Maps of Music

Ex'Act (2016)

Where the lyrics of Ex'Act take you, and where it was really made.

Before its release day, Ex'Act had already sold 660,000 copies, making it the most pre-ordered K-pop album up to that point.

Place unknown

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Ex'Act: third studio album by the Sino-Korean boy band EXO
Released 9 June 2016 by SM Entertainment, distributed by KT Music
Two singles promoted: "Lucky One" and "Monster"
Two physical packaging versions, each with a different visual concept tied to one of the two singles
Music videos for "Lucky One" and "Monster" released on the same day as the album
Later relaunched as Lotto in August 2016

31 May 2016: EXO announced its third studio album
2 June 2016: album title revealed as Ex'Act
7 June 2016: several producers, including Kenzie, The Stereotypes and Dem Jointz, were revealed to have worked on the album
Chanyeol co-wrote the lyrics of "Heaven"
8 June 2016: promotional showcase held at Olympic Park in Seoul
9 June 2016: EXO began performing the album's single on Korean music programs
EXO EXO Planet 3 - The EXO'rDIUM world tour followed to promote the album

Formed by SM Entertainment in 2011, debuted in 2012 as a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul.
Debuted with twelve members split into Exo-K and Exo-M, performing in Korean and Mandarin respectively.
Kris, Luhan, and Tao left the group individually amid legal disputes with SM Entertainment in 2014 and 2015.
Exo has performed exclusively as one group since the 2014 EP Overdose, though its music continues to use multiple languages.

The group currently consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai, and Sehun.
Chen, Baekhyun, and Xiumin formed the sub-unit Exo-CBX in 2016; Sehun and Chanyeol formed Exo-SC in 2019.

The first studio album XOXO (2013) sold over one million copies, making Exo the first Korean act to do so in twelve years.
Exist (2023) is their best selling album in South Korea, with over 2 million copies sold.
Exo won five consecutive Album of the Year awards at the MAMA Awards and two consecutive Artist of the Year awards at the Melon Music Awards.
Don't Mess Up My Tempo (2018) became their highest-charting album on the US Billboard 200, debuting at number 23.

Ex'Act set a record before release, with 660,000 copies pre-sold, the most of any K-pop album up to that time
Three days after release, it became the best-selling album in Hanteo history, selling almost half a million copies in one week
That first-week figure broke the record the group had set with its second mini-album, Sing for You

Gaon Albums Chart: Korean version debuted at No. 1, Chinese version at No. 2
The combined edition of both versions ranked No. 2 on the Billboard World Albums Chart
By August 2016 the album had sold more than 1,130,000 copies
It was the third consecutive EXO studio album to sell more than 1 million copies
It won Album of the Year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards
It won a daesang at the Golden Disc Awards

Ex'Act sold almost half a million copies in its first week at Hanteo, and the figure set a new all-time record for that chart.
The album's showcase was held at Olympic Park in Seoul on 8 June 2016, one day before the release.
Chanyeol co-wrote the lyrics of "Heaven", one of the album's tracks.
Before release, Ex'Act had already become the most pre-ordered K-pop album of its time, at 660,000 copies.