"Obsession" is a song by South Korean–Chinese boy band

Exo Exo (; stylized in all caps) is a South Korean-Chinese boy band based in Seoul formed by SM Entertainment in 2011 and debuted in 2012. The group consists of nine members: Xiumin, Suho, Lay Zhang, Lay, Baekhyun, Chen (singer), Chen, Chanyeol, ...

, released on November 27, 2019, as the lead single of their sixth studio album ''

Obsession Obsession may refer to: Psychology * Celebrity worship syndrome, obsessive addictive disorder to a celebrity's personal and professional life * Obsession (psychology), a persistent attachment to an object or idea * Fixation (psychology), persist ...

''. The music video was released on the same date.

Background and composition

Produced by

Dem Jointz Dwayne Allen Abernathy Jr. (born July 17, 1976), known professionally as Dem Jointz, is an American record producer, songwriter and singer. He has been credited with production work for artists including Kanye West, Rihanna, Anderson .Paak, Emi ...

, who also co-wrote with Cristi "Stalone" Gallo, Asia'h Epperson, Ryan S. Jhun, Adrian McKinnon, Arys Chien, Kenzie and

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 ...

, "Obsession" is described as a hip-hop dance track featuring repeating spell-like vocal samples over a heavy beat, as well as an addictive R&B infused chorus. The lyrics convey a straightforward monologue of ones willingness to escape from the darkness of an awful obsession.

Music video

The music video was directed by labelmate

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 ...

. On August 12, 2020, the music video surpassed 100 million views on

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 ...

, becoming their eleventh to do so.

Promotion

Exo promoted the album and song with teasers throughout November 2019, including a minute-long ''EXODEUX'' concept trailer, which showcases the member's "X-Exo" alter-ego's, as well as a music video teaser which was released 6 hours before the music video.

Accolades

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. Studio * SM LVYIN 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 ...

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 Blue Cup Studio – mixing * 821 Sound – mastering Personnel *

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 ...

– 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 *

– vocals **

Baekhyun Byun Baek-hyun (; born May 6, 1992), known mononymously as Baekhyun, is a South Korean singer and actor. He is a member of the South Korean-Chinese boy band Exo, its subgroup Exo-K and its subunit Exo-CBX. In 2019, Baekhyun became a leader of ...

–

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

** Chen – background vocals * Kenzie – Korean lyrics, vocal directing * Arys Chien – Chinese lyrics *

– 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 ...

* Cristi "Stalone" Gallo – composition, background vocals * Asia'h Epperson – composition * Adrian McKinnon – composition * Ryan S. Jhun – composition *

– composition, music and sound supervisor * Lee Ji-hong – recording, digital editing, engineered for mix * Noh Min-ji – recording * Jung Eui-seok – mixing * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs Exo songs Songs in Korean SM Entertainment singles Songs written by Dem Jointz Songs written by Kenzie (songwriter) Songs written by Ryan S. Jhun Songs written by Yoo Young-jin