''The Wonder Begins'' is the debut

single album In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

by South Korean girl group

Wonder Girls Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony (Wonder Girls song), Irony" and 5 members: Park Ye-eun, Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna, and Ahn So-hee, Sohee. Aft ...

, released on February 13, 2007, through

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 ...

. It contains the main track "Irony", written and produced by

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 ...

. The release also contains three additional tracks: "Bad Boy", "It's Not Love", and a remix of "Irony". An accompanying music video for "Irony" features members

Sohee So-hee, also spelled So-hui, is a Korean feminine given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 45 hanja with the reading " so" and 24 hanja with the reading " hee" on the South Korean government's ...

, Yeeun,

Sunmi Lee Sun-mi (; born Sun Mi, May 2, 1992), known mononymously as Sunmi, is a South Korean singer, dancer, songwriter and record producer. She debuted in 2007 as a member of South Korean girl group Wonder Girls and left the group in 2010 to purs ...

and

Hyuna Kim Hyun-ah (; born June 6, 1992), known professionally as Hyuna (stylized as HyunA), is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper and model. She debuted as a member of the girl group Wonder Girls in February 2007. Upon leaving the ensemble sho ...

getting revenge on

Sunye Min Sun-ye (born August 12, 1989), known professionally as Sunye, is a South Korean singer and missionary known for her work as a former leader and main vocalist of girl group Wonder Girls. In early 2013, following her marriage, she became an ...

's unfaithful boyfriend by using a

voodoo doll A voodoo doll is an effigy that is typically used for the insertion of pins. Such practices are found in various forms in the magic (paranormal), magical traditions of many cultures around the world. Despite its name, the voodoo doll is not prom ...

to embarrass him. ''The Wonder Begins'' is the group's only release that was promoted with member Hyuna, who left the group in July 2007.

Irony

Versions

"Irony" was pre-released on

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

on February 6, 2007. The original studio version featuring the original line-up (Min Sunye, Park Yeeun, Lee Sunmi, Kim Hyuna and Ahn Sohee) is available on ''The Wonder Begins'' and on their debut studio album ''

The Wonder Years ''The Wonder Years'' is an American coming-of-age comedy television series created by Neal Marlens and Carol Black. It ran on ABC from January 31, 1988, until May 12, 1993. The series premiered immediately after ABC's coverage of Super Bowl X ...

''. The song was later re-recorded for the Japanese release of their greatest hits album ''Wonder Best'' and features the line-up consisting of Min Sunye, Park Yeeun, Ahn Sohee,

Kim Yubin Kim Yu-bin (; born October 4, 1988), referred to as Yubin, is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter and actress. Kim is a founder and CEO of the entertainment agency RRR Entertainment. She initially rose to fame as a member of South Korean ...

and

Woo Hyerim Woo Hye-rim (; born September 1, 1992), known professionally as Hyerim or Lim, is a South Korean singer, rapper, and songwriter known for her work as a former member of South Korean girl group Wonder Girls. Early life Woo Hye-rim was born on ...

, with the vocals of the former members removed.

Music video

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was produced for "Irony" to promote ''The Wonder Begins''. The video begins by showing the group members casually hanging out at a house, when

enters in a depressed state. Her groupmates sit around her and Sunye tells them about her cheating boyfriend. Sunmi locates him through their computer, Sohee activates a satellite dish for remote surveillance, and Hyuna uses a

to embarrass him in front of his new girlfriend. The girls later enter a club where he is with his friends. Sunye blows him away, causing a gust of wind, and he falls down a wall. The video ends with the girls laughing at him and walking away.

Critical reception

''The Wonder Begins'' received generally mixed reviews from

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

s. Jeong Seong-ha, Han Dong-yoon, Yoon Jee-hoon of Korean web magazine ''

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 ...

'' gave "Irony" unfavorable reviews, who felt that the song lacked innovation, comparing the song to works of older artists such as

g.o.d g.o.d (; acronym for Groove Over Dose) is a South Korean boy band formed by IHQ (company), SidusHQ. Debuting in 1999, the group became one of the most popular boy bands of the early 2000s in South Korea. The members had gone on to solo careers ...

and

Rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

. ''YesAsia'' wrote a positive review of the single album, describing "Irony" as a "catchy, up-tempo hip hop number" and "Bad Boy" as an "innovative electronic R&B song". They concluded that, "''The Wonder Begins'' marks a very promising start for K-pop's newest sensation." In a retrospective review, ''Billboard'' wrote that "'Irony' is pretty dated with its R&B-pop styling and redundant beat, but the sleek, hook-filled chorus was filled with promise."

Track listing

Charts

The chart positions are based on data from Music Industry Association Korea. Unlike

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 ...

and ''

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 ...

'', the charts are released monthly, not weekly.

Monthly charts

Yearly charts

Sales

References

External links

"The Wonder Begins"
at

Naver Naver (; stylized as NAVER) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. The company's products include a search engine, email hosting, blogs, maps, and mobile payment. History Naver was the first Korean web provide ...

Music {{DEFAULTSORT:Irony 2007 songs 2007 debut singles JYP Entertainment singles Songs in Korean Wonder Girls songs Songs written by Park Jin-young