Bad Boy (Big Bang song)
"Bad Boy" is a single by South Korean boy band Big Bang. It was released on February 29, 2012 by YG Entertainment, as the second single from their EP Alive. The track's R&B and hip hop sound was acclaimed by music critics, that consider it one of Big Bang's best songs. "Bad Boy" peaked at number two on South Korean's Gaon Digital Chart.
"Bad Boy" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Big Bang | ||||
from the EP Alive | ||||
Released | February 29, 2012 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 3:59 | |||
Label | YG Entertainment | |||
Songwriter(s) | G-Dragon, T.O.P | |||
Producer(s) | G-Dragon, Choice37 | |||
Big Bang singles chronology | ||||
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Release and composition
"Bad Boy" was the third song to the featured on the teaser videos from Alive, after "Blue" and "Love Dust."[2] The music video for the track was released on the same day as the album. The song charted at number one on online music charts after its release.[3] The first televised performance was held at the music show Inkigayo on March 11.[2] A Japanese version of the song was included at the Japanese studio albums Alive and The Best of Big Bang 2006-2014.
The song was penned by G-Dragon, who also produced the song with Choice37, and with additional rap parts written by T.O.P. "Bad Boy" is a piano-based R&B track.[4] The production was noted for its roots "in the airiest of hip-hop/R&B summer crossover,"[1] for including tropical elements[5] and was compared to the work of Boyz II Men and Justin Timberlake.[4] The rapping parts were described as "mellow," which gave the song a "airy flow."[5] Fuse described "Bad Boy" as a "unique mid-tempo track" that is "richly urban, set against a nostalgic '90s hip hop beat."[6]
Critical reception
"Bad Boy" is one of the group's most acclaimed work by music critics. Spin listed it at number thirteen in their "Greatest K-Pop songs of all-time list," stating that "Big Bang’s five very distinct personalities combine here for a single more singular than any of their K-pop peers can lay claim."[4] Fuse choose it as the only non-English song in their best songs of the year list, calling the track "soft, elegant, refined."[6] "Bad Boy" was also highlighted in The Fader's "A Year in Review" article, being described as "relieving as a joint and a Gatorade."[7]
Billboard placed the track at number five in their "Best K-Pop songs of the Year" list,[8] and claimed that "Bad Boy" stands out for "being the epitome of Big Bang’s unique brand of evocative hip-hop" and added "the song is a creeping earworm that hits all the right notes without much apparent effort and was an early adopter of the tropical elements so common in Korean hip-hop nowadays."[5] Sun-Times included the track in their unraked list of ten best Big Bang songs.[9] Gawker praised the track for being "so perfect it transcends language."[10]
Commercial performance
"Bad Boy" debuted and peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart, after the group's own "Blue," and at number one on the Gaon Download Chart, with first week sales of 537,161 downloads.[11][12] On its second week, the single remained at its peak position on both charts, selling additional 384,125 downloads.[13][14] For the month of March, "Bad Boy" was the fifth best performing song on Gaon.[15] By the end of the year, "Bad Boy" was the 30rd best selling song of 2012, with over 2.2 million downloads.[16]
Music video
The music video for "Bad Boy" was filmed in a 90s throwback style, using 360-degree rotation-capable MK-V AR Steadicam’s Arri Alexa cameras.[3] The shot took place in the New York City neighborhood Williamsburg, down by the Marcy Ave JMZ subway entrance.[1] It reached 100 million views on YouTube on December of 2016, making Big Bang the first Korean boy band to have five music videos that have hit over 100 million viewers.[17] Duncan Cooper from The Fader called the video "compelling and refreshingly unforced", writing that the group is "on the ground and they're walking the turf, and for four breezy minutes they're absolutely killing it."[1] Popdust ranked "Bad Boy" fourteen in their list of 20 Best K-pop videos of 2012, commenting that the video "proves that sometimes less really is more."[18]
Credits and personnel
Commercial performance
Chart (2012) | Peak position |
---|---|
South Korea (Gaon Weekly Digital Chart)[11] | 2 |
South Korea (Billboard K-pop Hot 100)[20] | 3 |
United States (World Digital Songs)[21] | 3 |
Sales
Chart (2012) | Peak position |
---|---|
South Korea (Gaon Download Chart) | 2,367,663[22] |
Release history
Region | Date | Format | Label |
---|---|---|---|
South Korea | February 29, 2012 | Digital download | YG Entertainment |
Worldwide | |||
Japan | March 28, 2012 | YG Entertainment, YGEX | |
References
- Cooper, Duncan (2012-03-05). "Video: BIGBANG, "Bad Boy"". The Fader.
- "Big Bang Unveils Teaser for "BAD BOY"". Soompi. February 24, 2012.
- Ho, Stewart (2012-02-29). "Big Bang Album and 'Bad Boy' MV Released". M Wave.
- "The 21 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time". Spin. 2012-06-01. Retrieved 2016-05-24.
- Tamar Herman. "BIGBANG 10 must listen songs". Billboard. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
- Staff, Fuse. "The 40 Best Songs of 2012: Fuse Staff Picks". FUSE. Retrieved 2013-02-10.
- "A Year in Music: Naomi Zeichner". The Fader. 2012-12-19.
- Benjamin, Jeff (2012-12-21). "20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2012: BIGBANG, PSY, 2NE1 & More". Billboard.
- Miller, Kaitlin (2015-05-02). "Big Bang's 10 best songs of the past 10 years". Sun-Times. Archived from the original on 2016-02-07. Retrieved 2017-02-20.
- Chen, Adrian (2012-03-09). "The Real Perfect New Pop Song Is This K-Pop Hit, 'Bad Boy'". Gawker.
- "Digital Chart". Gaon Chart. February 29, 2012.
- "2012년 10주차 Download Chart". Gaon Chart. March 10, 2012.
- "2012년 11주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Chart. March 10, 2012.
- "2012년 11주차 Download Chart". Gaon Chart. March 10, 2012.
- "2012년 03월 Digital Chart". Gaon Chart. March 10, 2012.
- "2012년 Download Chart". Gaon Chart. March 10, 2012.
- "Big Bang's 'Bad Boy' video reaches 100m YouTube viewers". The Jakarta Post. 2016-12-16.
- "The 20 Best K-pop Music Videos of the Year (That Aren't "Gangnam Style")". Popdust. December 13, 2012. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
- "Alive - BIGBANG". Qobuz (in French). Retrieved 2017-02-28.
- "Korea K-Pop Hot 100 Chart". Billboard. March 17, 2012.
- "World Digital Songs". Billboard. March 17, 2012.
- Cumulative sales for "Bad Boy"
- "Online Download – Year End 2012". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
- "Special Edition Version - Online Download – June 2012". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
- "Online Download – Week 15 of 2013". Gaon Chart. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
- "Online Download – Week 02 of 2014". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "Online Download – Week 04 of 2014". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "Online Download – Week 06 of 2014". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "Online Download – Week 09 of 2014". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "Online Download – Week 10 of 2014". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
- "Online Download – Week 19 of 2015". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 2 October 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
- "Online Download – Week 20 of 2015". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2016.