''Superstar'' is the first Japanese

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.

by South Korean boy group

Shinee Shinee ( ; ko, 샤이니, Syaini; ja, シャイニー, Shainī; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group's musical impact in their native country has earned them numerous accolades and th ...

. It was released digitally on June 28, 2021, through

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

, with its physical release following a month later on July 28. The EP contains five songs including the lead single, "Superstar". It reached number one on

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 ...

's weekly album chart.

Background and release

On May 23, 2021, Shinee commemorated the 10th anniversary of their debut in Japan with an online fan meeting, Bistro de Shinee. They announced the release of their upcoming Japanese album, their first in three years, and previewed two new songs, "Superstar" and "Seasons". Lead single "Superstar" was released on digital music platforms the following day. "Superstar" is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...

song with the message, "Let's live our lives trusting ourselves instead of comparing ourselves with others." On June 25, it was announced that Shinee would release the digital edition of the EP on June 28, followed by the physical release a month later on July 28. The EP features the two songs already previewed, as well as three additional tracks: a Japanese version of Shinee's previous Korean release, "Don't Call Me", "Atlantis", and another new Japanese song, "Closer". The music video for "Superstar" premiered on

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 ...

on June 29.

Commercial performance

''Superstar'' debuted at number seven on ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine ''Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence from ''Bi ...

'' Hot Albums on the chart issue dated July 7, 2021. It rose to number two following the release of the EP's physical edition on July 28. The EP also debuted at number one on the weekly

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon Albu ...

, selling 73,975 copies in the first week. It was Shinee's first release to top the chart since 2018's '' Shinee The Best From Now On'', and their fourth overall. ''Superstar'' was certified Gold by

RIAJ 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 p ...

for selling 100,000 album shipments.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales figures

Release history

References

{{Shinee Shinee EPs 2021 EPs EMI Records EPs SM Entertainment EPs Japanese-language EPs