''Psy 9th'' (stylized as ''PSY 9th'', ) is the eighth studio album by South Korean singer
Psy
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage perf ...
. It was released on April 29, 2022, through
P Nation
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage perf ...
, and distributed by
Dreamus Company. This album is Psy's first release in five years since ''
4×2=8'' (2017) and his first to be published under his label (
P Nation
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage perf ...
), which was established in January 2019. It is the first Psy album without the involvement of
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 compa ...
since his departure on May 15, 2018, the album has twelve tracks including the lead single, "
That That
"That That" is a song recorded by South Korean singer Psy and South Korean rapper Suga (rapper), Suga of BTS for Psy's eighth studio album ''Psy 9th''. The song was written and produced by Psy and Suga. It was released for Music download, digita ...
", featuring
Suga
Suga may refer to:
* Suga, Iran, a village in Qazvin Province, Iran
* Suga language, a language of Cameroon
* Suga (rapper) (born 1993), South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer
* ''Suga'' (EP), 2020 EP by Megan Thee Stallion
* ''Sug ...
of
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...
, alongside various other guest appearances including
Sung Si-kyung
Sung Si-kyung (; born April 17, 1979) is a South Korean singer, entertainer and television host. He debuted in 2001 and has released eight studio albums in Korean and two studio albums in Japanese. He has also hosted and appeared on numerous So ...
,
Heize
Jang Da-hye (; born August 9, 1991), better known by her stage name Heize, is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, composer and producer currently signed to P Nation. The name Heize was inspired by the name of an American rapper Angel Haz ...
,
Jessi
Jessi may refer to:
People
* Jessi (musician) (born 1988), Korean-American rapper, singer, and songwriter
* Gianluigi Jessi (born 1945), Italian basketball player
* Jessi Alexander (born 1976), American country music artist
* Jessi Colter (born ...
,
Hwasa
Ahn Hye-jin (, born July 23, 1995), known professionally by her stage name Hwasa (), is a South Korean singer, rapper, and television personality currently signed to RBW. She debuted as a member of the girl group Mamamoo in 2014. She made her ...
,
Crush, and
Tablo
Daniel Armand Lee (Korean: Lee Seon-woong; Hangul: 이선웅; born July 22, 1980), better known by his stage name Tablo (Hangul: 타블로), is a Korean-Canadian hip hop recording artist, lyricist, composer and record producer. Tablo is best k ...
.
Background and release
The album was originally planned to be released in July 2019. On July 15, Psy exclusively pre-released the music videos for "Everyday", "Celeb", and "Happier". On December 30, 2021, Psy's publishing label
P Nation
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage perf ...
announced the album would finally be released in the following year after multiple delays due to his schedules and management of his company.
On April 29, 2022, Psy held a press listening party at a hotel in Seoul. Regarding his reasons for releasing a physical studio album, Psy said he felt that CDs are an outdated format since, despite CD being popular among K-Pop idols, nobody has a CD player and releasing a CD felt like a very exhausting move in this digital age. While he thought releasing a digital single might be more long-lasting, Psy felt that—as an artist in a "waist position", who connects his juniors and his seniors in K-Pop—he wanted to balance the old and new in K-Pop and have a retro album in the digital age.
Production and lyrics
The songs on ''Psy 9th'' were written during Psy's five-year hiatus since his previous studio album, ''4×2=8'', starting as early as 2018. During an interview, Psy revealed that the long production time was due to his reliance on collecting feedback from fellow artists, friends, and other people he trusts as he refines each song. Despite achieving international success, the album was not specifically targeted at a foreign audience, with Psy focusing on performances in Korea after its release. The singer cited the reception of "Gangnam Style" as his reason for focusing on domestic markets as he felt that the song's success overshadowed him as an artist, stating that, "some foreigners even think that my name is 'Gangnam Style'." He also compared the success of "Gangnam Style" with more junior idols who are currently famous in North America, such as
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...
and
Blackpink
Blackpink (, commonly stylized in all caps or as BLɅϽKPIИK) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album ''Square ...
, who have achieved success for their personalities and thus have a more long-lasting quality to their popularity.
The album's feature song, "That That", was originally written by Suga, who approached Psy and asked to produce it for him.
During production Suga became more involved in other aspects of the song and eventually recorded a rap verse and featured in the music video for the song. Psy tried to move away from the EDM feel of his previous songs, but still wanted an upbeat tempo. For this reason, he liked the accompaniment Suga recorded and found that the upbeat Latin feel fit perfectly.
"Ganji" was offered to
Jessi
Jessi may refer to:
People
* Jessi (musician) (born 1988), Korean-American rapper, singer, and songwriter
* Gianluigi Jessi (born 1945), Italian basketball player
* Jessi Alexander (born 1976), American country music artist
* Jessi Colter (born ...
while she was performing her latest single, "
Zoom
Zoom may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Zoom (software), videoconferencing application
* Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display
* Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
". Psy attempted new flow styles in the song and reflected the frustrations of translating Jessi's English lyrics into Korean. Psy asked Sung Si Kyung to feature in the song "You Move Me". Despite being a frequent collaborator with Sung, he found it was more awkward to request him to participate in the song. The song is about life, and Psy felt the song was finished with Sung's special diction regarding the song's Korean lyrics. "Sleepless" was recorded in a single day; Psy has stated that he hoped it would heal people's souls who are tired from a hard night at work. "Happier" was finished in 2019 before Crush became part of Psy's company P nation. "Celeb" was originally going to be released in 2019, but was delayed due to Psy's attempt to pair the emotionality of a song like "Celeb" with a typical party song like "Champion" to balance the album, a strategy he tried to keep throughout his previous albums.
Psy wrote "Forever" at dawn when he feared that he would miss the fullness of his performances and that feeling might not come.
Music videos
The music video for "Celeb" was filmed in three days.
Bae Suzy
Bae Su-ji (; born October 10, 1994), better known as Bae Suzy, is a South Korean singer, actress and model. She was a member of the girl group Miss A under JYP Entertainment. She made her debut as an actress with television series ''Dream High ...
reportedly had practiced the dances intensely for four consecutive days.
The music video for "That That" features
Suga
Suga may refer to:
* Suga, Iran, a village in Qazvin Province, Iran
* Suga language, a language of Cameroon
* Suga (rapper) (born 1993), South Korean rapper, songwriter, and record producer
* ''Suga'' (EP), 2020 EP by Megan Thee Stallion
* ''Sug ...
of
BTS
BTS (), also known as the Bangtan Boys, is a South Korean boy band formed in 2010 and debuting in 2013 under Big Hit Entertainment. The septet—consisting of members Jin, Suga, J-Hope, RM, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—co-writes and co-produ ...
, and has the duo wearing cowboy outfits and dancing in a western themed saloon.
Track listing
Charts
Notes
References
{{Psy
2022 albums
Korean-language albums
Psy albums