I Got a Boy (song)

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"I Got a Boy"
Single by Girls' Generation
from the album I Got a Boy
ReleasedJanuary 1, 2013 (2013-01-01)
Recorded2012
StudioSM Booming System, Seoul
Genre
Length4:31
Label
  • SM
  • KT Music
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Yoo Young-jin
Producer(s)
  • Will Simms
  • Yoo Young-jin
Girls' Generation singles chronology
"Dancing Queen"
(2012)
"I Got a Boy"
(2013)
"Love & Girls"
(2013)
Music video
"I Got a Boy" on
YouTube
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Rolling Stone[1]

"I Got a Boy" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group

bubblegum pop, dance, and electropop
.

"I Got a Boy" was met with critical acclaim from music critics, who praised its eclectic sound and noted it as a "phenomenon" that could challenge popular Western artists like

Japan Hot 100 and number 3 on the US World Digital Songs
.

A music video for the song was filmed in October 2012. It features

Nappytabs. It won the award for Video of the Year at the first YouTube Music Awards in 2013, which generated much attention for beating other popular nominees like Justin Bieber and Psy despite the fact that the group was considered lesser-known to the Western audience at the time.[2]

Background and composition

“I Got a Boy” was composed and arranged by European composers Will Simms, Sarah Lundbäck Bell, Anne Judith Wik, and South Korean composer Yoo Young-jin, with the Korean lyrics written by Yoo Young-jin, who is also the group’s longtime collaborator. The song was recorded at SM Entertainment studio, SM Booming System, and was produced by Will Simms and Yoo Young-jin.[3] The song was almost given to Missy Elliott before it was acquired by SM, where the A&R team “came up with various ideas by editing the song day and night.”[4] Girls' Generation member Tiffany said the song's eclectic structure was in part inspired by the group's managers, who encouraged them to release bolder music that suited them more as they aged, saying, “We had discussed that we wanted to do something more challenging. This felt like it was it, because I had never heard anything like it yet. The song is a song that keeps giving.”[4]

"I Got a Boy" is a

pop-rap.[9] The song was composed in the key of E minor, with a tempo of 98 beats per minute.[10]

Music video and promotion

The music video was praised for its flamboyant fashion style, particularly with this scene in which Girls' Generation perform the choreography.

On January 1, 2013, Girls' Generation performed "I Got a Boy" for the first time on their

Music Bank, MBC's Music Core, and SBS's Inkigayo.[12][13][14]

The music video for the song was directed by Hong Won-ki for

Nappytabs, who had worked with the group's labelmates TVXQ and BoA. It aired on Mnet and was released on SM Entertainment's YouTube channel on January 1, 2013.[15]

According to MTV's Liza Darwin, the costumes featured in the music video included streetwear fashion such as Kenzo x Opening Ceremony, Adidas Collection by Jeremy Scott and printed leggings; Stüssy's "Good Vibe" T-shirt, Obey's "OG Basic" crewneck, and Joyrich varsity jacket. In the sleepover scene, the girls are seen wearing clothes by UK independent label Lazy Oaf, such as a Batman shirt, a "fruity" T-shirt, and a "pizza crewneck". The fashion style in the visual was hailed as "a kaleidoscopic streetwear explosion", and the music video itself "a fashion whirlwind ... jam-packed with rad clothes".[16] Clyde Barretto from Prefix magazine opined that the video was "more colorful than a rainbow" and featured "alluring" and "bombastic" dance moves.[17]

The video became an instant success on YouTube, achieving over 20 million views within six days and becoming the fastest K-pop video to achieve such a feat at its time of release.[18] It reached 200 million views on November 3, 2017,[19] and has since amassed over 247 million views on YouTube as of September 2021.

Critical reception

"I Got a Boy" received critical acclaim from

music critics. The Los Angeles Times music critic Randall Roberts called it a "scattered anthem" and a "gleefully chaotic" song that could "indicate pop music's future trajectory."[20] Billboard K-Town columnist Jeff Benjamin praised the song as "one of the most-forward thinking lead pop singles heard in any country"[6] for its intense mix of different sounds and melodies, and commended Girls’ Generation for "[setting] the bar truly high for pop in 2013."[5][6] Staff writers of Entertainment Weekly picked "I Got a Boy" as Girls' Generation "key track" and recommended the group as one of the fifteen "artists to watch" in 2013.[21]

Rolling Stone's contributor Nick Catucci described the song as a "musical gymnastics routine."

Pitchfork Media's Jakob Dorof listed the song as part of his 20 Essential K-Pop Songs Lists, writing that "I Got a Boy" helped "prove the adventurousness of K-pop’s listenership," and believed it was "perhaps the most structurally variable mega-hit since 'Bohemian Rhapsody'."[22] In 2017, Billboard named the song number 21 on their list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.[23] At the end of 2019, the publication named the song as one of the 100 songs that defined the 2010s[4][24] as well as their fifth best K-pop song of the 2010s.[25]

"I Got a Boy" on critic lists
Publication Year List Rank Ref.
Billboard 2013 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2013: K-Town Picks 10 [26]
2017 The 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time 21 [23]
2019 The 100 Greatest K-pop Songs of the 2010s 5 [25]
100 Songs That Defined the Decade No order [4]
2023 100 Best Pop Songs Never to Hit the Hot 100 27 [27]
The Dong-a Ilbo 2016 Best female songs according to experts 6 [28]
Melon 2021 Top 100 K-pop Songs of All Time 33 [29]
Pitchfork 2014 20 Essential K-pop Songs No order [22]
Time 2013 Top 10 Songs of 2013 5 [8]

Accolades

Girls' Generation at the 2014 Golden Disc Awards

The song was nominated for

Song of the Year at the 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards.[30] The music video for "I Got a Boy" won the award for Video of the Year at the first YouTube Music Awards, held on November 3, 2013, at Pier 36 in New York City.[2] Following the event, Girls' Generation received a considerable amount of negative feedback from Western audience as the group was not well known in the United States compared to other nominees for the same category including Psy, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga.[31][32] As a result of the controversial event, the music video gained 86,000 views on the awards day, up from 25,000 the day before. The following five days, it achieved an increase of 327% in viewership.[33]

Awards and nominations
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2013
Gaon Chart Music Awards
Song of the Month (January) Won [34]
Mnet 20's Choice Awards Hot Online Music Nominated
Mnet Asian Music Awards Song of the Year Nominated
YouTube Music Awards Video of the Year Won [35]
2014 Golden Disc Awards Digital Bonsang Nominated
Myx Music Awards Favorite K-Pop Video Nominated [36]
Music program awards
Program Date Ref.
M Countdown January 10, 2013 [37]
January 17, 2013 [38]
January 24, 2013 [39]
Music Bank January 11, 2013 [40]
January 18, 2013
January 25, 2013

Commercial performance

"I Got a Boy" was a domestic success; it debuted atop the South Korean

Credits

Credits adapted from I Got a Boy album liner notes.[3]

Studio

  • SM Booming System –
    digital editing
  • Sonic Korea –
    mastering

Personnel

  • SM Entertainment – executive producer
  • Lee Soo-man – producer
  • Girls' Generation – vocals
    • background vocals
    • Jessica – background vocals
    • Tiffany – background vocals
    • Seohyun – background vocals
    • Sunny – background vocals
  • background vocals
    , recording, mixing, digital editing, music and sound supervisor
  • Yang Geun-young – background vocals
  • Will Simms – producer, composition, arrangement
  • Sarah Lundbäck Bell – composition, arrangement
  • Anne Judith Wik – composition, arrangement
  • Jeon Hoon – mastering
  • Kim Young-min – executive supervisor

Charts

References

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External links