"Celebrity" is a song by South Korean singer-songwriter IU. It was released on January 27, 2021, through EDAM Entertainment via

Kakao M Kakao M (; formerly Seoul Records, YBM Seoul Records and LOEN Entertainment) was a South Korean entertainment company established by Min Yeong-bin in 1978. It is currently one of the largest co-publisher companies in South Korea. The company op ...

, and serves as the lead single from her fifth Korean-language studio album, ''

Lilac ''Syringa'' is a genus of 12 currently recognized species of flowering plant, flowering woody plants in the olive family or Oleaceae called lilacs. These lilacs are native to woodland and scrub from southeastern Europe to eastern Asia, and wid ...

''. A dance-pop and electropop track, "Celebrity" was written by IU, with additional composition by Chloe Latimer and Celine Svanback, and

Ryan S. Jhun Ryan S. Jhun ( ko, 라이언 전) is a South Korean songwriter and producer. Jhun is known for his work with various K-pop soloists and idol groups, getting his start through acts from SM Entertainment such as Shinee, Super Junior, f(x), Taeyeon ...

, Jeppe London Bilsby, Lauritz Emil Christiansen, —the last three also handled arrangement.

Background

IU first teased that a new single was in the works while onstage at the

35th Golden Disc Awards The 35th Golden Disc Awards ceremony was held from January 9–10, 2021. The show was aired on JTBC network from South Korea. It was held without a live audience due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Lee Seung-gi and Park So-dam served as hosts on the f ...

on January 9, 2021. As she accepted the Digital Daesang award for " Blueming", she stated that the new song would be "refreshing" and "gives people strength". On January 11, her label, Edam Entertainment, announced that she would return with a pre-release single titled "Celebrity" on January 27, 2021. The label hinted that the new song would be a cheerful pop sound with energetic music genre. "Celebrity" was subsequently released on January 27 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 ...

as the lead single off of IU's fifth Korean-language studio album, ''Lilac''. The single marked her first offering following the release of the chart-topping single " Eight"—a collaboration with BTS'

Suga Suga may refer to: * Suga, Iran, a village in Qazvin Province, Iran * Suga language, a language of Cameroon * Suga (rapper) (born 1993), South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer * ''Suga'' (EP), 2020 EP by Megan Thee Stallion * ''Sug ...

—in May 2020. The track was written and composed by IU, Ryan S. Jhun, Jeppe London Bilsby, Lauritz Emil Christiansen, Chloe Latimer and Celine Svanback, with arrangement conducted by Bilsby, Christiansen and Jhun.

Composition

Musically, "Celebrity" is described as a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

track that incorporates a variety of genres, including pop,

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...

and

tropical house Tropical house, also known as trop house, is a subgenre of house music, and a derivation of tropical music, with elements of dancehall and Balearic house. Artists of the genre are often featured at various summer festivals such as Tomorrowland. T ...

, and signals a shift from much of IU's previous discography. Regarding the musicality of the single, EDAM Entertainment stated that "the song has a bright and cheerful pop sound that can energize those listening to it. It's a genre of music that IU is trying for the first time". Furthermore, the agency commented about the upcoming album's musical direction, saying "it will be her venture into more energetic and pop beat genres". Lyrically, the song explores the themes of fame, identity, insecurities, loss and the notion of living as a celebrity.

Commercial performance

Upon release, "Celebrity" debuted atop 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 ...

, becoming IU's 17th number one single and 25th number-one overall when including featured appearances and OSTs. The song remained atop the chart for six consecutive weeks, becoming one of the longest songs in the chart's history to remain at number one. Internationally, "Celebrity" debuted and peaked at number 2 and number 13 in Singapore and New Zealand respectively. The song placed at number 3 in its opening week on the

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, where it peaked. On the ''Billboard'' Global Excl. US chart, the song debuted at number 190 before entering at number 78 on the standard ''Billboard'' Global 200 the following week, marking her first appearance on the global chart.

Music video and promotion

On January 25, 2021, a music video teaser for "Celebrity" was released on Kakao M's official YouTube channel. The music video, directed by Paranoid Paradigm and produced by VM Project Architecture, was subsequently uploaded on January 27, in conjunction with the release of the single.

Accolades

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from

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 ...

. * IU — vocals, lyricist, composer, chorus *

— composer, arranger * Jeppe London Bilsby — composer, arranger * Lauritz Emil Christiansen — composer, arranger * Chloe Latimer — composer * Celine Svanback — composer * Son Myung-gap — recording * Jongpil Koo — mixing * Kang Seon-young — assisted * Jung Yu-ra — assisted

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Yearly charts

Certifications

Release history

References

{{IU (singer) 2021 singles 2021 songs IU (singer) songs Songs written by IU (singer) Korean-language songs Kakao M singles Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles Songs about fame