[REVIEW] 160823 'LOTTO' MV

When news broke of Exo making a comeback, the world was turned on its side. Just months before, Monster and Lucky One had seen immense popularity and won multiple awards so it was expected of the new song to do the same. The repackaged album would be called “Lotto” and feature four new songs as well as old songs from the “Ex’act” album.

The MV was announced to drop at 10 am KST on August 17^th but a day or so before that, the title track “Lotto” had been leaked. Already fans were reacting negatively to the excessive use of autotune and it seemed Lotto would not do well. 

I waited patiently until 3am GMT just so I could react to “Lotto” before the gifs and memes ruined it and I was not disappointed. Immediately I noticed the autotune that fans had been complaining of but after becoming a fan of NCT’s music, I didn’t have a problem with it. In fact, Lotto quickly replaced Monster as my favorite song. 

In the first twenty seconds there is already so much happening- from a girl- dressed in white- running away from something, to a caged chicken fight, to Kai getting pretty heated and flashing a stack of money around. There is a feel of something less than legal happening both in the foreground and background. Oh, and I must mention this gem that Kyungsoo provided- it’s eerie how well he can play the creepy card.

We then see exactly who the girl in white is running from and it’s a wolf which immediately gives you a throwback to the Wolf era and possibly another connection to analyze. It also seems that Kai and Chen are involved in a round of gambling. The scene then switches to a shot of Baekhyun who is very much upping the appeal in this MV, and then to some choreography and finally to Sehun who is impressively body rolling his way through his solo. A minute into the MV and there’s little hints of what may be happening peeking through. But the action really increased with the entrance of Chanyeol and his charismatic rap in the rear-view mirror. It seems he, Suho and Sehun are on their way to crash the little gambling party. As they enter- very dramatically I might add, with slow-motion opening of doors and dragging of scary objects- everyone around the chicken fighting cages scatter, save for Kyungsoo who sits atop it with a camera. He really is playing up the creepiness in this MV and it’s strangely pleasing…

Meanwhile, Suho is on top of a mountain- and I mean a mountain- of money and getting ready to set it on fire, in between shots of the choreography. Lay and Sehun get a little duo scene of their own which I most certainly approve of. Lay finally has more than half a line and his *cough thrusting cough* to the timing of that slot machine noise was very fitting- rude, but fitting. While our victim girl hangs from the ceiling, Kai is in a very expensive car making a deal when Chanyeol enters to stop him. We then see a shot of Baekhyun sitting on a cage full of people dressed in white- people that were with Chen and Kai earlier. The fact that there are two rival “gangs” here is very apparent. 

In the last minute of the MV, the action reaches its highest peak with a burning mountain of money where Kai has also tied someone to the pile, our victim is saved, and SWAT enters. My favorite scene is easily the one of Chen, legs up on the table, sipping a glass of wine while two armed SWAT agents bear down on him. That moment is the epitome of rebellion and he’s so unfazed that I can’t help but wonder if he won the lotto? In the end, it seems that neither of the gangs get away safely but instead are arrested. The only person to leave this mini drama unscathed is our victim in white who brushes hands with a cuffed Chanyeol.

 

Of all of Exo’s MV’s, this is most definitely one of my top three. I love a good story and especially one with a ton of action and points to analyze- lotto delivered. In every era, one or two members will catch my eye and I will deem it “their era”. “Lotto” era definitely belongs to Chen, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. Each of them played their roles perfectly from winner of the lotto, to creepy gang member to seductive gang member respectively.

Besides the stellar visual quality, the choreography is also one of my new favorites after the Monster choreo. I felt that Lay got to shine a lot more, even if it’s on the sad note that Kai is injured. Sehun and Lay’s duo dance was one of the highlights, along with this little move that seems like one of the point choreographies. I name it the “So what” dance.

 

Overall, I love the MV and I love the song as well. Sure, it’s not what we’re normally used to in terms of Exo, but new is good and this time new works very well. There is no doubt that even if some fans disapprove, the choreography and the live performances will be enough to win them back over. So I anticipate another multitude of wins for Exo which will be a great achievement alongside their new record of “Triple Million sellers”. 

Lotto era is the era for new records. 

Watch "Lotto" MV here 

Image Credit:SMTown Official

Written by: Acacia@exodicted.net

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