#kpopped

🪭mi gente 🪭

When we say Hongjoong is one of the best leaders in kpop, this is what we mean.

In the rehearsals for their Kpopped performance of Mi Gente, Hongjoong immediately noticed that J Balvin was frustrated/disinterested, which could be due to a number of factors, including being nervous about his lack of dance experience. He was also a bit dismissive about Hongjoong's praise for his song (as a reminder, they attended each other's Coachella sets).

Yeosang, in Korean: "Should we show him an easy one?"

After showing him some moves, you could tell J Balvin had an oh shit moment and felt intimidated, and his response was to start looking at his phone in a show of pride/ego.

Hongjoong clocked it and gathered up the other members, advising them: "We can't be forceful about it."

(Yeosang asked, "Are you okay?" and J Balvin immediately put away his phone, lol.)

Then our beloved Captain approaches J Balvin and offers him empathy and grace: "I bet that you get a little stressed." J Balvin rolled his eyes and brusheed it off (rude). It seems like they only ended up teaching him a few moves, and he likely overstated his level of commitment to training in the interview.

What I love about Hongjoong is that his diplomacy did not interfere with his ambition. He did not just want to "kpop" Mi Gente, he wanted to "Ateez" Mi Gente. He wanted to show that audience and the world something only they could do.