"Tempo" 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 2, 2018, as the lead single of the band's fifth studio album ''

Don't Mess Up My Tempo ''Don't Mess Up My Tempo'' (stylized in all caps) is the fifth studio album by South Korean boy band Exo. It was released on November 2, 2018, by SM Entertainment. Member Lay is featured in the Chinese version of lead track, "Tempo", marking his ...

''. The music video was released on the same date. The Chinese version features member

Lay Lay or LAY may refer to: Places *Lay Range, a subrange of mountains in British Columbia, Canada * Lay, Loire, a French commune *Lay (river), France * Lay, Iran, a village * Lay, Kansas, United States, an unincorporated community * Lay Dam, Alaba ...

, who has been on an extended hiatus since " For Life" in 2016.

Background

"Tempo" was called "a rhythmical hip-hop-leaning dance track that showcases

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

harmonies as they send warnings not to 'mess up his tempo' with their lover". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' stated the preview "starts off with a dramatic synth melody, pulsating beat and the phrase 'I can't believe'." On February 24, 2019, the Korean music video surpassed 100 million views on YouTube. Exo promoted the album and song with teasers throughout October 2018, including a 30-second ''Tempo Concept'' short film, showing the band as a biker gang, which was a preview of "Tempo".

Reception

Accolades

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.

Studio

* In Grid 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 ...

* The Vibe Studio – recording * doobdoob Studio –

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 Big Shot Studio – engineered for mix * SM Blue Cup Studio – mixing * Sterling 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 *

– vocals,

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 ...

Penomeco Jeong Dong-uk (Korean: 정동욱; born October 7, 1992), better known by his stage name, Penomeco (Korean: 페노메코), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter. He released his debut single ''Right There'' on October 16, 2014. He also rel ...

– Korean lyrics * JQ – Korean lyrics *

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 ...

– Korean lyrics, music and sound supervisor * Arys Chien – Chinese lyrics * Jamil "Digi" Chammas – 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 ...

Leven Kali Leven Kali is a Netherlands, Dutch-born American singer, songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work on Beyoncé's Renaissance (Beyoncé album), ''Renaissance'', Drake (musician), Drake's ''More Life'' and Playboi Car ...

– producer, composition, background vocals * MZMC – composition * Adrian McKinnon – composition, background vocals * Jeremy "Tay" Jasper – composition * Deez – vocal directing * Onestar – vocal directing *

Andrew Choi Andrew Choi (Korean name Korean names are names that place their origin in, or are used in, Korea. A Korean name in the modern era typically consists of a surname followed by a given name, with no middle names. A number of Korean terms for ...

– background vocals * Jeong Eun-kyung – recording * Kwak Jeong-shin – recording * Jeong Mo-yeon – recording * Jang Woo-young – digital editing * Lee Min-gyu – engineered for mix * Jung Eui-seok – mixing *

Chris Gehringer Chris Gehringer (born May 27, 1962) is an American mastering engineer at Sterling Sound in New Jersey. Gehringer is known for having mastered recordings by popular artists such as AJR, Dua Lipa, Drake, Ed Sheeran, Gwen Stefani, Harry Styles, ...

– mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales

Release history

References

2018 singles 2018 songs Exo songs Songs in Korean SM Entertainment singles Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles Songs written by Yoo Young-jin Long stubs with short prose {{2018-single-stub