"Rover" is a song recorded by South Korean singer Kai for his third extended play of the same name. It was released as the EP's lead single by SM Entertainment on March 13, 2023.

Background and release

In February 2023, SM confirmed that Kai would release a new solo album. On February 17, SM announced that his new EP, ''Rover'', would be released on March 13. The song was released alongside the extended play and its music video on March 13.

Composition

remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same ...

of Bulgarian singer Dara's original song titled "Mr. Rover", "Rover" was composed by Cristian Tarcea, Dara, Valentina Nikova, YNGA, Gabriel Brandes and Young Chance, with the arrangement held by Tarcea and Imlay. Described as a

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

song with heavy bass, marimba, bells and various percussion instruments. The lyrics, which was written by Park Tae-won, discuss freeing onself from the restraints of others' viewpoints and living freely as a "wanderer". The song was composed in the key of

C♯ minor C-sharp minor is a minor scale based on C, with the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of four sharps. The C-sharp natural minor scale is: : Changes needed for the melodic and harmonic versions of the scale ...

, with a tempo of 186 beats per minute.

Music video and promotion

The music video was directed by Kim Ki-hyun and Lee Hye-su of Swisher was released alongside the song by SM Entertainment on March 13. It was inspired by the films '' Billy Elliot'' (2000) and '' Catch Me If You Can'' (2002). One hour before the release, Kai held a live broadcast through Exo's YouTube and TikTok channels in which he talked about his EP, songs and production process. He promoted the song with televised live performances on various South Korean music programs, including ''

M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet. The show features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. It is broadcast from CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. Bro ...

'', '' Music Bank'', ''

Show! Music Core ''Show! Music Core'' (), or simply ''Music Core'' is a South Korean music television program broadcast by MBC. It airs live every Saturday at 15:30 (KST). The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. ...

'' and ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' ( ko, 인기가요; English title: ''The Music Trend'', previously ''Popular Song'') is a South Korean music program broadcast by SBS. It airs live every Sunday. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who p ...

''.

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number 23 on Circle Digital Chart issue dated March 12 to 18, 2023. It also debuted at number one and 76 on the component Download Chart and BGM Chart, respectively.

Criterical reception

On '' NME''s midyear list of the best K-pop songs of 2023, Sara Delgado wrote that the song "exceed expectations" and called it "an immediately enthralling earworm that still resonates through social media months after its release".

Accolades

Credits

Credits adapted from EP's liner notes.

Studio

* SM Starlight Studio – recording, engineered for mix,

digital editing Digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital ...

* SM Blue Ocean Studio – mixing * 821 Sound Mastering – mastering

Personnel

* SM Entertainment –

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the making of a commercial entertainment product. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights o ...

* Lee Sung-soo – production director, executive supervisor *

Tak Young-jun Tak Young-jun (; also spelled Tak Young-joon; born January 17, 1978) is a South Korean business executive and the current COO of SM Entertainment. He also serves as the CEO of SM Life Design Group and a representative director of SM Entertainmen ...

– executive supervisor * Yoo Young-jin – music and sound supervisor * Kai – vocals * Park Tae-won – lyrics * Cristian Tarcea – composition,

arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

* Dara – composition * Valentina Nikova – composition * YNGA – composition * Young Chance – composition, vocal directing, background vocals * Gabriel Brandes – composition * Imlay – arrangement * Jeong Yu-ra – recording, engineered for mix, digital editing * Kim Cheol-sun – mixing * Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Release history

References

{{Kai (entertainer, born 1994) 2023 songs 2023 singles Korean-language songs SM Entertainment singles