"Devil" is a single released by South Korean boy band

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their prominent ...

on July 16, 2015. It is the lead single of the album of the same. The track featured the vocals of

Yesung Kim Kang-hoon (born Kim Jong-woon; August 24, 1984), better known by his stage name Yesung is a South Korean singer, songwriter, actor, radio personality and television presenter. He debuted in 2005 as a member of Super Junior and its subgroups ...

after he was discharged from his

mandatory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

on May 4, 2015. This track is the first single without the vocals of

Sungmin Sung-min, also spelled Seong-min, is a Korean unisex given name (predominantly masculine). Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 27 hanja with the reading " sung" and 27 hanja with the reading ...

and

Shindong Shin Dong-hee (born September 28, 1985), better known by his stage name Shindong (lit. meaning: "prodigy"), is a South Korean rapper, singer, dancer, host, radio personality and video director. He is best known as a member of Super Junior and i ...

who were serving their mandatory military service at that time. The single charted at number 21 on the national chart

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 sold over 150,000 digital download on said Chart.

Composition

"Devil" is a funk rock song with a trendy melody composed by American production team,

The Stereotypes The Stereotypes are a production team created in 2003, comprising Jonathan Yip, Ray Romulus, Jeremy Reeves and Ray Charles McCullough II. In June 2010, they were listed among the "Top 10 Songwriters and Producers to Watch" in ''Billboard'' magazi ...

with SM Entertainment's resident songwriter, Kenzie. The song marked the departure of

Yoo Young-jin Yoo Young-jin is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer and vocal trainer 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' Generation, Shinee, ...

who wrote the group's title track since their debut. The lyrics illustrates a candid confession of a man who is madly in love. "Devil" was then re-released in Japanese version along with "Magic", the lead single from the ''Devil'' repackage album, ''Magic'' on January 11, 2016.

Music video

During the group's encore concert,

Super Show 6 Super Show 6 is the fourth Asia-wide concert tour and sixth tour overall by South Korean boy band Super Junior, in support of their seventh studio album, '' Mamacita''. The world tour commenced with three shows in Seoul from September 19 to 21, ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

on July 11, 2015, band leader

Leeteuk Park Jeong-su (born July 1, 1983), known professionally as Leeteuk (), is a South Korean singer, songwriter, presenter, radio personality and actor. He debuted as the leader of the boy band Super Junior in November 2005 and since then has part ...

announced to the fans that the music video for "Devil" will be the first-ever music video 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 ...

that is classified 19+. Leeteuk explained the change from the usual family-friendly songs citing the fans' grew up together with the band in the last 10 years. At the same concert, Leeteuk also went to explain that the band hoped that "Devil" would replace "

Sorry, Sorry Sorry, Sorry may refer to: * ''Sorry, Sorry'' (album) , a 2009 album by Super Junior ** "Sorry, Sorry" (Super Junior song), from the 2009 album ''Sorry, Sorry'' * "Sorry, Sorry" (Femi Kuti song), from the 1998 album ''Shoki Shoki'' *"Sorry Sorry", ...

" as the band's signature track. The performance of "Devil" was crafted by choreographer

Tony Testa Anthony Joseph Testa (born 31 March 1987) is an American choreographer, creative director, educator and dancer. Early life Testa started dancing at age eight in his hometown of Fort Collins, Colorado at Westin Arts Academy & Artistic Fusion Dan ...

and SM's performance director, BeatBurger. The music video was officially released on

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 ...

on July 15, 2015.

Live performances

"Devil" has been a common setlist for Super Junior's concerts:

Super Show 7 Super Show 7 was the third world concert tour and seventh tour overall by South Korean boy band Super Junior, in support of their eighth studio album, '' Play''. The world tour commenced with three shows in Seoul from December 15 to 17, 2017 and ...

, Super Show 8, and Super Show 9.

Critical reception

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 ...

columnist Jeff Benjamin praised the release of "Devil" and considered it the band's best release since "

Mr. Simple ''Mr. Simple'' (reissue name ''A-Cha'') is the fifth studio album by the South Korean boy band Super Junior. It was released on August 3, 2011, by SM Entertainment, distributed by KMP Holdings and digitally release on August 2. On September 19 ...

" back in 2011.

Japanese version

The Japanese version of the song was released in January 6, 2016 along with "Magic", the single from the repackage album of ''Devil'' (''Magic''). The song is included in the band's Japanese compilation album, ''

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

.'' The single went to sell over 65,800 physical copies.

Weekly charts

Charts

Weekly charts

Release history

References

Super Junior songs South Korean contemporary R&B songs South Korean dance-pop songs South Korean rock songs 2015 songs 2015 singles SM Entertainment singles Avex Trax singles Songs written by Kenzie (songwriter) Songs written by Jonathan Yip Songs written by Jeremy Reeves Songs written by Ray Romulus Songs written by Ray Charles McCullough II {{2010s-rock-song-stub