'WE ARE ONE' Trends as EXO Secures 5th 'K-Wave Special Awards' at the 2021 Seoul Music Awards (SMA)

EXO-Ls once again reunited to secure the "K-Wave Special Awards," a special title given during the annual Seoul Music Awards (SMA).

EXO x International EXO-Ls Secure 'K-Wave Special Awards' at the 2021 SMA, Ranks No. 1 with About 9.4 million Votes

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On January 17, EXO occupied the Twitter top trends with several related hashtags as EXO-Ls (EXO fans) rejoiced for another record the group secured.

In particular, the awards ceremony season has yet to end as the 2021 Seoul Music Awards will transpire on Jan. 23, 2022.

The 31st edition of the ceremony will be held in Gocheok Sky Dome where the winners for major awards such as Daesang (Grand Prize) and Bonsang (Main Prize) will be announced as well.

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Aside from the aforementioned and most-sought titles, there are also special awards given at the ceremony, including the "Popularity Award" and "K-Wave Special Award."

While the first one is determined by domestic fans only, the latter award was given to the most-voted artist by overseas fans.

As a result, there is a strong battle between EXO x EXO-Ls and BTS x ARMY who closely fought for the first place. Despite the huge fan base of BTS, EXO-Ls proved the essence of the band and fandom's slogan, "WE ARE ONE," and conquered first place with 9,363,937 votes on the last day of voting.

In response, the hashtags, #DONT_FIGHT_THE_FEELING, #SUHO, #EXO_WINNING_SMA_KWAVE, #weareoneEXO and related terms "Congratulations EXO&EXOLS" as well as "EXO WON" dominated the Top 10 Twitter trends.

EXO Proves 'Global Pick' Status as They Secured Its 23rd Trophy from SMA

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As EXO-Ls and EXO secured the special award in the aforementioned awards ceremony, the group and the fandom once again proved their strong influence and power in the K-pop scene, in SMA alone.

In context, the "K-Wave Special Award" will be officially given to EXO on Jan. 23 during Seoul Music Awards. This will be their fifth trophy of the same award, after winning in 2015, 2017 to 2019.

EXO also guarded their title as the most-awarded artist at SMA, with 23 awards including their newly won trophy. Among these trophies is four consecutive Daesang awards they won from 2013 to 2016. EXO is currently tied with BTS as a K-pop group with the most Daesang trophy in SMA history.

READ MORE: 8 K-pop Groups With The Most Daesangs in 2020: Find Out Who's No. 1

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Written by Eunice Dawson