Maegeun-Maegeun-Hada (Smooth Smooth)

Origin

"Maekkeun-maekkeun-hada" ("to be smooth") is a meme that grew into a challenge from a rap and dance that French-born choreographer Kani improvised while memorizing Korean adjectives. It combines an addictive chant of "maekkeun-maekkeun-hada~ maekkeun-maekkeun-han~" with moves that act out the word's meaning, and it's also called the "smooth challenge."

The original is Finding Kani, a web variety show on MBC's YouTube channel Gwang. According to iMBC Entertainment, Kani learned adjectives like maekkeun-maekkeun-hada (smooth), ultung-bultung-hada (bumpy) and pyeongpyeong-hada (flat) during a Korean lesson on the show. While memorizing them, he spontaneously set them to a catchy rap and created a performance to match each adjective's quality. Kani is a choreographer known as a close friend of SHINee's Key, and had previously coined catchphrases such as "Jatni? Jasseo?" ("Did you sleep?") on variety shows.

Spread

Right after release, Kani's rap and dance were remixed into multiple versions and reborn as a meme. Because the tune gets stuck in your head after one listen, netizens dubbed it the new "banned song for the college entrance exam," a joke that it's so addictive it would wreck test-takers' concentration. Esquire Korea also introduced Kani's challenge as "this year's banned exam song," citing its repetitive melody and original choreography as the secret to its popularity.

The challenge spread further as K-pop idols joined one after another. Kani's close friend Key of SHINee, along with TWS, Hearts2Hearts and ZEROBASEONE, followed Kani's dance under the name "smooth challenge." News1 covered the wave among idols in a video calling it "Kani's day-job moment." It is a case of a foreign choreographer's Korean study session turning unexpectedly into a mainstream dance challenge.

Usage

Challenge videos copying the move of sweeping a hand over a surface to the "maekkeun-maekkeun-hada~" tune
Calling an unforgettable earworm "exam-banned-song level"
Variations that swap in other adjectives like "bumpy" or "flat"