"Monster" is a song recorded by South Korean group Big Bang. It was released on June 3, 2012 by

YG Entertainment YG Entertainment Inc. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production comp ...

as the only single from the repackaged version of their

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

Alive Alive may refer to: *Life Books, comics and periodicals * ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler * '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka * '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...

'', ''Still Alive''. The song was written by group members

G-Dragon Kwon Ji-yong (; born August 18, 1988), also known by his stage name G-Dragon (지드래곤), is a South Korean rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur and fashion designer, known as the " King of K-pop". G-Dragon is the recipi ...

and

T.O.P Choi Seung-hyun (; born November 4, 1987), better known by his stage name T.O.P, is a South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He performed as an underground rapper before joining the record label YG Entertainment and ...

, and composed by the previous with Choi Pil-kang. "Monster" peaked atop South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart and reached the Top 10 on the Japan Hot 100.

Background and promotion

After the success of ''Alive'', YG announced that the EP would be repackaged as a special edition studio album with additional songs and re-titled as ''Still Alive''. The special edition and its single "Monster", were released June 3, 2012. Daily music video teasers were released from May 25 until the day before the song's release. The music video was shot in a

blockbuster Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to: *Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived. Corporations * Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain ** Bl ...

scale in a collaboration with

Hyundai Card Hyundai Card (Hangul:현대카드) is a credit card company under Hyundai Motor Group headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. In 1995, Hyundai Motor Group acquired Diners Club Korea, and changed its name to Hyundai Card in 2001. The company’s s ...

, with use of

special effects Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wo ...

that "took a month to perfect". Big Bang and Hyundai Card started a project called "Re-Monster" to promote the music video, aimed to give opportunities for

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

bands to reinterpret the song. The new redefined songs were uploaded onto Hyundai Music, where they were judged and the winning musicians would have a chance to release a digital single. A Japanese version of the song was included at the Japanese studio albums ''

'' and the

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be creat ...

The Best of Big Bang 2006-2014 ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

''. This version was promoted in the TV show ''Music Japan'', which was the only live performance of the single on television.

Composition

Composed by G-Dragon and written by the rapper with Choi Pil-kang, with additional rap parts penned by T.O.P, "Monster" was described as "a modern interpretation of the late 2000s sad, upbeat" Big Bang songs, such as " Lies" and "

Haru Haru "Haru Haru" (Korean: ; Day by Day) is a song by South Korean boy group Big Bang. Released through YG Entertainment on August 8, 2008, as the lead single for their third extended play ''Stand Up'', it became one of their most popular singles and ...

." The instrumental was noted for clashing a "gentle melody against orchestral cacophonies" and for flipping "pensative verses" with an "aggressive chorus." The lyrics "depicts a denial of one's own nature."

Reception

'' Billboard'' magazine named "Monster" Big Bang's eighth best song, writing that the track shows the group "at their most dramatic" and that the "sneaking, subtle intro and outro refrains from T.O.P and G-Dragon" provide the song "the perfect touch of eeriness." The ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' also named the single as one of the group's best songs, stating that it proved "they could do upbeat songs with a heart." The song debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart and sold 757,501 digital within its first week. On the second week, the single dropped to number three, selling 286,386 digital downloads and being streamed 2,618,701 times. "Monster" landed at number fourteen on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart, with over 2.3 million downloads, making it the 20th best-selling song of 2012.

Chart performance

Sales

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control Big Bang (South Korean band) songs 2012 singles 2012 songs Korean-language songs YG Entertainment singles Songs written by G-Dragon Songs written by T.O.P Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles