''Wonder World'' is the second Korean-language
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 ...
by
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
n girl group
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 ...
, released on November 7, 2011, through
JYP Entertainment
JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate founded in 1997 by J. Y. Park. It is one of the largest entertainment companies in South Korea, and operates as a record label, tale ...
. The track "Be My Baby" served as the lead single from album. Both the album and the single was a commercial success, both having topped the Gaon Album and Digital charts respectively. To promote ''Wonder World'', the group appeared on several South Korean music programs; additionally, Wonder Girls embarked on their ''
Wonder World Tour'' in July 2012.
The album marked the point where the members were more involved in the songwriting in production:
Park Yeeun wrote and produced "G.N.O." and "Me, In",
Kim Yubin wrote "Girls Girls", "Me, In" and "Sweet Dreams" while
Woo Hyelim wrote and produced her solo song "Act Cool", featuring
San E
Jung San (; born ), more commonly known by his stage name San E (), is a South Korean rapper. He debuted in 2010 under JYP Entertainment, where he was the label's first solo rapper. He left the company in 2013 to sign with hip hop label Brand Ne ...
. The members also recorded two duets:
Min Sunye
Min Sun-ye (born August 12, 1989), known professionally as Sunye, is a South Korean singer, actress and missionary known for her work as a former leader and main vocalist of girl group Wonder Girls. In early 2013, she stopped promotion activitie ...
and Yeeun recorded "Long Long Time" while Yubin and
Ahn Sohee
Ahn So-hee (born June 27, 1992), better known by the mononym Sohee, is a South Korean actress and singer. As a singer, she is best known as a former member of the South Korean girl group Wonder Girls. As an actress, she is best known for her per ...
recorded "SuperB".
Background and composition
On November 4, the album's name was revealed to be ''Wonder World'', consisting of 11 new songs, one remixed song, and an English version of the lead single, "Be My Baby". Various members of the group contributed to composing material for the album.
Park Yeeun was the composer and lyricist for the song "G.N.O." and performed the arrangement and composition for "Me, In", a remake of the 1974 hit "The Beauty" by
Shin Jung-hyeon and YeopJeons
Shin Jung Hyun & Yup Juns () was a South Korean rock band formed by Shin Jung-hyeon (lead guitarist, lead vocal), Lee Nam-yi ( bassist), and Kim Ho-sik ( drummer). "Yup Jun" is an ad hoc romanisation of ''yeopjeon'' ("leaf coin"), a kind of old br ...
. In an interview she commented about the strong American influence that she had received while working on new music in the album as she stated "When I went to a club, I heard songs from
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
and
LMFAO
LMFAO (an initialism for Laughing My Freaking Ass Off or Laughing My Fucking Ass Off) are an American electronic dance music duo consisting of Redfoo and Sky Blu. Redfoo is the youngest son of Motown Records founder Berry Gordy and Nancy Le ...
. We thought it would be nice if we could make club music, done right, in Korean."
Woo Hyelim collaborated with rapper
San-E for her solo song "Act Cool" for which also helped her write the rap lyrics.
Kim Yubin wrote the raps for the songs "Girls Girls" "Me, In" and "Sweet Dreams".
Ahn Sohee
Ahn So-hee (born June 27, 1992), better known by the mononym Sohee, is a South Korean actress and singer. As a singer, she is best known as a former member of the South Korean girl group Wonder Girls. As an actress, she is best known for her per ...
and Yubin recorded a duet together called "SuperB", and Yeeun and
Min Sunye
Min Sun-ye (born August 12, 1989), known professionally as Sunye, is a South Korean singer, actress and missionary known for her work as a former leader and main vocalist of girl group Wonder Girls. In early 2013, she stopped promotion activitie ...
also had a duet titled "두고두고" (Long Long Time).
Renowned
choreographer
Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...
Jonte' Moaning
Jonte' Moaning (born October 9, 1982 in Portland, Oregon), also known as Jonte, is an American choreographer, dancer, singer-songwriter, and model.
Life and career
Jonte' was born on October 9, 1985, in Portland, Oregon. He began his dance care ...
, who worked with American
R&B artist
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
on her song "
Freakum Dress
"Freakum Dress" is a song by American singer and songwriter Beyoncé from her second solo studio album ''B'Day'' (2006). It was written by Beyoncé, Rich Harrison, Angela Beyincé and Makeba Riddick. "Freakum Dress" received comparisons to Dest ...
" and has served as a back-up dancer for "
Single Ladies", helped choreograph the group's music video for "Be My Baby". Designer Johnny Wujek, who was also the fashion stylist for American
pop artist
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...
's "
I Kissed a Girl
"I Kissed a Girl" is the debut single of American singer Katy Perry from her second studio album, ''One of the Boys'' (2008). It was released on April 28, 2008, by Capitol Records as the lead single from the record. Perry co-wrote the song with ...
" and "
California Gurls
"California Gurls" is a song recorded by American singer Katy Perry. It served as the lead single for her third studio album, '' Teenage Dream'' (2010). The song features verses from rapper Snoop Dogg. The artists co-wrote the song with Bon ...
", also worked alongside the group.
Commercial performance
''Wonder World'' entered and peaked at number one on 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 ...
on the chart issue dated November 6–12, 2011. The album stayed in the Top 10 of the chart for four consecutive weeks. The album entered and peaked at number 4 on the chart for the month of November 2011 with 35,051 physical copies sold. The album placed at number 42 on the Gaon Album Chart for the year 2011 for 34,140 physical copies sold. In the United States, the album entered and peaked at number 5 on
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 ...
's
World Albums
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in '' Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, p ...
chart on the week ending November 26, 2011. "Be My Baby" went to number 1 on both the
Gaon Weekly Digital Charts
and 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 ...
.
The song was also featured on the group's TV movie, ''Wonder Girls at the Apollo'', which aired on
TeenNick
TeenNick is an American Pay television, pay-TV channel that is operated by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Aimed primarily at teens and tweens, its programming includes a variety of live-action series inherited from si ...
.
Accolades
Track listing
Sample credits
*"Me, In" contains a sample of
Shin Jung-hyeon
Shin Jung-hyeon (, or ; born January 4, 1938), also transliterated as Shin Joong-hyun or Sin Junghyeon, is a South Korean rock guitarist and singer-songwriter often referred to as Korea's "Godfather of Rock." A pioneer of Korean rock music, Sh ...
's song "The Beauty".
Credits and personnel
*Sunye – vocals (all tracks except 9, 10)
*Yeeun – vocals (all tracks except 9, 10), songwriting, production (tracks 1, 4), rearrangement (track 4)
*
Yubin
Yu-bin, also spelled Yoo-bin, is a Korean unisex given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name.
Hanja and meaning
There are 62 hanja with the reading "yu" and 25 hanja with the reading "bin" on the South Kor ...
– rapping (all tracks except 8, 10), songwriting (tracks 3, 4, 5)
*
Sohee
So-hee, also spelled So-hui, is a Korean feminine given name. Its meaning depends on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 45 hanja with the reading " so" and 24 hanja with the reading " hee" on the South Korean government's ...
– vocals (all tracks except for tracks 8, 10)
*
Hyelim
Hye-rim, also spelled Hye-lim, is a Korean feminine given name. Its meaning differs based on the hanja used to write each syllable of the name. There are 16 hanja with the reading " hye" and nine hanja with the reading "rim" on the South Korean g ...
– vocals, rapping (all tracks except 8, 9), songwriting, production (track 10)
*Lee Woo-min – producer (track 1), rearrangement (track 4)
*Fredrik – producer (track 1)
*Cho Jong-soo – raps (track 1)
*
Park Jin-young
Park Jin-young (Hangul: 박진영; born December 13, 1971), also known by his stage names J. Y. Park and The Asiansoul or the initials JYP, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, record executive, and reality television show ju ...
– songwriting, production (tracks 2, 8, 11)
*Shim Eun-ji – songwriting (track 3), production (tracks 3, 5)
*Shin Jung-hyeon – songwriting, production (track 4)
*Billion Dollar Baby – songwriting (track 5)
*Noday - songwriting (track 5)
*DeepFrost - production (track 5)
*Hong Ji-sang – songwriting, production (track 6)
*Jessica Martinez – songwriting (track 7)
*
Nikki Flores
Nikki Flores (born Brandi Nichole Flores; October 17, 1988) is an American independent pop singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer.
Career Recording artist
Nikki Flores began writing songs and performing at eight years old. Her pare ...
– songwriting (track 7)
*Fingazz – production (track 7)
*DJ Nüre – production (track 7)
*
Kim Eana
Kim Eana ( ko, 김이나; born April 27, 1979) is a South Korean lyricist. She is best known for writing the lyrics to hit K-pop songs, including "Abracadabra" performed by Brown Eyed Girls, and " Good Day" performed by IU. She has been activ ...
– songwriting (track 8)
*East4A – production (track 8)
*
San E
Jung San (; born ), more commonly known by his stage name San E (), is a South Korean rapper. He debuted in 2010 under JYP Entertainment, where he was the label's first solo rapper. He left the company in 2013 to sign with hip hop label Brand Ne ...
– featured artist, rapping, songwriting, production (track 10)
*
Woo Seok Rhee – songwriting, production (track 12)
*Alexander Kronlund – songwriting, production (track 12)
*Lukas Hilbert – songwriting, production (track 12)
Charts
Weekly charts
Monthly charts
Year-end charts
Sales
Release history
References
{{Authority control
Wonder Girls albums
2011 albums
Dance-pop albums by South Korean artists
Korean-language albums
JYP Entertainment albums
Kakao M albums