"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-piec ...

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 record producer, singer, and songwriter credited with the creation of the R&B and hip-hop fusion genre, new jack swing. Musical artists who utilized Riley's production and songwri ...

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

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music 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 ra ...

electropop Electropop is a popular music fusion genre combining elements of the electronic and pop styles. It has been described as a variant of synth-pop with emphasis on a hard electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a rev ...

and R&B song with elements of

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

that lyrically discusses female attractiveness. The

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, people from the Korean peninsula or of Korean descent * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Korean **Korean dialects **See also: North–South differences in t ...

version was released on October 18, 2011, by

SM Entertainment SM Entertainment Co., Ltd. () is a South Korean multinational entertainment agency established in 1995 by Lee Soo-man. It is one of South Korea's largest entertainment companies and has been responsible for fostering and popularizing the car ...

as the lead single from the album. An

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

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

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, 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 ...

and

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

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'' () is a South Korean music program which airs every Friday at 17:15 KST on KBS2. the show is also broadcast in more than a hundred countries through KBS World. Episodes are filmed at the KBS New Wing Open Hall in Yeouido-dong, Ye ...

'', ''

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. I ...

'', ''

Inkigayo ''Inkigayo'' (; 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 perform on stage. ...

'', and ''

M Countdown ''M Countdown'' () is a South Korean music program broadcast by Mnet from the CJ E&M Center Studio in Sangam-dong, Mapo District, Seoul. It features appearances by popular music artists who also perform live on stage. First hosted by Leeteuk ...

''. 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 Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

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

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

'' and ''

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

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

Hong Won-ki Zanybros (, stylized as ZANYBROS) is a South Korean video production company specializing in music video and commercial film production. Zanybros was founded in 2002 by director Hong Won-ki and videographer Kim Jun-hong and has evolved to be one ...

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 on ...

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 ...

, who complimented the song as one of the highlights of the

Korean Wave The Korean Wave, or ''hallyu'' (; ), is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s. Worldwide interest in Korean culture has been led primarily by the spread of K-p ...

. 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 advertis ...

Hot Dance Singles Sales The Dance Singles Sales was a record chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling dance singles in the United States. Its previous names include Hot Dance/Disco 12-inch Singles Sales (1985–1987), Hot Dance Mu ...

, 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 Thursday ...

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 formerly 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' Generatio ...

, while 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 (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

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

. A

maxi single A maxi single, maxi-single, or maxi CD (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. Maxi singles are often mistaken for extended plays (EPs), especial ...

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 came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

musicians

Clinton Sparks Clinton Charls Sparks (born September 18, 1979) is an American DJ and record producer from Boston, Massachusetts. He initially started his career as a rapper, dancer, producer, and DJ who gained notoriety by making Bootleg recording, bootleg re ...

and The Disco Fries featuring

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

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 which has been released at least once before, sometimes with alterations or additions. Reasons for reissue New audio formats Reco ...

of their debut Japanese album, ''

'', which was entitled ''The Boys'' and released on December 28, 2011. To further promote their popularity to Western countries, SM 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 K-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 media co ...

, 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

, 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

From October through 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 in all caps 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 Liv ...

concert, which also featured other SM Entertainment's singers and performers, including

Shinee Shinee ( ; ; ; stylized as SHINee) is a South Korean boy band formed by SM Entertainment in 2008. The group consists of four members: Onew, Key (entertainer), Key, Choi Min-ho, Minho, and Taemin. Originally a five-piece band, Jonghyun died on ...

and

f(x) F, or f, is the sixth letter of the Latin alphabet and many modern alphabets influenced by it, including the modern English alphabet and the alphabets of all other modern western European languages. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounc ...

. 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: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

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

lip sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the Hard and soft C, spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a Speech, speaking or singin ...

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 an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

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". 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 The Pussycat Dolls were an American girl group and dance ensemble, founded in Los Angeles, California, by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995 as a neo-burlesque troupe. At the suggestion of Jimmy Iovine, Antin decided to take the troupe mainst ...

, 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 was 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 multim ...

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

and

Hot Singles Sales The Hot Singles Sales, also known as the Hot 100 Singles Sales and the POS chart, was a music chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine listing each week's best-selling physical singles in the United States, such as CD singles, vinyl single ...

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

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate Data, LLC (formerly MRC Data and P-MRC Data) is a provider of music and entertainment data. Established as a joint-venture in 2020, it brought together Nielsen Music, Alpha Data (formerly BuzzAngle Music) and Variety Business Intellige ...

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

chart.

Critical

"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 television presenter and producer. Seacrest is the host of '' Wheel of Fortune'', having hosted since replacing long-time host Pat Sajak in September 2024. Seacrest co-hosted and ser ...

'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 database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

'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, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' described the group's music as "

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

meet

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

K-pop K-pop (; an abbreviation of "Korean popular music") is a form of popular music originating in South Korea. It emerged in the 1990s as a form of youth subculture, with Korean musicians taking influence from Western Electronic dance music, danc ...

) in the

along with "Only One" by

BoA Boa, BoA, or BOA may refer to: Snakes * Any member of the Boidae, a family of medium to large, non-venomous, constricting snakes ** Any member of the Boinae, a subfamily of boid snakes *** Any member of ''Boa'' (genus), a group of boid snakes * ...

, "Sorry, Sorry" by

Super Junior Super Junior (; stylized in all caps), also known as SJ or SuJu, is a South Korean boy band. The group is composed of Leeteuk, Heechul, Yesung, Shindong, Sungmin, Eunhyuk, Siwon, Donghae, Ryeowook, and Kyuhyun. Han Geng, Kibum, and ...

, "

Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" () is a K-pop song by South Korean singer 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 "Gangnam Style" is a n ...

" by

Psy Park Jae-sang (; born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name Psy ( ; ), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter, known domestically for his humorous music videos and stage performances and internationally for his hit singl ...

, "

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 is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

", and "

I Am the Best "I Am the Best" () is a song by South Korean girl group 2NE1. YG Entertainment released the song for Music download, digital download and Streaming media, streaming as the third Single (music), single from the group's 2NE1 (2011 EP), self-tit ...

" by

2NE1 2NE1 (, ) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment in 2009. The group consists of Park Bom, Bom, CL (rapper), CL, Sandara Park, Dara, and Minzy. Known for their Experimental music, musical experimentation, fashion, and stage pre ...

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

'' 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."

Accolades

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

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

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, re ...

, mixing * Sonic Korea – mastering Personnel *

– 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 entertainment company based in Seoul. He has also been referred to as the "p ...

– 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 u ...

, recording, mixing *

– 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 ...

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 orchestr ...

, vocal directing, background vocals, recording, mixing * Hidenori Tanaka – Japanese lyrics * Nozomi Maezawa – Japanese lyrics * Taesung Kim – composition, arrangement * Dominique "DOM" Rodriguez – 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 Songs in Korean Songs written by Yoo Young-jin Songs written by Teddy Riley 2011 songs Gaon Digital Chart number-one singles