"I" is the debut single by South Korean singer

Kim Tae-yeon 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 ...

(better known by her mononym Taeyeon) featuring

Verbal Jint Kim Jin-tae (; born December 19, 1980), better known by his stage name Verbal Jint (), is a South Korean musician, rapper and record producer who is known for his innovations in Korean hip hop rhyme schemes. He established himself as one of Sout ...

, taken from Taeyeon's debut EP of the same name. The song lyrics was written by Taeyeon herself, Mafly, and

, while the music was composed and arranged by Myah Marie Langston, Bennett Armstrong, Justin T. Armstrong, Cosmopolitan Douglas, David Quinones, Jon Asher, and Ryan S. Jhun. It was released digitally on October 7, 2015, in conjunction with the release of the EP, and was released on

Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS; ) is the public broadcasting, national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters under the government of South Korea. The KBS ope ...

's "K-Pop Connection" radio on October 9. Upon its release, "I" received generally favorable reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

, who praised its musical styles and Taeyeon's vocals. The single peaked atop the South Korean

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 ...

and has since sold over 2.5 million digital copies as of October 2018. To promote the song and the EP, Taeyeon made several appearances on music programs including ''

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. ...

'', ''

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 ''

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 Leeteuk ...

''.

Background and release

South Korean singer

(better known by her mononym Taeyeon) is a member and the leader of popular girl group

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 ...

. She has been widely recognized as a talented vocalist, yet had never ventured to record her official solo album until 2015. Taeyeon's vocal abilities are showcased on tracks she recorded for Korean films and televisions, including "If" ('' Hong Gil Dong'', 2008), "

I Love You The phrase "I love you" is a declaration of love. I Love You, I Love U, or I Luv U may refer to: Film and television Films * ''I Love You'' (1918 film), a silent drama written by Catherine Carr, starring Alma Rubens * ''I Love You'' (1925 ...

" ('' Athena: Goddess of War'', 2010), and "Closer" (''

To the Beautiful You ''To the Beautiful You'' () is a 2012 South Korean television drama series starring Sulli, Choi Min-ho, and Lee Hyun-woo. It aired on SBS from 15 August to 4 October 2012 on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:55 ( KST) for 16 episodes. It is base ...

'', 2012). In April 2015, Taeyeon is featured on labelmate

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 ...

's song "Shake That Brass" for her debut extended play ''

Beautiful Beautiful, an adjective used to describe things as possessing beauty, may refer to: Film and theater * ''Beautiful'' (2000 film), an American film directed by Sally Field * ''Beautiful'' (2008 film), a South Korean film directed by Juhn Jai-h ...

'', which generated much attention from the public. On September 10, 2015,

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 ...

revealed that Taeyeon was working on her then-upcoming debut solo album without ensuring the exact release date. On October 7, Taeyeon's debut extended play '' I'' was officially released by S.M. Entertainment. The EP received generally favorable reviews from

and was a commercial success in South Korea, peaking at number two on the

Gaon 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, ...

. The title track, "I", was released digitally in conjunction with the release of the EP as its lead single. The song was sent to

's "K-Pop Connection" radio on October 9.

Composition

"I" is a

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

song that was compared to

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...

's ''

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

'' album opening track " State of Grace" by Jeff Benjamin from ''Billboard''. The lyrics of the song were written from an autobiographical narrative perspective. The lyrics speak from Taeyeon's point of view on being a celebrity and, in the singer's own words, "about being yourself in a freer way, while moving on from hard and frustrating times". The singer has also said that she wanted the song to express a "Music is my life" feeling.

Music video

The music video was filmed in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and employed nature scenery as the backdrop. It includes sweeping landscapes juxtaposed with city scenes and tells the story of a young woman "in search of her true identity". Taeyeon's older brother makes a cameo in the video as a patron of The Portland Public House bar in Kingsland suburb where she works.

Reception

The song received positive reviews from

. It was named the 2nd and 15th best K-pop song of 2015 by US magazine ''Billboard'' and British magazine ''

Dazed ''Dazed'' (''Dazed & Confused'' until February 2014) is a quarterly British lifestyle magazine founded in 1991. It covers music, fashion, film, art, and literature. ''Dazed'' is published by Dazed Media, an independent media group known for produ ...

'', respectively. It ranked #58 on Billboard's 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s. Commercially, the song is her best-selling single in the United States with digital sales totaling 15,000 units.

Accolades

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

Release history

Credits

Credits are adapted from the CD liner notes of ''I''.

Studio

* SM Blue Ocean Studio –

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,

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 ...

* MonoTree Studio – recording, additional vocal editing * Sterling Sound – mastering

Personnel

–

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

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 *

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 ...

– lyrics, vocals, background vocals *

– featuring vocals, lyrics * Mafly – lyrics * Myah Marie Langston –

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 ...

* Bennett Armstrong – composition, arrangement * Justin T. Armstrong – composition, arrangement * Cosmopolitan Douglas – composition, arrangement * David Quinones – composition, arrangement * Jon Asher – composition, arrangement * Ryan S. Jhun – composition, arrangement * Lee Joo-myung – recording, background vocals * G-high – vocal directing,

Pro Tools Pro Tools is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed and released by Avid Technology (formerly Digidesign) for Microsoft Windows and macOS. It is used for music creation and production, sound for picture (sound design, audio post-productio ...

operating, additional vocal editing * Kim Cheol-sun – recording, mixing, digital editing *

Tom Coyne Tom Coyne may refer to: * Tom Coyne (writer), American writer and professor * Tom Coyne (broadcaster) (1930–2015), British television presenter * Tom Coyne (music engineer) (1954–2017), American mastering engineer * Thomas Coyne (cricketer) (18 ...

– mastering

References

External links

* {{authority control 2015 songs 2015 debut singles Taeyeon songs Songs in Korean Songs written by David Quinones Songs written by Jon Asher Songs written by Ryan S. Jhun SM Entertainment singles Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles South Korean pop rock songs