Let's talk about A.C.E.
A.C.E, which stands for "Adventure Calling Emotions," is a five member group that is kinda flying under the radar. Represented by Beat Interactive, they debuted in May 2017 with the clubby, ravey track, “Cactus." They just came back in October with their new song “Callin'.”
A.C.E– Cactus (Dance Version)
A.C.E – Callin' (Dance Version)
You may have noticed the wave of 90's nostalgia making its way through K-pop, mostly seen in idols' styling. This stretches to A.C.E as well, but in a different way. Both “Callin'” and “Cactus” use hardstyle beats in the songs. Hardstyle is an electronic dance style of music, which originated in the Netherlands in the late 1990's. It incorporates elements from techno and hardcore music, often characterized by a repetitive deep bass beat. It’s the type of music that encourages mosh pits and fist pumping.
Although their music is characterized by a pulsing, steady beat, A.C.E shies away from simplistic dance moves. Of course, they still hit hard. I mean hardstyle songs usually have 140 – 150 bpm. The trick is they don’t maintain that high intensity level of dancing throughout.
For both "Cactus" and "Callin'," the five members create a slow build with flowing urban moves which abruptly switch to hard hitting locking and popping during the chorus and in the breakdown. They work with choreographers, like Lia Kim and Koosung Jun of 1MILLION, who create varied dances that have a rise and fall to them, much like a story would. The dancing is unified and powerful across all five members. After multiple views of "Cactus" and "Callin'," I still couldn't pick one member who rose above the others in terms of dance skill. All the members are equally talented.
Each member spent a few years training, each with different companies, allowing them to have varied experiences in the K-pop industry. Jun trained for three years, first with Jellyfish Entertainment and then CJ Entertainment, before coming to Beat Interactive. Donghun made it to the top 10 on Superstar K5 and met Jun as a trainee at CJ Entertainment. Wow was a trainee at YG before moving to CJ Entertainment. Both Jason and Chan trained at JYP Entertainment. Prior to that, Jason was a member of a dance crew called Urban Boyz. During his trainee days at JYP, Chan was also part of a hip hop crew, Alive87, under Reaction Dance Studio.
Pre-debut, they all danced with 1MILLION, which is one of the most popular dance studios in South Korea. Instructors from the studio are responsible for numerous k-pop choreographies and their classes are world wide famous. Many of their videos have a few million views. If you comb through 1MILLION's YouTube channel, all five can be spotted dancing in their videos.
Sing – Pentatonix/Lia Kim Choreography
Jun (jean jacket) and Wow (black shirt)
Queen – Jeff Bernat/Jihoon Kim Choreography
Jason (first group, white hat), Chan (first group, white shirt) & Donghun (first group, blue shirt)
So it comes as no surprise that A.C.E excels in dance and performance. But be careful with this group. If you are at all interested in dance, this is like diving straight into a pile of gold. In addition to all the 1MILLION gems, A.C.E's YouTube channel is full of dancing videos. Prior to debut (even after debut) the five member group took to the streets of Seoul to busk. They have numerous videos of these performances. In addition to performing their own original songs, they also danced and sang covers of other groups like Black Pink, Got7, BTS, EXO, Seventeen, IOI, NCT U, NCT127 – the list just goes on and on...
방탄소년단(BTS) – I Need U & 쩔어(Dope) Dance Cover Busking in Hongdae
(September 19, 2017)
EXO – Monster Dance cover Busking in Hongdae
(December 16, 2016)
세븐틴(SEVENTEEN) – 아낀다(Adore U) Dance cover Busking in Hongdae
(March 13, 2017)
It’s an interesting promotional method. There aren’t many groups who put themselves out there the way A.C.E did. Rather than waiting for an audience to come to them, they went to their audience. It creates a ‘word-of-mouth’ culture. People see A.C.E busking and tell their friends, who also look them up, discover their music and become fans. It’s an almost organic method of garnering a fandom. I relate it to a 2017 version of handing your mix CD to strangers on the street.
I think what most strikes a chord with me is the incredible hard work they put into honing their skills and developing together. Particularly in dance – they aren't afraid of the hustle. All professional dancers I know have multiple jobs. They teach, choreograph and perform while auditioning and promoting themselves. Some even hold down part time jobs to earn extra cash. You can't maintain this lifestyle without a certain level of passion. A.C.E has this same level of passion in spades. Why would they have stuck with the industry for so long if not?
Keep your eye on A.C.E. I see integrity in this idol group who has worked consistently and steadily in their career paths. From their multiple years of training in dancing, singing, and performance to their work at 1MILLION, in dramas, and on reality shows, they are some of the hardest working idols in the business. They’re amazing vocalists as well as dancers with strong bases and room to grow into something very powerful.
Currently all five members are participating on survival shows – Jun and Chan are on "The Unit" and Donghun, Wow, and Jason are on "MIXNINE." While I wish them the best of luck, I would love to see them return as A.C.E. They have a unique sound that could blow up the world of k-pop. Without a full-length album in the books yet, fans, hopefully, have something to look forward to. If Beat Interactive gives them some lead on the leash and the proper support, I think these boys could really bring something new to Korean pop.