"To My Boyfriend" () is a song performed by South Korean girl group
Fin.K.L
Fin.K.L ( ko, 핑클) is a South Korean girl group formed by DSP Media in 1998 consisting of members Lee Hyori, Ock Joo-hyun, Lee Jin, and Sung Yu-ri. Fin.K.L was one of the most popular K-pop groups of the late 1990s and early 2000s, alongs ...
, released on May 25, 1998, as part of the group's debut
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
''
Blue Rain'' by
DSP Media
DSP Media (Hangul: DSP 미디어) is a South Korean entertainment company established in 1991 by Lee Ho-yeon. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and ...
. Stylistically, "To My Boyfriend" is a summer-themed
dance
Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...
and
bubblegum pop
Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States i ...
song that lyrically resembles that of a love letter written towards the members' romantic interests.
Background and release
Fin.K.L debuted under
DSP Media
DSP Media (Hangul: DSP 미디어) is a South Korean entertainment company established in 1991 by Lee Ho-yeon. The company operates as a record label, talent agency, music production company, event management and concert production company, and ...
with the release of their studio album ''Blue Rain'' on May 25, 1998. Three singles were spawned from the album, including the title track "Blue Rain", "To My Boyfriend", and "Ruby". The album was met with commercial success in South Korea, where it sold over 231,000 copies by August 1998. The song's accompanying music video was included in the group's compilation DVD album ''Forever 1998-2005 Music & Story'', which was made available on November 18, 2005.
Reception
"To My Boyfriend" was positively received domestically following its release. It became a popular mobile phone ringtone in the years after, particularly around Valentines Day. "To My Boyfriend" was named one of the top 100 K-pop Masterpieces of all time by a panel of 35 Korean music experts in a collaboration with
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 ...
and newspaper ''
Seoul Shinmun
''The Seoul Shinmun'' (translating to The Seoul Newspaper) is the oldest daily newspaper in South Korea with more than a century of publication. Its original name was ''Daehan Maeil Sinbo'' (''The Korea Daily News''), which was started on July 1 ...
'' in 2021. Critic Lee Kyu-tak contrasted the song's "exciting beats, sweet melody, and cute lyrics" with the group's "calmly toned-down costumes and stages" presented in their debut track "Blue Rain", and said that the concept shown in "To My Boyfriend" perhaps suited the group's image better. Lee added that "The non-exaggerated cute and lively images that Fin.K.L showed in 'To My Boyfriend' had a great influence on later K-pop girl groups", which is why, "along with
S.E.S., Fin.K.L are remembered in K-pop history."
Accolades
"To My Boyfriend" achieved the top positions on the programs ''Inkigayo'' and ''Music Bank'' for two weeks each in September. The song additionally ranked number one on
KMTV
KMTV-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by the E. W. Scripps Company, the station has studios on Mockingbird Drive in southwest Omaha, and its transmitter is located on a "tower ...
's cable music program ''
Show! Music Tank'' for three non-consecutive weeks.
Cover performances
![KARA at DSP Festival](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/KARA_at_DSP_Festival.jpg)
The song has been covered by numerous artists since its release in 1998. Taiwanese singer
Yuki Hsu
Yuki Hsu (born 3 March 1978) is a Taiwanese singer and actress from Taiwan. She is perhaps best known for her series of hits in Taiwan between 1998 and 2001. Most of her songs in her early career are upbeat, catchy, melodic dance tracks, often ...
covered the song in her third studio album ''The Angel'' (1999), which included multiple covers of South Korean songs. The tracks "I Can’t Cry" and "Call Me" were adaptions of Fin.K.L's "Ruby" and "To My Boyfriend", respectively. Boy group
SS501
SS501 is a South Korean boy band consisting of five members: Kim Hyun-joong, Heo Young-saeng, Kim Kyu-jong, Park Jung-min and Kim Hyung-jun. They debuted in 2005 with the EP ''Warning'', which included their first number one song, "Never Again ...
, also managed under DSP, performed a cover of the song at their December 27, 2006 concert at the
COEX
World Trade Center Seoul (WTC Seoul) () is a building complex centered on the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center (Coex) on Teheranno in Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu district of Seoul. It is operated by KITA (Korea International Trade Association). ...
, where they appeared in similar schoolgirl uniforms Fin.K.L wore for promotions in 1998. Girl groups
Wonder Girls
Wonder Girls () was a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group debuted in February 2007 with the single "Irony" and 5 members: Yeeun, Sunye, Sunmi, Hyuna and Sohee. After Hyuna's departure in July, Yubin was added into th ...
and
Kara
Kara or KARA may refer to:
Geography Localities
* Kara, Chad, a sub-prefecture
* Kára, Hungary, a village
* Kara, Uttar Pradesh, India, a township
* Kara, Iran, a village in Lorestan Province
* Kara, Republic of Dagestan, a rural locality in Da ...
additionally covered the song at the 2007
KBS Song Festival
The ''KBS Song Festival'' () is an annual South Korean music show that airs on the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) at the end of every year. It first aired in 1965 as an awards show, but KBS discontinued the awards ceremony in 2006. It has co ...
and 2012
MBC Gayo Daejejeon
The ''MBC Gayo Daejejeon'' () is an annual, end-of-the-year South Korean music show broadcast by the Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC). The event was first held in 1966 as a singing competition, but MBC stopped giving out awards in 2005.
...
, respectively.
At the DSP Festival held on December 14, 2013, Kara and
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
teamed up and performed a cover of "To My Boyfriend". On music programs,
Lovelyz
Lovelyz () is a South Korean girl group formed in 2014 by Woollim Entertainment and is the company's first girl group. The group consists of eight members: Baby Soul, Jiae, Jisoo, Mijoo, Kei, Jin, Sujeong and Yein. Their debut album, '' Girls ...
performed it on ''
Music Bank
Music Bank may refer to:
* ''Music Bank'' (TV program), a South Korean music program by KBS
**''Music Bank World Tour
The ''Music Bank'' World Tour is a worldwide live concert tour of South Korean music show '' Music Bank'' by the Korean Broa ...
''s Christmas Special in 2015 and
GFriend
GFriend (stylized in all caps; ) was a South Korean girl group formed by Source Music in 2015. The group consisted of six members: Sowon, Yerin, Eunha, Yuju, SinB, and Umji. They debuted with the extended play (EP) '' Season of Glass'' on Jan ...
performed a special stage on the March 3, 2016 broadcast of ''
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 ...
''. At the MBC Gayo Daejejeon at the end of that year,
Hani,
Seolhyun
Kim Seol-hyun (born January 3, 1995), better known by her mononym Seolhyun, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is a former member of the South Korean girl group AOA and she has starred in television dramas ''Orange Marmalade'' (2015), ' ...
, and
Tzuyu
Chou Tzu-yu ( zh, 周子瑜}; , born 14 June 1999), known mononymously as Tzuyu (, ), is a Taiwanese people, Taiwanese singer based in South Korea. She is the only Taiwanese member of the girl group Twice, formed by JYP Entertainment in 2015. ...
covered the track while sporting pink checkered skirts.
Weeekly
Weeekly ( ko, 위클리) is a South Korean girl group under IST Entertainment (formerly Play M Entertainment). The group is Play M Entertainment's second girl group in 10 years, after Apink. The group consists of six members: Lee Soo-jin, Monday ...
additionally covered it on ''M Countdown'' on July 23, 2020, a month after their debut.
References
External links
* {{YouTube, YI8n7WYhU9E, "To My Boyfriend" official audio video
1998 singles
Fin.K.L songs