"Heroine" (, literally ''Protagonist'') is a song recorded by South Korean singer

Sunmi Lee Sun-mi (born Sun Mi on May 2, 1992), known mononymously as Sunmi (stylized 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 gr ...

. It was released on January 18, 2018, by Makeus Entertainment and

The Black Label The Black Label Inc. (; stylized as THEBLACKLABEL or THEBLΛƆKLΛBEL) is a South Korean record label and an associate company of YG Entertainment. It was founded in 2015 by YG producer Teddy and Kush. History On September 22, 2015, YG Entertain ...

and distributed by

LOEN Entertainment 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 ...

, with its music video premiering the same day. Following the success of her third solo release "

Gashina "Gashina" () is a song recorded by South Korean singer Sunmi. It was released as a CD single and digital single by Makeus Entertainment and The Black Label on August 22, 2017, and distributed by LOEN Entertainment. "Gashina" is Sunmi's first rele ...

", which articulated a cynical attitude in the aftermath of a breakup, Sunmi conceptualized "Heroine" as a prequel narrative to it. She drew inspiration from the

Adrian Lyne Adrian Lyne (born 4 March 1941) is an English film director, writer and producer. Having begun his career directing 1970s television commercials, Lyne made well-received short films which were entries in the London Film Festival. He started mak ...

film ''

9½ Weeks ''9½ Weeks'' is a 1986 American erotic romantic drama film directed by Adrian Lyne, and starring Kim Basinger and Mickey Rourke. Basinger portrays a New York City art gallery employee who has a brief yet intense affair with a mysterious Wall St ...

'' (1986), expressing a " show must go on" sentiment as the protagonist deals with a turbulent relationship.

Background and release

On December 18, 2017, it was revealed that the singer was preparing for a comeback with the goal to release a new song in January 2018 with no further details. On January 2, an image teaser was released revealing the name as "Heroine" and the producer as The Black Label, marking her second collaboration with the YG-owned label after "

". The release date was set to January 18 at 6 P.M. KST. A day after, a short clip was released titled as a "prequel" to the official music video. On January 3, a full schedule was released, revealing the dates for image and video teasers, starting on January 4. The song was released on January 18, 2018, through several music portals, 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 ...

in South Korea.

Composition

The song was written by Sunmi and

Teddy Park Teddy Park (born Park Hong-jun on September 14, 1978), is a Korean–American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Born in Seoul, South Korea, Park moved to the United States with his family as a young child. When he was 17 years old, P ...

, and produced by Teddy alongside 24. Musically, the song is noted for its

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

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 ...

influences.

Music video

The first music video teaser was released on January 15, and shows the singer descending from a car to then show a close-up of her face. A second teaser titled "Scene #2" was released a day later, and shows the singer running and dancing at the same place as the first teaser. The official music video was released on January 18. The music video was directed by the group

Lumpens Lumpens () is a South Korean-based video production company formed and led by art director Yong-seok Choi. They consist of a group of directors and producers in the field of video production, specializing mostly in the production of music videos, ...

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number 6 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 ...

, on the chart issue dating January 14–20, 2018, topping the componing Download Chart. In its second week, the song reach a new peak at number 2. The song also debuted at number 3 on the US World Digital Song Sales with 2,000 downloads sold.

Controversy

There are concerns that the song has plagiarized

Cheryl Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...

's debut solo single "

Fight for This Love "Fight for This Love" is the debut solo single by English singer and Girls Aloud member Cheryl (singer), Cheryl Cole, recorded for her debut studio album, ''3 Words'' (2009). It was released in the United Kingdom and Ireland as the lead single on ...

", which was released in 2009. Sunmi's agency said that they were investigating the issue. It later concluded with stating, "We unequivocally reveal that ‘Heroine’ is 100 percent an original creative work with absolutely no reference to the song that has been named in the controversy."

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Accolades

Awards and nominations

Music program awards

References

{{authority control 2018 singles Songs written by Teddy Park Songs written by Sunmi 2018 songs Sunmi songs Songs involved in plagiarism controversies Kakao M singles YG Entertainment singles Music videos directed by Lumpens