I Got A Boy is the fourth Korean studio album (sixth overall) by Girls' Generation. It was released on January 1, 2013, by S. M. Entertainment.
The album, which contains recordings dating back to 2008, is the first
Korean album by the whole group after a fourteen-month hiatus after a
sub-unit of members Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun released an EP in April 2012 and the group released their second Japanese album, Girls' Generation II: Girls & Peace.
Member Seohyun explained the album strays away from the group's usual
releases with the album being described as a "time machine" which
explores the group's past and future.
The album was preceded by the pre-release single, "Dancing Queen", released on December 21, 2012. The title track, "I Got a Boy", was released digitally on January 1, 2013. According to
Billboard , the album contains "polished K-pop confections" that combines many different musical elements such as 80s new wave, electronic dance music, and modern R&B, that would appeal to not just K-Pop fans but also other listeners of popular music as well.
Background and development
This album is really different from our usual ones. It’s like
challenging a person’s limits. I’m looking forward to what the fans will
think, and because it’s still a secret amongst us, I just feel nervous.
—Seohyun, talks about the group's album.
In the November 2012 issue of South Korean fashion magazine
CeCi, Seohyun told the magazine that the group had been preparing for the album for some time.
The group had originally planned to make a Korean comeback during the months of October and November.
However, plans were ultimately scrapped for the group to focus on
Japanese promotions for the remainder of 2012. It was also revealed that
the group have been working on their comeback in Korea as well. During
their free time in between their Japan schedule, the group have been
recording and working on their new album for Korea.
On November 16, 2012, it was revealed the group were to make a Korean comeback after fourteen months away from the industry.
The following month, on December 11, 2012, a representative for SM
Entertainment stated that the group were in the final stages of
preparation for their fourth album, however, the release date was still
undecided.
Release
After the group's label S.M. Entertainment revealed the group intended to return in January, 2013, MBC
announced on December 11, 2012, that the group would be receiving a
separate broadcast depicting the album process in preparation of the
album's release in January 2013.
On December 20, 2012, SM Entertainment released a teaser image through
their official Twitter account. The text on the emblem reads, “Girls'
Generation 2013", with the date and time, “2012. 12. 21 10 A.M.”.This
was later revealed to be the pre-release single, "Dancing Queen",
which was released on the corresponding date.On December
20, 2012, SM Entertainment posted a teaser image containing the words
"2012. 12. 21 10 A.M." on their official Twitter.
After the release of "Dancing Queen," the group began the release of teaser pictures, with the first member being Hyoyeon,
who donned multi-colored rainbow hair. Another picture of Hyoyeon was
released, which features her neck with the album title tattooed on her
neck with a male face and the group member names.
Leading up to the album, the group was promoted online via Korean entertainment, Naver.
Previews of their individual comeback messages were released on Naver.
The full length comeback messages were only released on the Naver Line
app.
The album was then formally announced after the release,
with a total of ten covers set to be used; nine for each member and one
for the group as a whole for a release on January 2, 2013. Each version
of the album will include a 40-page different photobook.
The group's official was also updated with the neck teaser of Hyoyeon
and a re-designed logo with the words "Coming Soon" below it.
Seohyun was the next member to have teaser pictures revealed on December 22, 2012, with a comeback message from leader Taeyeon as well.
On the same day, the group's teaser images were leaked causing SM
Entertainment to release all the teaser images via their official Facebook account and Korean site Naver.
Comeback messages from the group continued with Yuri on December 23, 2012.
On December 24, Sunny's comeback message was released along with teaser
pictures of herself, Taeyeon, Jessica, Tiffany, and Yoona. On the same
day, it was announced the group's MBC special entitled "MBC New Year
Special – Girls’ Generation’s Romantic Fantasy" would be broadcast on
January 1, 2013.
Following the announcement of the group's Korean comeback, SM Entertainment's stocks rose 7.2%. Tiffany's
comeback message was released on December 25, 2012, she wished fans a
Merry Christmas and told fans to "look forward to our wild rap" on "I Got a Boy. Seohyun greeted fans from the "I Got A Boy" music video set for her comeback message on December 26, 2012.
The official teaser for the drama version of the music video was released on December 26, 2012 at 5 p.m. KST. Yoona's message was released on December 27, 2012.
SM Entertainment revealed on the same day that the group would not be
wearing high heels during promotional performances for "I Got a Boy" as
members plan to focus on the choreography and performance. On December 28, Hyoyeon's video message was released along with a new teaser picture of the group. Jessica's message was released on December 29, 2012, assuring fans the group had ben practicing for both the upcoming album and their Second Japan Arena Tour. Sooyoung and Seohyun's messages were released on December 30 and 31, respectively. A highlight medley of the album was released on December 31, 2012, as well.
Live performance
The first of the group's comeback performances will began on January 3, 2013, on Mnet's
M! Countdown. Seven members appeared on Mnet's
Wide Open Studio program prior to their comeback performance, Yuri and Hyoyeon were not present as they were preparing to emcee M! Countdown. The group will continue their first week of performances for the album on KBS'
Music Bank, MBC's
Music Core and SBS's
Inkigayo on January 4, 5 and 6, respectively. Girls' Generation held an hour-long "Virtual Concert" broadcast live via Naver Music on January 5, 2013. The group also performed it on their MBC comeback special; Girls’ Generation’s Romantic Fantasy on January 1, 2013. The group also performed on KBS Hope Concert.
Critical reception
Los Angeles Times
described “I Got a Boy” as something “as strange and structurally
progressive as anything in the current commercial pop realm”, likening
the song to a crossword puzzle or a “modern-day ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’”. Randall Roberts also compared “I Got a Boy” to the works of popular artists in the American music industry today, including Skrillex and Ellie Goulding.
Billboard
released a review for “I Got a Boy”. The title song got high praise as
“one of the most-forward thinking lead pop singles heard in any country”
for its intense mix of different sounds and melodies. Jeff Benjamin,
the author, commended Girls’ Generation for “[setting] the bar truly
high for pop in 2013″ with “I Got a Boy”.
Grantland.com
listed “I Got a Boy” first in its “Songs of the Week” article. Amos
Barshad mentioned K-Pop’s significant break into the American music
scene with PSY’s “Gangnam Style” and continued by commenting on “I Got a
Boy”‘s musical complexities and unique lyrics.
Composition
The next album is really going to be something new. Because we were
thinking of testing the limits with the genre and music color. When we
first heard the song and saw the choreography, we had doubts as to
whether or not we could do it. It’s a dance we’ve never danced before,
so it could be something the person doing it would fear. It could also
be a new attempt for the company, but my heart also beats that much
more.
—Sooyoung talks about the what to expect on the album on Harper's Bazaar.
Dsign Music,
the group of famous composers that composed the hit song, 'Genie’, as
well as the top composers of Europe including Will Simms and Sarah
Lundback, and the composer from Korea, Young-Jin Yoo participated in the
making of the album. I Got a Boy is an electronic dance song that mixes
pop, retro, and urban genres. Talk Talk is the Korean version of
Boomerang which was in the 2nd full-length album released in Japan, and
the Korean lyric tells a guy who does not understand a girl’s heart
should try to talk to his girl that it gives the feeling different from
Japanese version while it has the same melody and arrangement.
Baby Maybe, composed by the popular English singer-songwriter, Pixie
Lott, mixes the lyrics written by Sooyoung, Yuri, and Seohyun that
expresses the fluttering heart of a girl in love with a cheerful melody,
and ‘XYZ’ with a powerful synthesizer pattern is also written by Yuri
and Seohyun. The album also contains ‘Lost in Love’, the duet by Taeyeon
and Tiffany, which compares the moment of the tear in the eyes with
‘Glass’, and it expresses the changes of heart that accepts the breakup
with the lover along with the time passes. The track Promise is a medium
tempo ballad while Express 999, the retro pop combining various genres.
"Look at Me" combines organic beat, playful melody, and
easy-to-sing-along chorus. "Romantic St." is a swing jazz style song.
Single
"Dancing Queen" was released as a pre-release single on December 21, 2012. "Dancing Queen," a remake of Welsh singer Duffy's song "Mercy" was recorded in 2008 as a comeback song after a nine-month hiatus, however plans were scrapped and the group went with "Gee". "Dancing Queen" received an all-kill on all seven Korean music sites within a day of its release
With only a day of sales, the song sold over and debuted at
number-seven on the Gaon Digital Download chart, while debuting at
number eleven on the Gaon Single Chart. The song achieved its highest debut at number four on the K-Pop Hot 100.
"I Got a Boy"
was released digitally on January 1, 2013. Two teasers for the video
were released; drama version was released on December 26, 2012, while
the dance version was released on December 28, 2012. The "I Got A Boy" music video and album were released simultaneously at 5 p.m. KST.
The video, as well as the teaser in the "Dancing Queen" video, became
the center of public scrutiny after several screenshots from the video
circulated on the internet with Sunny's hat having the words "Welcome Motherfuckers" printed on it. Seohyun wore the same hat, however majority of the wording was covered over. Sooyoung and Yoona both wore similar hats with "Fuck The System" printed on both.
Music video
Dancing Queen
Background
Most of the video was originally filmed in 2008 and features scenes from the music video for album's title track "I Got A Boy".
Although originally supposed to be their comeback single preceding
"Kissing You" and initially slated as the title track for the group's
first Korean mini-album,
due to last minute copyrights issues the release the song were
scrapped. The outfits and the concept featured in the music video would
instead be reworked into what would become "Gee". The music video and single were finally released on December 21 2012, four years after work on the song was completed. A screenshot of the music video was leaked in 2011 along with the audio of the Korean version of "Boomerang," which was later officially released in Japanese on their second Japanese album Girls' Generation II: Girls & Peace.
In an interview with Korean music site member Yuri described the choreography as "trying to a cat paw-like shape, and move [like this] like a cat trying to act cute.
The group wearing the famous white t-shirt
and jeans combination from the "Gee" music video.
Synopsis
The music video, with a running time of 4 minutes, 23 seconds, has a
time machine themed plot. The video begins with the members in a pink
furnished play doll-like room interacting with one another. Yoona
opens up a present that she received to find a small device, they then
quickly gather around to found out it is a time machine bring them back
from the year 2013 to 2008, a 5 year span. The room transform in to a
retro style diner. Tiffany turns on a jukebox with Jessica
while they both sing the intro in English. The first verse mainly
focuses on the in the diner with a light pink counter top. While in the
diner, the video transitions from each members line in a pan-order
around the diner. The second verse is focused on the white set. The
white-top and jeans costumes are reused from the "Gee"
music video considering the fact they were both film on short notice.
During the bridge, the members throw a party while dancing in groups of
three while Tiffany approaches a DJ telling him to play a song, the
video then cuts back to the center of the diner where the group is seen
dancing and fellow customers and diner staff are dancing. Confetti is
thrown during the final chorus while the party continues with a final
pose in the t-shirt and jean costumes. At the end of the song, the time
machine moves forward to 2013 as the words "Ayo GG" spoken by Sooyoung
are heard, leading into the teaser for the album's title track, "I Got a
Boy." The background is a pink fluorescent diamond in a black room. The
first part of the teaser is met with audio using mid rock-synths then
breaks down into dubstep as Tiffany says, "Ayo stop, let me put it down
another way". At the end of the video, the "I Got a Boy" symbol was used
with "2013.01.01 comeback" seen below it.
I Got A Boy
Background
The first teaser for the video was integrated in the "Dancing Queen"
music video as part of time machine theme. The teaser showed each
member, both close-up and mid-shot in a dark room with a pink
fluorescent diamonds in the background, accompanied by rock-influenced
synths which then breaks down to a dubstep-influenced section with the
words "Ayo stop, let me put it down another way" spoken by Tiffany.
The teaser for the video's drama version was released on December 26,
2012, at 5pm KST. A teaser for the dance version of the video was
released two days later on December 28, 2012. Choreography for the song
was handled by renowned choreographers Nappytabs who also worked with label mates TVXQ and BoA.
Nappytabs had previously tweeted a picture of themselves along with
nine dancers and SM Entertainment performance director Jae-won Shim.
The music video was released on January 1, 2013 on 5:45 p.m. KST (as
shown on Hyoyeon's digital watch in the Drama Teaser) and has garnered
more than 26 million views on YouTube as of January 12, 2013.
The group performing the choreography in the street
wearing multi-colored outfits.
Synopsis
The video, running for five-minutes-and-five-seconds, begins in the same room as seen in the "Dancing Queen" music video, with the girls in a pink chatting in a pink-colored room; Tiffany and Yuri are sitting at a table drinking tea, Sooyoung is writing, Sunny and Yoona are joking by the bed, Jessica is spraying
Girl de Provence, Taeyeon and Seohyun are discussing clothing choices and Hyoyeon is blow-drying her hair. A man (Kim Ian)
is then seen walking to the girls' apartment, who then rings the
doorbell, the girls stop everything they're doing and rush to the door
to look through the peephole, the man is then seen walking away with the
words "That's weird" and "Is anybody home?" seen in speech bubbles. The
camera then zooms-in through the peephole to the girls and then back
out again to a multi-colored room with the entire group dressed in
military-inspired clothing, the sequence begins with a rap intro
performed by Sooyoung and Yuri and then cuts to a street with the
members dressed in hip-hop-inspired outfits with the members beginning
to perform the choreography as Tiffany performs a spoken intro.
The video then cuts to several close-ups of each member, as well as
scenes featuring the man flirting with each member. It then abruptly
stops with the members throwing their hats toward the camera which then
cuts to a second room with a strip of yellow and red triangles extending
from behind the group and over them, following this, the video cuts
between scenes of the members with the man as well as them in the three
sets performing the song's choreography. Tiffany is then seen dressed in
a pink trench coat and a orange-blonde wig singing into a
retro-microphone in runway set with pink fluorescent diamonds in the
back, as seen in the teaser, followed by Taeyeon wearing the same wig
and a red trench coat, the video then cuts back to close-ups of the
group, scenes with the man and the three dance sets. The video ends with
the group posing in the street with their Korean and English names seen
above the "I Got a Boy" logo from the single and album covers.
Commercial performance
Following the release of "Dancing Queen," the song became an
immediate hit on all Korean music websites, reaching number-one on Naver
Music, MelOn, Monkey3, Bugs, Soribada, Olleh Music, and Mnet by the
morning of December 22, 2012; known in Korea as an "all-kill".
With only one day of sales, the song managed to sell 139,344 copies. A
week later, the song jumped to the number one spot on both of the Gaon
Single and Download chart.
The album has managed to top all the real-time music charts in Korea like Melon, Bugs, Olleh, Mnet and Soribada. I Got a Boy also managed to top the iTunes charts in various Asian countries and also enter the Top 20 on iTunes' Top Albums chart.
'I Got a Boy' debuted at the number one spot of Billboard's 'World
Album Chart. They also placed 2nd on the Heatseekers Albums Chart and
23rd on the Independent Albums Chart.
Track listing
|
|
| 1. |
"I Got a Boy" |
Yoo Young Jin, Will Simms, Anne Judith Wik, Sarah Lundbäck Bell |
Will Simms, Yoo Young-jin |
4:31 |
| 2. |
"Dancing Queen" |
Yoon Hyo-sang, Jessica Jung, Tiffany Hwang, Steve Booker |
Steve Brooker, Kenzie |
3:35 |
| 3. |
"Baby Maybe" |
Choi Sooyoung, Kwon Yuri, Seohyun, Mich Hansen, Jonas Jeberg, Ruth-Anne Cunningham, Pixie Lott |
Mitch Hansen |
3:43 |
| 4. |
"말해봐" (Talk Talk) |
Kim Tae-sung, Charlie Mason, Oscar Gorres, Danny Saucedo |
Charlie Mason |
2:46 |
| 5. |
"Promise" |
Moul, Joseph Belmaati |
Joseph Belmaati |
3:15 |
| 6. |
"Express 999" |
Kim Jung-bae |
Kenzie |
3:27 |
| 7. |
"유리아이" (Lost in Love) |
Park Chang-hyun |
Park Chang-hyun |
4:00 |
| 8. |
"Look at Me" |
Jun Kandi, Johan Gustafson, Fredrik Häggstam, Sebastian Lundberg, Louis Schoorl |
Trinity (Johan Gustafson, Fredrik Häggstam, Sebastian Lundberg) |
3:01 |
| 9. |
"XYZ" |
Kwon Yuri, Seohyun |
Stereotypes, Victoria Horn |
3:15 |
| 10. |
"낭만길" (Romantic St.) |
Hyuk Shin, Matthew Heath, Hailey Collier, DK, Jordan Kyle, Jee Yoon Yoo, Lee Shinsung, Lee Chanmi, Sumi |
Hyuk Shin, Jordan Kyle |
4:00 |
Total length:
|
37:34 |
|
- Notes
- "Dancing Queen" (recorded in 2008) is a remake of the song, Mercy, by Welsh singer Duffy.
- "Baby Maybe" was originally co-written as a demo in English by English singer-songwriter Pixie Lott under the title as "What You Do." The song was later given to Girls' Generation with Seohyun, Yuri and Sooyoung re-writing it.
- "Talk Talk" (previously titled Boomerang) was recorded in 2008. A Japanese version was included in their second Japanese studio album, Girls & Peace (2012).
Personnel
Credits for
I Got a Boy adapted from album liner notes.
- Girls' Generation - vocals
- Taeyeon - main vocals, background vocals
- Jessica - main vocals, background vocals, songwriter
- Sunny - lead vocals, background vocals
- Tiffany - lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter
- Hyoyeon - vocals, lead rap
- Yuri - vocals, songwriter, rap
- Sooyoung - vocals, songwriter, lead rap
- Yoona - vocals, rap
- Seohyun - lead vocals, background vocals, songwriter
- Young-Jin Yoo – producer, songwriter, translator, audio mixing, recording
- Will Sims – songwriting, producer
- Yang Geunyeong - background vocals
- Anne Judith Wik - songwriter
- Sarah Lundback Bell - songwriter
- Kim Jungbae - guitar
- Yoong - strings
- Park Chang-hyun - songwriting, background vocal, producer, piano, keyboard, programming
- Shim Sangwon - string arrangement, conductor
- Choi Wonhyuk - bass guitar
- Moul - songwriter
- Joseph Belmaati - songwriter, producer
- Stephen Andrew Booker - songwriter, producer
- Aimee Ann Duffy - songwriter
|
- Nam Goongjin - recording, mixing
- Im Kwangwook - arrangement
- Mich Hansen - songwriter, producer
- Jonas Jeberg - songwriter
- Ruth-Anne Cunningham - songwriter
- Jung Eunkyung - recording
- Jung Euisuk - recording, mixing
- Kim Jung-bae - songwriter
- Goo Jongpil - mixing
- Kim Tae-sung - songwriter, translator
- Im Yoonjae - vocal director
- Charlie Mason - songwriter, producer
- Oscar Gorres - songwriter, songwriter
- Danny Saucedo - songwriter
- Choi Yeongkyung - vocal director
- Lee Sungho - recording
- Lee Joohyung - recording
- Kim Jung-bae - songwriting
- Shinmin - string arrangement, conductor
- Hong Junho - guitar
- Lee Sanghoon - drums
- Kenzie - organ, producer, recording, vocal director
- Jun Kandi - songwriter
- Johan Gustafson - songwriter, producer
- Jee Yoon Yoo - songwriter
- Lee Shinsung - songwriter
|
- Fredrik Häggstam - songwriter, producer
- Sebastian Lundberg - songwriter, producer
- Pixie Lott - songwritter
- Louis Schoorl - songwriter
- Hwang Hyun - vocal director, recording
- Lee Joohyung - vocal director
- Choi Yeongkyung - background vocals
- Jonathan Yip - producer
- Ray Romulus - producer
- Reremy Reeves - producer
- Kim Taesung - arrangement
- Kim Yongshin - arrangement
- Nam Goongjin - mixing
- Kim Jiyeon - background vocal
- Lee Joohyung - recording
- Hyuk Shin- songwriter, producer
- Matthew Heath - songwriter
- Hailey Collier - songwriter
- DK - songwriter
- Jordan Kyle - songwriter, producer
- Lee Yoonji - guitar
- Lee Chanmi - songwriter
- Sumi - songwriter
- Lee Soo Man - executive producer
|
Chart performance
Albums chart
| Chart |
Peak
position |
| Gaon Weekly albums chart |
1 |
| Gaon Monthly albums chart |
|
| Japan Oricon Weekly Albums Chart |
|
| US Billboard World Albums |
1 |
| US Billboard Heatseekers Albums |
2 |
| US Billboard Independent Albums Albums |
23 |
Single Chart
I Got a Boy
| Chart |
Peak
position |
| Gaon Singles chart |
1 |
| Gaon Streaming Singles chart |
5 |
| Gaon Download Singles chart |
1 |
| Gaon Mobile Ringtone chart |
10 |
| Gaon Karaoke chart |
|
| Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 |
1 |
|
Dancing Queen
| Chart |
Peak
position |
| Gaon Singles Chart |
1 |
| Gaon Streaming Singles chart |
2 |
| Gaon Downloads Singles chart |
1 |
| Gaon Mobile Singles chart |
5 |
| Gaon Karaoke chart |
|
| Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 |
2 |
|
Other Charted Song
| Song |
Peak chart position |
| KOR |
Gaon
|
Billboard
K-pop Hot 100
|
| "Express 999" |
14 |
35 |
| "Baby Maybe" |
21 |
29 |
| "Talk Talk" |
28 |
49 |
| "Lost In Love" |
30 |
45 |
| "Promise" |
31 |
48 |
| "Romantic St." |
38 |
56 |
| "Look At Me" |
41 |
67 |
| "XYZ" |
42 |
76 |
Sales and certifications
| Chart |
Amount |
| Gaon physical sales |
|
| Japan Oricon physical sales (Korean Edition) |
|
Release history
| Region |
Format |
Date |
Label |
Edition |
| Worldwide |
Digital download |
January 1, 2013 |
S. M. Entertainment |
Regular Edition |
| South Korea |
CD |
January 2, 2013 |
S. M. Entertainment, KMP Holdings |
Regular Edition (Group and Solo Versions) |
| Japan |
February 6, 2013 |
Nayutawave Records |
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