''28 Reasons'' is the debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

by South Korean singer

Seulgi Kang Seul-gi (; born February 10, 1994), known mononymously as Seulgi, is a South Korean singer and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Red Velvet (group), Red Velvet, its sub-unit Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi, and the super ...

. It was released by

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

on October 4, 2022, and contains six tracks, including the lead single of the same name.

Background and release

On September 6, 2022,

announced that South Korean singer

, a member of their group Red Velvet, would release her first solo album in October 2022. On September 13, SM revealed the title of her first

(EP), ''28 Reasons'', set to be released on October 4. On the same day, an album trailer video was released. On September 19, the promotional schedule was released. On September 26, a mood sampler video was released through Red Velvet's social media accounts. On October 3, the music video teaser for the lead single, "28 Reasons", was released.

Composition

The EP contains a total of six songs. The lead single, "28 Reasons", is described as a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

song characterized by

groovy ''Groovy'' (or, less commonly, ''groovie'' or ''groovey'') is a slang colloquialism popular during the 1960s and 1970s. It is roughly synonymous with words such as "excellent", "fashionable", or "amazing", depending on context. History The word ...

and heavy bass sounds and featuring a whistling sound. The lyrics depict a character who is both "good and evil" and the way this affects the relationship they are in. "Dead Man Runnin" is a R&B, dance-pop song featuring "energetic" drums, synth sounds, and bass drops. Written by Seulgi, in the lyrics she expresses her anxiety and the emptiness she felt when she was hurt in the past. In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Seulgi explained "It was a song that makes you feel like a villain will appear. How will the villain appear? I made up that narrative and thought of someone who would want to destroy the world. These are thoughts we don't normally have. I got a lot of help from films — Joker, in particular. He was hurt and abused before he turned into a villain. When you hear the song, I think those emotions come to the surface." "Bad Boy, Sad Girl" is a mid-tempo R&B song featuring rapper Be'O that features a "bouncing" piano. "Anywhere but Home" is a " disco-style" song with elements of R&B and dance-pop, with lyrics describing taking a ride to an "unfamiliar place" on a sleepless night. "Los Angeles", is an EDM song with a drop of techno sound. Lyrically, it describes the scenery of the "City of Angels", and the feeling of excitement and anticipation of finding a new dream in an unfamiliar place. "Crown" is an R&B dance-pop track with heavy drum and

synth A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

melody.

Promotion

On October 4, 2022, Seulgi held a live broadcast on YouTube and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

to commemorate the release of ''28 Reasons''.

Critical reception

Rhian Daly of ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' called the EP "pure brilliance" in his five-star review, saying it "moves cohesively through dark and delicious tracks that draw from different facets of R&B and dance-inflected pop, each incorporating opposing forces of light and dark, as hinted in the good vs evil narrative". ''NME'' listed the EP as one of the best Asian albums of 2022, highlighting "Dead Man Runnin'" as the EP's key track and writing: "''28 Reasons'' is a dark, existential story told through serpentine lyricism, watertight sonics and above all, Seulgi’s dulcet voice, which cuts through the haze like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. ''28 Reasons'' is a solid start for Seulgi as she begins to explore her creative voice and hones her craft." South Korea publication ''

Idology ''Idology'' () is a South Korean music webzine specializing in idol criticism, founded by music expert Mimyo in 2014, and consists of about 10 writers. Mimyo, whose Korean name translates to "Subtlety", serves as the webzine's editor-in-chief. ...

'' listed the EP as one of the best K-pop albums of the year, praising the themes of duality of the protagonist.

Commercial performance

''28 Reasons'' debuted at number three on the

Circle Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Koreabased on their Record sales, physical sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, ...

in the chart issue dated October 2–8, 2022, with 171,262 copies sold. In Japan, the EP debuted at number 13 on the

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...

in the chart issue dated October 17–23 , 2022, with 4,156 copies sold. On the

Billboard Japan Hot Albums The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot Albums, also referred to as Combined Albums, is the primary album record chart published by ''Billboard Japan''. It is released weekly on Thursday in Japan Standard Time. The Hot Albums was launched on the week dated ...

, it debuted at number nine in the chart issue dated October 26, 2022.

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes. Studio * SM Booming System –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

, mixing, engineered for mix,

digital editing In mass communication, digital media is any communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronic d ...

* SM Big Shot Studio – recording , mixing , digital editing * SM Yellow Tail Studio – recording * SM Blue Ocean Studio – mixing * SM Blue Cup Studio – mixing * SM Lvyin Studio – recording , mixing , digital editing , engineered for mix * SM Ssam Studio – recording * SM Starlight Studio –

* Sonic Korea – mastering * 821 Sound Mastering – mastering * Doobdoob Studio – digital editing * BPM Studio – digital editing * Sound Pool Studio – digital editing Personnel *

– executive producer *

Lee Soo-man Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred to as the "p ...

– producer *

Lee Sung-soo Lee Sung-soo (; also spelled Lee Sung-su; born November 3, 1979) is a South Korean music production director and A&R executive. He is the chief A&R officer of SM Entertainment. He was formerly the CEO of SM Entertainment and SM Entertainment U ...

– production director, executive supervisor *

Tak Young-jun Tak Young-jun (; also spelled Tak Young-joon; born January 17, 1978) is a South Korean business executive and the current COO and co-CEO of SM Entertainment. He is the CEO of SM Life Design Group and a representative director of SM Entertainme ...

– executive supervisor *

– vocals , background vocals , lyrics *

Yoo Young-jin Yoo Young-jin is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer and vocal trainer formerly under SM Entertainment. He has produced and written songs for H.O.T., S.E.S, BoA, Shinhwa, TVXQ, CSJH The Grace, Super Junior, Girls' Generatio ...

– producer , lyrics,

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...

, vocal director, background vocals, recording, mixing, engineered for mix, digital editing , music and sound supervisor * Kriz – composition , vocal director , background vocals * January 8th – lyrics ** Jeon Ji-eun – lyrics *

Jo Yoon-kyung Jo Yoon-kyung () is a South Korean lyricist and writer. She has written primarily for SM Entertainment artists such as BoA, Girls' Generation, Shinee, Exo, NCT, Red Velvet, and Aespa. In 2017, she won Lyricist of the Year at the Gaon Chart ...

– lyrics * Sean Kennedy – composition * Johan Fransson – composition, arrangement * Henrik Goranson – composition, arrangement * Imlay – arrangement * Yaakov "Yash" Gruzman – producer , composition, arrangement, drums, keyboards, synthesizer,

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

, background vocals *

Shaun Frank Shaun Charles Frank (born June 7, 1982) is a Canadian DJ, singer-songwriter and record producer. He was a part of the band Crowned King and later left that to join Envy. He ventured on his own after Envy broke up and has collaborated with EDM a ...

– composition *

Audra Mae Audra Mae Butts (born February 20, 1984) is an American singer and songwriter from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is the great-niece of Judy Garland, and a great-granddaughter of Garland's sister, Dorothy Virginia Gumm. Since arriving in California ...

– composition * danke (Lalala Studio) – lyrics *

Be'O Yoo Chan-wook (; born April 27, 2000), known professionally as Be'O (; stylized in all caps), is a South Korean rapper and songwriter. He first garnered attention when he appeared on the rap competition TV show ''Show Me the Money 10'' in 2021. ...

– lyrics, composition, background vocals * Dino Medanhodžić – producer , composition, arrangement, background vocals * Johanna Jansson – composition, background vocals * Ryan S. Jhun – producer , composition, arrangement * Seo Mi-rae (ButterFly) – vocal director *

Seo Ji-eum Seo Ji-eum (; born December 15, 1986), is a South Korean lyricist and singer. She started getting recognition after writing the lyrics for Girls' Generation-TTS's "Twinkle" and f(x)'s "Electric Shock". She won the Lyricist of the Year Award at ...

– lyrics * Emile Ghantous – producer , composition, arrangement * Leslie Johnson – producer , composition, arrangement * Josh Goode – composition * Sofia Quinn – composition * Carly Gibert – composition, background vocals * Lee Joo-myung – vocal director * Jung Il-li – lyrics *

Jennifer Decilveo Jennifer Decilveo is an American Grammy-winning, Brit and Mercury Prize-nominated record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. Her production and songwriting credits include Beth Ditto of The Gossip, Bat for Lashes, Andra Day, Porridg ...

– producer , composition, arrangement *

Oliver Goldstein Oliver was an American electronic music production and DJ duo consisting of Vaughn Oliver and Oliver Goldstein, based in Los Angeles. Career Vaughn (also known as U-Tern) and Goldstein (also known as Oligee), were hip hop and scratch DJs in t ...

– composition * Wens – composition, background vocals * Justin Seiser – producer , composition, arrangement * Kim Yeon-seo – vocal director * Kim Su-ji (Lalala Studio) – lyrics * Lee Ji-yoon (

Jam Factory Jam Factory may refer to: * Jam Factory (band), an American soul music group from Syracuse, New York, active in the 1970s *Jam Factory (music publisher) Jam Factory may refer to: * Jam Factory (band), an American soul music group from Syracuse, Ne ...

) – lyrics * Hitimpulse – producer , composition, arrangement *

Violet Skies Hannah Berney, known as Violet Skies, is a singer-songwriter from Chepstow in Monmouthshire, Wales. Musical career In 2013, Violet Skies released her first song, "How the Mighty". ''WalesOnline'' called it "a pulsing, classically arranged elect ...

– composition, arrangement * Ilira Gashi – composition, arrangement * Kim Tae-woo – background vocals *

Kenzie Kenzie is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Mononym *Kenzie (rapper) (born 1986), British rapper, DJ, actor, and personal trainer; past member of hip hop group Blazin' Squad *Kenzie (songwriter) (born 1976), South K ...

– vocal director * Lee Min-gyu – recording , mixing , digital editing * Lee Ji-hong – recording , mixing , digital editing , engineered for mix * Noh Min-ji – recording * Kang Eun-ji – recording * Kim Cheol-sun – mixing * Jung Eui-seok – mixing * Shin Soo-min – mastering assistant * Jeon Hoon – mastering * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering * Eugene Kwon – digital editing * Jung Woo-young – digital editing * Min Sung-soo – digital editing * Jung Yu-ra – digital editing * Jung Ho-jin – digital editing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Seulgi 2022 debut EPs Korean-language EPs 2020s Korean-language albums SM Entertainment EPs