UN Village

"UN Village" is a song recorded by South Korean singer Baekhyun. It was released on July 10, 2019, as the lead single of his debut extended play, City Lights.[1] The song was written and composed by LIØN and dress. Musically, "UN Village" was described as a R&B song with groovy beats and string sounds.

"UN Village"
Single by Baekhyun
from the EP City Lights
LanguageKorean
ReleasedJuly 10, 2019 (2019-07-10)
Recorded2019
StudioSM Studios, Seoul, South Korea
Genre
Length3:55
Label
Composer(s)
  • LIØN
  • dress
Lyricist(s)LIØN
Producer(s)dress
Baekhyun singles chronology
"Young"
(2018)		 "UN Village"
(2019)		 "My Love"
(2020)
Music video
"UN Village" on YouTube

Upon release, "Un Village" received generally positive reviews from music critics. Commercially, the song debuted at number 22 on the Gaon Digital Chart and charted at number 23 on the US World Digital Song Sales chart. An accompanying black-and-white themed music video for the song was released in conjunction with the release of the song. Baekhyun promoted the song with televised live performances on various South Korean music programs including Music Bank, Show! Music Core and Inkigayo.

Background and release

On July 10, Baekhyun made his official debut as a solo artist with the extended play City Lights,[2] which went onto debut at number one on South Korea's Gaon Album Chart, and became the best-selling solo album of 2019. "UN Village" was released on July 10 for digital download and streaming in various countries by SM Entertainment, as the lead single of City Lights.[1]

Composition

"UN Village" was described as an R&B song with a groovy beat and strings sound.[1][3] In terms of musical notation, the song is composed in the key of F# minor, with a tempo of 84 beats per minute and is three minutes and fifty five seconds long.[4] The lyrics are about a romantic moment a couple shares under the moonlight of UN Village hill in Hannam-dong, Yongsan District, Seoul.[3]

Reception

"UN Village" received generally favorable reviews from music critics. Riddhi Chakraborty from Rolling Stone India described "UN Village" as a "strong opener with complex and smooth R&B melodies". She added that "Baekhyun takes his time to build up effortless and intricate vocal runs but it’s still just a small taste of what his voice is truly capable of".[5]

Year-end lists
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref.
Genius The Genius Community's 50 Best Songs of 2019 49 [6]
Refinery29 The Best K-Pop Songs Of 2019 9 [7]
CelebMix Top 10 KPOP songs of 2019 10 [8]

Music video and promotion

An accompanying music video for "UN Village" was uploaded to SM Entertainment's official YouTube channel, simultaneously with the single's release.[9] It was preceded by a teaser released on the same platform on July 4. The video features a colored and black-and-white theme of the singer while he roams around the titular neighborhood emoting his feelings as he sings.[10] In a music video commentary video, Baekhyun revealed that the music video was shot in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.[11][12]

Before the official release, Baekhyun held a private showcase in Seoul Arts Center where he performed the song for the first time for the media.[13] Two hours after the release, he held a live broadcast through Naver's V Live app, where he talked about the album, songs and production process.[14]

On July 11, a behind clip of "UN Village" music video was released through Baekhyun's official YouTube channel as a vlog.[15] Baekhyun promoted the song on various South Korean music programs starting with KBS's Music Bank on July 12, 2019.[16] On the same day, he performed the song on the show You Hee-yeol's Sketchbook.[17] On July 19, Baekhyun received his first music trophy for "UN Village" on KBS's Music Bank.[18]

Commercial performance

"UN Village" debuted at number 22 on the Gaon Digital chart issue dated July 7–13, 2019.[19] The song also debuted at number two on the component Download Chart.[20] Additionally, the song charted at number 23 on the US Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.[21]

Accolades
Music program awards
Program Date Ref.
Music Bank (KBS) July 19, 2019 [18]
July 26, 2019 [22]
Show! Music Core (MBC) July 20, 2019 [23]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from Tidal.[24]

  • Baekhyun - primary vocals
  • LIØN - lyricist, composer
  • dress - composer, arranger

Charts

Weekly
Chart (2019) Peak
position
South Korea (Gaon)[19] 22
South Korea (K-pop Hot 100)[25] 1
US World Digital Songs (Billboard)[21] 23

Monthly
Chart (2019) Peak
position
South Korea (Gaon)[26] 51

Release history
Region Date Format Label
South Korea July 10, 2019
Various SM Entertainment

References
  1. Tan, Pakkee (July 10, 2019). "Take a Trip To The 'UN Village' With EXO's Baekhyun: Watch". E!Online. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  2. "EXO's Baekhyun Set to Release Debut Solo Album". Billboard. June 10, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  3. Lee, Han-na (July 2, 2019). "EXO Baekhyun releases teaser for solo album". The Korea Times. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  4. "Key and BPM of UN Village by BAEKHYUN | Musicstax". musicstax.com. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  5. "Review: EXO's Baekhyun Embraces Dark R&B Immersion On 'City Lights' -". July 17, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
  6. "The Genius Community's 50 Best Songs of 2019". Genius. December 20, 2019. Retrieved December 21, 2019.
  7. Morin, Natalie (December 20, 2019). "The Best K-Pop Songs Of 2019". Refinery29 . Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  8. Nicholas, Ellie (December 31, 2019). "Celebmix's Top 10 KPOP songs of 2019". CelebMix. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
  9. Baekhyun 백현 'UN Village' MV. SM Entertainemt. July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019 – via YouTube.
  10. "EXO's Baekhyun Releases 'City Lights' Album: Watch the Smooth Music Video for 'UN Village'". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2019.
  11. "[V LIVE] EXO BAEKHYUN's". www.vlive.tv. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  12. "[V LIVE] EXO BAEKHYUN says the best scene in the M/V was - Star Road EP02". www.vlive.tv. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  13. "엑소 백현, 10일 솔로 데뷔 쇼케이스 개최..전 세계 생중계[공식]". entertain.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  14. "'시티 라이츠 쇼케이스' 솔로 데뷔 백현, "엑소 멤버들, 내게 '신박하다'더라"(V앱 종합)". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  15. 백현 Baekhyun (July 11, 2019), 백현이의 브이로그 (UN Village Behind Clip), retrieved July 12, 2019
  16. "[인싸뮤직] 다음 주 컴백 예고, 몽환적 분위기의 하성운·감미로운 세레나데 백현". 뉴스인사이드 (in Korean). July 6, 2019. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
  17. "'유희열의 스케치북' 엑소 백현, 솔로 무대 선보이며 자신의 꿈 밝혀". 아시아경제 (in Korean). July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
  18. Park, Ha-na (July 19, 2019). "'뮤직뱅크' 백현, '유엔빌리지'(UN Village) 출연 없이 1위, 벤 꺾었다". News1 via Naver (in Korean). Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  19. "Digital Chart – Week 28 of 2019". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved July 18, 2019.
  20. "Download Chart – Week 28 of 2019". gaonchart.co.kr. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  21. "Billboard World Digital Song Sales". Billboard. July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  22. Im, Young-jin (July 26, 2019). "'뮤뱅' 백현, 2주 연속 1위..NCT DREAM 컴백+CIX 데뷔 [종합]". TV Report via Naver (in Korean). Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  23. Jang, Woo-young (July 20, 2019). "'음악중심' 백현, 벤-헤이즈 꺾고 2관왕 등극…노라조·펜타곤 컴백 [종합]". Osen via Naver. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  24. "Try the TIDAL Web Player". listen.tidal.com. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
  25. "Billboard Korea K-pop 100". Billboard. July 13, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  26. "Gaon Digital Chart - July 2019". gaonchart.co.kr. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
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