"Rum Pum Pum Pum" (; lit. "First Wisdom Teeth") is a song by South Korean girl group

f(x) F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''. Hist ...

. It was released as the lead single from the album ''

Pink Tape ''Pink Tape'' is the second studio album by South Korean girl group f(x). The album was released on July 29, 2013, by S.M. Entertainment. ''Pink Tape'' is the first studio album by f(x) in over two years, the last being the repackage of their fi ...

'' on July 29, 2013, through

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies where it was established in 1995 by record executive and record producer Lee Soo-man. The company ha ...

. The song was well received by music critics. It was named one of the 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time by ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' in 2019 and one of the Top 100 K-pop Songs of All Time by

Melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

in 2021.

Background and release

"Rum Pum Pum Pum" is a song of dance-pop with exotic hand drums, whiplash-y snares, funky sixties guitar riffs, and synthesized squirt. Lyrically, it expresses first love on a wisdom teeth. f(x) compare themselves to the pesky molars in another one of their typically bizarre metaphors, with lyrics like, “Attention boys! I’m a bit different / I pushed aside all the others and took my place,” and, “I will pierce through your heart’s wall and grow.” The song’s “Rum Pum Pum Pum” title is used to imitate the sound of a beating heart, which is brought to life with a brilliant “Little Drummer Boy” sample that later segues into samba. It is interspersed throughout the song "peoreom peoreom peom" (퍼럼퍼럼펌) and "reom peom peom peom" (럼펌펌펌). The pain of the first love is like the pain of the first wisdom tooth. On July 17,

announced that

would be returning to the Korean music market with their second studio album Pink Tape on July 28, 2013, after a year's absence. On the same day, the agency also released a photo ''

teaser Teaser may refer to: * One who teases * Teaser (animal), a male livestock animal (typically a bull) whose penis has been amputated, "''gomer''" Film exhibition, broadcasting, advertising * Teaser (trailer), a short film used to advertise an ...

'' of

Krystal Krystal may refer to: People * Krystal Ann Simpson (born 1982), American poet, fashion blogger, DJ, reality television personality, and musician * Krystal Ball (born 1981), American political commentator * Krystal Barter, Australian activi ...

on the official f(x). On July 18, SM released photos ''teasers'' of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Amber Amber is fossilized tree resin that has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Much valued from antiquity to the present as a gemstone, amber is made into a variety of decorative objects."Amber" (2004). In Ma ...

. Four days later, on July 22, SM Entertainment revealed a video '' teaser '' the album's title track, "첫 사랑니 (Rum Pum Pum Pum)", on their official

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel.

Commercial performance

The song rose to the number one spot on all of South Korea's music portals upon its release. With less than half the week to build sales and downloads to be included in the K-Pop Hot 100, the song was still able to debut in the top 20, appearing in 14th place in the week of August 10, 2013. A week later, the song topped the charts, marking the first number one single for the group in the Billboard Korea charts.

Music video

The music shows f(x) dancing to choreography by Jillian Meyers. It features three sets: one white sparkling set, another pink room with glossy pink borders, and red ceiling-to-floor room with lights on the sides. The members are shown wearing four different outfits and showing different hairstyles. Throughout the video, the camera focuses on cheoreography, and zooms in on each girl in walking on the white set room with floating flowers.

Plagiarism

An issue of plagiarism arose when the

Department of Health A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...

of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

when they released a music video called "Gaga Girl Bobo Boy" for their campaign against

teenage pregnancy Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female adolescent or young adult under the age of 20. This includes those who are legally considered adults in their country. The WHO defines adolescence as the period bet ...

. Some internet users claimed the video sounded too much like "Rum Pum Pum". A representative of

revealed to No Cut News and My Daily on December 8 that "''By no means have we permitted the use of the music, 'Rum Pum Pum Pum.' The original publisher of 'Rum Pum Pum Pum' confirmed that the music used by the Philippines' public service campaign in question is indeed plagiarism, so we have started taking action.''

Accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Credits and personnel

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

– lead vocals,

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are used ...

– vocals, background vocals,

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

Luna Luna commonly refers to: * Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin * Luna (goddess), the ancient Roman personification of the Moon Luna may also refer to: Places Philippines * Luna, Apayao * Luna, Isabela * Luna, La Union * Luna, San Jose Romania * ...

– main vocals, background vocals **

Sulli Choi Jin-ri (March 29, 1994 – October 13 or 14, 2019), better known by her stage name Sulli (), was a South Korean actress and singer. She first made her debut as a child actress, appearing as a supporting cast member on the SBS historical d ...

– vocals, background vocals, raps **

– lead vocals, background vocals * Erik Lewander –

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

* Ylva Dimberg – songwriting *

Iggy Strange Dahl Iggy Strange Dahl is a Swedish songwriter based in Stockholm, Sweden. He has written songs for major recording artists such as September, Lena Katina (Former member of t.A.T.u.), Sweetbox, F(x), Arashi, Jolin Tsai, Super Junior Donghae & Eunhyu ...

– songwriting * Anne Judith Wik – songwriting * Jun Gandi – songwriting

References

External links

* * {{f(x) SM Entertainment singles 2013 singles Dance-pop songs Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles Korean-language songs F(x) (group) songs