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  Some hard-to-translate Korean phrases that stumped our interpreter during ED artist classes

  We have a special mini Korean lesson today: four hard-to-translate Korean phrases. If you took any of our Artist Classes, you might be familiar with at least one of them, because these were all things that our Artist Class teachers said during class that stumped Robin, our interpreter!  EUNHYUK of SUPER JUNIOR: House Party "죽이 되든 밥이 되든": EUNHYUK said this during class as a word of motivation. In English, literally translated, it means "whether it becomes porridge or rice." Can you guess what it means? It's a figure of speech in Korean that means you should try and start a new thing or take action about something even if you don't know whether the result will be good. When you're making rice, if you mess it up and add too much water or cook it for too long, it might turn into porridge or congee instead of rice, but you don't know that until you try it! That's what this phrase means.  Q of THE BOYZ: KINGDOM COME "제기차기": This is a traditional Korean game that has no direct equivalent in anglophone countries (at least that we know of), so there's no translation for it. Watch this video to see what it is:  제기 (je-gi) is the object that you kick when you play this game, and you can easily make it by tying strips of paper or plastic around a few coins. 차기 (cha-gi) means "kicking." The movement is similar to when you're kicking a soccer ball in place in the air. This is a move that's used in a few KPOP choreographies, notably Genie by Girl's Generation. Watch the part below:  Q also used this word to describe a dance move while he was teaching his choreography class. Other than a dance move, 제기차기 is also a fun game you can play by making a simple 제기 yourself. Why don't you try it out?  BAEKHYUN of EXO: Bambi "여운이 남는다": "여운" (yeo-oon) itself is a word that doesn't have a direct equivalent in English. It means something similar to "lingering sentimentality," "emotional afterglow," or "lasting impression." The word "여운" is also rarely used outside of this specific phrase. "남는다" means remain or last, so "여운이 남는다" can be translated roughly to something like "there is a lasting (or remaining) sentimentality." Think of it like a pleasant emotional aftertaste that you feel in the aftermath of something. It took us an entire paragraph to explain this phrase: you can see how it was very difficult for Robin to translate this on the spot!  KAI of EXO: Mmmh "날로 먹는다": This phrase literally means "eat raw," and you can use it literally to mean you're eating something (fish, meat, etc.) raw as well. KAI used it figuratively, which then refers to putting in no effort and achieving or doing something. It's often used in a slightly derogatory way: you might use the phrase to criticize someone who's doing something with low effort, such as when someone does not do their job correctly.  KAI said this near the end of part 2 of the class, when he said that by learning two choreography elements, you are learning half the song. As he used it in this context, 날로 먹는다 meant that it's not so difficult to learn the choreography for Mmmh because you can learn half the song if you just learn two things. Do you agree? If you want to learn or review the song, you can watch a performance clip by the original choreographer, our instructor Mihawk Back.  Today we looked at a few advanced Korean phrases together. These words and phrases are commonly used in everyday spoken Korean, so they are quite useful to learn! We hope you enjoyed this Predebut :D With Love, ED Team  
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  History of KPOP 4: aespa, ITZY, ATEEZ, TXT and more!

  It might be a little early to discuss the fourth generation of KPOP, but we'll give it a shot in today's predebut. People often refer to the fourth generation to distinguish the now well-established third-generation artists from the more recently debuted artists. This gap is also created by the fact that many third-generation male artists are now going into the military and taking hiatuses, and two of the "big three" companies (JYP, SM) have debuted new girl groups after their second-generation girl groups.  Girl groups who are usually said to be the fourth-generation groups include aespa, ITZY, EVERGLOW, Secret Number, and more. Many of these groups have strong online presences abroad as well as in Korea, and are trying increasingly creative concepts. aespa is especially known for their futuristic and revolutionary "SM Cinematic Universe" and having virtual "members." Check out SMCU episode 1, "Black Mamba" below:  Some boy groups who are considered to be the fourth generation include TXT, Stray Kids, TREASURE, and ATEEZ. Check out the music video below for Levanter by Stray Kids:  If you like this choreography, you can learn it through our on-demand class on our website! We have an easy version and a hard version.  Who is your favorite fourth-generation KPOP idol, and who are you most looking forward to in the future? We'd love to hear!  
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  History of KPOP 3: BTS, EXO, BLACKPINK, TWICE, Red Velvet and more!

  For today's predebut, we're here to talk about the third generation of KPOP. We want to start out with a disclaimer that the third-generation KPOP artists we talk about in this predebut are all still very much active, and this is not an era of KPOP that is over in the past.  Typically, when people refer to the third generation of KPOP, they are referring to the period roughly between 2011 and 2018. This includes a wide range of groups such as BTS, EXO, iKON, GOT7, and the iconic girl group trifecta of BLACKPINK, TWICE, and Red Velvet. (Of course, this is not a complete list!) This era is characterized by the rise of social media and the dominance of YouTube, and KPOP adjusted accordingly. Artists were also trying out slightly more experimental concepts. Although KPOP was already popular among fan bases in Asia, after the massive global success of "Gangnam Style" by PSY in 2012, KPOP gained explosive popularity around the world.  There are multiple third generation male artists who became international top stars, BTS perhaps the best known among them. When EXO released "Growl" in 2013, it instantly became a huge hit and propelled them to superstardom. Since then, EXO has been continuously active as a group, subunits, and solo artists. ED has hosted Artist Classes with KAI and BAEKHYUN for their solo songs! Watch "Growl" below ? There are many third-generation KPOP artists, but it's fair to say that the "big three" trifecta is the most famous among them, consisting of BLACKPINK from YG, TWICE from JYP, and Red Velvet from SM.Notably, BLACKPINK became a phenomenon even before their debut when they released a dance practice video as a predebut group of four YG trainees. The video went instantly viral, escalating excitement for their debut, and their popularity has only increased since. The four most followed KPOP idols on Instagram are the four BLACKPINK members! Watch their music video for "DDU-DU DDU-DU" below, which has more than 1.6 billion views on YouTube: Bonus feature: watch this iconic music video for "Naughty" by Irene and Seulgi of Red Velvet, choreographed by Jae and Spella! You can take their "Naughty" tutting class on our website.  Do you have a third-generation bias? Tell us all about it by simply responding to this blog on Instagram! We hope you enjoyed this Predebut article! Click HERE to go onto the next chapter: History of KPOP 4 With love, ED Team  
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  History of KPOP 2: An exploration of the second generation of KPOP 🌟

  Do you remember the second generation era of KPOP? This is generally said to be from around 2003 to 2009 or 2010, and many artists who are considered the second generation of KPOP are still active, either as solo artists or groups! Let's take a look at some of these artists and their songs. Starting with boy groups, TVXQ!, who debuted in 2004, is one of the earlier second-generation groups and gained massive popularity across Asia with Rising Sun in 2005. Other boy groups who defined the second generation of KPOP include SHINee, Super Junior, and 2PM. All of these groups are still active today! Eunhyuk of Super Junior even hosted ED LIVE's first-ever Artist Class back in April. Watch TVXQ!'s Mirotic music video below 👇 There were also many iconic girl groups who became the standard of KPOP who debuted during this time. The most popular girl groups of this era include Girl's Generation, Wonder Girls, 2NE1, SISTAR, Brown Eyed Girls, After School, Miss A, f(x), KARA, 4MINUTE, and more.  Although most of these groups have now disbanded, a lot of the members are still active as solo artists. HyunA, who is now very well-known as a solo artist, was initially a member of 4MINUTE, and Sunmi was originally a member of Wonder Girls, for example! Take a look at the music video for 2NE1's FIRE below. This song actually had two music videos, the "street version" and the "space version," and this is the space version. We hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane. We'll be back with a predebut on KPOP's third generation! ❤ Click HERE to go onto the next chapter: History of KPOP 3 With love, ED Team
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  History of KPOP 1: An exploration of the first generation of KPOP ?

  In today's predebut, we have a fun little history lesson for you: the history of KPOP! Let's go all the way back to the beginning and learn about the first generation of KPOP idols, the KPOP artists who paved the way.  First, a note on the KPOP "generations." KPOP is often divided into four generations between its beginning in the 1990s and today. There's no set rule or definitive guidelines separating the generations, but the distinction is rather something generally agreed upon by KPOP fans according to changes in popular styles and the debuts of a new group of KPOP artists. The artists that are considered the first generation of KPOP include Seo Taiji and Boys, H.O.T., god, Shinhwa, and SECHSKIES for boy groups. "I Know" by Seo Taiji and Boys (music video below) was especially phenomenally popular in Korea and launched the beginning of what we now think of as KPOP with a hip-hop-influenced musical style inspired by American hip hop and pop music that was previously unheard of in Korea. First-generation female artists during this time include S.E.S., Fin.K.L., and BoA. If you're not immediately familiar with S.E.S. and Fin.K.L., Eugene, who showed some amazing acting skills in the drama Penthouse, debuted as a member of S.E.S. (the E in S.E.S. stands for Eugene), and Lee Hyori debuted as a member of Fin.K.L. They were likewise influenced by popular American artists of the 90s, such as Aaliyah and Janet Jackson, as well as Japanese pop. Listen to the iconic No.1 by BoA below ? During this time, "hallyu," or the "Korean wave," was becoming known and rising in popularity throughout East Asia. BoA was popular in Japan, for example, as was Bae Yong-joon (affectionately called Bae-sama in Japan), an actor well-known for his role in the drama Winter Sonata.  Although these groups aren't really active as units anymore, many of the members have continued their careers as soloists or actors. Yang Hyun-suk from Seo Taiji and Boys, of course, went onto found YG Entertainment and played a huge part in creating today's biggest KPOP groups like BLACKPINK. S.E.S. even released a 20th anniversary album, "Remember," in 2017! Watch their music video for Paradise below ? Whether you were already an expert on first-generation KPOP or this is your first time learning about it, we hope that this was fun and informative! Try listening to a few of the old songs from these groups and compare them with your favorite KPOP songs from the past few years to see how KPOP has evolved over the past 30 years.  What's your favorite first-generation KPOP song? Share with us!  Click HERE to go onto the next chapter: History of KPOP 2 With love, ED Team