"Candy" is a song recorded by South Korean singer Baekhyun. It was released on May 25, 2020, by SM Entertainment as the lead single of his second extended play, Delight (2020). The song was written by Kenzie, while composed by Adrian McKinnon, Mike Daley, Mitchell Owens and Deez. Musically, "Candy" is described as a "trendy" R&B and pop song with instrumentation from synthesizers. The lyrics are playful and compare Baekhyun to various types of candy.
Baekhyun made his official debut as a solo artist in July 2019 with his first extended playCity Lights, which peaked at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, and has sold over 570,000 copies in 2019.[1] Following the success of City Lights, Baekhyun featured on Bolbbalgan4's "Leo", which peaked at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart.[2] On April 22, 2020, SM Entertainment announced that Baekhyun's second EPDelight would be released on May 25.[3][4]Delight was an instant success in the country, surpassing pre-order sales of 730,000 copies,[5] and went onto debut at number one on the Gaon Album Chart.[6]
"Candy" was released on May 25 for digital download and streaming in various countries by SM Entertainment, as the lead single of Delight.[7][8] The song has lyrics written by Kenzie and music composed by Adrian McKinnon, Mike Daley, Mitchell Owens and Deez. It was arranged by the latter three with Yoo Young-jin.[9]
Composition
"Candy" was described as a "trendy" R&B song in a press release.[1] Critics have described it as a hybrid of pop and R&B with elements of synth-pop.[10][11] The upbeat song is instrumented by synthesizers and makes use of arpeggiochords in its production.[8][1][11] The track also features electro sounds and a deep groove.[12] The song sets a playful tone to the album.[10] In terms of musical notation, the song is composed in the key of B minor, with a tempo of 150 beats per minute and is three minutes and forty seven seconds long.[13] The lyrics are witty and playful in which Baekhyun compares his charms to various flavors of candy including, cinnamon, mint, strawberry and bubble gum.[10][14][15] In a V Live broadcast, Baekhyun revealed that the track "offered relaxed listening, which is why [he] chose it [as the title track]."[16]
Music video and promotion
An accompanying music video for "Candy" was uploaded to SM Entertainment's official YouTube channel on May 25, 2020.[17][5] It was preceded by two teasers released on the same platform on May 22 and 24.[18] The video is choreography-heavy and features Baekhyun dancing in a neon-lit arcade.[10] The visual opens with Baekhyun walking into the scene holding a skateboard.[17] The following scene opens inside a candy store where he is seen enjoying sugary treats with his friends, before switching to show them dancing in an arcade.[14][17] The clip alternates between sets of bright yellow, pink and purple colours where Baekhyun is seen hanging out and playing games with his friends or performing smooth choreography with them.[10][14] The colourful setting of the video is a contrast to the black and white visuals of the music video of his song "UN Village" (2019).[10] The music video became instantly popular, garnering over 10 million views in two days.[19]
One hour before the album's release, Baekhyun held a live broadcast through Naver's V Live app to discuss the album, songs and production process.[5] On May 26, Baekhyun shared his first performance of "Candy'" through Exo's official YouTube channel, as a part of the video-exclusive content series "BAEKHYUN The Stage".[20] He promoted the song on various South Korean music programs starting with KBS's Music Bank on June 5, 2020.[21] This was followed by performance on SBS's Inkigayo on June 7.[22] On June 3, Baekhyun received his first music show trophy for "Candy" on MBC Music's Show Champion.[23] He appeared as guest on June 3 episode of SBS Power FM's Cultwo Show.[24] On June 5, he appeared on KBS Cool FM's Kang Han Na's Volume Up to promote the song.[25]
"Candy" received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Chris Gillett of South China Morning Post wrote that the song is "built up by layers of soft-synths for an aptly sweet pop tune."[11] Reviewing for Billboard, Rania Aniftos dubbed the song as "infectious."[14]
In the singer's native country South Korea, Lee Honghyun of IZM praised the song's electronic production writing that it "is a good title track and kickoff for such works. The trendiness of the track's melody and highlight melody seems to be somewhat weak, but flexibly loosened the power to the dense groove.[12]
Commercial performance
Upon release, "Candy" attained commercial success in the singer's native country. The song topped the real-time charts of major Korean music platforms including Melon, Genie, Naver Music and VIBE.[29] The song also debuted at number four on the Gaon Digital Chart, making it Baekhyun's fifth top-five entry on the chart.[30] Additionally, the song topped the component Download Chart while peaking at number seventeen on the Streaming Chart.[31][32]
The song also attained international success in North America, where it charted at number sixteen on Billboard'sWorld Digital Songs chart.[33] Furthermore, the song charted at number seven on the regional chart of Singapore and number thirty on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 chart.[34][35]
^ abcMoon, Wan-sik (May 6, 2020). [단독] 엑소 백현, 솔로로 5월 가요계 컴백..10개월만에 또 역대급 기록 쓸까 [EXO Baekhyun releases his second mini album 'Delight' on May 25]. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved May 12, 2020 – via Naver.
^Yoon, Ki-baek (May 6, 2020). 백현, 25일 솔로 컴백… "역대급 솔로가 온다" [Baekhyun, solo comeback on the 25th… "An all-time solo is coming"]. Edaily (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved May 9, 2020 – via Naver.
^Lee, Ho-yeon (June 4, 2020). 백현, ‘캔디’ MV 티저 속 리드미컬 퍼포먼스…매력 어필 200% [Baekhyun, rhythmic performance in'Candy' MV teaser... Attractive appeal 200%]. Hankook Ilbo (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020 – via Naver.
^Park, Jung-min (May 27, 2020). 엑소 백현 ‘캔디’ MV 1000만 뷰 돌파 ‘압도적 인기’ [EXO Baekhyun 'Candy' MV exceeded 10 million views'Overwhelming popularity']. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020 – via Naver.
^Bae, Hyo-joo (May 26, 2020). 엑소 백현 신보 ‘Delight’ 글로벌 점령, 아이튠즈 전세계 68개 지역 1위(공식) [EXO Baekhyun Shinbo'Delight' globally occupied, iTunes ranked first in 68 regions worldwide (Official)]. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020 – via Naver.
^Kim, Myeong-mi (June 7, 2020). 백현 ‘인기가요’ 1위 “행복한 하루하루, 좋은 모습으로 보답할 것” [Baekhyun'Inkigayo' No. 1 'Happy day after day, I will reciprocate in good shape']. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020 – via Naver.
^Yeo, Kyung Yeo (June 3, 2020). '쇼챔피언' 백현, 6월 첫째 주 1위 "첫 1위..더욱 감사"[★밤TView] ['Show Champion' Baekhyun, 1st in the first week of June "First 1st.. Thanks more"[★Night TView]]. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 3, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020 – via Naver.
^Park, Seo Hyun (June 3, 2020). "난 딸기맛"‥'컬투쇼' 엑소 백현의 #캔디챌린지 #초능력 #연기[종합] ["I like strawberry flavor" ‥'Curl to Show' EXO Baekhyun's #Candy Challenge #Super Powers #Smoke[Comprehensive]]. Herald Corporation (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 10, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020 – via Naver.
^Park, Jung-min (June 5, 2020). 강한나X백현 ‘캔디’ 챌린지 도전…아이유도 인정한 춤실력 [SNS★컷] [Strong Na X Baekhyun'Candy' Challenge Challenge… IU also appreciate dancing skills [SNS ★ Cut]]. Newsen (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 12, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020 – via Naver.
^2020년 22주차 Download Chart [Gaon Download Chart- Week 22, 2020] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. May 30, 2020. Archived from the original on June 4, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
^2020년 22주차 Streaming Chart [Gaon Streaming Chart- Week 23, 2020] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. May 30, 2020. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved July 10, 2020.
^ ab"Baekhyun". Billboard. Archived from the original on June 8, 2020. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
