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  KPOP songs that are odes to Seoul (Pt.2)

  We hope you had a good week and your weekend is starting on a good note! Today, we're bringing you a little wanderlust with a second feature on KPOP songs about Seoul.  In our last predebut on songs about Seoul, we included UN Village by BAEKHYUN, Regular by NCT 127, and Yanghwa Bridge by Zion.T. We hope you enjoyed these songs, and that you will like the ones in this edition!  First, let's start with some more fun facts about Seoul. The city is divided into 25 "gu," which is a municipal area similar to a borough in New York City or an arrondissement in Paris. Think of it as a large neighborhood area! Each gu is divided into "dong" as well, which is a smaller neighborhood unit. The largest gu by population is Songpa-gu, and the smallest is Jung-gu.  The first song we want to introduce to you today is a song called Munbae-Dong by Epik High (ft. Crush). Munbae-Dong is a neighborhood in Yongsan-gu, near Itaewon. The song expresses the nostalgia of a past relationship that the neighborhood represents. Listen below 👇 Next, another relatively melancholy song about Seoul from Lee Hyori: Seoul (ft. Killagramz). As you may know, Lee Hyori is an iconic Korean singer who has been a top KPOP artist for decades. She moved to Jeju Island a few years ago, and in this song, you can get a little glimpse of the disillusionment she felt with the big city life. That can also serve as a metaphor for the fame and success she achieved as she reflects on her life and career. Watch the music video below 👇 Switching gears a little bit, we want to introduce you to SEOUL NIGHT by TEEN TOP. This song is about shining nights in Seoul filled with light and passion. It's a more cheerful song that's great for summer! The music video shows some locations in Seoul as well, so if you want a little look at what Seoul looks like during the day and night, watch the music video below 👇 Lastly, we want to share a beautiful lyric video for seoul by RM of BTS. He expresses his conflicting feelings towards the city and its many sides in this peaceful song with a twinge of sadness. The lyric video shows various clips and pictures of Seoul that show the many different sides of Seoul that RM sings about. Take a look below 👇 What do you think? Do you feel like you know Seoul a little better through these songs? These songs in today's predebut are mostly a little more melancholy and calm, but the artists' affection for the city in some way or another can still be felt.  Which of these songs is your favorite and why? Let us know!  ❤ With love, ED Team
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  74

  Q&A with KAI of EXO ?

  On July 4, KAI joined us at ED LIVE to teach an Artist Class for the choreo of his song "Mmmh." At the end of the class, he had a Q&A session and answered a few questions submitted by our trainees! Q: What is the greatest thing you've learned during your trainee days, and now that you're a legendary idol what can you advise to those who are aspiring to be one? A (KAI): Chaira from the Philippines sent me this question. There are two questions here. I'll answer both. The greatest thing I learned... First of all, the friends I made. Next, I used to be very introverted and shy. I learned the kind of optimism that let me break out of that. And honestly, there were days when I didn't want to practice. The people who trained with me, like my instructors for example—I know some of you guys do take classes here—when they come into class to teach, it's sometimes obvious that they're tired too. But they still push through and rally. I also had days when I didn't want to practice but still had to come in. And once I'm there, I still end up practicing. Through this, I learned to be consistent. Instead of not doing something because I didn't want to or because I was tired, since that only leads to more excuses not to do anything, continuing to practice taught me to be consistent and gave me the motivation to keep going.  For people who want to become artists, I have something I want to say. You have to think about why you want to become an artist. Do you want to become a superstar? Do you enjoy dancing and singing? That's very important. If you want to become a superstar and it ends up not working out, that might be difficult for you to bear. But if you just love dancing and singing, you can do anything, really. So taking care of your mental state is very important.  Q: What have you enjoyed the most in your process as an artist? A (KAI): Andrea from Mexico City asked me this. First, singing and dancing and having fun was really enjoyable as well, but knowing the existence of fans, growing with them, seeing the fans increase, and maturing with them made me feel like I was growing with them, so I liked that. In addition, I can feel that I'm growing not only as a singer but also as a human. When I didn't know any better, I was just running forward like a racing horse. Now my perspective has grown wider as a human being, it's enjoyable to talk and interact with you all and teach you this dance. Sharing this growth as a singer and as a person is enjoyable.    Q: What kind of thoughts go through your head when you are on stage performing (such as the routine itself, the audience reaction, not messing up, etc.)? A (KAI): Anto from Australia asked this question. First, I don't think about the choreography at all. As anyone here who has danced before would know, even if you don't remember a choreography, when the song plays, the dance comes. Like that, I don't think about the choreography, but it's fun and enjoyable when I'm dancing. Happiness is what I mostly feel. And when I do a concert, it goes on for a long time. Then the flow of the concert affects my mood. So these emotions go through my head. I express these things on the stage—if I'm happy, I express the happiness, and if I'm sad, I express that sadness. If I'm sad to say goodbye to my fans, I express that as well. So if you've been to an EXO concert, you would know—during the first part, I dance like my body is going to shatter, and at the end, when we're singing "Angel," we're sad to say goodbye to our fans and I feel this rush of emotions about the concert. These sorts of emotions go through my head.  We hope you enjoyed KAI's Q&A, and that you found his words helpful (or even inspirational)!  With love, ED Team  
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  73

  Q&A with Q of THE BOYZ ?

  ?: Q of THE BOYZ getting ready for his ED Artist Class. (Credit: Twitter @WE_THE_BOYZ) On June 27th 2021, ED hosted an Artist Class with Q of THE BOYZ! Were you able to attend? Q, who is the main dancer of THE BOYZ, taught our trainees the choreography for their song Kingdom Come. At the end of the class, he held a Q&A session where he picked a few questions that our trainees submitted and answered them! Let's dive into the session! Question: When was the moment that you realized you love dancing and wanted to do it for a living (become a k-pop idol)?   Answer (Q): Actually, what I find interesting is that I didn’t think from a young age that I wanted to be a KPOP dancer, but I found that I naturally started dancing when I was young. So for me, dancing itself came so naturally. At an age when I was searching for my dream, I naturally started thinking: what if I made dancing my job? That’s how I became a singer. Honestly, when I’m practicing, there are times when I become a little numb to why I’m dancing. Recently, when I felt that sort of numbness about dancing, I found a diary I wrote when I was little. It was something I wrote when I was at school, and I wrote that I want school to end already so that I can go dance, that I want to go practice. Reading reminded me once again that I really loved dancing with a passion. That’s the moment when I realized that I still love to dance. There you go! Question: When you're having a rough time, what is one thing that you look at to remind yourself that what you're doing now is definitely worth it? Answer (Q): The reason that I can continue doing this job is thanks to our fans, who I’m interacting with right now. When I was going through rough times and felt like I wanted to give up, what allowed me to get back up was the energy and the support of The Bs. Thank you! Question: What is one advice that you were given at any point in time by someone, that you try to always follow or remember to follow?  Answer (Q): For me, honestly, there's not one piece of advice but rather just myself. Rather than other people giving me advice, I try to do that for myself. Just to do my best with no regrets—that's what I always tell myself. If I do my best at any given moment, I've done all I can, so I try to do that as much as possible. Question: Do you have any tips to help people that are starting to learn dance? Answer (Q): I actually have a little bit of trauma. When I was first learning, I felt a lot of pressure and didn't feel very confident, so that's my little trauma. So I have something that I really want to say to people who are just starting to learn to dance. I want you to just be confident. Be confident and just tell yourself you're doing well, I'll work hard at what I'm doing and love myself while doing it. I think that's the way to go. I hope that you won't feel scared. Fighting! What do you think? We hope you enjoyed this Q&A!  With love, ED Team
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  KPOP songs that are odes to Seoul (Pt.1)

  Many KPOP songs pay homage to Korea's capital and biggest city, Seoul.Maybe you have visited Seoul before, or know a little bit about the city from KPOP songs or Korean dramas.  Basic facts about Seoul:  - Population: 9,828,094 (Jan. 4, 2021)  - Land area: 605.2km² (for comparison, New York City is 777.95 km2 - Founded: about 18 BC (Wiryeseong, the capital of Baekje Dynasty) The 2012 hit Gangnam Style by PSY is the Seoul song that many people might be the most familiar with. "Gangnam" means "south of the (Han) river"—"gang" means river in Korean, and "nam" means south. Gangnam can refer to the entire area in Seoul south of the Han River, or Gangnam-gu, a municipal area south of Han River.  There are many songs about Seoul that came before and after Gangnam Style—some of our favorites include Itaewon Freedom by UV, Nike Shoes by Beenzino, Apgujeong Nallari by Yoo Jae Suk, and Line 3 Maebong Station by Primary and Dynamic Duo.  A more recent song about a neighborhood in Seoul is UN Village by BAEKHYUN. You might know this song from one of our on-demand classes, taught by Matt. Watch the music video below ? This song is about UN Village, a neighborhood in Hannam-dong, Seoul. It's located on a hilltop next to Han River with incredible views of the city. BAEKHYUN sings about looking at the moon and chilling on the UN Village hill in this song–such beautiful imagery! (P.S. Spot the map of Seoul in this music video!)  Next, Regular by NCT 127 isn't a song specifically about Seoul but the music video showcases many places in the city. Watch the English version below ? NCT 127 includes everything from the traditional Tongil Shopping Center in Dongdaemun to hip cafes in this music video. Though the song itself isn't about Seoul, it's a great video to see different sides of Seoul and appreciate how beautiful this city is!  By now, you probably can tell that Seoul has a big river in the middle—the Han River. A fun fact about the Han River is that it has 31 bridges traversing it. 26 of them are in Seoul, and 5 are just outside. Many of these bridges light up at night and look beautiful! Zion.T has a song about one of those bridges, the Yanghwa Bridge:  The bridge that Zion.T sings about in this melancholy number, Yanghwa Bridge, connects the neighborhoods of Hapjeong-dong (north of river) to Dangsan-dong (south of river). The song compares the bridge to his father's life path—very meaningful!  What do you think? Which one of these songs is your favorite, and if you have another song you love that is about Seoul, what is it? Let us know!  With love,  ED Team
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  #EDKPOP Spotify Playlist: What are your plans for the second half of 2021?

  Can you believe it's the last week of June? 2021 is already half over! In the first half of the year, ED went through a lot of changes, and we hope you grew and improved with us.  Some highlights of our year so far are kicking off our live classes, moving into our current studio, and artist classes with EUNHYUK and BAEKHYUN, among others. We put together a playlist of songs that defined our 2021—take a listen on Spotify!  Now, we are looking to the second half of the year to go into the summer strong. Many of you probably have summer vacations coming up, so we hope you'll be able to continue practicing hard with us and enjoy more of our classes.  Do you have a personal goal for the rest of the year? An achievement from the first half of the year that you're really proud of? Any songs or choreographies you want to learn that you want us to add (either as a live or an on-demand class)? Suggestions for how we can improve our service? We would love to hear it all! Simply respond to this article on Instagram with any thoughts you want to share with us.  Thank you for coming along with us on this journey so far, and we hope that you'll stay with us to grow together and continue having a blast! With love, ED Team