KAI (카이): The dancer everyone admires

KAI is one of the Korean members of SM ENTERTAINMENT‘s main group: EXO. His real name, Kim Jong In, he is the main dancer of the group, and is part of the lineage of vocalists as well as rappers.

As he happens to be one of the main dancers of EXO, he knew how to make dance his specialty, in order to appropriate it and make us discover and share his own style, he is in particular specialized in dances such as as ballet or hip-hop. Moreover, he revealed that if he wasn’t part of the group EXO, KAI would certainly have become a ballet dancer.

KAI was born in the town of Suncheon, and has a total of two sisters older than him. He was educated in the Seoul art school Seoul Arts High School ’. It was therefore in 2007 that he successfully cast for SM ENTERTAINMENT and began his years of training with the agency. It will be in 2011 that KAI will debut with EXO K, which will be the Korean unit of EXO, the other unit being Chinese: EXO M. He is the first member to be introduced to the unit.

It is through various video teasers that we can discover KAI as a real dancer. The agency presented him like the other members, highlighting his specialty. By the way, here are some videos in which we can see his style, videos that were posted as teasers for EXO K.

EXO Teaser 1_KAI – EXO Teaser 5_KAI

 

Many other Idols have chosen KAI as their role model, whether it be in terms of her dance, or in terms of her charisma, or even her voice. For example, new NCT member SUNGCHAN recently said at a “fancall” that KAI was his favorite member, as an idol who debuted before him.

His first solo performance “Deep breath” (performed in Japan, at one of the group’s concerts) earned him several nicknames; such as “Sun-kissed boy” thanks to the dark color of his skin, or even “Idol of the idols” because several other artists chose KAI as their model. Here is the performance in question, which will be followed by the title “Overdose”, the group’s title song released in May 2014, also available with EXO M.

Like dancing, KAI has other hobbies, such as reading and listening to music. KAI, at first glance, can seem cold and even arrogant, due to what he gives off on stage, however, BAEKHYUN, also a member of the group EXO (EXO K) announced the opposite, describing the character as being shy, very sweet, and kind. (He announced this fact on a show called “Party People,” which aired in 2018). You can find a sample of the show with the band performing their track “Call me baby“, the title track released in March 2015 for their album “EXODUS” (available in Korean, and Chinese, and is KAI’s favorite album. .)

KAI befriended other members of his agency and other idols. He is particularly close to TAEMIN (SHINEE), JIMIN (BTS), RAVI (VIXX) and many others. He also became very close to his band member D.O, due to the fact that he didn’t feel comfortable with this member at the very beginning. Like many other idols, KAI has also played in some dramas, such as “To the beautiful you” or “Andante“, in which he plays the role of a somewhat capricious high school student who does not like studies, and wants spend his time at the video game room.

The name of his fanclub is “erigoms” because KAI is said to look like a little bear, “gom” meaning “bear” in Korean. KAI also has animals, three dogs with the names of “Monggu, Jjanggu and Jjangah.”

In 2019, KAI is revealed as a member of his agency’s newest group project: SUPERM. This project aims to bring together the most “talented” members of the agency’s bands, and was formed with SM ENTERTAINMENT and CAPITOL RECORDS, because the agency wanted above all to train the “Avengers of K-POP” . He is part of this group with BAEKHYUN, TAEYONG, MARK (NCT, NCT 127), LUCAS, TEN (NCT, WAYV) and TAEMIN. To date, the group has a total of two albums, the first released in October 2019 “SUPERM“, and the second “SUPER ONE” released in September 2020.

SUPERM – KAI

Finally, KAI made his debut as a solo artist. He released his very first album, which by the way was eagerly awaited by his fans for a while. His album has a total of six songs, and is called “KAI”, it is a mini album, released specifically on November 30th, 2020. The title song is called “Mmmh“, and has a style very characteristic of the artist. Indeed, all the songs showcase his voice, showing the fans the vocal talent of the artist, the latter not being disappointed following the various teasers photos and videos posted by the agency beforehand.

Moreover, on the various photo teasers, the agency was able to show the various talents of KAI very well, by showing hip-hop style photos, or more neat.

Let’s wish KAI a very happy birthday.

Journalist: Kimi2171
Translator: Shawn
Source: SNS SUPERM, SMTOWN