"Lips" is the sixth single by

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

ese

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

KAT-TUN is a Japanese boy band formed under Johnny & Associates (Johnny's) in 2001. The group's name was originally an acronym based on the first letter of each member's family name: Kazuya Kamenashi, Jin Akanishi, Junnosuke Taguchi, Koki Tanaka, ...

, and the third and last song to be commercially released from their third studio album, '' KAT-TUN III: Queen of Pirates''. The single was released in three editions and as such, there are three different covers; the regular edition contains the title track, the B-side and its instrumental tracks, the first press edition came with a bonus track entitled "Message for You" and its instrumental version and the second limited edition was packaged with a DVD with the music video and a

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

about the making of the PV.LIPS
, Wiki.theppn; retrieved on July 29, 2008. The single was released on February 26, 2008, and became KAT-TUN's sixth consecutive number 1 single on the Oricon weekly singles charts & LIPS is the 9th most sold single in 2008 according to Oricon.

Song information

"Lips" was written by Axel-G, who penned "She Said..." for the group's debut album. The music and arrangement was composed by Yukihide "YT" Takiyama whilst

Koki Tanaka is a Japanese singer–songwriter and actor. He was a member of Jpop idol boy band KAT-TUN from their debut until September 30, 2013 when his contract with Johnny & Associates (the company that manages KAT-TUN) was terminated. When he was a me ...

wrote his own rap verses under his pen name, JOKER. Described by co-lead vocalist

Kazuya Kamenashi is a Japanese singer, actor, host, producer, magazine model and a member of KAT-TUN. Born and raised in Edogawa, Tokyo, he joined the Japanese talent agency, Johnny & Associates, at the age of 12. He was drafted as a member and co-lead vocalist o ...

as the most intense

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

song the group had ever done, the song speaks of an obsession with a girl's "dyed red lips" and the difficult relationship they share. The lyrics go on to urge the girl not to take on all the blame for the couple's troubles and to not "let go of ishand". Though not present in the studio version, Kamenashi usually screams after he sings the introductory verse during live performances. The song is also the theme song for Kamenashi's

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms t ...

, '' 1 Pound no Fukuin'', which aired on

NTV NTV may refer to: Television * NTV (Bangladesh), a Bengali-language satellite television channel in Bangladesh * NTV (India), Telugu regional channel * NTV (Kenya) * NTV (Mongolia), a television channel based in Mongolia * NTV (Newport Television) ...

Promotion

KAT-TUN performed the song on television for the first time on their own variety show ''

Cartoon KAT-TUN was a Japanese variety show hosted by KAT-TUN, a Japanese boy band formed by Johnny & Associates. The show began airing on April 4, 2007, and ended on March 24, 2010. It aired every Wednesday from 11:55 pm to 12:26 am on NTV for 3 years. ...

'' on January 12, 2008. The group also sung on ''

Music Station is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently syndicated throughout th ...

'' on February 1 and February 8, 2008,

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

's ''

Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ ''Hey! Hey! Hey! Music Champ'' was a Japanese music variety show on Fuji Television hosted by the comedy duo Downtown, which consists of Hitoshi Matsumoto and Masatoshi Hamada. It is a very popular show with comical hosts who like to pick on thei ...

'' on February 4 and on NTV's ''Music Fighter'' on February 8.

Chart performance

In its first week of release, "Lips" made its bow at number one on the

Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan and Western music. It started as, which was founded by Sōkō Koike in Nov ...

singles chart knocking off

Thelma Aoyama is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. She is part Afro-Trinidadian and Japanese. She is known for her collaboration song with SoulJa, "Koko ni Iru yo" and her answer song "Soba ni Iru ne". In September 2008, the Guinness World Records certified th ...

's "

Soba ni Iru ne is Thelma Aoyama's second official single, released on January 23, 2008, featuring SoulJa. It is an answer song to her previous collaboration with SoulJa, " Koko ni Iru yo." B-side "My dear friend" was used as the ending theme to anime Shion no ...

" from the top spot with 351,254 copies sold. It is the group's sixth consecutive chart-topper since their debut. The song spent 15 weeks on the chart and has reportedly sold over 421,902 copies to date and was certified platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969. The RIAJ's activities include pr ...

. In February 2008, Lips was honored at the 23rd

Japan Gold Disc Awards The is an award presented by the Recording Industry Association of Japan The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Associa ...

when it placed on the "Best 10 Music Singles (Domestic)" list alongside "

Don't U Ever Stop "Don't U Ever Stop" is the seventh single by Japanese boy band, KAT-TUN, and the first single from their fourth studio album, '' Break the Records: By You & For You''. The single was released in four editions and as such features four different c ...

".Recording Industry Association of Japan - 23rd Japan Gold Disc Awards
retrieved on October 1, 2009.

Track listings

* Normal Edition Track listing * First Press edition track listing * DVD track list

Sales and certifications

References

{{authority control KAT-TUN songs 2008 singles Oricon Weekly number-one singles Japanese television drama theme songs 2008 songs