'' Why'' is the second
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) by South Korean singer
Taeyeon
Kim Tae-yeon (; born March 9, 1989), known mononymously as Taeyeon, is a South Korean singer. She debuted as a member of girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one of the best-selling artists in South Korea and one ...
, released by
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 ...
on June 28, 2016.
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 ...
, founder of SM Entertainment, served as the producer of the album. The EP saw the contributions of
alternative R&B
Alternative R&B (also referred to as alt-R&B, indie R&B, hipster R&B, dark R&B, emo R&B and left-field R&B) is a term used by music journalists to describe a stylistic alternative to contemporary R&B that began in the mid 2000s and came to pro ...
singer
Dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
and Taeyeon's fellow
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 ...
member
Hyoyeon
Kim Hyo-yeon (born September 22, 1989), referred to as Hyoyeon or DJ Hyo, is a South Korean singer, dancer, DJ, and television personality. She debuted as a member of the girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one o ...
. Musically, ''Why'' incorporates various
genres
Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...
including
EDM
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstrat ...
,
R&B, and
Pop.
To promote the EP, Taeyeon performed on three
music programs, ''
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. ...
'', and ''
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 ...
'' from July 1–3, 2016. She further embarked on her first concert tour Butterfly Kiss, which visited Seoul and Busan in July and August 2016. Upon its release, ''Why'' received generally positive reviews from media outlets, who were favorable towards the EP's diverse musical styles and Taeyeon's vocals.
The EP was a commercial success in South Korea, peaking atop the
Gaon Album Chart
The Circle Album Chart, previously known as the Gaon Album Chart, is a record chart ranking the 100 most popular albums, extended plays and single albums in South Korea based on their Record sales, pure sales. It is a part of the Circle Chart, pr ...
and has sold over 110,000 physical copies in the country. It also fared well in Taiwan, charting at number two on the
G-Music
G-Music Limited is a company built in 2002 by Rose Records and Tachung Records, both are the largest local music retails and wholesale chains in Taiwan. The physical retail arms have been kept separate, for different customer bases and brand ident ...
chart and became the second best-selling release by a South Korean artist of 2016 in the country. The EP additionally charted at numbers thirty and two on the Japanese
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 ...
chart and the US
''Billboard'' World Albums, respectively. Two singles from ''Why'', "
Starlight
Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It typically refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the Sun, observable from Earth at night, although a component of starlight is observable from Earth during daytime.
Sunligh ...
" featuring Dean and "
Why
Why may refer to:
* Causality, a consequential relationship between two events
* Reason (argument), a premise in support of an argument, for what reason or purpose
* Grounding (metaphysics), a topic in metaphysics regarding how things exist in v ...
" also fared well commercially, entering the top ten of South Korea's
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 ...
.
Background and release
On June 17, 2016, Taeyeon was announced to be releasing her second extended play titled ''Why''. On June 20, it was reported that South Korean singer
Dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
was featured in the album. On June 22, Taeyeon's fellow
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 ...
member
Hyoyeon
Kim Hyo-yeon (born September 22, 1989), referred to as Hyoyeon or DJ Hyo, is a South Korean singer, dancer, DJ, and television personality. She debuted as a member of the girl group Girls' Generation in August 2007, which went on to become one o ...
was revealed to be featured in the track "Up & Down".
Promotion
Taeyeon began performing "Why" on South Korean music television programs on July 1, 2016. Her first concert tour titled "Butterfly Kiss" was held in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
and
Busan
Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...
in July and August 2016 respectively.
Singles
The first single from ''Why'', "
Starlight
Starlight is the light emitted by stars. It typically refers to visible electromagnetic radiation from stars other than the Sun, observable from Earth at night, although a component of starlight is observable from Earth during daytime.
Sunligh ...
", featuring South Korean singer
Dean
Dean may refer to:
People
* Dean (given name)
* Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin
* Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk
* Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean
Titles
* ...
, and its music video were released on June 25, 2016, three days ahead of the album's release. The title track and second single, "
Why
Why may refer to:
* Causality, a consequential relationship between two events
* Reason (argument), a premise in support of an argument, for what reason or purpose
* Grounding (metaphysics), a topic in metaphysics regarding how things exist in v ...
", and its music video were released together with the album on June 28. A second music video for "Why", featuring the song's choreography, was released on July 7. "Starlight" and "Why" peaked at number 5 and 7 respectively on the South Korean
Gaon weekly digital chart.
Reception
''Why'' received generally positive reviews from media outlets. Lee Seo-jin from ''
Korea JoongAng Daily
''Korea JoongAng Daily'' is the English edition of the South Korean national daily newspaper ''JoongAng Ilbo''. The newspaper was first published on October 17, 2000, originally named as ''JoongAng Ilbo English Edition''. It mainly carries news a ...
'' praised Taeyeon's "addictive" vocal tone and wrote that the EP "proves
aeyeons potential as a solo artist".
Chester Chin from ''
The Star
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' lauded the album's musical styles with "impressive melodies and a general feel-good vibe". He additionally complimented on Taeyeon's vocals and labelled ''Why'' as "a super solid" follow-up to her previous extended play ''I''.
Gwendolyn Ng writing for ''
The Straits Times
''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...
'' was mildly favorable, writing "Lead vocalist Kim slips into soloist mode with ease". However, Ng selected "Up & Down" as the EP's drawback and did not approve of Hyoyeon's contribution, saying "Hyoyeon's abrupt rapping comes in far too early and does not gel with the rest of the melody".
''Why'' debuted at number one on the South Korean
Gaon weekly album chart.
Track listing
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end chart
Sales
Release history
See also
*
List of Gaon Album Chart number ones of 2016
The Gaon Album Chart is a record chart that ranks the best-selling albums and EPs in South Korea. It is part of the Gaon Music Chart which launched in February 2010. The data for the chart is compiled by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Touri ...
References
{{Authority control
SM Entertainment EPs
Korean-language EPs
2016 EPs
Taeyeon albums
Albums produced by LDN Noise