Monster (Exo song)

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"Monster"
Single by Exo
from the album Ex'Act
ReleasedJune 9, 2016 (2016-06-09)
Genre
Length3:41
LabelSM
Songwriter(s)Kenzie, LDN Noise, Rodnae `Chikk` Bell
Producer(s)Kenzie, LDN Noise, Rodnae `Chikk` Bell
Exo Korean and Chinese singles chronology
"Lucky One"
(2016) 		"Monster"
(2016) 		"Lotto"
(2016)
Music video
"Monster" (Korean Ver.) on YouTube
"Monster" (Chinese Ver.) on YouTube

"Monster" is a song by South Korean–Chinese boy band Exo, released on June 9, 2016, as the second single from their third studio album Ex'Act. It was released in both Korean and Chinese versions by their label SM Entertainment.

Background and release[]

Exo performing "Monster" in June 2016

Written and composed by Kenzie, LDN Noise, and Rodnae "Chikk" Bell, "Monster" is described as a "dark and intense" medium-tempo dance song with lyrics about a man's "excessive fixation on his lover".[1] The song served as one of the "double title tracks" for Ex'Act, the other being "Lucky One", and was released together with the album on June 9, 2016. Exo began performing the song on South Korean music TV shows on the same day.

Music videos[]

The Korean and Chinese music videos for "Monster" were released one hour after the song itself. Apart from Exo's performances of the song at various settings, the videos also depict the members as rebels that were eventually captured but ultimately released from a prisoner transport vehicle by Baekhyun, who has been disguised as the driver. The Korean version was the fourth most-watched K-pop music video on YouTube in 2016.[2] An additional music video exclusively showcasing the song's choreography was released on June 15, 2016.

On June 8, 2018, the Korean music video exceeded 200 million views on YouTube, and on November 13, 2019 it exceeded 300 million, becoming their first music video to achieve both milestones.[3][4]

Reception[]

"Monster" topped both South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart and the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, becoming Exo's first number one on the latter.[5][6] The song won first place nine times in total on South Korean weekly music TV shows, and was the most awarded song by a boy group in 2016. It was nominated for Song of the Year at the 18th Mnet Asian Music Awards, and was named the second and third best K-pop songs of 2016 by Dazed and Billboard respectively.[7][8]

Charts[]

Sales[]

Region Sales
South Korea (Gaon)[12] 1,016,599
United States (Nielsen)[13] 69,000

Awards[]

Music program awards
Program Network Date
Show Champion MBC M June 22, 2016
M Countdown Mnet June 16, 2016
June 23, 2016
June 30, 2016
Music Bank KBS June 17, 2016
June 24, 2016
July 1, 2016
Inkigayo SBS June 19, 2016
June 26, 2016
Listicles
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref.
Billboard The 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2016 3 [14]
Fuse The 20 Best Songs of 2016 2 [15]
Dazed The 20 best K-Pop tracks of the year 2 [16]
Soompi 15 Of The Biggest K-Pop Hits From 2016 N/A [17]
KultScene 50 Best Korean Songs of 2016 25 [18]

Release history[]

Region Date Format Label
South Korea June 9, 2016
Worldwide S.M. Entertainment

References[]

  1. ^ Jung Eun-jin (June 8, 2016). "EXO returns as 'Monster'". Korea Herald. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  2. ^ "2016년 전 세계에서 가장 많이 본 K-Pop 뮤직비디오 Top10은?". 인터넷판 (in Korean). December 21, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  3. ^ "엑소 '몬스터' MV, 조회수 2억 돌파". Ten Asia. June 8, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  4. ^ "엑소(EXO), "몬스터" 뮤직비디오 3억 뷰 돌파". 100Korea. November 13, 2019. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b "Gaon Digital Chart – Week 24, 2015". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on July 2, 2016. Retrieved June 16, 2016.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Benjamin, Jeff (June 14, 2016). "EXO Earns First No. 1 on World Digital Songs With 'Monster'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  7. ^ Glasby, Taylor (December 14, 2016). "The 20 best K-Pop tracks of the year". Dazed. Retrieved January 7, 2017.
  8. ^ Benjamin, Jeff (December 22, 2016). "20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2016: Critic's Picks". Billboard. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  9. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot 100 – June 27, 2016". Billboard. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
  10. ^ "Billboard Spotify Velocity – July 2, 2016". Billboard. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  11. ^ "Gaon Digital Chart – 2016". Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  12. ^ "Gaon Download Chart – 2016". Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  13. ^ "EXO's 'Obsession' Leads K-Pop Group to Fourth Billboard 200 Entry, No. 1 on World Digital Song Sales Chart". Billboard. Retrieved March 22, 2020.
  14. ^ Benjamin, Jeff; Oak, Jessica (December 22, 2016). "The 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2016: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  15. ^ "THE 20 BEST SONGS OF 2016". Fuse. December 5, 2016. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  16. ^ Glasby, Taylor (December 13, 2016). "The 20 best K-Pop tracks of the year". Dazed. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  17. ^ Dong, Michelle (January 11, 2017). "15 Of The Biggest K-Pop Hits From 2016". Soompi. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
  18. ^ "50 Best Korean Songs of 2016: Part 2". Kultscene. December 23, 2017. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
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