"Umpah Umpah" () is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their seventh (ninth overall)

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 ** ...

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.

(EP) '' The ReVe Festival: Day 2'', which serves as the second installment of the group's ''The ReVe Festival'' album trilogy. The song, alongside its

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

-themed

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

, was released on August 20, 2019, as the lead single from ''Day 2''. Written by Jeon Gan-di and composed by Christoffer Lauridsen,

Andreas Öberg Andreas Öberg (born 6 August 1978) is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter, and music producer. Music career Öberg was born in Stockholm on 6 August 1978. When he was seven, he took classical guitar lessons at school. He played electric guitar w ...

and Allison Kaplan, "Umpah Umpah" is described as "an uptempo dance song with

disco house French house, also known as French touch, filter house and tekfunk, is a style of house music originally produced by French musicians in the 1990s. It is a form of Euro disco and a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance m ...

rhythms", with the group's "lovely and cool vocals doubling the freshness". The songwriting, which includes swimming motifs, portrays somebody falling in love with the eyes and charms of the girls, using the phrase "umpah umpah" as if their love interest was learning how to control their breathing while swimming. Upon its release, "Umpah Umpah" received 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 ...

for its bright, upbeat sound while some felt it was a "safe" return to the public-friendly sound of the group. Commercially, the song achieved moderate success in South Korea, peaking at number 18 on the Gaon Digital Chart while extending the group's consecutive top-ten string on ''Billboard''

World Digital Songs The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific so ...

chart to 15, peaking at number nine. It also topped the ''Billboard''

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 multime ...

, becoming the group's second number-one single on the chart.

Background and release

Following the release of '' The ReVe Festival: Day 1'' on June 19, 2019, several fans spotted hints for the group's next installment via clue tickets provided in the album's package, one of which mentioned the phrase "Umpah Umpah". Shortly after the group's five-year anniversary in early August 2019, it was reported that the girls would "make a speedy comeback", which was quickly confirmed by their label on the same day. On August 12, the group released an introduction video for '' The ReVe Festival: Day 2'', which included a snippet from an then-unknown title track, which was later confirmed to be "Umpah Umpah". After a string of promotional photo teasers for each member, the music video for the song was released on August 20, 2019, at midnight KST ( UTC+09:00), 18 hours ahead of the EP's digital release.

Composition

"Umpah Umpah" was composed by Jeon Gan-di, while the production was handled by

, Christoffer Lauridsen and Allison Kaplan, the former of whom produced the group's single " One of These Nights" (2016) and Japanese single "Sappy". It was composed in the key of

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable composi ...

with a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...

of 120 beats per minute, and is the group's seventh single under the "Red" sonic concept and their third single with a summer-inspired concept. Musically, the song was described as an "uptempo dance song with

rhythms", with the group's "lovely and cool" vocals "doubling the freshness". In addition to the funk influence by the

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

and several string instruments, the song borrows elements from doo-wop music, mostly in the pre-chorus section of the song as the girls harmonize "umpah umpah" together. Lyrically, "Umpah Umpah" sees Red Velvet telling their love interest, who fell in love with the eyes and charms of the girls, how to "breathe normally", using the phrase "umpah umpah" as if their love interest was learning how to control their breathing while swimming. The rap section in the song's second verse references several of the group's past singles, such as "

Happiness Happiness, in the context of mental or emotional states, is positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishing and eudaimonia. ...

" (2014), "

Ice Cream Cake An ice cream cake is a cake with ice cream as the filling for a swiss roll or a layer cake. A simpler no-bake version can be made by layering different flavors of ice cream in a loaf pan. Ice cream cake is a popular party food, often eaten a ...

" (2015), " Dumb Dumb" (2015), and "

Red Flavor "Red Flavor" () is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet (group), Red Velvet for their first Korean special extended play, The Red Summer (EP), ''The Red Summer'' (2017). It was released as the lead single from the EP on July 9, 2 ...

" (2017).

Critical reception

"Umpah Umpah" was met with positive reviews from

. Kirsten Spruch of '' Billboard'' magazine viewed the track as "outlandish", and praised its "explosive chorus combined with glistening instrumentation and infectious melodies and ad libs". ''

The Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the '' Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacture ...

'' described the song as "a bright, energizing disco number laced electric sound rhythms, whose lyrics draw on summer images like deep waters and ice cream". Moreover, writer Justine Shaffer of ''SnackFever'' magazine described the song as "a sound that's a twist back to the summertime pop perfection vibes". Gallup Korea ranked the song at number eight on their list of the Best Songs of 2019, and was additionally at ranked number 47 on '' SBS PopAsia'''s list of Top 100 Asian Pop Songs of the year, describing "Umpah Umpah" as an "onomatopoeic earworm".

Accolades

"Umpah Umpah" won the Song of the Year award at the 4th

Asia Artist Awards Asia Artist Awards (; abbreviated AAA) is an awards ceremony organized by South Korea-based business newspaper ''Money Today'' and its global media brands StarNews and MTN. It honors outstanding achievements and international contributions of A ...

on November 26, 2019. The song also received six music program wins.

Commercial performance

Upon release, "Umpah Umpah" reached number one on four of the seven major realtime charts in Korea—

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, Bugs, Naver, and

Soribada Soribada ( ko, 소리바다) was the first Korean peer-to-peer file-sharing service, launched in 2000 by Sean Yang. The name 'Soribada' means "Ocean of Sound" or "Receiving (downloading) Sound". It was closed in 2002 by court order but continued t ...

—while reaching number three on Korea's largest music platform,

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". Th ...

. The song debuted at number 18 on the Gaon Digital Chart, where it peaked for two weeks. It was later ranked at number 185 on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart for 2019. The song performed better on the '' Billboard''

, debuting at number 19, and subsequently attained the top spot on the chart for two consecutive weeks. It became the group's second number-one single on the chart, following " Power Up" (2018), and their seventh consecutive top 10 single since the chart's re-establishment in December 2017. Additionally, the song debuted at number nine on the US

World Digital Song Sales The World Digital Song Sales chart (formerly World Digital Songs) is a weekly record chart compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Established in 2010—with the issue dated January 23—as one of 21 genre-specific so ...

chart, thus extending their consecutive top 10 string to 15 entries on the chart.

Music video

Background

On August 12, 2019, the first video teaser for the music video, titled "Road Trip: RVF Day 2 D-7", was uploaded to Red Velvet's official YouTube channel. A series of promotional photo teasers featuring the group members, along with a highlight video showcasing the song's pre-chorus was subsequently unveiled. A final video teaser was uploaded on August 19, and the music video for "Umpah Umpah" was released on the following day.

Synopsis and reception

The music video is set in a cartoonish beach house, where they shelter from an incoming thunderstorm. There, they played magical board games and dance on a rainy rooftop. The song featured several references to Red Velvet's previous singles, including " Dumb Dumb", "

", "

" and "

". Following the music video's release, writer Pakkee Tan of '' E!'' described it as "a fun, frenetic, pop-electro number that evokes sunny days by the beach with a bunch of your best friends", further praising the video for being "wonderfully off-beat and delightful, as always". Puah Ziwei of NME noted its "fun-filled" nature and "the vibrant, feel-good" elements" of the music video. The group later released a dance practice video for "Umpah Umpah" on August 29, 2019.

Live performances

Following the release of the single, Red Velvet appeared and performed on several South Korean music programs, including '' The Show'', '' Show! Music Core'', ''

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'', and '' Inkigayo''. On November 26, 2019, Red Velvet performed the song at the annual

at Mỹ Đình National Stadium in Hanoi, Vietnam, and marked the group's first performance of the single at an award show.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''The ReVe Festival: Day 2''. Studio * Recorded and engineered for mix at SM LYVIN Studio * Recorded at SM SSAM Studio * Mixed at SM Blue Cup Studio Personnel * Red Velvet ( Irene,

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Wendy Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

Joy The word joy refers to the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune, and is typically associated with feelings of intense, long lasting happiness. Dictionary definitions Dictionary definitions of joy typically include a sense of ...

, Yeri)vocals, background vocals * Jeon Gan-di – Korean songwriting * Christoffer Lauridsencomposition, arrangement * Andreas Öbergcomposition, arrangement, guitar * Allison Kaplancomposition, background vocals * ButterFlyvocal directing, Pro Tools operation, digital editing * Seo Mi-raebackground vocals * Hwang Seong-jebackground vocals * Lee Ji-hongrecording, mixing engineer * Noh Min-jirecording * Jeong Eui-seokmixing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Release history

References

{{Red Velvet 2019 singles 2019 songs Red Velvet (group) songs SM Entertainment singles Songs written by Andreas Öberg Songs in Korean Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles Nu-disco songs Electropop songs