''My Name'' is the fourth Korean-language studio album (seventh overall) by South Korean recording artist BoA, released through

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 June 11, 2004. BoA promoted the album with the singles "My Name" and "Spark", the latter of which is a Korean-language cover of " Keep My Cool" (2002) by

Luis Fonsi Luis Alfonso Rodríguez López-Cepero (born April 15, 1978), known by his stage name Luis Fonsi (), is a Puerto Rican singer. He is known for his soulful and dance oriented songs, most notably 2017's "Despacito". Fonsi received his first Latin ...

. The album saw BoA's transition into a more mature image in comparison to her previous records. Commercially, ''My Name'' debuted at number one on the monthly MIAK album chart for June 2004, and was the 11th best-selling album of the year in South Korea with sales of 192,000 copies. Her first foray into the Chinese market, the overseas version of the album was released on August 12, 2004, and includes remakes of two of her songs in Chinese and an alternative cover. At the 2004 Mnet KM Music Video Festival, "My Name" won the Music Video of the Year award.

Composition

The album's title track, "My Name", is a dance song with urban influences and was regarded by observers as BoA's transition into more mature concept. The following single, "Spark," is a Korean-language cover of

's "Keep My Cool" from his album '' Fight the Feeling'' (2002), and likewise showcased BoA sporting a more masculine concept. In September 2004, BoA released a music video for the ballad track "My Prayer"; it consists of snippets of BoA's life as a trainee in addition to behind-the-scenes footage of her promoting her previous albums. The last song of the album, "We", is a ballad that incorporates Korean traditional music instrumentations from the

daegeum The ''daegeum'' (also spelled ''taegum'', ''daegum'' or ''taegŭm'') is a large bamboo flute, a transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. It has a buzzing membrane that gives it a special timbre. It is used in court, aristocratic, and f ...

sogeum The ''sogeum'' (; also spelled ''sogum'' or ''sogŭm'') is a small bamboo transverse flute used in traditional Korean music. Unlike the larger '' daegeum'', it does not have a buzzing membrane (although it did have one in ancient times). It is ...

, and

haegeum The ''haegeum'' () is a traditional Korean string instrument, resembling a vertical fiddle with two strings; derived from the ancient Chinese '' xiqin''. It has a rodlike neck, a hollow wooden soundbox, and two silk strings, and is held verti ...

. It was used as the ending song for the Japanese version of the movie ''

Taegeukgi The national flag of South Korea, also known as the ''Taegeukgi'' (), consists of three components: a white rectangular background, a red and blue ''taegeuk'' in its center, accompanied by four black trigrams, one in each corner. The predece ...

'', which was released earlier that year in February.

Critical reception

Lee Min-hee from '' IZM'' praised the album, writing that the record showcased BoA growing "into a more sensual and sophisticated woman", at the same maintaining her originality while exploring new sounds and musical styles. Lee added that although BoA was only 17 at the time, she possessed the "maturity and energy of an adult artist".

Commercial performance

Commercially, ''My Name'' achieved success in South Korea, peaking at number one on the MIAK monthly albums chart for June 2004, and sold over 201,000 copies by mid-2005. It placed number seven for highest sales of the year. The album was further released in Japan on March 26, 2008; however, it failed to chart on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that ...

Top 100.

Accolades

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Yearly charts

Sales

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2004 albums BoA albums SM Entertainment albums 2000s Korean-language albums