Kris Wu and Luhan are bringing you light in times of corona, and EXO fans are here for it.
The two ex-EXO stars have made K-pop history by reuniting for the surprise single “Coffee”, an infectious pop tune with irreverent lyrics, bouncing percussion, and verses that highlight the stylistic differences between the two artists. And no — it’s not an April Fool’s.
A surprise Kris Wu drop with a cartoon lyric video about food? Why does that sound familiar?
The song is breaking the internet, for more reasons than star power alone — this is the most EXO fanservice we’ve had in years.
Kris Wu, Luhan, and Huang Zitao were three members of EXO-M, a groundbreaking K-pop group that set the tone for the genre’s future in China. The drama started when Kris broke off from the group over contract disputes — a move that resulted in long legal battles, accusations of betrayal from his bandmates, and agony among fans.
That drama was serious — Tao posted on Instagram that Kris had betrayed the group, a sentiment that was backed up by Luhan. The remaining members went so far as to unfollow Kris on socials (though some speculate this was directed by EXO’s management).
Related:
Eventually, Luhan and Tao left as well, and the Chinese subgroup EXO-M broke up, leaving fans to nurse their broken hearts.
Maybe that explains just why this single is being received with such… excitement.
“They didn’t even warn us… I’m crying,” reads one YouTube comment.
“If this had an MV, EXO-L Twitter would be in shambles,” reads another.
(EXO-L is the name of EXO’s fangroup — representing “love”, and being the letter in between the band’s subgroups EXO-M and EXO-K).
Late 2019 and early 2020 foreshadowed a re-assembly of sorts, when the trio were caught hanging out on friendly terms. Later, Luhan even posted on Instagram in support of Kris’ new jewelry line, and thanked Kris and Tao for helping him overcome his fear of flying while shooting a recent travel program.
Now, we are basking in a full-on stream of golden EXO vibes.
Tao even went so far as to invoke the ultimate fangirl-detonator, referring to Kris as duizhang 队长 (the term means “team captain”, a reference to Kris’ old nickname as the leader of EXO). According to Tao, he’s already listened to the song a hundred times.
When Tao calls Kris 队长, you know it’s real.
The China side of EXO has been spending more time together these days…should we be expecting a collaboration?
One thing’s for sure: as the world crumbles to dust around us, this moment of boyband love is the beam of hope we need.
