They take Tumblr by storm. Korean-pop, otherwise known as K-pop, boy bands unexpectedly seep through the cracks of typical Tumblr bloggers’ feeds. One K-pop boy band that may have made its way onto your Tumblr feed is named EXO. EXO is a Chinese-South Korean boy band based in Seoul that consists of twelve members split in two groups: EXO-K and EXO-M. Their only difference is EXO-K performs in Korean while EXO-M performs in Mandarin. Their first album, XOXO, was what brought them to fame, and eventually sold one million copies. This enabled them to be the fastest-selling Korean group in twelve years.

The group was formed in 2011 at a business seminar at Stanford University. One member, Lee Soo-man, gave the idea of starting a boy band that would be divided into two subgroups that promoted the same music simultaneously in South Korea and China by performing the songs in Korean and Mandarin. They decided their band should be called EXO after the word exoplanet.

An article about EXO written by Aja Romano discusses how the K-pop group is shrouded in mystery. Romano said, “Like any good boy band, EXO has its share of conspiracy theories. No one knows why the band essentially disappeared for a few months after it leaked two more album singles earlier this year.” During that time, there were claims that the band was spotted in airports or that they were busy filming. This secrecy leaves EXO’s audience on edge all the time. What makes this better is the intensity of EXO’s fan base.

Romano said, “Another thing EXO has in common with your favorite boy bands across the pond (One Direction) is the lightning-fast speed at which the fandom produces translations of music videos, GIFs, Tumblrs, roleplays, pimp posts, and other kinds of fanworks.” Fans become almost obsessive when it comes to the boy band. For some, when they first got into the band they were scrambling to learn all of the members names and their backgrounds. Investing that much energy into learning about 12 people makes these fans, in a way, stuck with the band.

However, fans being “stuck with them” is a complete understatement when you get into the deeper, weirder parts of the fan base. They call themselves EXOtics. There are Tumblr blogs that are based solely on the band or even just on one of the members. One blog, unchartedwatersbyjmam, created a post titled “EXO for Beginners: 300 Facts about EXO.” This post contains more information than anyone would want to know. However this is incredibly common with EXO’s fan base. Some of the facts in that post include: Lay is forgetful, if he weren’t a singer, Chen would want to be a vocal trainer and how during his 3rd year in high school, D.O. admitted that he had a crush on his friend from another class. This goes to show just how crazy some people are about boy bands. Some EXO fan based websites include everything about EXO, even things like their blood type. EXOtics are even more boy band crazy than Directioners.

Even Buzzfeed wrote an article on this world-wide sensation. Jessica Misener of Buzzfeed wrote about everything a fan would want to know about EXO. She even included how the group is the face for a chia seed face cream. At the end of her article, Misener said, “So get ready for EXO to take over America… they’re coming.”

Diversity in music is a good thing for America. In fact, it’s just what we need. Americans always seem scared to try something they don’t understand. Music is not only lyrics. It’s about being a part of a fan base and experiencing music in a different way. For EXO’s case, getting into the fan base may seem intimidating, but being part of the fan base and being able to make new friends with a common interest is worth it.