On June 3, 2013, EXO made their first comeback with their full-length album XOXO. Three days prior to the album’s release, the boy group dropped the music videos for the Korean and Chinese versions of their title track “Wolf,” but the digital versions of the songs were not available until the album’s release. XOXO came in two versions, the “Kiss” version being the Korean version and the “Hug” version being the Chinese version, but both feature 12 tracks. Of those 12 tracks, there are three different versions of “Wolf.” The first version includes all 12 members (the first EXO track to do so), while the other two versions feature the Korean and Chinese sub-units, EXO-K and EXO-M. 

Both versions of the music video are strictly choreography, letting the members showcase the dance that took them roughly four months to learn. There are three parts to the choreography: the forest and trees, the caves, and the wolf. While the choreography is the same for both versions, the biggest differences lie in the language spoken and which members are in the spotlight for different lines. Everything is still very much the same, from the outfits to the solo cut shots added into the mix as well.

EXO had their comeback for “Wolf” on May 30, 2013 on an episode of M!COUNTDOWN. The boy group would later go on to receive their first music show win ever with “Wolf” on Music Bank, with three more wins following after that. 

“Wolf” peaked at No. 10 on the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart and No. 4 on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales Chart. XOXO peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard World Albums Chart and No. 23 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart. As they were still doing Korean and Chinese versions of their albums back then, both versions ended up appearing separately on the Gaon charts, with the Korean version peaking at No. 1 and the Chinese version at No. 2 on both the Gaon Weekly Albums Chart and the Gaon Monthly Albums Chart.

At the year-end awards, EXO took home trophies at the Golden Disc Awards, MelOn Music Awards, Mnet Asian Music Awards, Seoul Music Awards, KBS Music Festival, and World Music Awards. The specific awards earned for XOXO were “Album Bonsang” and “Album Daesang” at the Golden Disc Awards, and “BC - UnionPay Album of the Year” at the Mnet Asian Music Awards. The other awards won were for the repackaged version of the album, Growl.

Even with XOXO turning eight earlier this year, “Wolf” is a track that most fans of K-Pop have heard, especially because it’s a track that is highly covered by younger K-Pop groups. Recently, members of BTOB, ATEEZ, and Stray Kids covered “Wolf” for Kingdom: Legendary War, though with different choreography. It just goes to show that EXO is a force to be reckoned with in K-Pop to this day, with their albums and tracks still keeping their star power no matter how old they are.

Interested in learning more about the early days of EXO and all the things they’ve accomplished since their debut? We’ll be releasing a minizine all about EXO later this month, with more information to come. Be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to keep up with all of the exciting things we have planned for the EXO minizine!