"The Boys" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group

Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...

for their third Korean language studio album with the same name. Composed and arranged by

Teddy Riley Edward Theodore Riley (born October 8, 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer credited with the creation of the New Jack Swing genre. Riley credits Barry Michael Cooper with giving the genre its name.Hogan, Paul. " Tedd ...

, Taesung Kim, DOM, and Richard Garcia, the song was described as 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 ...

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

and R&B song with elements of hip hop that lyrically discusses female attractiveness. The

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

version was released on October 18, 2011, by

S.M. 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 ...

as the lead single from the album. An

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

version was subsequently released in the United States on December 20, 2011, by

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in order to expand the group's popularity outside their native country. Following the release of "The Boys", Girls' Generation appeared on several South Korean music programs including ''

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 ...

'', ''

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. ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', and ''

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 ...

''. To further promote the song to American audiences, the group performed at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

in New York City on October 23, 2011, and made their debut on US television with appearances on ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' and ''

Live! with Kelly and Michael ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'' (or simply ''Live'') is an American syndicated morning talk show hosted by Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest. Executive produced by Michael Gelman, the ''Live with...'' show formula has aired under various hosts since ...

'' in February 2012. A music video for the song was directed by

Hong Won-ki Hong may refer to: Places * Høng, a town in Denmark *Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and specia ...

and choreographed by

Rino Nakasone is a Japanese dancer, choreographer, artistic director and actor. Nakasone and her dance crew, Beat Freaks, participated in the third season of ''America's Best Dance Crew'', where they finished in second place. Nakasone has worked as a choreogr ...

and was released on October 19, 2011. "The Boys" was a success domestically. It peaked atop the South Korean

Gaon Digital Chart The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...

and sold over three million digital copies in 2011, becoming the 43rd best-performing single on the chart of the year. Internationally, the single received generally positive reviews from

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

, who complimented the song as one of the highlights of the Korean Wave. In the United States, it managed to sell over 21,000 copies in its first week of release and peaked at number 5 on the ''

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 ...

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, while in Japan, the single peaked at number 12 on the ''

Japan Hot 100 The ''Billboard Japan'' Hot 100 is a record chart in Japan for songs. It has been compiled by ''Billboard Japan'' and '' Hanshin Contents Link'' since February 2008. The chart is updated every Wednesday at Billboard-japan.com ( JST) and every Thur ...

Background and composition

"The Boys" was composed and arranged by

, Taesung Kim, DOM, and Richard Garcia. The original

version of the song was written by

Yoo Young-jin Yoo Young-jin is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer and vocal trainer under SM Entertainment. He has produced and written songs for H.O.T., S.E.S, BoA, Shinhwa, TVXQ, CSJH The Grace, Super Junior, Girls' Generation, Shinee, ...

. The

version was written by Riley; it was released on October 18, 2011, as a digital single worldwide by

. A digital

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.

which consists of the English version and remixes of "The Boys" was released on December 20, 2011, by S.M. Entertainment under exclusive license to

. A

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, "In the Summertime" was the ...

of the song released on December 21, 2011. A remix version of the song produced by

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that started in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mostly used to r ...

musicians

Clinton Sparks Clinton Charls Sparks (born September 18, 1975) is an American Disc jockey, DJ, record producer, songwriter and singer from Boston, Massachusetts. He initially started his career as a rapper, dancer, producer, and DJ who gained notoriety by maki ...

and The Disco Fries featuring

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

was included on the US edition. A

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

version was written by Hidenori Tanaka and Nozomi Maezawa and was included on the group's

reissue In the music industry, a reissue (also re-release, repackage or re-edition) is the release of an album or Single (music), single which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New aud ...

of their debut Japanese album, ''

'', which was entitled ''The Boys'' and released on December 28, 2011. To further promote their popularity to Western countries, S.M. Entertainment had the group signed with

, which is affiliated with

, to debut in the United States. In an interview with

MTV K MTV K was an English-language online media hub under the MTV brand that focused on Korean pop music for a global audience. Owned and operated by parent company Viacom Media Networks, MTV K was based out of New York City and provided original medi ...

, member Tiffany shared that the recording session of the song, both the English and Korean version, took one week to finish. She also expressed her excitement of the song's release in the United States, "We haven’t started on a full-length album, but we’re kicking off with this maxi single and hopefully it will lead to a full-length album." Musically, "The Boys" is a

and R&B song, with elements of hip hop, a genre that Girls' Generation had never ventured into. It features "military style drum breakdowns and killer vocal harmonies" in its composition, according to Angelica Wallingford from the ''San Diego City Times''. The song's lyrics as explained by Eun-Young Jung on the book ''The Korean Wave: Korean Media Go Global'' (2013) as portraying "sexually daring girls" who are confident in their attractiveness and enjoy attention from men:

I can tell you're looking at me, I know what you see
Any closer and you'll feel the heat
You don't have to pretend that you didn't notice me
Every look will make it hard to breathe
B-Bring the boys out

Promotion

SNSD at LG Cinema 3D World Festival (4) (cropped)

In November and December 2011, Girls' Generation appeared on several South Korean music programs including ''

'', ''

'', and ''

'' to promote "The Boys" and the album. To further promote the song to American audiences, the group appeared at

in New York on October 23, 2011, and performed the song, as part of an

SM Town SM Town (stylized as SMTOWN) is a musical collective for the recording artists under South Korean entertainment company SM Entertainment. SM Town artists have performed at the annual SM Town Live world tours since the SM Town Live '08 Asia tour ...

concert, which also featured other S.M. Entertainment's singers and performers, including

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 ...

and f(x). Girls' Generation promoted "The Boys" upon making their debut on American television in February 2012. The group performed the English version of the song on two television shows: ''

'' and ''

'' on February 1. Their performances received generally positive reviews from US media outlets. Bradley Stern from MuuMuse labelled the group's appearances on US television a "stunning win" for supporters of Korean music, while David Bevan from ''

Spin Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thread by twisting fibers together, traditionally by hand spinning * Spin, the rotation of an object around a central axis * Spin (propaganda), an intentionally b ...

'' wrote "It's like a dream." Nevertheless, viewers' response were divided–some accused the members of

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

ing and expressed their disdain for their performance, while others were impressed by the group's dancing skills and musical style. A music video for "The Boys" was directed by

and choreographed by

. It was released on October 19, 2011, 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 ...

and several South Korean music websites. The video starts with a close up-of each members before switching to the dancing scenes. It was an instant success on

, achieving 13 million views in one week. It has since attracted over 100 million views on YouTube, becoming the group's third music video to do so following " Gee" and "

I Got a Boy ''I Got a Boy'' (stylized in all caps) is the fourth Korean studio album (sixth overall) by South Korean girl group Girls' Generation. It was released for digital download on January 1, 2013, by S.M. Entertainment, and was made available for p ...

". With this achievement, Girls' Generation became the first music girl group to have three music videos with over 100 million views as of September 2014, surpassing the

Pussycat Dolls Pussycat or Pussy Cat may refer to: * Cat, a domestic feline Music Bands * Pussycat (band), a Dutch country and pop group * The Pussycats, a 1960s Norwegian rock band * The Pussycats, a group signed to Kama Sutra Records Albums * ''Pussy Cats'', ...

, who had two videos with over 100 million views.

Reception

Commercial

"The Boys" was a success in South Korea. Following its release, the song immediately achieved number one spots on music programs ''Music Bank'', ''Inkigayo'', and ''M Countdown''. On ''Music Bank'', the single occupied the number one position for six weeks. It peaked at number one on the

and sold over 3.032 million digital downloads in 2011, becoming the 10th best-selling single and the 43rd best-performing single (including streaming and instrumental track downloads) on the Gaon Chart. The single also peaked atop the ''

Korea K-Pop Hot 100 The K-pop Hot 100 is a music singles chart in South Korea, launched by '' Billboard'' in conjunction with ''Billboard'' Korea () on August 25, 2011. It is the second Asian ''Billboard'' chart after the Japan Hot 100. The chart used the same multi ...

instead. In the United States, the track peaked at numbers 5 and 15 the

and

Hot Singles Sales This is a compendium of the best-selling music singles. The criterion for inclusion is to sell at least ten million copies worldwide. The singles listed here were cited by reliable sources from various media, such as digital journalism, news ...

, respectively, and managed to sell 21,000 copies in its first week of release, according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

. In Japan, "The Boys" charted at number 12 on the ''

chart.

Critical

Girls' Generation in 2012 K-Pop Collection

"The Boys" received generally positive reviews from

. Katherine St Asaph from Popdust gave the song three and a half out of five stars, complimenting the song's production but criticizing its lack of a "memorable" chorus. Jen Erenza from

Ryan Seacrest Ryan John Seacrest (born December 24, 1974) is an American media personality and producer. He is the co-host of ''Live with Kelly and Ryan'', as well as the host of multiple media shows including ''American Idol'', ''American Top 40'', and '' ...

's official blog praised it as a "foot-stomping, head-crackin', and girl-powered track sung by nine girls that everyone needs to hear".

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Tim Sendra named it the best song on '' The Boys'' and wrote that "Girls' Generation have what it takes to conquer the world of pop". Chris True from the same website picked "The Boys" as well as its English version and remix featuring

as three outstanding songs throughout the group's career. Jaeki Cho from ''

Vibe ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down productio ...

'' described the group's music as "

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

meet

" and recommended "The Boys" to download. Smith Sonian noted "The Boys" as one of the highlights of Korean music (

K-pop K-pop (), short for Korean popular music, is a form of popular music originating in South Korea as part of South Korean culture. It includes styles and genres from around the world, such as pop, hip hop, R&B, experimental, rock, jazz, gos ...

) in the Korean Wave along with "Only One" by

BoA Kwon Bo-ah (; born November 5, 1986), known professionally as BoA, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, dancer, record producer and actress. One of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers, she has been dubbed the " Queen of K- ...

, "Sorry, Sorry" by

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band formed by Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment in 2005. They are also dubbed by the media as the "King of Hallyu Wave" due to their prominent ...

, "

Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" ( ko, 강남스타일, ) is a K-pop song by South Korean rapper Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term ...

" by

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 per ...

, "

Fantastic Baby "Fantastic Baby" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band Big Bang. It was released as a single for digital download and streaming by YG Entertainment on February 29, 2012, in conjunction with the release of the band's fourth extended play ...

" by

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

", and "

I Am the Best "I Am the Best" () is a song recorded by South Korean girl group 2NE1 for their self-titled second EP. It was written and produced entirely by the group's long-time collaborator Teddy Park and was released for digital download as the third ...

" by

2NE1 2NE1 (, ) was a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, which was active between 2009 and 2016. The group was composed of four members: Bom, CL, Dara, and Minzy. Known for breaking typical stereotypes of K-pop, musical experiment ...

. Several reviewers expected that Girls' Generation would achieve success with their electropop music styles following their appearance on US television. Mio Scobie, editor of ''

Us Weekly ''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...

'' wrote that "They produce feelgood beats, instantly memorable choruses and, as I'm sure people have already noticed, they're stunning." ''

McClure's ''McClure's'' or ''McClure's Magazine'' (1893–1929) was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with having started the tradition of muckraking journalism (investigative journ ...

Asia Music News'' writer Steve McClure also anticipated that the group would succeed on the Western music scene, saying that "I have a feeling that Girls' Generation will stick round for a while."

Track listing

;Digital download # "The Boys" – 3:46 # "The Boys" (Instrumental) – 3:46 ;Maxi single and EP # "The Boys" – 3:48 # "The Boys" (Clinton Sparks & Disco Fries Remix) (featuring

) – 4:17 # "The Boys" (Clinton Sparks & Disco Fries Remix) (featuring Lil Playy) – 4:17 # "The Boys" *Bring Dem Boys* (Teddy Riley Remix) (featuring Suzi) – 3:39 # "The Boys" *Bring the Boys Out* (David Anthony Remix) – 4:27 # "The Boys" *Bring the Boys* (Teddy Riley Remix) – 3:48 # "The Boys" (Instrumental) – 3:48 # "The Boys" (A Capella) – 3:46

Charts

Korean version

English version

Accolades

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.

Studio

* SM Booming System –

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

, mixing,

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 ...

* Sonic Korea – mastering

Personnel

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 ...

– executive producer *

Lee Soo-man Lee Soo-man (, born 18 June 1952) is a South Korean business executive and record producer who is best known for being the founder of SM Entertainment, a multinational South Korean entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred ...

– producer * Kim Young-min – executive supervisor *

– vocals, background vocals *

– Korean lyrics, vocal directing,

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 ...

, recording, mixing, digital editing, music and sound supervisor *

– English lyrics,

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography *Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include v ...

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 ...

, vocal directing, background vocals, recording, mixing * Hidenori Tanaka – Japanese lyrics * Nozomi Maezawa – Japanese lyrics * Taesung Kim – composition, arrangement * DOM – composition, arrangement * Richard Garcia – composition, arrangement * Jeon Hoon – mastering

Release history

Footnotes

Notes References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boys, The Girls' Generation songs Songs with feminist themes SM Entertainment singles Interscope Records singles 2011 singles Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles Song recordings produced by Teddy Riley Korean-language songs Songs written by Yoo Young-jin Songs written by Teddy Riley 2011 songs Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles

Background and composition

Promotion

Reception

Commercial

Critical

Track listing

Charts

Korean version

English version

Accolades

Credits and personnel

Studio

Personnel

Release history

See also

Footnotes

External links