"Step and a Step" is a song by Japanese girl group

NiziU NiziU (; ) is a Japanese-Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan through the reality-survival program '' Nizi Project'' (2020). The group is composed of nine members: Mako, Rio, Maya, Riku, Ayaka, Mayuka, ...

. It is the group's debut

maxi single A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...

and includes three other tracks. The song was pre-released digitally on November 25, 2020, and the

CD single A CD single is a single (music), music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Rainbow Books, Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any si ...

was released on December 2 by

JYP Entertainment JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1997 by Park Jin-young, J. Y. Park. Operating as a record label, talent ...

and

Epic Records Japan Epic Records Japan is a Japanese record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Its founder was Shigeo Maruyama. Between 1978 and 1988 the label operated as a wholly owned subsidiary: Epic/Sony Inc. () was established in August 1978

Background and release

NiziU was formed through the audition program, ''Nizi Project'' by

and

Sony Music Entertainment Japan , often abbreviated as SMEJ or simply SME, and also known as Sony Music Japan for short (stylized as ''SonyMusic''), is a Japanese music arm for Sony. Founded in 1968 as CBS/Sony, SMEJ is directly owned by Sony, Sony Group Corporation and is ...

, and is the first Japanese group to be managed by JYP. The group released its pre-debut EP '' Make You Happy'' in June 2020, which peaked at number one on both

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 ...

's digital album's chart and ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

''s Hot Albums chart. Following the commercial success of ''Make You Happy'', NiziU announced the release of their debut Japanese single titled "Step and a Step". Solo jacket album photos for group members Mako, Rio, and Maya, were released simultaneously on October 10. An online autograph session was announced the same day in which NiziU members would fulfill requests from fans. Album jacket photos featuring Riku, Ayaka, and Mayuka, were released on October 11, followed by photos of all members on October 12. In lead-up to the release of the single, an online collaboration campaign between NiziU and Lawson Store began in early-November. Despite participating in the recording of the single and appearing in the music video, Miihi was absent from the dance choreography portion and promotions for the single due to going on hiatus for health problems from October to December 2020. On November 25, 2020, "Step and a Step" was pre-released as a digital single on various online music portals in conjunction with the accompanying music video. The

was officially released on December 2, 2020. The physical version is available in four different limited editions: Regular Edition, First Press Limited Edition A and First Press Limited Edition B, and Fan Club Edition (With U Limited Edition). Edition A comes with a CD and a

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

containing the music video of "Step and a Step" and the making of album jacket photos. Edition B contains a CD and a 28-page booklet while the regular edition includes only the CD. All three versions contain "Step and a Step" as

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

and three other tracks "Joyful", "Sweet Bomb" and "Make You Happy" as B-side. The fanclub edition comes with the CD featuring only "Step and a Step" and "Joyful".

Composition

"Step and a Step" has lyrics written by Kentz, Yui Kimura, and

Park Jin-young Park Jin-young (; born December 13, 1971), also known by his stage names J. Y. Park and The Asiansoul or the initials JYP, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, record executive, and reality television show judge. Park rose to s ...

, with the latter also serving as the composer. Park Jin-young produced the track alongside Lee Hae-sol. A youthful and energetic

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

song with an "addictive" rhythm, its lyrics convey "a warm message" that is intended to heal listeners during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, through lines like, "It's okay if you go slowly, step by step, at your own pace".

Music video

The music video for the song was uploaded to JYP Entertainment'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 ...

channel on November 25, 2020. The music video is magical and features NiziU dressed in immaculate, white dresses as the members are seen performing choreography in multiple colorful settings. The video also includes a "rabbit" dance during the song's chorus.

Promotion

A documentary series titled ''We NiziU: We need U'' began airing on

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

from November 5, 2020, focussing on NiziU's journey towards their official debut. To commemorate the release of group's debut single, a one-time commercial featuring "Step and a Step" would be aired on NTV on November 25, 2020. In addition, 15-second solo commercials featuring each NiziU member would be broadcast on the

Nippon TV JOAX-DTV (channel 4), branded as (NTV) or Nippon TV, is a Japanese television station serving the Kantō region as the flagship station of the Nippon News Network and the Nippon Television Network System, owned and operated by the , a sub ...

affiliated stations of Kansai, Chubu, Hokkaido, Fukuoka, Miyagi and Okinawa corresponding to the home-towns of each member, from November 26 to December 2. "Step and a Step" was first performed on Nippon TV's ''Best Artist 2020'' year-end programme on November 25.

Korean version

"Step and a step" (Korean version) was released as part of the limited edition B of '' U'' on November 24, 2021.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2020 debut singles NiziU songs Songs in Japanese Songs written by Park Jin-young Oricon Weekly number-one singles Billboard Japan Hot 100 number-one singles JYP Entertainment singles Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles