"A-Cha" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band. The group is composed of Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun. Han Geng, Kibum, and ...

that was released on September 19, 2011, by their label

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 ...

and distributed by

KMP Holdings KMP Holdings (acronym for Korean Music Power; ) was a South Korean music distribution company. It was headquartered in Gangnam-gu, Seoul and was opened on March 18, 2010. History In March 2010, KMP Holdings was established via a joint venture be ...

as the

lead single A lead single (or first single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. A similar term, "debut ...

for their fourth reissue album '' A-Cha'', a reissue of the group's fifth studio album, '' Mr. Simple''. The Japanese version of the track is featured on the group's debut Japanese studio album, ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. The original hero type of classical epics did such thin ...

'' which was released in 2013.

Background

Following the release of the ''Mr. Simple'' album in August 2011, Super Junior announced plans for album reissue called ''A-Cha'' along with its lead single of the same name on September 15. "A-Cha" was released on September 19, the same day as the reissue album's release.

Composition

"A-Cha" features the vocals of nine active members —

Leeteuk Park Jeong-su (; born July 1, 1983), known professionally as Leeteuk (; ), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter, radio personality, and actor. He debuted as the leader of the boy band Super Junior in November 2005 and since then ha ...

Heechul Kim Hee-chul (; born July 10, 1983), better known mononymously as Heechul, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter, and actor. He is a member of the South Korean boy band Super Junior and has further participated in its subgroup Su ...

Yesung Kim Kang-hoon (born Kim Jong-woon; August 24, 1984), better known by his stage name Yesung, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, radio personality, and television presenter. He debuted in 2005 as a member of Super Junior and its subgroup ...

Sungmin Sung-min, also spelled Seong-min, is a Korean unisex given name (predominantly masculine). Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 27 hanja with the reading " sung" and 27 hanja with the reading ...

Shindong Shin Dong-hee (; born September 28, 1985), known professionally as Shindong (lit. meaning: "prodigy"), is a South Korean rapper, singer, dancer, host, radio personality, and video director. He is best known as a member of Super Junior and its s ...

Eunhyuk Lee Hyuk-jae (born April 4, 1986), better known by his stage name Eunhyuk, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and television host. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Super Junior and its subgroups Super Junior-T an ...

Donghae Donghae () may refer to: * East Sea, the South Korean name of the Sea of Japan ** Donghae Expressway, the name of the expressway in South Korea ** Donghae Line, a railway line in Busan, South Korea * Donghae City, in South Korea ** ''Donghae''-c ...

Ryeowook Kim Ryeo-wook (born June 21, 1987), better known by the mononym Ryeowook, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, and musical actor. He is best known as a member of boy group Super Junior and its subgroups, Super Junior-K.R.Y. and Super Junior- ...

, and Kyuhyun.

Kangin Kim Young-woon (born January 17, 1985), better known by his stage name Kangin (lit. meaning: "strong benevolence"), is a South Korean former singer, actor, television host, and radio personality. He is best known as a former member of Super ...

was away on

mandatory military service Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...

. The song is based on electrohouse and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

which separated it from the group's existing dance songs such as " Sorry, Sorry" and "

Bonamana ''Bonamana'' (; literally: ''Beauty'') is the fourth studio album by South Korean boy band Super Junior. It is the first album with ten out of the original 13 members to take part, also marking the first album not to feature all active members. ...

" that were dubbed as "SJ Funky." The song's melody was composed and arranged by Hitchiker. It was composed in the key of

D major D major is a major scale based on D (musical note), D, consisting of the pitches D, E (musical note), E, F♯ (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, and C♯ (musical note), C. Its key signature has two S ...

with the

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...

of 125 beats per minute. Its lyrics were penned by Kim Boo-min, narrating the song akin to

Alonso Quijano Alonso Quijano (; spelled Quixano in English and in the Spanish of Cervantes' day, ), more commonly known by his pseudonym Don Quixote, is a fictional character and the protagonist of the novel '' Don Quixote de la Mancha'' by Miguel de Cervante ...

of the ''

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

'' novel, a character trying to hold on to his wavering lover.

Music video

The teaser for the music video was released on the evening of September 23 on SM Town's

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

pages. The full music video was released on the following day.

Commercial performance

In South Korea, "A-Cha" peaked at number 15 on

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based on ...

for the 40th week of 2011, ranging from September 18 to September 24 and peaked at number 19 on the

Korea K-Pop Hot 100 The K-pop Hot 100 was a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by ''Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multim ...

. It sold 710,531 units. In the United States, on ''Billboards

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—its first issue was dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-speci ...

chart, "A-Cha" peaked on number 2, spending 10 weeks on the chart.

Live performances

Super Junior debuted "A-Cha" live on MBC's ''

Show! Music Core ''Show! Music Core'' (), or simply ''Music Core'' is a South Korean music television program broadcast by MBC. It airs live every Saturday at 15:30 (KST). The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. I ...

'' on September 23. The group performed the song during their appearances at KBS' ''

Music Bank ''Music Bank'' () is a South Korean music program which airs every Friday at 17:15 KST on KBS2. the show is also broadcast in more than a hundred countries through KBS World. Episodes are filmed at the KBS New Wing Open Hall in Yeouido-dong, Ye ...

'' and SBS' ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' (; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform on stage. ...

'' on September 25. The song is later included in the setlist of the group's debut world tour, Super Show 4.

Charts

Weekly charts

Credits

Credits adapted from album's liner notes. Studio * SM Yellow Tail –

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 * Sonic Korea – mastering 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 *

– vocals * Hitchiker – producer,

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 directing, background vocals, sound programming, guitar, synthesizer * Kim Boo-min – Korean lyrics * Leonn – Japanese lyrics * Koo Jong-pil – mastering

Release history

References

{{Super Junior singles 2011 singles Electro house songs SM Entertainment singles Songs in Korean Super Junior songs South Korean electronic dance music songs South Korean rock songs 2011 songs