lady”
• Soundtrack Songs
  • "Hey Boy"
  • "Up & Down"
• Full Albums
  • Street
• EPs
  • Hippity Hop
  • Ah Yeah
  • Eclipse
  • Full Moon
• Collaborations
  • "We Got the World" - R.Tee feat. Hani
  • "Blacklist" - Hyuna feat. LE
  • "Gwi Arae" - Verbal Jint & Sanchez feat. LE
  • "Honey Bee" - Hani, Solar and Luna

General

• Animal Motif: Although not a real animal, Jeonghwa's long neck, tiny chin and huge eyes have inspired many a fan artwork of her as Chikorita from Pokémon.
• Ascended Extra: Before their time in EXID, LE, and Solji were already involved in the K-Pop industry, and Jeonghwa was an extra in the Wonder Girls' "Tell Me" video.
• Asian Speekee Engrish: Internet celebrity coverage site TMZ got a good heap of backlash after they published a clip mocking Jeonghwa for this when EXID arrived at LAX for a concert.
• Breakout Member: Ever since her fancam went viral, Hani has become the most visible member of EXID, appearing on many variety shows, doing endorsement deals, and even co-hosting a fashion TV show.
  • When viewed within the entire K-Pop industry, EXID as a group can be considered this. After the rags-to-riches success of "Up & Down," their popularity has steadily risen and they are now considered by many to be a solid upper-mid tier girl group.
• Break the Cutie: Happens to Hani when she goes on a couple thrill rides during the first episode of EXID's Showtime.
• The Bus Came Back: Solji went to an arcade and did karaoke with her former bandmate Gabin in an episode of ButBut TV.
• The Cameo: Jeonghwa made an appearance well before her debut in the video for "Tell Me" by the Wonder Girls.
• Catchphrase: See the page quote.
  • Jeonghwa: "Yoohoo!~"
• Cloudcuckoolander: Hani and Hyelin
• Consummate Professional: As a show of gratitude, EXID invited Pharkil (the person responsible for Hani's fancam) to dinner. He declined the invitation, stating "I'm busy. I have other girl group fancams to record. Let's eat some other time."
• Cute Clumsy Girl: In an episode of EXID's Showtime, the girls had a dizzy race to see who would have to go in the water. Hani was so disabled by her dizziness that she could barely move, and remarked that the race would be hard for her even if she wasn't dizzy.
• Determinator: EXID has been through a lot to get to the point where they are today, as detailed in the page introduction.
• Fanservice: A huge reason that Hani's fancam went viral in the first place.
• Funny Background Event: The members of EXID like to goof around in the background of other members' solo interviews, with just two examples being these videos from their activities.
• Gamer Chick: LE
• Genki Girl: Jeonghwa and Hyelin are both very energetic and talkative on variety shows and in interviews.
• Heroic BSoD: Hani frequently has these, but they are of the benign variety. In lieu of taking naps, she will often sit conscious but unresponsive for long periods of time.
• Idol Singer: Well, duh.
• Important Hair Accessory: Hani and her curler for her bangs.
• Inelegant Blubbering: Most of the girls cried out of joy after their first win. This trope is most definitely invoked when Jeonghwa has a complete breakdown when she tries to call her parents and tell them the news, and also while holding the trophy.
  • Hani was unfortunately in the media for this in early 2016 - she was photographed or recorded crying at eleven different events, presumably due to the stress of her newly-revealed relationship with Junsu.
• Initialism Title: EXID is short for EXceed In Dreaming
• Insult Backfire: Rather than be ashamed of it, Hyelin has embraced her ability to impersonate Harry Potter's Voldemort, even demonstrating the talent on variety shows.
• Laugh Track: Played with in ButBut TV by means of a bleating goat during funny and/or embarrassing situations.
• Official Couple: So far, only Hani has been a member of one, as it was revealed that she was dating JYJ's Junsu in early 2016. They have since broken up.
• Punny Name: Their team name for the Chuseok edition of ''Idol Star Athletics Championship'' was "Yeovengers," a combination of "yeoja" (Korean for girl) and The Avengers. Hani's nickname was "Ahnheeyeon Man," a portmanteau of Iron Man and her actual name.
• Put on a Bus: Solji, until she sufficiently recovers from her hyperthyroidism. Her return to Instagram and social media in early Summer 2017 points to a very good probability that she's healthy again.
• Reluctant Fanservice Girl: Hyelin is beautiful as the rest of them and not the youngest — that would be Jeonghwa — but she finds it more difficult to act sexy than the other members.
• Reincarnation: In an interview, LE revealed if she could be born again, she wanted to be a rock so she wouldn't have to do anything at all.
• Running Gag: Hyelin has two: her resemblance of Voldemort, and her regional dialect.
• Shy Finger-Twiddling: Done by Jeonghwa in this video in response to a judgmental Aside Glance from Hani.
• The Smart Girl: Hani reportedly has an IQ of 145.
• Speech Impediment: Hyelin has a lisp, as revealed during their first appearance on Weekly Idol.
• Stage Name:
  • LE - Ahn Hyojin
  • Hani - Ahn Heeyeon
• Statuesque Stunner: The gorgeous Jeonghwa is 5’7”.
• Team Mom: Solji. To the point where the other girls have nicknamed her "Heo Mommy."
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Just like any group of friends, they admit that they do have their moments of disagreement.
  • Many of the group's funnier moments have come as a result of their willingness to hurl insults or reveal embarrassing facts about each other.
  • LE and Jeonghwa are the group's token "Tom and Jerry pair" because they are antagonistic towards each other, but still very amicable.

Tropes that apply to their music

• Audience Participation Song: Like all K-Pop acts, their fans have developed fan chants which complement the live performances. Special mention goes to the entire crowd singing along to "Up and Down" at Dream Concert 2015.
• Auto-Tune: Used very sparingly, with probably their heaviest use being the already electronic-heavy "I Feel Good."
• Boredom Montage: The appropriately-titled "Boredom Song."
• Break Up Song: "ME & YOU," although the lyrics say the narrator hopes to find someone like the guy she's breaking up with, a la Adele.
• Department of Redundancy Department:
  • Wi arae, wi wi arae/Wi arae, wi wi arae.
  • Ah yeah, ah yeah, ah yeah ah yeah ah yeah.
  • From their latest Weekly Idol appearance:
    Hyelin: "Yo, my subject is meat. Beef meat, pork meat, meat meat." ^note She says "meat 고기," making this a bilingual redundancy.
• Drunken Song:
  • This soju-fueled performance of "Hot Pink."
  • Also, "I LOVE YOU," with the video perfectly encapsulate the song's drunken/trippy vibes.
• Dual-Meaning Chorus: It's not technically the chorus of the song, but "Ah Yeah" sounds to most English speakers like an exclamation of pleasure. EXID has gone on record stating that it's actually used in the Korean cultural context where it signifies exasperation with someone else.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Those who are not familiar with their previous lineup might be confused why 3/4ths of BESTie is singing in "Whoz That Girl."
• Food Songs Are Funny: The song "Are You Hungry? (Nyam nyam jjeop jjeop)" off their latest album Street is the long-awaited unit song for Hyelin and Jeonghwa. Unsurprisingly, fans are going crazy for a food-themed song based off this Ascended Meme, all set to a techno beat.
• Fun with Foreign Languages: Hani has a solo song on their upcoming album Eclipse called "Milk." In Korean, "milk" is "우유," which Romanizes to "ooh you," as in an exclamation of appreciation.
• Gone Horribly Right: At the end of "Night Rather Than Day" promotions, they did a part change version of that song. Naturally, the members had trouble adjusting to different parts, but in true EXID fashion, it was Played for Laughs by the members.
• Gratuitous English: Present in a few of their songs.
• Jingle: "Up & Down" had its lyrics changed to be used in a commercial for LG brand products that the girls starred in.
• Let's Duet: Dasoni
• Lyrical Cold Open: "I Feel Good"
• One-Woman Wail: Solji has a very prominent high note in "Ah Yeah" to initiate the final climax of the song.
• Piss-Take Rap: While promoting "Hot Pink" on Weekly Idol, they all competed in a freestyle rapping contest for beef. It went about as well as one would expect.
• Precision F-Strike: Delivered by LE in her feature on HyunA's song "Blacklist."
• Pun-Based Title: It's fitting that "Up & Down" should be used for their LG LTE ad, as it's advertising upload and download speed on LG's network.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Speaking of "Blacklist," this song is a tag-team version of this trope.
• Sequel Song: As the follow-up to their first hit, "Ah Yeah" has much in common with "Up & Down".
• The Show Must Go On: During a performance of "Up & Down", the backing vocal track failed to play, but the group turned it into a Good Bad Bug by pulling off the entire song live.
• Spiritual Successor: As the follow-up to their first hit "Up & Down," it's no surprise that "Ah Yeah" shares a boatload of similarities with the former.
• Updated Re-release:
  • "Every Night" was originally a song written by LE called "Phone Call." It would then be updated again for release on the Ah Yeah EP.
  • "Only One" was originally released as a duet by Hani and Solji. It reappeared again only a few months later, but this time featuring the rest of the group, as part of the Street album.
• Vocal Tag Team: Hyelin and Solji in the chorus of all their title songs from "Up and Down" onwards.

Tropes that apply to their music videos

• Alcohol-Induced Idiocy: The girls suffer from this in "I LOVE YOU," with some of them waking up to stylized What Did I Do Last Night? hangover scenarios. Other scenes feature the members while still drunk. Among other shenanigans, Hani is seen trying to drunk-dial her ex-boyfriend, and eventually L.E. attempting to wrangle her phone out of her hands.
• Anachronism Stew: Although certainly retro for a 2018 video, Hani's relatively sleek Motorola phone in "I LOVE YOU" is incongruous in the video's '80s Retraux setting.
• Bathtub Scene:
  • Solji has one in this ad for LG LTE services, and yes, there's the obligatory Censor Suds and some Leg Focus.
  • Jeonghwa gets her own in this video for Dingo Music.
  • LE has one as well in "L.I.E."
• Blazing Inferno Hellfire Sauce: Symptoms of the pepper-based poison used in "Every Night" include sneezing, vomiting, unconsciousness and/or death.
• Cheek Copy: Hani/LE do this in "Ah Yeah," albeit fully clothed.
• Coy, Girlish Flirt Pose: The girls use this to disarm the cops at the end of "Hot Pink." They're carrying lethal weapons behind their backs.
• Darker and Edgier: "Every Night" and the accompanying music video in relation to the rest of their singles.
• Destructive Romance: The others' storylines in the "Cream" MV are trickier to interpret, but poor Jeonghwa's and Hyelin's scenes are evidently metaphors for abusive relationships. Jeonghwa falls head over heels for a guy who just callously leaves her to the wolves to die, and Hyelin's love interest lures her in with opulence and then traps her in the relationship when she realizes things are not as lovely as they seem.
• Distracted by the Sexy: The male character in "Ah Yeah" has a hard time ignoring Hani and LE's flirting and advances.
• Faux Yay: Sometimes, which is a given for most pop bands of this nature. Most prominently towards the end of "ME & YOU," where some of the girls get touchy-feely (but not too touchy-feely) In Da Club. It's mild, at points even awkward, but clearly quite Fanservicey.
• Femme Fatale: Many of their music videos hint at this trope via combinations of murder and seduction, with the girls' canonically criminal acts in "HOT PINK" probably being the most clear-cut example.
• Get Your Mind Out of the Gutter: In the video for "Ah Yeah," many parts are pixelated out, implying that the video is more sexual in nature than it really is.
• Hallucinations: The male character has these of the EXID members berating him in "Whoz That Girl."
• Homage: The aesthetics for the "L.I.E." music video clearly take inspiration from The Grand Budapest Hotel, but sexier.
• Hotter and Sexier: LE is this to Hani in the story of the video for "Ah Yeah."
• Human Resources: The music video and album cover art for "Hot Pink" have vague implications that the Pink Oil in the videotape contains processed human remains.
• In Da Club: They break into a closed club to party in "I Feel Good."
• Lighter and Softer:
  • The portion of "Ah Yeah"'s video after Solji's high note.
  • The group has stated several times that if Hyelin and Jeonghwa were to form a sub-unit, it would be a cute concept, befitting their status as the younger members of the group.
• The Masochism Tango: "DDD" describes what sounds very much like a toxic, if not downright abusive, relationship; in which the "you" being addressed lies to the narrator a lot, and doesn't even know/want to acknowledge what he did wrong.^note LE even added the lyric "What are you sorry for?" because it's what men hate to hear, according to her. That said, "Your lips, your eyes / Your head, hips, legs, everything" is repeated in a tender, sensual manner throughout the song, implying that strong desire remains, at least. The music video is pretty reflective of this; the temperature is shown alternating from hot to normal to chilly, like the relationship.
• Mind Screw: The "Up & Down" music video. The sexual symbolism is rather hard to miss (no pun intended), but the video as a whole is undeniably bizarre.
• Retreaux: “Lady” is in the ‘90s New Jack Swing style. Further enforced in the video, which features Starter jackets, other period-appropriate fashion, and lo-fi video quality to make it seem like something straight out of a mid-‘90s MTV broadcast.
• Take That!:
  • LE mentioned that the random clip of a running blender with sound included in the video for "Every Night" was there to spite people who downloaded the song illegally from YouTube or other video streaming sites.
  • The misleading pixelation and "19" rating icon in "Ah Yeah" were reportedly this to people who criticized "Up & Down" for its more risqué video, even though male groups can get away with much more explicitly sexual content. Aside from the Double Standard, a few scenes feature mannequins, in which the ones modelled after female bodies have their breasts and genitals covered in lurid tape with the words "NO" or "NO MORE" written on them — a general statement against censorship, although still clearly within the context of censorship and slut-shaming against women specifically. The fact that Hani's character appears cutesy and innocent but incredibly flirtatious, while LE is shown as aggressive in her advances and surrounded by scary lighting, seems like commentary on the madonna-whore dichotomy — a sexist notion that women are either pure angels or promiscuous and lacking in respect for others or themselves, but both should be equally sexually appealing to men.
• Tampering with Food and Drink: Done to the male character and the attendees of his party in "Every Night".
  • A recurring theme in their videos is someone getting poisoned. "Cream" is notable that for the first time, a member gets poisoned (Jeonghwa in this case).
• Three Minutes of Writhing: All of their videos employ Fanservice, but it's more conspicuous in stuff like "L.I.E.," where normally conservative uniforms like a maid outfit are given the Male Gaze treatment. In the same MV, Jeonghwa's legs are shown actually writhing suggestively.
• Visual Innuendo: The music video for "Up & Down" has generous portions of this. The uncut version later released by Digipedi takes it up to eleven.