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  • (hip hop music)

  • - No, I can do it.

  • I promise I can do it.

  • Play it again.

  • (hip hop music)

  • - Steven is trying to become a Kpop star.

  • (laughing) Hilarious.

  • - I really wanna be a Kpop star.

  • - Okay, cool.

  • - [Steven] This is my life long dream.

  • - To be a Kpop star, you have to have a certain

  • swag about you,

  • and Steven has, just, not that.

  • - Oh, Steven, what have you gotten yourself in to? (laughs)

  • I'm just kidding, or am I?

  • - You have to know how to dance.

  • I feel like he can't just pick that up,

  • let alone sing,

  • and become super stylish.

  • Like, come on, man.

  • Steven's a great guy, but no, it's impossible.

  • - If he can pull off something,

  • even like an iota of what it is to Kpop star

  • with this project,

  • then I commend him,

  • because it's difficult.

  • It is a hard life.

  • - My name is Amber.

  • I'm in a group called f(x).

  • I recently just released two songs.

  • One is called "Need to Feel Needed,"

  • and the second one is called, "On My Own."

  • Kpop is, I guess,

  • definitely more than just a genre of music.

  • It's fashion.

  • There's shows, performance aspects.

  • It's this whole experience that, I think,

  • a lot of people have come to love and appreciate.

  • Steven, I have no idea what you got yourself into,

  • but, you know, never give up.

  • Shake your little butt,

  • and do something crazy (laughs).

  • Good luck, Steven.

  • - [Steven] With Amber cheering me on,

  • I was ready to begin my quest,

  • training like a Kpop star for one week.

  • So I called up a former Kpop trainee

  • to help me get started.

  • - I'm Ed.

  • I used to be a trainee in a Korean entertainment agency

  • a few years back.

  • Kpop trainee life is very difficult,

  • and it's really intense.

  • So an average day for a Kpop trainee,

  • all these things are really clearly regimented.

  • If you have work,

  • you go to work, and then after work,

  • you'll probably have to do language class,

  • 'cause it's Kpop, so you need to know

  • how to speak Korean.

  • - Yes, in Korean, is--

  • (speaking in a foreign language)

  • - You probably go to vocal class,

  • 'cause you need to be in your best condition

  • for your vocals, right?

  • (humming)

  • And then once that's over,

  • you go to dance class.

  • - Open, hop, open,

  • tap, knee, push, drop.

  • - The most difficult thing about it is

  • you don't really have a personal life

  • beyond the training thing.

  • So, like, you'll be doing hours of training

  • in all aspects,

  • especially if you aren't familiar with it.

  • I think the people that make it to the end

  • are the people that put in the most effort.

  • - Okay, I wanna put my heart into this.

  • - Welcome to Korean 101.

  • Do you know any Korean words?

  • - Uh.

  • My friend would use to say this a lot.

  • (speaking in a foreign language)

  • - Oh my god, what is that?

  • - Wait, what does that mean?

  • - Pull your pants down.

  • - Wait. (laughs)

  • - Yeah, take your pants off.

  • Why would he say that? (laughs)

  • - Hi, my name's Erin.

  • - Steven.

  • - I'm an acoustic Seoul Hip Hop musician.

  • I will be your vocal coach.

  • How you doing today?

  • - I'm okay.

  • I don't sing.

  • - At the end of the day, confidence.

  • First thing is there is a warm up

  • that is very, very good,

  • for pronunciation and the structure of your mouth.

  • ♫ Gug, gug, gug, gug, gug ♫

  • Can you try that?

  • ♫ Gug, gug, gug, gug, gug ♫

  • - Come on, man.

  • ♫ Gug, gug, gug, gug, gug ♫

  • - There it is.

  • I hear some tones.

  • Kpop, it's literally building a singing,

  • dancing machine, bro.

  • - I'm Michael.

  • - I'm Danielle.

  • - This is Danielle.

  • - We are Kpop choreographers.

  • What we wanna do is kind of see

  • where we're at.

  • - Cool.

  • - So can you bust out with a few moves right now for us?

  • - Oh, right now?

  • - Yeah, right now.

  • - Yes, right now.

  • - Here's my go to move.

  • - Yeah, I'm feeling it.

  • - (yelling)

  • - You got this.

  • You got this, you got this.

  • - Now, I'm gonna teach you how to introduce yourself.

  • (speaking in a foreign language)

  • - Huh?

  • - How about--

  • ♫ Kah ♫

  • ♫ Kah ♫

  • - Hey, it could be a little bit better

  • if you pushed it out a little bit more.

  • - Like a baby.

  • - Do it.

  • - A little bit of some simple groove,

  • like a lean back.

  • Maybe even like licking your lips,

  • just for that fan service.

  • Yeah.

  • - [Danielle] (laughing)

  • - [Michael] Not too much.

  • ♫ Kah ♫

  • - Hey, the baby's out.

  • - Oh, thank god.

  • My friend Lcksmith,

  • he wrote this song for me

  • to perform.

  • (speaking in a foreign language)

  • (muttering in a foreign language)

  • (speaking in a foreign language)

  • - And pop your knee forward.

  • - What is your favorite part of the song?

  • - When they speak English.

  • - Let's do that.

  • - Okay. (laughs)

  • ♫ Baby ♫

  • - Uh huh.

  • ♫ You and me

  • ♫ You-- ♫

  • - Oh, that was a--

  • - I don't know where that came from.

  • - Oh, that was nice.

  • What is gonna be your Korean name?

  • (speaking in a foreign language)

  • - It just gets right to the point. (laughs)

  • - So, we're actually out of time right now.

  • - Thank goodness.

  • - So, next session, we will be teaching

  • you the choreography.

  • - Thank you.

  • See you tomorrow.

  • - No problem.

  • - Ah, man, okay.

  • It's like midnight right now.

  • I have to study my Korean,

  • practice some of my dance moves,

  • and, also, try to memorize all these lyrics.

  • I'm kind of feeling overwhelmed.

  • (sighs)