"Ko Ko Bop"
Single by Exo
from the album The War
ReleasedJuly 18, 2017
Recorded2017
GenreReggae
Length3:10
LabelSM
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Styalz Fuego
Exo singles chronology
"For Life"
(2016)		 "Ko Ko Bop"
(2017)		 "Power"
(2017)
Music video
"Ko Ko Bop" (Korean Ver.) on YouTube
"Ko Ko Bop" (Chinese Ver.) on YouTube

"Ko Ko Bop" is a song by South Korean–Chinese boy band Exo, released on July 18, 2017, as the lead single of their fourth studio album The War. It was released in Korean and Chinese versions by their label SM Entertainment. It was the first Exo single not to feature member Lay due to his extended hiatus.

Release and composition

Produced by Styalz Fuego, "Ko Ko Bop" is described as an energetic reggae song with rhythmical reggae and bass guitar sounds.[1] "Ko Ko Bop" was co-written by Exo members Chen, Chanyeol and Baekhyun. It was released digitally on July 18, 2017 and physically on July 19 along with the album.[2] According to Chanyeol, the term "Ko Ko Bop" means "Fun Dancing".[3]

Talking to Billboard about producing the song, Styalz Fuego stated that while writing the song the other composers were going with a reggae type of song, but after adding the drop after the chorus the song took a different distraction, and they settled for a reggae-pop song afterwards. The composers stated that they thought the song would be for a girl group because Shaylen Carroll, one of the composers, a female, did the demo, but eventually it went to Exo. Fuego stated "The song was actually in a higher key – I think three semitones higher – so it was more fitted for a female group originally."[4]

About writing the lyrics of the song, Carroll stated: "When I was recording some melody ideas I kept on singing nonsense phrases and one was 'Shimmy shimmy Ko Ko Bop',[lower-alpha 1] which we all thought was super quirky and catchy. So we built off that and turned it into something real". Carroll went and described the "Ko Ko Bop" as a song that is about "not worrying about things", "going with the flow" and "not worrying about the haters". Chen and Baekhyun also talked with Billboard about writing the lyrics of the song, Chen stated that the Baekhyun, Chanyeol and himself each wrote the lyrics separately and worked on putting the lyrics together for the song afterwards by selecting the lyrics that would suit the song the best. Baekhyun stated "I wanted my lyrics to have people to become more carefree, release their stress and dance away with the music."[4]

Reception

Commercial performance

"Ko Ko Bop" debuted at number one on five major realtime music charts, including Genie, Olleh, Bugs, Naver and Melon, making Exo the first K-pop group to enter the Melon Realtime Chart at the top after chart changes were implemented on February 27, 2017.[5] The other album tracks debuted in the top nine.[6] It was reported that multiple servers crashed, due to the number of fans streaming at the same time.[7][8] "Ko Ko Bop" scored the second-highest amount of unique listeners by any artist on Melon during the first hour after the system change that barred any artist from releasing music at midnight. It also became the highest for an idol group (Male or Female) in 2017 with 78,121 unique listeners during the first hour of release.[9]

"Ko Ko Bop" topped Gaon Digital Chart for four non-consecutive weeks, making Exo the first artist to do so in 2017. Exo also became the third idol group to chart at number one for four weeks, as well as the first male idol group to do so.[10] The song also stayed at number one on the Chinese music chart Alibaba for three consecutive weeks,[11] as well as number two on Billboard's US World Digital Songs[12] and China V Chart.[13] The War reached number one on iTunes in 42 countries in total.[14] According to Korean media outlet, Xportsnews, "Ko Ko Bop" additionally topped 155 iTunes charts worldwide, including K-pop charts and general pop charts, as well as all-genre single charts.[15][16] For the month of August, "Ko Ko Bop" topped the Gaon Monthly Digital and BGM Charts,[17][18] making Exo the first group in 2017 and the fifth boy group since 2012 to top the chart.

Public reception

Exo's fans began a viral Internet video trend called Ko Ko Bop Challenge where people dance the quick hip thrust succession choreography of the song to the lyrics "Down down baby".[19] The hashtag #KoKoBopChallenge was used for popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and Weibo.[20]

Music video

The song title logo used in the music video

A teaser of "Ko Ko Bop" music video was released on July 17, 2017 by SM Entertainment.[21] The Korean and Chinese music videos of "Ko Ko Bop" were released on July 18.[22] The music video was filmed in Seoul, South Korea.The music video shows the boys spending a day having fun as the name of the suggests "Ko Ko Bop" meaning fun dancing.

The Korean music video hit one million views in its first hour of release and 8,833,869 in 24 hours.[23] Three days after its release, the music video hit one million likes; in August 2020, it reached four million likes. On December 12, 2017, the music video surpassed 100 million views on YouTube, reaching 200 million views on January 25, 2019, and 300 million on February 28, 2021.[24]

Promotion

On July 8, Exo's official Twitter account had been activated to public, through which SM Entertainment revealed the first teaser video for the album. Twitter Music also created three customized hashtags with Exo's new tropical logo for Exo including #KoKoBop, #TheWarEXO and #EXO. Fans also welcomed them with 11 million tweets worldwide. Also on July 8, Exo's official Instagram account opened by posting the three versions of Exo's new album logo. On July 10, the album's title was announced to be The War.[25] From July 9 to July 16, the album's track list was revealed one by one through a series of teaser videos each featuring one member.

Exo began promoting "Ko Ko Bop" on South Korean music shows from July 20.[26] On August 5, Exo performed "Ko Ko Bop" in Hong Kong during the SM Town Live World Tour VI concert. Exo also performed at a-Nation on August 26, Music Bank World Tour in Jakarta on September 2 and during Lotte Duty Free Family Festival on September 15.[27][28][29]

Accolades

"Ko Ko Bop" won 11 first place awards on music programs in South Korea. It was named amongst the best K-pop songs of 2017 by several publications including Dazed (3rd),[30] Billboard (20th),[31] and Idolator (25th),[32] and was ranked the 9th most viewed K-pop music video of the year by YouTube Rewind.[33]

Awards and nominations for "Ko Ko Bop"
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards Song of the Year Nominated [34]
Best Dance Performance – Male Group Nominated [35]
Mwave Global Fans' Choice Won [36]
Melon Music Awards Song of the Year Nominated [37]
Best Male Dance Won
2018 Gaon Chart Music Awards Song of the Year – July Won
Music program awards
Program Date Ref.
Show Champion July 26, 2017
August 2, 2017
M Countdown July 27, 2017 [38]
August 3, 2017 [39]
August 10, 2017 [40]
Music Bank July 28, 2017 [41]
August 4, 2017 [42]
Inkigayo July 30, 2017 [43]
August 6, 2017 [44]
Show! Music Core August 5, 2017 [45]
August 12, 2017 [46]

Charts

Sales

Region Sales (2017)
Korean ver. Chinese ver.
South Korea (digital) 1,172,609[55] 13,884[56]

Release history

Region Date Format Label
South Korea July 18, 2017
Worldwide SM Entertainment

Credits

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[57]

Studio

  • SM LVYIN Studio – recording
  • doobdoob Studio – recording
  • Sound Pool Studio – recording, digital editing
  • SM Big Shot Studio – digital editing
  • SM Concert Hall Studio – mixing
  • Sterling Sound – mastering

Personnel

  • SM Entertainment – executive producer
  • Lee Soo-man – producer
  • Yoo Young-jin – music and sound supervisor
  • Exo – vocals
  • JQ – Korean lyrics
  • Hyun Ji-won (makeumine works) – Korean lyrics
  • Arys Chien – Chinese lyrics
  • Styalz Fuego – producer, composition, arrangement
  • Shaylen Carroll – composition, background vocals
  • Jeremy "Tay" Jasper – composition, background vocals
  • MZMC – composition
  • MQ – vocal directing
  • Ju Chan-yang – vocal directing, background vocals
  • Lee Ji-hong – recording
  • Ahn Chang-kyu – recording
  • Jeong Ho-jin – recording, digital editing
  • On Seong-yoon – recording
  • Min Sung-soo – recording assistant
  • Lee Min-gyu – digital editing
  • Nam Koong-jin – mixing
  • Chris Gehringer – mastering

Notes

  1. ↑ The lyrics "shimmy shimmy Ko Ko Bop" were previously used in the 1959 hit song "Shimmy Shimmy Ko-Ko-Bop" by Little Anthony and The Imperials and the 1956 song "(Shimmy Shimmy) Ko Ko Wop” by El Capris.

References

  1. ↑ SMTOWN (July 18, 2017), EXO_Ko Ko Bop_Music Video, archived from the original on May 4, 2021, retrieved August 8, 2017
  2. ↑ "EXO Return With Tropical-Electro Single 'Ko Ko Bop' & New Album 'The War'". Fuse. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  3. ↑ "[V라이브 종합] "1억하트 돌파" 엑소, 기록은 계속된다" (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 29, 2019. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  4. 1 2 "How EXO's 'The War' Came Together: A Song-By-Song Breakdown With the Band, Its Producers & More". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 27, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ "EXO Sweeps Charts With "Ko Ko Bop" | Soompi". www.soompi.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  6. ↑ "[엑's 초점] "역시 기록제조기"…엑소, 음원차트 개편 후 1위 진입 최초 아이돌" (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  7. ↑ "멜론 멈추게 한 엑소의 힘... '코코밥' 대박 히트 조짐". 한국스포츠경제 (in Korean). July 18, 2017. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019. Retrieved August 15, 2017.
  8. ↑ "2017 Gaon Digital Chart - Week 31". July 30 – August 5, 2017. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  9. ↑ "스퀘어 - 멜론차트 개편 후 진입 이용자수 순위 (엑소 2위)". theqoo.net (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 20, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ Gaon Weekly Digital Chart
  11. ↑ Xiami Music Chart
    • "Alibaba Music Chart". www.xiami.com (in Chinese (China)). July 16–23, 2017. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
    • "Alibaba Music Chart". www.xiami.com (in Chinese (China)). July 23–30, 2017. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
    • "Alibaba Music Chart". www.xiami.com (in Chinese (China)). July 30 – August 6, 2017. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Billboard's World Digital Songs". Billboard. August 5, 2017. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  13. ↑ "Billboard's China V Chart". Billboard. August 5, 2017. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  14. ↑ "[K-Talk] EXO 'The War' stays atop Billboard world albums chart". The Korea Herald. August 3, 2017. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  15. ↑ "EXO's Ko Ko Bop Tops 155 iTunes Charts Worldwide". July 27, 2017. Archived from the original on August 4, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2017.
  16. ↑ ""나날이 기록 경신"…엑소, 아이튠즈 155개 차트 1위 기염" (in Korean). July 20, 2017. Archived from the original on March 26, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  17. ↑ "국내 대표 음악 차트 가온차트!". gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on September 7, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  18. ↑ "국내 대표 음악 차트 가온차트!". gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on May 12, 2022. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  19. ↑ "Everyone Is Obsessed With The Brand New EXO #KoKoBopChallenge — Koreaboo". Koreaboo. August 6, 2017. Archived from the original on September 19, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
  20. ↑ "The EXO inspired 'Ko Ko Bop Challenge' is the Internet's favourite new thing". SBS PopAsia. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  21. ↑ SMTOWN (July 17, 2017), EXO_Ko Ko Bop_Music Video Teaser, archived from the original on July 17, 2017, retrieved August 8, 2017
  22. ↑ "EXO Serves Up Reggae-EDM Hybrid 'Ko Ko Bop': Watch". Billboard. Archived from the original on August 11, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  23. ↑ "EXO's "Ko Ko Bop" MV Gains Impressive Number Of Views In 24 Hours". Soompi. July 19, 2017. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  24. ↑ "엑소 'Ko Ko Bop' MV 유튜브 조회수 2억뷰 돌파!". EXO. Archived from the original on April 9, 2021. Retrieved January 26, 2019.
  25. ↑ Park Soo-jung (July 10, 2017). "엑소, 7월 18일 정규 4집 컴백..카이 티저 공개". The Korea Herald (in Korean). Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved July 10, 2017.
  26. ↑ "엑소 측 "20일 '엠카'서 '코코밥' 첫 무대 펼친다"" (in Korean). Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  27. ↑ "EXO、2度目のa-nationで圧巻ステージ EXO-CBXもサプライズで登場". BIGLOBEニュース (in Japanese). Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  28. ↑ "EXO＆NCT 127＆Red Velvet「a-nation」に出演！圧倒的なステージに会場は騒然 - MUSIC - 韓流・韓国芸能ニュースはKstyle". Kstyle. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  29. ↑ "Music Bank World Tour announce Jakarta date with EXO, BAP, GFriend". Asia Live 365. May 29, 2017. Archived from the original on September 5, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  30. ↑ Glasby, Taylor (December 7, 2017). "The 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2017". Dazed. Archived from the original on December 7, 2017. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  31. ↑ Tamar, Herman (December 14, 2017). "The 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2017: Billboard Staff List". Billboard. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  32. ↑ Peterson, Jacques (December 2017). "Top 30 Best K-pop Songs of 2017". Idolator. Archived from the original on January 12, 2023. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Youtube Shares Its Most-Watched K-Pop Music Videos Of 2017". YouTube. December 13, 2017. Archived from the original on January 16, 2019. Retrieved January 16, 2019.
  34. ↑ [2017 MAMA] Song of the Year Nominees (Online video). Mnet. November 14, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2019 – via YouTube.
  35. ↑ Dolan, Tim (November 28, 2017). "Complete list of nominees for the 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards". AXS. Archived from the original on June 15, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
  36. ↑ Reinfrank, Alkira (March 2, 2018). "Mama Awards: Hong Kong rolls out red carpet for K-pop royalty at Asia's biggest music awards". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  37. ↑ Eun-ho, Lee (December 2, 2017). [멜론뮤직어워드] 방탄소년단 ‘봄날’, 올해의 베스트송 [[Melon Music Awards] BTS 'Spring Day' wins Best Song of the Year]. BizEnter. Archived from the original on May 26, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
  38. ↑ Kim, Sun-woo (July 27, 2017). '엠카' 엑소, SM남매 레드벨벳 꺾고 1위…'코코밥' 2관왕(종합) ['M-Countdown' EXO, beat SM Siblings Red Velvet and ranked first... 'Ko ko bop' 2 crowns]. X Sports News (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020 – via Naver.
  39. ↑ Heo, Seol-hee (August 3, 2017). 엑소, 레드벨벳 꺾고 '엠카' 2주 연속 1위…6관왕 달성 [EXO beats Red Velvet and placed 1st in 'M Countdown' for 2 consecutive weeks... Achieved 6 crowns]. My Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Naver.
  40. ↑ Ji, Min-kyung (August 10, 2017). ‘엠카’ 엑소, 트리플크라운 달성..소시 컴백·워너원 핫데뷔 [종합] ['M-Countdown' EXO achieves triple crown... Suzy comeback·Wanna One hot debut [General]]. Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 22, 2020. Retrieved December 21, 2020 – via Naver.
  41. ↑ Yoon, Sang-geun (July 28, 2017). [★밤TView]'컴백' 엑소 '뮤뱅' 1위..음악방송 3관왕 순항 [[★Night TView] 'Comeback' EXO 'Music Bank' 1st place.. 3 trophies on music shows]. Star News (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved April 25, 2022 – via Naver.
  42. ↑ Kim, Nara (August 4, 2017). [MD리뷰] '뮤직뱅크' 엑소, 레드벨벳 꺾고 1위…벌써 7관왕 [[MD Review] 'Music Bank' EXO beats Red Velvet for 1st place... 7 crowns already]. My Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 26, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022 – via Naver.
  43. ↑ 7월 다섯째 주 인기가요 차트 (in Korean). Seoul Broadcasting System. August 18, 2017. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  44. ↑ 8월 첫째 주 인기가요 차트 (in Korean). Seoul Broadcasting System. August 18, 2017. Archived from the original on August 13, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  45. ↑ "2017년 8월 5일 음악중심 차트" [Music Core Chart for August 5, 2017]. iMBC (in Korean). August 7, 2017. Archived from the original on November 16, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  46. ↑ "2017년 8월 12일 음악중심 차트" [Music Core Chart for August 12, 2017]. iMBC (in Korean). August 14, 2017. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
  47. ↑ "Billboard's Japan Hot 100". August 7, 2017. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  48. ↑ "BillboardPH Hot 100". Billboard Philippines. August 28, 2017. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
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  51. ↑ "2017 Gaon Digital Chart - Week 29" (in Korean). July 16–22, 2017. Archived from the original on July 28, 2017. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
  52. ↑ "Gaon Digital Chart – August, 2017". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 7, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  53. ↑ "Gaon Digital Chart – Year 2017". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 13, 2017. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  54. ↑ "World Digital Songs – Year 2017". (Billboard). Archived from the original on July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  55. ↑ "Gaon Download Chart – Year 2017". gaonchart.co.kr. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
  56. ↑ "Gaon International Download Chart – July, 2017". Gaon Music Chart. Archived from the original on August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  57. ↑ Exo (2017). The War (photobook). South Korea: SM Entertainment; Dreamus. Credits.
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