"Gotta Go" (; lit. "Already 12 o'clock") is a song recorded by South Korean singer

Chung Ha Kim Chung-ha (; born Kim Chan-mi, February 9, 1996), known mononymously as Chung Ha (stylized as CHUNG HA), is a South Korean singer, dancer and choreographer. She finished fourth in Mnet's girl group survival show ''Produce 101'', becoming a ...

. It was released as a single on January 2, 2019, by

MNH Entertainment MNH Entertainment (Korean: 엠앤에이치엔터테인먼트) is a privately held multinational entertainment group and talent agency based in Seoul. Founded in November 2014 by Lee Ju-seop, a former manager at JYP Entertainment. The company was f ...

and distributed by

Genie Music Genie Music (), a subsidiary of KT Corporation, is a South Korean company that specializes in the production and distribution of music content. Its music streaming service is the second most used in South Korea with 2.5 million subscribers as ...

, and was promoted as a single album. Adopting a darker style, the princess concept appears to be a shift away from the "girl crush" image of her previous albums '' Hands on Me'' and '' Offset''.

Background and release

Chung Ha unveiled three teaser photos and two music video teasers for the song before its release. "Gotta Go" was released digitally and physically on January 2, 2019; the physical edition is a

single album In music, a single is a type of release of a song recording of fewer tracks than an album ( LP), typically one or two tracks. A single can be released for sale to the public in a variety of physical or digital formats. Singles may be standa ...

titled ''XII''. The song was also released as a separate digital single through several music portals, including

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Composition

"Gotta Go" moves Chung Ha into a more sultry place than her past singles with its vibrant flute sounds and squelching synths acting as a backdrop to her rich vocals. Chung Ha mentioned she had always wanted to do a concept like this. Though “Gotta Go” shows a new and different side of Chung Ha, it also marks her return to collaborating with

Black Eyed Pilseung Black Eyed Pilseung () is a South Korean music production and songwriting duo made up of Rado (Song Joo-young) and Choi Kyu-sung, formed in 2014. They have produced hit K-pop songs such as Sistar's " Touch My Body"; Miss A's " Only You"; Twi ...

and Jeon Goon, the team behind her 2018 hit "

Roller Coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

." The song's Korean title literally translates to "Already Midnight". In an interview with ''Billboard'', Chung Ha elaborated on the song's musical direction by saying:

Reception

"Gotta Go" peaked at number two on the

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 on ...

, number one on the ''

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'' K-Pop Hot 100 and number six on the

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chart, becoming her most successful single to date and her first top 10 entry on the latter. It was the second most-downloaded, eighth most-streamed and overall the eighth best performing song of 2019 in South Korea. It also reached the charts in New Zealand and Singapore. The single also brought Chung Ha her first music program trophy at

MBC Music MBC M (formerly MBC Music) () is a South Korean specialty channel, specialty television channel owned by MBC Plus Media. The cable channel primarily broadcasts programming related to music. It was first announced in July 2011, with the announce ...

's ''

Show Champion ''Show Champion'' () is a South Korean music television program broadcast live by MBC M every Wednesday at Bitmaru Broadcasting Center in Ilsan. Hosts * Shindong (February 14, 2012 – December 25, 2012) * Hahm Eun-jung (January 30, 2013 – ...

'' on January 9 and went on to receive 7 total wins. As of June 2022, it has over 90 million views on

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and 108 million streams on

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Music video

The music video is less girlish than her prior ones, replacing the aforementioned sparkles and glitter with mature, bolder looks, such as power shoulders and a smokey eye and lip hues. Choreography-wise, things similarly shift away from the past, with the emphasis being on theatrical elements like hand moves emulating a clock striking midnight and intense footwork.

Accolades

Track listing

*CD / digital download #"벌써 12시 (Gotta Go)" – 3:41

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales and certifications

References

{{authority control 2019 singles 2019 songs Chung Ha songs Billboard Korea K-Pop number-one singles MNH Entertainment singles Songs in Korean