"I Remember" is a song recorded by South Korean rapper

Bang Yong-guk Bang Yong-guk (born March 31, 1990), also known mononymously as Yongguk, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and best-selling author who served as the leader of boy group B.A.P up until his departure from TS Enterta ...

and vocalist

Yang Yo-seob Yang Yo-seob (born January 5, 1990), more commonly known as Yoseob, is a South Korean singer and musical actor. He is the main vocalist of the boy group Highlight. Biography Yang was born in Seoul, South Korea on January 5, 1990, in a small f ...

of Beast. It was released on August 12, 2011, by

TS Entertainment TS Entertainment (also known as TS ENTER (티에스이엔티이알)) was a South Korean record label and entertainment agency founded in 2008 by Kim Tae‑song (김태송). It was located at Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The compan ...

and distributed by

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 ...

. Following his collaboration with

Song Ji-eun Song Ji-eun, (born May 5, 1990), better known mononymously as Jieun, is a South Korean singer and actress best known as a member of the South Korean girl group Secret. Aside from her group's activities, she has released several solo songs and ...

on " Going Crazy" earlier that year, Bang made his formal debut as a soloist ahead of the launch of the record label's boy group

B.A.P B.A.P (; an acronym for Best Absolute Perfect) was a South Korean boy band formed in 2012 under TS Entertainment. B.A.P made their musical debut with the single "Warrior" on January 26, 2012, followed by the release of their debut EP ''Warrio ...

. A duet, "I Remember" is a hip hop track with elements of

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

. Due to the music video's display of graphic violence, the

Korean Broadcasting System The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) () is the national broadcaster of South Korea. Founded in February 1927, it is one of the leading South Korean television and radio broadcasters. KBS operates seven radio networks, ten television channels, a ...

(KBS) deemed it ineligible to be aired on its network. The single peaked at number 22 on South Korea's national

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 430,000 downloads domestically.

Background and composition

Bang was introduced as a new rapper signed to

who guest featured on

's single " Going Crazy" in March 2011. Leading up to the release of "I Remember", Bang was revealed to be a member of the agency's upcoming boy group

. An "emotional" hip hop song with elements of

rock music Rock music is a broad genre of popular music that originated as " rock and roll" in the United States in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of different styles in the mid-1960s and later, particularly in the United States an ...

, it was sung as a duet with

of Beast. The music was written by Bang, Chance of

One Way One-way or one way may refer to: * One-way traffic, a street either facilitating only one-way traffic, or designed to direct vehicles to move in one direction *One-way travel, a trip that does not return to its origin Music *One Way (American ba ...

, and Twelve. "I Remember" is written in the key of

D-flat major D-flat major (or the key of D-flat) is a major scale based on D, consisting of the pitches D, E, F, G, A, B and C. Its key signature has five flats. It is enharmonically equivalent to C-sharp major. The D-flat major scale is: : Its r ...

and has a tempo of 85 beats per minute. The song was re-recorded with bandmate Daehyun in place of Yang's vocals and included on B.A.P's repackaged mini-album ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' (2012).

Release and promotion

On July 29, 2011, Bang uploaded a

selfie A selfie () is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a digital camera or smartphone, which may be held in the hand or supported by a selfie stick. Selfies are often shared on social media, via social networking services such as F ...

via

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

pictured with Yang with the caption "Coming soon", alluding to the forthcoming release of "I Remember". Bang lost ahead of the single's released to shed the perception of being a "smiley boy" and portray a manlier look. On the eve of the single's release, music video teaser images showcasing Bang with red hair and "thick, smoky" makeup was posted. A 40-second music video teaser for "I Remember" was uploaded at midnight on the day of the single's release; the full version was uploaded later that day. Actor

Park Seo-joon Park Seo-joon (born Park Yong-kyu; December 16, 1988) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his starring roles in the television series ''Kill Me, Heal Me'' (2015), ''She Was Pretty'' (2015), ''Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth'' (2016– ...

made a cameo in the music video. Bang performed the track along with Daehyun at B.A.P's debut showcase on January 28, 2012.

Commercial performance

On the chart dated August 7–13, 2011, "I Remember" debuted at number 37 on South Korea's national

. The following week, it rose to its peak rank at 22. The single ranked within the top 100 for three consecutive weeks. By the end of the month, the single sold 430,250 downloads domestically.

Critical reception

Writing for online magazine ''

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 ...

'', Jo E-seul rated "I Remember" two and a half out of five stars and wrote that the song's rock elements that were intended to emphasize Bang's deep voice led to disharmony between the rapper and Yang's vocals. Jo said that the track "isn't bad", but lacks "distinctive characteristics". The

banned the music video for "I Remember" from syndication on its network. The company deemed the portrayal of violence and a shooting as "excessive".

Track listing

Charts

References

External links

* {{authority control 2011 singles 2011 songs Bang Yong-guk songs Kakao M singles Korean-language songs South Korean hip hop songs TS Entertainment singles Male vocal duets Yang Yo-seob songs