"Candy" is a song recorded by South Korean singer

Baekhyun Byun Baek-hyun (; born May 6, 1992), better known mononymously as Baekhyun, is a South Korean singer, songwriter and actor. Baekhyun began training under SM Entertainment in 2011. A few months later, he made his debut in 2012 as a member of the ...

. It was released on May 25, 2020, by

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

of his second

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, '' Delight'' (2020). The song was written by Kenzie, while composed by Adrian McKinnon, Mike Daley, Mitchell Owens and Deez. Musically, "Candy" is described as a "trendy" R&B and pop song with instrumentation from

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

s. The lyrics are playful and compare Baekhyun to various types of candy. Upon release, "Candy" received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who praised its production and sound. Commercially, the song debuted at number 4 on the

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

and charted at number 16 on the US

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific s ...

chart. An accompanying dance-oriented

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

was released in conjunction with the song. Baekhyun promoted the song on various

South Korean music programs Music programs of South Korea are broadcast weekly, with different artists performing on the shows to promote their music. South Korea's largest broadcasting companies each have their own show, which are broadcast on different channels. SBS has ...

including ''

Music Bank Music Bank may refer to: * ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS **''Music Bank World Tour The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show '' Music Bank'' by the Korean Broa ...

'' and ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' ( ko, 인기가요; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who p ...

''.

Background and release

Baekhyun made his official debut as a solo artist in July 2019 with his first

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

'', which peaked at number one on South Korea's

Gaon Album Chart The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their Record sales, pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, pr ...

, and has sold over 570,000 copies in 2019. Following the success of ''City Lights'', Baekhyun featured on

Bolbbalgan4 Bolbbalgan4 (), also known as BOL4 or Blushing Youth, is a South Korean musical act formed by Shofar Music in 2016. They appeared on '' Superstar K6'' in 2014 before signing a contract with their current agency. BOL4 was originally a duo consistin ...

's "Leo", which peaked at number two on the

. On April 22, 2020, SM Entertainment announced that Baekhyun's second EP '' Delight'' would be released on May 25. ''Delight'' was an instant success in the country, surpassing pre-order sales of 730,000 copies, and went onto debut at number one on the Gaon Album Chart. "Candy" was released on May 25 for digital download and

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

in various countries by

, as the

of ''Delight''. The song has lyrics written by Kenzie and music composed by Adrian McKinnon, Mike Daley, Mitchell Owens and Deez. It was arranged by the latter three with Yoo Young-jin.

Composition

"Candy" was described as a "trendy" R&B song in a press release. Critics have described it as a hybrid of pop and R&B with elements of

synth-pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s ...

. The upbeat song is instrumented by

synthesizers A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

and makes use of

arpeggio A broken chord is a chord broken into a sequence of notes. A broken chord may repeat some of the notes from the chord and span one or more octaves. An arpeggio () is a type of broken chord, in which the notes that compose a chord are played ...

chords Chord may refer to: * Chord (music), an aggregate of musical pitches sounded simultaneously ** Guitar chord a chord played on a guitar, which has a particular tuning * Chord (geometry), a line segment joining two points on a curve * Chord (as ...

in its production. The track also features electro sounds and a deep

groove Groove or Grooves may refer to: Music * Groove (music) * Groove (drumming) * The Groove (band), an Australian rock/pop band of the 1960s * The Groove (Sirius XM), a US radio station * Groove 101.7FM, a former Perth, Australia, radio station * ...

. The song sets a playful tone to the album. In terms of

musical notation Music notation or musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music played with instruments or sung by the human voice through the use of written, printed, or otherwise-produced symbols, including notation fo ...

, the song is composed in the

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

B minor B minor is a minor scale based on B, consisting of the pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A. Its key signature has two sharps. Its relative major is D major and its parallel major is B major. The B natural minor scale is: : Changes neede ...

, with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 150 beats per minute and is three minutes and forty seven seconds long. The lyrics are witty and playful in which Baekhyun compares his charms to various flavors of candy including,

cinnamon Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

and

bubble gum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...

. In a

V Live V Live (stylized as VLIVE), sometimes referred to as V App, is a South Korean live video streaming service that allows celebrities based in the country to broadcast live videos such as live chat sessions with fans, performances, reality shows ...

broadcast, Baekhyun revealed that the track "offered relaxed listening, which is why echose it s the title track"

Music video and promotion

An accompanying

for "Candy" was uploaded to SM Entertainment's official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel on May 25, 2020. It was preceded by two teasers released on the same platform on May 22 and 24. The video is choreography-heavy and features Baekhyun dancing in a neon-lit arcade. The visual opens with Baekhyun walking into the scene holding a skateboard. The following scene opens inside a candy store where he is seen enjoying sugary treats with his friends, before switching to show them dancing in an arcade. The clip alternates between sets of bright yellow, pink and purple colours where Baekhyun is seen hanging out and playing games with his friends or performing smooth choreography with them. The colourful setting of the video is a contrast to the black and white visuals of the music video of his song "UN Village" (2019). The music video became instantly popular, garnering over 10 million views in two days. One hour before the album's release, Baekhyun held a live broadcast through

Naver Naver (Hangul: 네이버) is a South Korean online platform operated by the Naver Corporation. It was launched in 1999 as the first web portal in South Korea to develop and use its own search engine. It was also the world's first operator to in ...

app to discuss the album, songs and production process. On May 26, Baekhyun shared his first performance of "Candy'" through

Exo Exo ( ko, 엑소; 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, Baekhyun, Chen, Chanyeol, D.O., Kai ...

's official YouTube channel, as a part of the video-exclusive content series "BAEKHYUN The Stage". He promoted the song on various

starting with KBS's ''

'' on June 5, 2020. This was followed by performance on SBS's ''

'' on June 7. On June 3, Baekhyun received his first music show trophy for "Candy" on

MBC Music MBC M (formerly MBC Music) () is a South Korean specialty television channel owned by MBC Plus Media. The cable channel primarily broadcasts programming related to music. The channel opened on February 1, 2012, with a new music program ''Show ...

's ''

Show Champion ''Show Champion'' (Korean: 쇼 챔피언) is a South Korean music television program broadcast live by MBC M every Wednesday at Bitmaru Broadcasting Center in Ilsan. Hosts * Shindong (February 14, 2012 – December 25, 2012) * Hahm Eun-jung ...

''. He appeared as guest on June 3 episode of

SBS Power FM HLSQ-FM, also known as SBS Power FM (), is a K-pop music radio station of the Seoul Broadcasting System. The station is heard nationwide via syndication with local FM stations in Korea via HLDG-FM in Busan, HLDE-FM in Daegu, HLDH-FM in Gwan ...

's ''Cultwo Show''. On June 5, he appeared on

KBS Cool FM KBS Cool FM (Hangul : KBS 쿨FM)(also known as KBS 2FM Hangul : KBS 제2FM방송) is a 24-hour Hot AC music radio station of the Korean Broadcasting System. It plays mostly older K-pop Music from the 90s compared to KBS Happy FM which plays th ...

's ''Kang Han Na's Volume Up'' to promote the song. Baekhyun launched a viral Internet video trend called the ''Candy Challenge'' with Kasper, who choreographed the dance for "Candy". The hashtag #CandyChallenge was used on popular

social media platforms Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social media ...

such as

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

and

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

Critical reception

"Candy" received generally favorable reviews from

. Chris Gillett of ''

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 remained ...

'' wrote that the song is "built up by layers of soft-synths for an aptly sweet pop tune." Reviewing for ''

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 advertise ...

'', Rania Aniftos dubbed the song as "infectious." In the singer's native country South Korea, Lee Honghyun of ''

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. The terms ''popular music'' and ...

'' praised the song's

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

production writing that it "is a good title track and kickoff for such works. The trendiness of the track's melody and highlight melody seems to be somewhat weak, but flexibly loosened the power to the dense groove.

Commercial performance

Upon release, "Candy" attained commercial success in the singer's native country. The song topped the real-time charts of major Korean music platforms including

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

Genie Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources) – are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...

, Naver Music and VIBE. The song also debuted at number four on the

, making it Baekhyun's fifth top-five entry on the chart. Additionally, the song topped the component Download Chart while peaking at number seventeen on the Streaming Chart. The song also attained international success in North America, where it charted at number sixteen on ''Billboard's''

World Digital Songs The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by '' Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific ...

chart. Furthermore, the song charted at number seven on the regional chart of Singapore and number thirty on the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100 chart.

Accolades

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

Tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

. *

– primary vocals * Kenzie – lyricist * Mike Daley – composer, arranger * Deez – composer, arranger * Mitchell Owens – composer, arranger * Adrian Mckinnon – composer * Yoo Young-jin – arranger

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Release history

References

{{authority control Baekhyun songs 2020 songs 2020 singles Korean-language songs SM Entertainment singles Songs written by Kenzie (songwriter)