''Sticker'' is the third Korean-language and fourth overall

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by South Korean boy band

NCT 127 NCT 127 () is the first fixed and second overall sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT (group), NCT, formed and managed by SM Entertainment. They originally debuted on July 7, 2016, with their debut extended play ''NCT 127 (EP), NCT#127'', ...

. It was released on September 17, 2021, by

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 ...

, distributed by

Dreamus Dreamus is an electronics and entertainment company founded in 1999 originally as ReignCom. Currently headquartered in South Korea (and formerly in the United States), it is the parent company of South Korean-based iRiver, Astell & Kern and FL ...

in South Korea and

Virgin Music Virgin Music, known as Virgin Music Label & Artist Services until 2022 and originally as Caroline Distribution, was a music distributor of independent artists and record labels, most prominently Death Grips, Weezer, and Radiohead. Virgin Music ...

in United States. It follows their Japanese-language EP ''

Loveholic Loveholics (), previously known as Loveholic () was a South Korean modern rock group founded in April 2002 who released their first album in 2003. The band successfully released six albums, including a short compilation album and a reissue of th ...

'', released in February 2021, and previous Korean-language studio album ''

Neo Zone ''Neo Zone'' (also known as ''NCT #127: Neo Zone'') is the second Korean studio album (third overall) by the South Korean boy band NCT 127. Preceded by the music video release for "Dreams Come True" on NCT 127 Day, January 27 (1/27), the 13-track ...

'', released in March 2020. On October 25, the group released a repackaged version of ''Sticker'', titled ''Favorite'', which features three new tracks, including the lead single "

Favorite (Vampire) "Favorite (Vampire)" is a song that was recorded by South Korean boy band NCT 127 and was released as the lead single from the repackaged edition of their third studio album '' Sticker'' (2021) on October 25, 2021. It is primarily a R&B track t ...

". The album and its reissue were commercially successful in South Korea, selling a total of 3.58 million copies. ''Sticker'' peaked at number 40 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, becoming NCT 127's first appearance on said chart. On the ''Billboard'' 200, ''Sticker'' peaked at number three and became the highest and longest-charting album by the group. The lead single "Sticker" received mixed reviews from critics, although the album was generally praised. Several publications named it as one of the best K-pop albums from 2021. ''Sticker'' won Best Album at the 2021

Asia Artist Awards Asia Artist Awards (; abbreviated AAA) is an awards ceremony organized by South Korea-based business newspaper ''Money Today'' and its global media brands StarNews and MTN. This honors the outstanding achievements and international contribution ...

Background

On June 28, 2021, SM Entertainment released a presentation on the future of the company and planned comebacks of their artists during the "SM Congress" event. The presentation indicated that NCT 127 was planning to release a third studio album and repackage before the year's end. At a fanmeet in celebration of the group's fifth anniversary, they confirmed the album would have a September release window.

Promotion

''Sticker'' was teased with a concept trailer titled "Who Is Sticker", released on August 21, which depicted the members of NCT 127 as engineering students by day and computer hackers by night. On August 22, SM Entertainment announced the album's release date as September 17 on the group's social media accounts. On September 10, NCT 127 released a playlist called "Welcome to NCT 127 Sticker, the Enhanced Playlist" exclusively on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

. ''Sticker'' was officially released on September 17, and the group promoted the album and its title track on ''

The Late Late Show with James Corden ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known simply as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show that aired on CBS from 2015 to 2023. It is the fourth and final iteration of '' The Late Late Show'', and aired in the United Sta ...

''.

Commercial performance

''Sticker''

On August 24, 2021, after just one day of availability, it was reported that ''Sticker'' had surpassed 1,329,000 pre-orders, eventually surpassing 2.2 million pre-orders on the day of release, exceeding their previous career high of 530,000 pre-orders for ''

'' and setting a new record for artists under SM Entertainment. On September 24, 2021, NCT 127 broke their own sales record to become a double-million seller, with over 2.15 million copies of ''Sticker'' sold in just one week. As of November 2021, the album has sold 2.4 million copies. ''Sticker'' debuted at number three on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 58,000 copies in its first week.

''Favorite''

On October 25, 2021, it was reported that ''Favorite'' surpassed 1,060,000 pre-orders, making it the most pre-ordered repackaged album from SM Entertainment. One week after its release, it was reported that the album has sold 1.1 million copies, bringing the total sales of ''Sticker'' to 3.58 million copies.

Critical reception

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

's Shanicka Anderson reviewed the album and given it B + writing "with the album’s jarring use of such abrasive samples—especially throughout its lead single—it’s hard to imagine a world where any of that works and sounds good. But by blending these unlikely sounds with rich, powerful harmonies and solid rap verses, NCT 127 strikes a sweet balance and delivers an album that is fiercely creative and incredibly self-possessed." Lucy Ford writing for Clash, "'Sticker' has far less cohesion as you listen through, and whilst the whiplash of genres feels deliberate in regards to the overall message of the album (that the group can be a sticker, pulled and placed whatever way you want them to go) it’s not an entirely relaxing listening experience. But I’d argue that this isn’t a mishap or an overshooting of their own shtick, but a declarative statement that they’re in on the joke and will ultimately be the last ones laughing."

IZM ''IZM'' () is a South Korean online magazine that publishes pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Stre ...

's Jeong Da-yeol started that "as the taste was enhanced only with fragmentary techniques, it lost its original style. 'Sticker', which has

simple Simple or SIMPLE may refer to: *Simplicity, the state or quality of being simple Arts and entertainment * ''Simple'' (album), by Andy Yorke, 2008, and its title track * "Simple" (Florida Georgia Line song), 2018 * "Simple", a song by John ...

instrumental compositions and no variation to speak of. The uses Taeyong and Mark's rapping just to the extent of driving the vocalists' elegance. Beyond the simple distribution of parts, hip-hop, the root of NCT's worldview, is not at the center. This situation extends throughout the album and even hinders the immersion of ballad tracks like 'Tomorrow's Me' where the piano gently flows. As a result, like the album cover, all the members lost their color," regardless, he praised the usage of the "cultural technology" and how the producers were not hesitate to "take on challenges to lead trends". ''Sticker'' was included in unranked lists of the best albums of 2021 by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and ''

Nylon Nylon is a family of synthetic polymers characterised by amide linkages, typically connecting aliphatic or Polyamide#Classification, semi-aromatic groups. Nylons are generally brownish in color and can possess a soft texture, with some varieti ...

''. The repackage ''Favorite'' was ranked among the best K-pop albums of the year by ''

Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' (stylized as ''Harper's BAZAAR'') is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. Bazaar has been published in New York City since November 2, 1867, originally as a weekly publication entitled ''Harper's Bazar''."Corporat ...

'' (7th)' and ''

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

'' (11th)''.''

Accolades

Track listing

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes of ''Sticker'' and ''Favorite''.

Sticker

Studio

* SM Booming System –

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 ...

, engineered for mix * SM LVYIN Studio – recording , mixing , engineered for mix * SM Yellow Tail Studio – recording , engineered for mix * SM Ssam Studio – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix * SM Blue Ocean Studio – mixing * SM Blue Cup Studio – mixing * SM Big Shot Studio – mixing , engineered for mix * SM Concert Hall Studio – mixing * SM Starlight Studio – digital editing * Sound Pool Studio – recording , digital editing * Doobdoob Studio – recording , digital editing * Sonic Korea – mastering * 821 Sound Mastering – 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 *

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, executive supervisor *

Tak Young-jun Tak Young-jun (; also spelled Tak Young-joon; born January 17, 1978) is a South Korean business executive and the current COO and co-CEO of SM Entertainment. He is the CEO of SM Life Design Group and a representative director of SM Entertainme ...

– executive supervisor *

– vocals , background vocals ** Taeil – background vocals **

Doyoung Kim Dong-young (; born February 1, 1996), known professionally as Doyoung (), is a South Korean singer, actor, and host. He is a member of the South Korean boy band NCT (group), NCT through the sub-units NCT 127 and NCT DoJaeJung. Doyoung wa ...

– background vocals **

Jaehyun Jeong Yun-o (; born Jeong Jae-hyun, February 14, 1997), known professionally as Jaehyun, is a South Korean singer. He is a member of the South Korean boy band NCT and its sub-units NCT 127 and NCT DoJaeJung. He made his solo debut on August ...

– background vocals **

Haechan Lee Dong-hyeok (; born June 6, 2000), known professionally as Haechan (), is a South Korean singer. He is a member of South Korean boy band NCT and its subunit NCT U alongside its fixed subunits NCT 127 and NCT Dream. Early life Haechan was ...

– background vocals **

Johnny Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John (given name), John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly ...

– background vocals *

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 ...

– lyrics,

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 ...

, vocal directing,

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 ...

, mixing,

, engineered for mix , music and sound supervisor * Han Yeo-reum (Joombas) – lyrics * Teuru (Joombas) – lyrics * Jeong Ha-ri (Joombas) – lyrics * Lee Chang-hyeok – lyrics * Jung Yoon-hwa – lyrics * Seo Hye-ri – lyrics * Sahara (Joombas) – lyrics * – lyrics, composition, vocal directing * Sokodomo – lyrics, rap vocal director *

Jo Yoon-kyung Jo Yoon-kyung () is a South Korean lyricist and writer. She has written primarily for SM Entertainment artists such as BoA, Girls' Generation, Shinee, Exo, NCT, Red Velvet, and Aespa. In 2017, she won Lyricist of the Year at the Gaon Chart ...

– lyrics * Ellie Suh (Joombas) – lyrics * Le'mon (Joombas) – lyrics * San (Vendors) – lyrics * Baek Geum-min – lyrics * ZNEE (Joombas) – lyrics * Rick Bridges – lyrics * Prince Chapelle – composition, background vocals * Calixte – composition, background vocals *

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 ...

– composition, arrangement * Ryan S. Jhun – composition, arrangement * Charles "Rokman" Rhodes – composition, arrangement * Benji Bae – composition *

Simon Petrén Simon Petrén (born 14 March 1986) is a Sweden, Swedish music producer, songwriter, mix engineer and mastering engineer. He holds a Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music#ABRSM Diploma, Licentiate Diploma and Fellowship, Diploma in Piano ...

– composition, arrangement, background vocals *

Andreas Öberg Andreas Öberg (born 6 August 1978) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, and music producer. Music career Öberg was born in Stockholm on 6 August 1978. At the age of seven, he began taking classical guitar lessons at school. By He twelve, he s ...

– composition * Ninos Hanna – composition, background vocals * Jaicko Lawrence – composition, background vocals * Oluwayomi Emmanuel Oredein – composition * Darius Michael Bryant – composition * Otha "Vaskeen" Davis III – composition * Droyd – arrangement * Les Alliance – arrangement * Softserveboy – composition * Sqvare – composition * Hwan Yang – composition, arrangement * Alexander Karlsson (JeL) – composition, arrangement, background vocals * Alexej Viktorovitch (JeL) – composition, arrangement * Alex Nese – composition, background vocals *

Hitchhiker Hitchhiking (also known as thumbing, autostop or hitching) is a means of transportation that is gained by asking individuals, usually strangers, for a ride in their car or other vehicle. The ride is usually, but not always, free. Signaling ...

– composition, arrangement, vocal directing * – composition * John Fulford – composition * Harvey Mason Jr. – composition, arrangement * Patrick "J. Que" Smith – composition * Dewain Whitmore – composition * Britt Burton – composition * – composition, arrangement * MLC – composition *

Cutfather Mich Hedin Hansen (born 9 April 1968), known professionally as Cutfather, is a Danish music producer, songwriter, remixer and DJ based in Copenhagen. Cutfather has a studio in Njalsgade, Copenhagen. Career Cutfather is perhaps best known for his ...

– composition, arrangement *

Daniel Davidsen Daniel Heløy Davidsen (born 30 December 1978 in Copenhagen) is a Danish-Norwegian guitarist. He is known for his participation in bands like Czesław Śpiewa and JazzKamikaze and many record appearances as a studio musician, with artists like S ...

(PhD) – composition, arrangement * Peter Wallevik (PhD) – composition, arrangement * Boy Matthews – composition, background vocals * Asia Whiteacre – composition, background vocals * Noah Conrad – composition, background vocals * Roland "Rollo" Spreckley – composition * Tony Ferrari – composition * Ryan Linvill – composition, background vocals * GDLO – vocal directing , background vocals , digital editing ,

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 * Seo Mi-rae (ButterFly) – vocal directing , digital editing ,

operating * Lee Joo-myung – vocal directing, Pro Tools operating * Choo Dae-gwan – vocal directing, Pro Tools operating * Joo Chan-yang – vocal directing, background vocals * Lee Ji-hong – recording , mixing , engineered for mix * Noh Min-ji – recording , engineered for mix * Kang Eun-ji – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix * Jung Ho-jin – recording , digital editing * Kim Cheol-sun – mixing * Jung Eui-seok – mixing * Lee Min-gyu – mixing , engineered for mix * Nam Koong-jin – mixing * Jung Yu-ra – digital editing * Eugene Kwon – recording * Jung Woo-young – recording , digital editing * Kim Ye-ji – recording * Kim Ji-hyun – recording * Jeon Hoon – mastering * Shin Soo-min – mastering assistant * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Favorite

Studio

* SM Booming System –

, mixing,

, engineered for mix * SM LVYIN Studio – recording , mixing , engineered for mix * SM Yellow Tail Studio – , engineered for mix * SM SSAM Studio – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix * SM Blue Ocean Studio – mixing * SM Blue Cup Studio – mixing * SM Big Shot Studio – mixing , engineered for mix * SM Concert Hall Studio – mixing * SM Starlight Studio – recording , digital editing * Sound Pool Studio – recording , digital editing * Doobdoob Studio – recording , digital editing * Sonic Korea – mastering * 821 Sound Mastering – mastering

Personnel

–

– producer *

– production director, executive supervisor *

– executive supervisor *

– vocals , background vocals ** Taeil – background vocals **

– background vocals **

– background vocals * Kenzie – lyrics,

, vocal directing *

– lyrics,

, vocal directing,

, mixing,

, engineered for mix , music and sound supervisor * Ku Tae-woo – lyrics * Han Yeo-reum (Joombas) – lyrics * Teuru (Joombas) – lyrics * Jeong Ha-ri (Joombas) – lyrics * Mingtion – lyrics, composition, arrangement, vocal directing, digital editing * Junny – lyrics, composition, vocal directing, background vocals * Lee Chang-hyeok – lyrics * Jung Yoon-hwa – lyrics * Seo Hye-ri – lyrics * Sahara (Joombas) – lyrics * – lyrics, composition, vocal directing * sokodomo – lyrics, rap vocal director *

– composition, arrangement * Ryan S. Jhun – composition, arrangement * Charles "Rokman" Rhodes – composition, arrangement * Benji Bae – composition *

– composition, arrangement, background vocals *

– composition * Ninos Hanna – composition, background vocals * Jaicko Lawrence – composition, background vocals * Oluwayomi Emmanuel Oredein – composition * Darius Michael Bryant – composition * Otha "Vaskeen" Davis III – composition * Droyd – arrangement * LES Alliance – arrangement * Softserveboy – composition * Sqvare – composition * Hwan Yang – composition, arrangement * Alexander Karlsson (JeL) – composition, arrangement, background vocals * Alexej Viktorovitch (JeL) – composition, arrangement * Alex Nese – composition, background vocals *

– composition, arrangement *

operating * Seo Mi-rae (ButterFly) – vocal directing , digital editing ,

operating , background vocals * Lee Joo-myung – vocal directing, Pro Tools operating * Choo Dae-gwan – vocal directing, Pro Tools operating * Joo Chan-yang – vocal directing, background vocals * Oiaisle – background vocals * Lee Ji-hong – recording , mixing , engineered for mix * Noh Min-ji – recording , engineered for mix * Kang Eun-ji – recording , digital editing , engineered for mix * Jung Ho-jin – recording , digital editing * Kim Cheol-sun – mixing * Jung Eui-seok – mixing * Lee Min-gyu – mixing , engineered for mix * Nam Koong-jin – mixing * Jung Yu-ra – recording , digital editing * Eugene Kwon – recording * Jung Woo-young – recording , digital editing * Kim Ye-ji – recording * Kim Ji-hyun – recording * Lee Kyung-min – recording * Jeon Hoon – mastering * Shin Soo-min – mastering assistant * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Release history

Notes

References

{{Gaon Chart Music Awards for Artist of the Year – Physical 2021 albums NCT 127 albums 2020s Korean-language albums SM Entertainment albums Pop albums by South Korean artists Hip-hop albums by South Korean artists Dance-pop albums by South Korean artists Contemporary R&B albums by South Korean artists