"Hot Sauce" () is a song recorded by South Korean boy group NCT Dream for their first studio album of the same name. It was released digitally on May 10, 2021, by SM Entertainment. It became the first trilingual song to enter the Billboard Global 200.

Composition

"Hot Sauce" was composed by Martin Wave, Tinashe Sibanda, Philip Kembo, Rosina "Soaky Siren" Russell, John Mitchell, Ninos Hanna, Yoo Young-jin, while production was handled by Lee Soo-man. Musically, the song is described as "Latin music with Afrobeat-tinged hip-hop song". It features a "minimal track contrast with repetitive chanting and chilling vibes in the chorus". The track was composed in the key of F-sharp major, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute.

Critical reception

Kim Sung-yeop 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 ...

'' noted the song as it "expresses only the passionate energy and playful, kitsch charm of NCT Dream", adding that it does not match any of the group's existing styles and has a clear presence as the first song to mark a new beginning. Rhian Daly of '' NME'' described the track as "vibrant and exuberant", further adding that "the very SM experimentalism that courses through it elevates it into something more weighty and developed".

Commercial performance

"Hot Sauce" debuted at number one on South Korea's

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 ...

with chart issue dated May 9–15, 2021, giving the group their first number-one song on the chart. It also debuted atop the Download Chart and BGM Chart. The song debuted at number 37 on the component Streaming Chart, and peaked at number 31. The song entered the ''Billboard'' K-Pop Hot 100 at number 39, and peaked at number 18. In the United States, "Hot Sauce" debuted at number eight on the ''Billboard'' World Digital Song Sales. The single debuted at number 96 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 making it the first song in three languages to enter the chart. The song also debuted at number 51 on the ''Billboard'' Global Excl. US. On the year-end charts, Hot Sauce became NCT Dream and NCT's first entry on the yearly Gaon Digital Chart.

Music video

The music video for "Hot Sauce" is set in a taqueria where the group are tasting their own specialty hot sauce and begins pouring the spicy dressing all over their food. Following the music video's release, Gladys Yeo of '' NME'' described it as a "vibrant and whimsical video". Tássia Assis of ''

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'' noted the "psychedelic TV ad-meets-''taquería''" of the visual. NCT Dream released two dance practice videos on May 23, 2021.

Accolades

Pinkfong version

Global entertainment company SmartStudy released a Pinkfong-style version of "Hot Sauce" on May 28, 2021, at 7:00PM KST ( UTC+09:00). According to the chief executive officer of SmartStudy, Kim Min-seok, said that they "have created a special gift for all families and fans out there, regardless of age", further adding that they are "always looking to create opportunities" where they can bring joy to their fans around the world and across generations. The version features a special episode of NCT Dream appearing as Pinkfong dinosaur characters that crash-landed in the Age of Dinosaurs. Korean and English versions of the animation videos were released.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Hot Sauce''. Recording * Recorded and engineered for mix at SM Yellow Tail Studio * Recorded, digitally edited, engineered for mix, and mixed at SM Booming System * Mixed at SM Blue Cup Studio Personnel * NCT Dream ( Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, Jisung)vocals * Moon Yeo-reumKorean songwriting * Jo Yoon-kyungKorean songwriting * Martin Wavecomposition, arrangement * Tinashe Sibandacomposition * Philip Kembocomposition * Rosina "Soaky Siren" Russellcomposition * John Mitchellcomposition * Ninos Hannacomposition * Yoo Young-jincomposition, arrangement, vocal directing, recording, digital editing, mixing engineer * Bantuarrangement * Dr. Chaiiarrangement * Kenzievocal directing * Haechanbackground vocals * Renjunbackground vocals * Junnybackground vocals * No Min-jirecording, mixing engineer * Jung Yu-radigital editing * Jeong Eui-seokmixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{NCT (band) 2021 singles 2021 songs Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles NCT Dream songs SM Entertainment singles Songs written by Tinashe Sibanda Songs written by Yoo Young-jin