"Monster" is a song by South Korean–Chinese boy band Exo, released on June 9, 2016, as the second single from their third studio album Ex'Act. It was released in both Korean and Chinese versions by their label SM Entertainment.
Background and release
Exo performing "Monster" in June 2016
Composed and arranged by Kenzie, LDN Noise, and Rodnae "Chikk" Bell, with the Korean lyrics written by Kenzie and Deepflow and the Chinese lyrics written by Kevin Yi, "Monster" is described as a "dark and intense" medium-tempo dance song with lyrics about a man's "excessive fixation on his lover".[1] The song served as one of the "double title tracks" for Ex'Act, the other being "Lucky One", and was released together with the album on June 9, 2016. Exo began performing the song on South Korean music TV shows on the same day.
Music videos
The Korean and Chinese music videos for "Monster" were released one hour after the song itself. Apart from Exo's performances of the song at various settings, the videos also depict the members as rebels that were eventually captured but ultimately released from a prisoner transport vehicle by Baekhyun, who has been disguised as the driver. The Korean version was the fourth most-watched K-pop music video on YouTube in 2016.[2] An additional music video exclusively showcasing the song's choreography was released on June 15, 2016.
On June 8, 2018, the Korean music video exceeded 200 million views on YouTube, and on November 13, 2019 it exceeded 300 million, becoming their first music video to achieve both milestones, as of now, the music video reached 400 million becoming their 2nd highest watched music video on Youtube.[3][4]
Reception
"Monster" topped both South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart and the BillboardWorld Digital Songs chart, becoming Exo's first number one on the latter.[5][6] The song won first place nine times in total on South Korean weekly music TV shows, and was the most awarded song by a boy group in 2016. It was nominated for Song of the Year at the 18th Mnet Asian Music Awards, and was named the second and third best K-pop songs of 2016 by Dazed and Billboard respectively.[7][8]
^Jung Eun-jin (June 8, 2016). "EXO returns as 'Monster'". Korea Herald. Archived from the original on January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
^"2016년 전 세계에서 가장 많이 본 K-Pop 뮤직비디오 Top10은?". 인터넷판 (in Korean). December 21, 2016. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
^"엑소 '몬스터' MV, 조회수 2억 돌파". Ten Asia. June 8, 2018. Archived from the original on September 11, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
^"엑소(EXO), "몬스터" 뮤직비디오 3억 뷰 돌파". 100Korea. November 13, 2019. Archived from the original on February 21, 2020. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
^ a b"Gaon Digital Chart – Week 24, 2015". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
^ a bBenjamin, Jeff (June 14, 2016). "EXO Earns First No. 1 on World Digital Songs With 'Monster'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
^Glasby, Taylor (December 14, 2016). "The 20 best K-Pop tracks of the year". Dazed. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
^Benjamin, Jeff (December 22, 2016). "20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2016: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 9, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
^Benjamin, Jeff; Oak, Jessica (December 22, 2016). "The 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2016: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 1, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
^"THE 20 BEST SONGS OF 2016". Fuse. December 5, 2016. Archived from the original on December 9, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
^Glasby, Taylor (December 13, 2016). "The 20 best K-Pop tracks of the year". Dazed. Archived from the original on December 21, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
^"Billboard Japan Hot 100 – June 27, 2016". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 13, 2016. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
^"Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 5, 2024.
^"Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
^"Gaon Digital Chart – 2016". Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 15, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
^"World Digital Song Sales - Year-End 2016". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 18, 2020. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
^"Gaon Download Chart – 2016". Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
^"EXO's 'Obsession' Leads K-Pop Group to Fourth Billboard 200 Entry, No. 1 on World Digital Song Sales Chart". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
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