UN Village

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

"UN Village"
Single by Baekhyun
from the EP City Lights
LanguageKorean
ReleasedJuly 10, 2019 (2019-07-10)
Recorded2019
StudioSM LVYIN (Seoul)
Genre
Length3:55
Label
  • SM
  • Dreamus
Composer(s)
  • LIØN
  • dress
Lyricist(s)LIØN
Producer(s)dress
Baekhyun singles chronology
"Young"
(2018) 		"UN Village"
(2019) 		"My Love"
(2020)
Music video
"UN Village" on
YouTube

"UN Village" is a song recorded by South Korean singer Baekhyun. It was released on July 10, 2019, as the lead single of his debut extended play, City Lights.[1] The song was written and composed by LIØN and dress. Musically, "UN Village" was described as a R&B song with groovy beats and string sounds.

Upon release, "Un Village" received generally positive reviews from

Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo
.

Background and release

On July 10, Baekhyun made his official debut as a solo artist with the extended play City Lights,

Gaon Album Chart, and became the best-selling solo album of 2019. "UN Village" was released on July 10 for digital download and streaming in various countries by SM Entertainment, as the lead single of City Lights.[1]

Composition

"UN Village" was described as an

F♯ minor, with a tempo of 84 beats per minute and is three minutes and fifty five seconds long.[4] The lyrics are about a romantic moment a couple shares under the moonlight of UN Village hill in Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul.[3]

Reception

"UN Village" received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Riddhi Chakraborty from Rolling Stone India described "UN Village" as a "strong opener with complex and smooth R&B melodies". She added that "Baekhyun takes his time to build up effortless and intricate vocal runs but it’s still just a small taste of what his voice is truly capable of".[5]

Year-end lists
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref.
Genius
 		The Genius Community's 50 Best Songs of 2019 49 [6]
Refinery29 The Best K-Pop Songs Of 2019 9 [7]
CelebMix Top 10 KPOP songs of 2019 10 [8]

Music video and promotion

An accompanying music video for "UN Village" was uploaded to SM Entertainment's official YouTube channel, simultaneously with the single's release.[9] It was preceded by a teaser released on the same platform on July 4. The video features a colored and black-and-white theme of the singer while he roams around the titular neighborhood emoting his feelings as he sings.[10] In a music video commentary video, Baekhyun revealed that the music video was shot in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.[11][12]

Before the official release, Baekhyun held a private showcase in Seoul Arts Center where he performed the song for the first time for the media.[13] Two hours after the release, he held a live broadcast through Naver's V Live app, where he talked about the album, songs and production process.[14]

On July 11, a behind clip of "UN Village" music video was released through Baekhyun's official YouTube channel as a

Music Bank on July 12, 2019.[16] On the same day, he performed the song on the show You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook.[17] On July 19, Baekhyun received his first music trophy for "UN Village" on KBS's Music Bank.[18]

Commercial performance

"UN Village" debuted at number 22 on the

Gaon Digital chart issue dated July 7–13, 2019.[19] The song also debuted at number two on the component Download Chart.[20] Additionally, the song charted at number 23 on the US Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.[21]

Accolades

Music program awards
Program Date Ref.
Music Bank (KBS
) 		July 19, 2019 [18]
July 26, 2019 [22]
Show! Music Core (MBC) July 20, 2019 [23]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.[24][25]

Studio

  • SM LVYIN Studio –
    recording
  • doobdoob Studio –
    digital editing
  • SM Booming System – engineered for mix
  • SM Yellow Tail Studio – mixing
  • Bernie Grundman Mastering –
    mastering

Personnel

Charts

Weekly

Chart (2019) Peak
position
South Korea (
Gaon)[19]
 22
South Korea (K-pop Hot 100)[26] 1
US World Digital Songs (Billboard)[21] 23

Monthly

Chart (2019) Peak
position
South Korea (
Gaon)[27]
 51

Release history

Region Date Format Label
South Korea July 10, 2019
  • Dreamus
Various SM Entertainment

References

  1. ^ a b c Tan, Pakkee (July 10, 2019). "Take a Trip To The 'UN Village' With EXO's Baekhyun: Watch". E!Online. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  2. ^ "EXO's Baekhyun Set to Release Debut Solo Album". Billboard. June 10, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Lee, Han-na (July 2, 2019). "EXO Baekhyun releases teaser for solo album". The Korea Times. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  4. ^ "Key and BPM of UN Village by BAEKHYUN | Musicstax". musicstax.com. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  5. ^ "Review: EXO's Baekhyun Embraces Dark R&B Immersion On 'City Lights' -". July 17, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  6. ^ "The Genius Community's 50 Best Songs of 2019". Genius. December 20, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  7. ^ Morin, Natalie (December 20, 2019). "The Best K-Pop Songs Of 2019". Refinery29 . Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  8. ^ Nicholas, Ellie (December 31, 2019). "Celebmix's Top 10 KPOP songs of 2019". CelebMix. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  9. ^ Baekhyun 백현 'UN Village' MV. SM Entertainment. July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ "EXO's Baekhyun Releases 'City Lights' Album: Watch the Smooth Music Video for 'UN Village'". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  11. ^ "[V LIVE] EXO BAEKHYUN's". www.vlive.tv. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  12. ^ "[V LIVE] EXO BAEKHYUN says the best scene in the M/V was - Star Road EP02". www.vlive.tv. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  13. ^ "엑소 백현, 10일 솔로 데뷔 쇼케이스 개최..전 세계 생중계[공식]". entertain.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  14. ^ "'시티 라이츠 쇼케이스' 솔로 데뷔 백현, "엑소 멤버들, 내게 '신박하다'더라"(V앱 종합)". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  15. ^ 백현 Baekhyun (July 11, 2019), 백현이의 브이로그 (UN Village Behind Clip), retrieved July 12, 2019
  16. ^ "[인싸뮤직] 다음 주 컴백 예고, 몽환적 분위기의 하성운·감미로운 세레나데 백현". 뉴스인사이드 (in Korean). July 6, 2019. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
  17. ^ "'유희열의 스케치북' 엑소 백현, 솔로 무대 선보이며 자신의 꿈 밝혀". 아시아경제 (in Korean). July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  18. ^ a b Park, Ha-na (July 19, 2019). "'뮤직뱅크' 백현, '유엔빌리지'(UN Village) 출연 없이 1위, 벤 꺾었다". News1 via Naver (in Korean). Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  19. ^ a b "Digital Chart – Week 28 of 2019". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  20. ^ "Download Chart – Week 28 of 2019". gaonchart.co.kr. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  21. ^ a b "Billboard World Digital Song Sales". Billboard. July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  22. ^ Im, Young-jin (July 26, 2019). "'뮤뱅' 백현, 2주 연속 1위..NCT DREAM 컴백+CIX 데뷔 [종합]". TV Report via Naver (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  23. ^ Jang, Woo-young (July 20, 2019). "'음악중심' 백현, 벤-헤이즈 꺾고 2관왕 등극…노라조·펜타곤 컴백 [종합]". Osen via Naver. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  24. ^ Baekhyun (2019). City Lights (photobook). South Korea: SM Entertainment; Dreamus. Credits.
  25. ^ "Try the TIDAL Web Player". listen.tidal.com. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  26. ^ "Billboard Korea K-pop 100". Billboard. July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  27. ^ "Gaon Digital Chart - July 2019". gaonchart.co.kr. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
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