''Beautiful'' 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 American singer and rapper
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin. Examples of it have been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since the Neolithic times, and worked as a gemstone since antiquity."Amber" (2004). In Maxine N. Lurie and Marc Mappen (eds.) ''Encyclopedia ...
, who is a member of South Korean girl group
f(x). The EP was released on February 13, 2015 by
S.M. Entertainment
SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, 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 ...
.
Background and release
S.M Entertainment announced the solo debut of Amber on November 30, 2014, revealing that the album is set to be released in February 2015. She is the second after
Shinee
Shinee ( ; ; ; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group consists of four members: Onew, Key (entertainer), Key, Choi Min-ho, Minho, and Taemin. Originally a five-piece band, Jonghyun died on ...
's
Jonghyun to debut as a solo artist among S.M. Entertainment's artists in the year, and the first f(x) member to make their solo debut.
It was revealed that the EP was written and composed by Amber, including the lead single, "Shake That Brass", which features
Girls' Generation
Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piec ...
member
Taeyeon
Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one ...
. In the February 12 broadcast of SBS Power FM's 'Cultwo Show', Amber revealed that she personally asked the singer if she wanted to be featured in the song.
The music video of 'Shake That Brass' also gained attention for the number of celebrities that were featured in it. Besides Taeyeon, her fellow Girls' Generation member
Hyoyeon
Kim Hyo-yeon (; born September 22, 1989), known professionally as Hyoyeon or DJ Hyo, is a South Korean singer, dancer, and DJ. She debuted as a member of the girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-s ...
was also featured, along with
Jackson
Jackson may refer to:
Places Australia
* Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region
* Jackson oil field in Durham, ...
of
Got7,
Park Joon-hyung of
g.o.d
g.o.d (; acronym for Groove Over Dose) is a South Korean boy band formed by IHQ (company), SidusHQ. Debuting in 1999, the group became one of the most popular boy bands of the early 2000s in South Korea. The members had gone on to solo careers ...
,
Jia
JIA or Jia may refer to
JIA
* Japan Institute of Architects
* Juína Airport IATA code
* Jacksonville International Airport, a medium-to-large airport in the U.S. city of Jacksonville, Florida
* Jetstream International Airlines, now known as PSA ...
&
Min of
Miss A
Miss A (; stylized in all caps or miss A) was a South Korean girl group formed by AQ Entertainment, a subsidiary of JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in July 2010 with the single " Bad Girl Good Girl" as a quartet consisting of Fei, Jia, ...
, Ellin of
Crayon Pop
Crayon Pop () is a South Korean girl group formed under Chrome Entertainment in 2012. The group consisted of four members: Geummi, Ellin, Choa, and Way. Their fifth member, Soyul, left the group in 2017.
Crayon Pop officially debuted in July 20 ...
, Brad of
Busker Busker,
Woori of
Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...
, Aron of
NU'EST
NU'EST (; short for New Establish Style Tempo) was a South Korean boy band formed and managed by Pledis Entertainment. The group consisted of five members: Kim Jong-hyeon, JR, Aron (singer), Aron, Baekho (singer), Baekho, Hwang Min-hyun, Minhyu ...
, Rome of
C-Clown
C-Clown (; short for Crown Clown) was a South Korean boy band under Yedang Entertainment. It had six members: Rome, Siwoo, Ray, Kang Jun, T.K, and Maru. They disbanded on October 5, 2015 after being together for three years.
History
Prior to hi ...
, model Irene Kim and comedian
Ahn Young-mi.
Days after its release, ''Beautiful'' topped Hanteo's overall daily albums chart and also ranked second on the real-time chart. Its music video, which was released the same day as the album's release, also managed to get 1 million hits on YouTube within a day. The album also debuted at #2 on ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' World Albums chart, and #19 on
Heatseekers Albums
The Heatseekers charts were "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. The Heatseekers Albums and the Heatseekers Songs charts were introduced by ''Billboard'' in 1991 with the purpose of highlighting the sales b ...
. Jeff Benjamin of ''
Billboard K-Town
''Billboard'' K-Town is an online magazine column presented weekly, on various days, by ''Billboard'' on its ''Billboard.com'' site. The column, launched on January 29, 2013, reports on K-pop music; artists, concerts, chart information and ne ...
'' notes that it is a testament to the singer's large international fan base. "Shake That Brass" also debuted at #4 on ''Billboard's'' World Digital Songs chart, making it the highest debut of the week.
Composition
The lead single "Shake That Brass", which featured labelmate
Taeyeon
Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one ...
, has a strong hip-hop beat mixed with playful brass instrumentation. The song was co-composed and co-written by Amber. The EP also includes the tracks, "Love Run" and "Heights".
"Beautiful" was pre-released on February 9, and also had a lyric video which contained childhood photos of Amber uploaded on S.M Entertainment's official YouTube channel on the same day. The song is an acoustic ballad, and its lyrics, written 3 years before its release, tells the story of the hardships the rapper faced as she achieved her dreams of becoming an entertainer.
The last track, "I Just Wanna", is the
English version of "Goodbye Summer", a song by f(x), which was included in the group's second studio album, ''
Pink Tape''. The song was composed by Amber and Gen Neo of
music producer
A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
team NoizeBank.
Amber used her original English lyrics on the track, with
Eric Nam
Eric Nam (; born November 17, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality based in South Korea. Since his debut in 2013, he was named ''GQ Koreas Man of the Year in 2016'','' included on ''Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia ...
featuring on guest vocals.
Promotion
On February 13, 2015, ''Beautiful'' was released digitally in South Korea and globally. Amber made her debut stage on ''
Music Bank'' on the same day and performed two songs, "Beautiful" and "Shake That Brass" with
Red Velvet's Wendy
Wendy is a given name generally given to girls in English-speaking countries.
In Britain during the English Civil War in the mid-1600s, a male Captain Wendy Oxford was identified by the Leveller John Lilburne as a spy reporting on his activit ...
filling in for Taeyeon's parts.
[ The singer also performed the song with fellow f(x) member ]Luna
Luna commonly refers to:
* Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages
* Luna (goddess)
In Sabine and ancient Roman religion and myth, Luna is the divine embodiment of the Moon (Latin ''Lūna'' ). She is often presented as t ...
on ''Show Champion
''Show Champion'' () is a South Korean music television program broadcast live by MBC M every Wednesday at Bitmaru Broadcasting Center in Ilsan.
Hosts
* Shindong (February 14, 2012 – December 25, 2012)
* Hahm Eun-jung (January 30, 2013 – ...
'', ''M! Countdown
''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leete ...
'', ''Music Bank'', ''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 ...
'' and ''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. ...
''.
Track listing
Credits are adapted from Naver
Naver (; stylized as NAVER) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. The company's products include a search engine, email hosting, blogs, maps, and mobile payment.
History
Naver was the first Korean web provide ...
.
Charts
References
External links
*
*
*
{{Authority control
SM Entertainment EPs
Korean-language EPs
2010s Korean-language albums
2015 EPs