"Circus" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band

Stray Kids Stray Kids (; often abbreviated as SKZ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2017 reality show of the same name. The group is composed of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunjin, Han, Felix, Seungmin ...

. It appears as the first track on their second Japanese-language extended play (EP) of the same name. The song was released on June 10, 2022, through

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

, as the third and lead single of the EP after the Japanese version of "

Maniac Maniac (from Greek μανιακός, ''maniakos'') is a pejorative for an individual who experiences the mood known as mania. In common usage, it is also an insult for someone involved in reckless behavior. Maniac may also refer to: Film * ' ...

", and " Your Eyes". The Korean version was included on their seventh Korean-language EP ''

Maxident ''Maxident'' is the seventh Korean-language extended play and by South Korean boy band Stray Kids. It was released on October 7, 2022, through JYP Entertainment and Republic Records, seven months after the release of their preceding EP, ''Oddina ...

''.

Release and composition

Stray Kids' second Japanese-language extended play (EP), was announced on April 4, 2022. Later the title ''

Circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

'' and track listing were revealed on May 16, including the first track of the same name, "Circus". The song was released to

digital music Digital audio is a representation of sound recorded in, or converted into, digital form. In digital audio, the sound wave of the audio signal is typically encoded as numerical samples in a continuous sequence. For example, in CD audio, samp ...

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 ...

platforms on June 10, in conjunction with its accomapying music video premiere. The Korean version of the song was included on the group's seventh Korean-language EP ''

'', scheduled for release on October 7. "Circus" is a hip hop-dance song written by Stray Kids' in-house production team,

3Racha Stray Kids (; often abbreviated as SKZ) is a South Korean boy band formed by JYP Entertainment through the 2017 Stray Kids (TV series), reality show of the same name. The group is composed of eight members: Bang Chan, Lee Know, Changbin, Hyunji ...

, with Earattack, Chan's and Darm, composed in the key of

F minor F minor is a minor scale based on F, consisting of the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature consists of four flats. Its relative major is A-flat major and its parallel major is F major. Its enharmonic equivalent, E-sharp mi ...

, 98 beats per minute with a running time of three minutes and fourteen seconds. The song centered on the circus theme, featuring

word play Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonet ...

ing, "vaulting"

pluck Pluck or plucking may refer to: Removal * Plucking (hair removal), the removal of hair, fur, or feathers * Feather-plucking, a behavior in birds * Plucking post, as used by birds of prey to dismember their prey * Plucking (glaciation), a process ...

bass, "addictive" vocal chops, and "solid" drums, which make sounds like "elephant footsteps in the circus".

Commercial performance

"Circus" entered the ''Billboard'' Japan Hot 100 in the chart issue dated June 15, 2022, at number 96 and ascended to number 47 on the next week. On its component charts, the song peaked at number 81 on the Download Chart, and number 27 on the Streaming Songs. The song landed at number 43 on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

Combined Singles Chart. Internationally, "Circus" entered the

RMNZ Recorded Music NZ (formerly the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ)) is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell recorded music in New Zealand. Membership of Recorded Mus ...

Hot Singles Chart at number 29. The Korean version debuted at number 34 on the

Circle A circle is a shape consisting of all points in a plane that are at a given distance from a given point, the centre. Equivalently, it is the curve traced out by a point that moves in a plane so that its distance from a given point is const ...

Download Chart.

Music video

An accompanying music video for "Circus", directed by Bang Jae-yeob, was premiered alongside the single release on June 10, 2022, preceded by two teasers. The music video depicts Stray Kids members performing in a circus tent with real circus performers. The members are divided into two circuses, and 16 members, using

compositing Compositing is the process or technique of combining visual elements from separate sources into single images, often to create the illusion that all those elements are parts of the same scene. Live-action shooting for compositing is variously ca ...

technology.

Live performances

Stray Kids gave the debut performance of "Circus" on June 11, 2022, at their first show of

Maniac World Tour The Maniac World Tour, officially Stray Kids 2nd World Tour "Maniac", is the ongoing second concert tour by South Korean boy band Stray Kids in support of their 2022 extended plays (EPs), ''Oddinary'', ''Circus'' and ''Maxident'', and 2023 album ...

in Japan at

World Memorial Hall or World Hall is a multi-purpose arena located in the Chūō-ku Ward of Kobe, Japan. It has a maximum capacity of 8,000 people and is optimized for large-scale meetings, sport events, trade shows and concerts. It is located on the artificial isl ...

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

. The group also appeared on the morning show '' Sukkiri'' on June 14 to give an interview and perform the song. The group performed "Circus" at '' Buzz Rhythm 02'' on July 9, alongside "Back Door", the two-hour special episode of ''

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

'' on August 5, and '' Best Artist 2022'' on December 3, along with "

". The Korean version was performed for the first time their "Seoul Special (Unveil 11)" of Maniac World Tour on September 17, as well as the '' 2022 MBC Gayo Daejejeon'' alongside "

Case 143 "Case 143" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band Stray Kids and the lead single from the group's seventh extended play ''Maxident'', which was released on October 7, 2022, through JYP Entertainment and Republic Records. Written by 3Racha, Ra ...

" on January 1, 2023.

Credits and personnel

Personnel *

– vocals, background vocals ** Bang Chan (

) – lyrics, composition, all instruments,

computer programming Computer programming is the process of performing a particular computation (or more generally, accomplishing a specific computing result), usually by designing and building an executable computer program. Programming involves tasks such as ana ...

, vocal directing,

digital editing Digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital ...

** Changbin (3Racha) – lyrics, composition, vocal directing ** Han (3Racha) – lyrics, composition, vocal directing * KM-Markit – Japanese lyrics * Earattack – background vocals, composition, arrangement, all instruments, computer programming, vocal directing * Chan's – composition, arrangement, all instruments, computer programming * Darm – composition, arrangement, all instruments, computer programming * Goo Hye-jin –

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, ...

* Lee Kyeong-won – digital editing * Lee Tae-sub – mixing * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering Locations * Sony Music Publishing (Japan) Inc. –

publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

* JYP Publishing (

KOMCA The Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) is a South Korean non-profit copyright collective for musical works, administering public performance and broadcasting rights, and mechanical recording and reproduction rights. Founded in 1964, it is ...

) – publishing * Music Cube Inc. – publishing * Cube Entertainment Inc. – publishing * Fujipacific Music Korea Inc. – publishing * JYPE Studios – recording, mixing * KayOne Sounds – digital editing * 821 Sound Mastering – mastering

Charts

Release history

References

{{Stray Kids 2022 singles 2022 songs Japanese-language songs Korean-language songs Sony Music Entertainment Japan singles Stray Kids songs