Regular-Irregular

Regular-Irregular is the first studio album by South Korean boy band NCT 127, the second sub-unit of the South Korean boy group NCT. Described as a multi-genre concept album with a total of eleven tracks, the album was released by SM Entertainment on October 12, 2018, and distributed by IRIVER. This marks NCT 127's first Korean major release in a year and four months since their previous EP, Cherry Bomb, which was released in June 2017.[1] It is also their first release as a ten-member group since the addition of Jungwoo in September 2018.[2][3]

Regular-Irregular
Studio album by NCT 127
Released	October 12, 2018 (2018-10-12)
Recorded	2018
Studio	SM Studios, Seoul, South Korea
Genre	K-pop hip hop Pop R&B
Length	40:01
Language	Korean English
Label	SM iRIVER
Producer	Lee Soo-man (exec.) Yoo Young-jin LDN Noise Hitchhiker Andreas Öberg Simon Petrén The Stereotypes Mike Daley Mitchell Owens Vedo George Kranz Esna Deez Michael Jiminez Tay Jasper Double Dragon Francesco Yates Rory Andrew Jenna Andrews Dylan Pace-Rodriguez
NCT 127 chronology
Chain (2018) Regular-Irregular (2018) Up Next: Session NCT 127 (2018)
NCT chronology
We Go Up (2018) Regular-Irregular (2018) Up Next: Session NCT 127 (2018)
Singles from Regular-Irregular
"Regular" Released: October 12, 2018
Repackaged edition cover
Regulate digital cover artwork
Singles from Regulate
"Simon Says" Released: November 22, 2018

Upon its release, Regular-Irregular attained commercial success in both South Korea and other countries. The album debuted atop the Gaon Album Chart and became one of the few releases to stay longer than a single week at No. 1 in 2018. Additionally, it debuted at No. 86 on the US Billboard 200 in the week of October 27, 2018, thus becoming NCT 127's first entry on the chart.[4] It is also the group's highest charting release on the UK and France's download albums charts and first entry on the Australian Digital Albums chart.

The album's repackage, Regulate, was released on November 23, 2018, along with its lead single, "Simon Says".[5]

Background and release

Regular-Irregular

On September 17, a teaser video was released on the group's Twitter account which shows flashes of the words "regular" and "irregular", as well as a new NCT 127 logo. Later that day, SM Entertainment announced the addition of Jungwoo to the group and that NCT 127 would release its first full-length album Regular-Irregular on October 12.[6] Following the announcement, NCT 127 entered the Billboard's Social 50 at number five for the week of September 29.[7] Photo and video teasers were released from September 18 up to October 11.[8]

On October 8, NCT 127 released the music video of the English version of their new single "Regular", which marks the group's first English-language song.[9] The music video for the Korean version of "Regular" was released on October 11, 2018.[10] The album was released on October 12, 2018.[11]

Regulate

On November 13, 2018, NCT 127 announced the release of the album's repackage, Regulate with teasers of the members.[12] The album and its lead single, "Simon Says", released on November 23, 2018.[5][13]

Composition

The album's theme revolves around the exploration reality and dreams. The album incorporates several genres; such as pop, dance, R&B, ballad and hip-hop.[11]

"Regular" is described as a high-energy hip hop track with sensual Latin vibes that incorporates Spanish lyrics.[9] Billboard noted that unlike many Korean songs re-released by K-pop bands in other languages, the English version of "Regular" differentiates itself from the Korean version through the content of their lyrics.[11] The Korean one addresses their current state as a group trying to make its way in the world, in contrast to the hopeful, goal-oriented swagger expressed in the English alternative. While both versions focus on money, the Korean addresses the reality of their world versus the luxurious lifestyle expressed in the English.[11][14]

The sixth track, "Interlude: Regular to Irregular" contains the music used in the video "NCT 2018 Yearbook #1" as well as a rearranged version of a future bass composition (titled "The 7th Sense – Reverse") by Korean electronica musician Hitchhiker that was performed by the sub-unit in the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards. The track also contains narrations done in Korean (by new member Jungwoo), Japanese (by Yuta) and Mandarin (by Winwin), as well as a verse from the American author Edgar Allan Poe's 1849 poem "A Dream Within a Dream" narrated by member Johnny. The eighth track, "Come Back", is a Korean version of the originally released Japanese track off their debut Japanese EP Chain. The bonus track, "Run Back 2 U", is the complete version of the demo song (originally titled "Bassbot") the sub-unit has performed when majority of the members were still part of the SM Rookies project in 2015.

Promotion

Regular-Irregular

NCT 127 kick-started promotions for the album in the U.S. with television promotions and a partnership with Apple Music.[15][16]

They performed their new single "Regular" as well as "Cherry Bomb" on the Jimmy Kimmel Live! outdoor concert series stage on October 8, marking their U.S. television debut;[17][18] The group also appeared at the 2018 American Music Awards.[19] They performed at ABC's Mickey's 90th Spectacular TV special on November 4.[20]

NCT 127 was also announced as Apple Music's 'Up Next' Artist; the group was featured on Apple-based platforms, including a short film exploring the band and their music, an Apple Music–only choreography video, and a Beats 1 interview.[21][22]

Regulate

On November 22, it was announced that member Winwin would not participate in promotions for Regulate as he was preparing for the group's Chinese activities.[23]

NCT 127 performed on Music Bank for "Simon Says" on November 23, 2018. NCT 127 had their comeback stage for the album during MBC Music's Show Champion, & on December 5, 2018, where they performed "Simon Says", & "Chain (Korean version)".

Reception

Regular-Irregular

In a positive review, Billboard praised the album for showcasing both the group's artistry and skill through its diversity of sounds and experimental approach towards an album concept, helping to solidify their style.[11]

Regulate

On December 10, it was announced that "Simon Says" had become the group's first song to chart at number one on the US Digital Song Sales chart.[24]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Naver

Regular-Irregular

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"City 127" (Korean: 지금 우리; RR: Jigeum Uri; lit. Now We)	JQ (Makeumine Works) Moon Hee-yeon (Makeumine Works) Taeyong Mark	The Stereotypes Micah Powell Clarence Coffee Jr. Taeyong	The Stereotypes	3:19
2.	"Regular"	Coogie (ATM Seoul) Tommy $trate Taeyong Mark	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens Wilbart "Vedo" McCoy III George Kranz Yoo Young-jin	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens	3:37
3.	"Replay (PM 01:27)" (sung by Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Winwin, Jungwoo, and Haechan)	Bang Hye-hyun	LDN Noise Varren Wade	LDN Noise	3:39
4.	"Knock On"	Zaya (Joombas) Kim Min-ji	Gene Noble MZMC	MZMC	3:25
5.	"No Longer" (Korean: 나의 모든 순간; RR: Naui Modeul Sungan; lit. All My Moments) (sung by Taeil, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, and Haechan)	Hyun Hwang (MonoTree)	Andreas Öberg Simon Petrén Gustav Karlström Onestar (MonoTree) eSNa	Simon Petrén	4:57
6.	"Interlude: Regular to Irregular" (Narrated by Johnny, Yuta, Winwin, and Jungwoo)		Kim Kyung-min Hitchhiker	Hitchhiker Yi Nile	3:10
7.	"My Van" (Korean: 내 Van; RR: Nae Van) (sung by Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, and Mark)	Kim Dong-hyun Taeyong Mark	Kim Dong-hyun 250	250	3:26
8.	"Come Back" (Korean: 악몽; RR: Akmong; lit. Nightmare)	Bong Eun-young Ryu Da-som Taeyong Mark	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens Deez Michael Jiminez Jeremy "Tay" Jasper MZMC	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens	3:25
9.	"Fly Away with Me" (Korean: 신기루; RR: Sin-gilu; lit. Mirage)	Kang Eun-jung Hwang Yoo-bin	Rory Wynne Andrew Francesco Yates Jenna Andrews Dillon Pace	Dillon Pace	3:32
10.	"Regular" (English version)	Wilbart "Vedo" McCoy III Taeyong Mark	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens Wilbart "Vedo" McCoy III George Kranz Yoo Young-jin	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens	3:39
11.	"Run Back 2 U" (Bonus track)	Kim Min-seok Double Dragon	Donald "haZEL" Sales Double Dragon	Double Dragon	3:39
Total length:					40:02

Regulate repackage[25]

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"City 127" (Korean: 지금 우리; RR: Jigeum Uri; lit. Now we)	JQ (Makeumine Works) Moon Hee-yeon (Makeumine Works) Taeyong Mark	The Stereotypes Micah Powell Clarence Coffee Jr. Taeyong	The Stereotypes	3:19
2.	"Regular"	Coogie (ATM Seoul) Tommy $trate Taeyong Mark	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens Wilbart "Vedo" McCoy III George Kranz Yoo Young-jin	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens	3:37
3.	"Replay (PM 01:27)" (sung by Taeil, Johnny, Yuta, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Winwin, Jungwoo, and Haechan)	Bang Hye-hyun	LDN Noise Varren Wade	LDN Noise	3:39
4.	"Welcome to My Playground"	Seo Ji-eum Ra.D BrotherSu Taeyong Mark	Johan Gustafsson Ra.D BrotherSu	Johan Gustafsson	3:59
5.	"Knock On"	Zaya (Joombas) Kim Min-ji	Gene Noble MZMC	MZMC	3:25
6.	"No Longer" (Korean: 나의 모든 순간; RR: Naui Modeul Sungan; lit. All My Moments) (sung by Taeil, Doyoung, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, and Haechan)	Hyun Hwang (MonoTree)	Andreas Öberg Simon Petrén Gustav Karlström Onestar (MonoTree) eSNa	Simon Petrén	4:57
7.	"My Van" (Korean: 내 Van; RR: Nae Van) (sung by Taeyong, Yuta, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, and Mark)	Kim Dong-hyun Taeyong Mark	Kim Dong-hyun 250 (songwriter)	250 (songwriter)	3:26
8.	"Interlude: Regular to Irregular" (Narrated by Johnny, Yuta, Winwin, and Jungwoo)		Kim Kyung-min Hitchhiker	Hitchhiker Yi Nile	3:10
9.	"Simon Says"	JQ (Makeumine Works) DADA (Makeumine Works) Tommy $trate	Anne Judith Wik Ronny Svendsen Jin Suk Choi Bobii Lewis Yoo Young-jin	Dsign Music Yoo Young-jin	3:19
10.	"Come Back" (Korean: 악몽; RR: Akmong; lit. Nightmare)	Bong Eun-young Ryu Da-som Taeyong Mark	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens Deez Michael Jiminez Jeremy "Tay" Jasper MZMC	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens	3:25
11.	"Fly Away with Me" (Korean: 신기루; RR: Sin-giru; lit. Mirage)	Kang Eun-jung Hwang Yoo-bin	Rory Wynne Andrew Francesco Yates Jenna Andrews Dillon Pace	Dillon Pace	3:32
12.	"Chain" (Korean version)	JQ (Makeumine Works) On Gyeol Sohlhee	250 Albin Nordqvist (Cosmic Music)	250	3:43
13.	"Regular" (English version)	Wilbart "Vedo" McCoy III Taeyong Mark	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens Wilbart "Vedo" McCoy III George Kranz Yoo Young-jin	Mike Daley Mitchell Owens	3:39
14.	"Run Back 2 U" (Bonus track)	Kim Min-seok Double Dragon	Donald "haZEL" Sales Double Dragon	Double Dragon	3:39
Total length:					51:00

Charts

Album Weekly charts Chart (2018) Peak position Australian Digital Albums (ARIA)[26] 19 French Download Albums (SNEP)[27] 43 Japanese Weekly Albums (Oricon)[28] 6 Japanese Weekly Digital Albums (Oricon)[29] 5 South Korean Albums (Gaon)[30] 1 UK Download Albums (OCC)[31] 42 US Billboard 200[32] 86 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[33] 5 US World Albums (Billboard)[34] 2 US Top Album Sales (Billboard)[35] 23 Year-end charts Chart (2018) Position South Korean Albums (Gaon)[36] 17 US World Albums (Billboard)[37] 14 Single "Regular" weekly charts Chart (2018) Peak position Singapore (RIAS)[38] 6 South Korea (Gaon)[39] 92 South Korea (Kpop Hot 100)[40] 16 US World Digital Songs (Billboard)[41] 2 "Simon Says" weekly charts Chart (2018) Peak position New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[42] 37 South Korea (Kpop Hot 100)[43] 39 US World Digital Songs (Billboard)[44] 1

Sales

Region	Sales
South Korea (Gaon)	292,341+[45]
Japan (Oricon)	14,137
United States (Billboard)	8,000[46]

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
South Korea (KMCA)[47]	Platinum	250,000^*
^*sales figures based on certification alone

Accolades

Year-end lists

Critic/Publication	List	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	The 20 Best K-Pop Albums of 2018: Critics' Picks	15	[48]

Music program awards

Song	Program	Date
"Regular"	The Show (SBS MTV)	October 16, 2018
		October 23, 2018
	M! Countdown (Mnet)	October 25, 2018
	Music Bank (KBS)	October 26, 2018

Release history

Region	Date	Format	Label
South Korea	October 12, 2018	CD digital download streaming	SM Entertainment iRIVER
United States
Various		Digital download streaming

References

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