Candy (H.O.T. song)

"Candy" (Korean: 캔디) is a song recorded by South Korean boy group H.O.T.; it was released as part of the group's debut studio album We Hate All Kinds of Violence on September 7, 1996 via SM Entertainment. Along with "Warrior's Descendant", it serves as one of the two singles from the record. A cheerful K-pop bubblegum pop dance track, the song was both written and produced by Jang Yong-jin. Upon the album's release, "Candy" was met with widespread recognition in South Korea and has been credited with sparking a new wave of mainstream music in the country's youth.

"Candy"
Single by H.O.T.
from the album We Hate All Kinds of Violence
LanguageKorean
ReleasedSeptember 7, 1996
Recorded1996
Genre
Length3:37
LabelSM
Songwriter(s)Jang Yong-jin
Producer(s)Jang Yong-jin
H.O.T. singles chronology
"Warrior's Descendant"
(1996)		 "Candy"
(1996)		 "Wolf and Sheep"
(1997)
Music video
"Candy" on YouTube

H.O.T. promoted "Candy" with televised live performances on weekly South Korean music programs in late 1996 and January 1997, and topped the chart rankings for several weeks. At the 11th Golden Disc Awards, the group received the Best New Artist award for "Candy".[1] In a 2005 survey conducted by MTV Korea, it was voted the most popular song of 1996 in South Korea by netizens.[2]

Background

H.O.T. made its debut on September 7, 1996, with the release of the album We Hate All Kinds of Violence. It experienced instant commercial success in South Korea and has since reportedly sold over 1.5 million copies.[3] The trainee system laid by SM with H.O.T. has led them to be considered the first idol group in K-pop.[4][5][6]

Release

"Candy" serves as the second single from the album following "Warrior's Descent". It is a cheerful bubblegum pop song that established the group's popularity in South Korea.[3][7] The fashion, rap skills and dance moves shown through "Candy" has been noted by popular cultural commentators for sparking a new wave of mainstream music in South Korea.[8]

Live performances

Following promotions for the first single "Descent of Warriors", H.O.T. began promoting the album's second single, "Candy", on televised weekly music programs in November 1996. The stages for "Candy" exemplifies the level of coordination regarding idol costumes, with each member wearing a designated color and accessorized with face paint, fuzzy oversized mittens, visors, bucket hats, and earmuffs, and used stuffed animals, backpacks, and messenger bags as props. On October 13 and 14, 2018, H.O.T. performed "Candy" at their reunion concert "Forever [Highfive Of Teenagers]" at the Seoul Olympic Stadium, which attracted a total of 100,000 attendees.[9]

Accolades

"Candy" won the Best New Artist award at the 11th Golden Disc Awards.[10] It achieved the top position on SBS's TV Gayo 20 (former version of Inkigayo), MBC's Popular Songs Best 50 (former version of Show! Music Core), and KBS's Top 10 Songs (former version of Music Bank).

Music program awards
Program Date
SBS's TV Gayo 20 December 15, 1996[11]
December 22, 1996
December 29, 1996
January 5, 1997
January 12, 1997
January 19, 1997
MBC's Popular Songs Best 50 December 28, 1996
January 4, 1997
January 11, 1997
KBS's Top 10 Songs January 8, 1997
January 15, 1997

Impact and legacy

The release of "Candy" presented a softer and gentler form of pop music with upbeat and cheerful melodies accompanied by energetic dance moves—a formula adopted by many subsequent Korean idol groups. Ranking it as the best K-pop song of all time in 2012, David Bevan of Spin magazine wrote "Seo Taiji may have laid K-pop’s foundation a few years earlier, but it was H.O.T., a boy band engineered in part by SM kingpin Lee Soo-Man, that ushered in the 'idol' cult that's propelled Korean pop cultural product as far and wide as it's come in the past ten years."[12] In 2014, Mnet included "Candy" in their countdown list of Legend 100 Songs, a list of 100 influential songs in Korean popular music history since the 1960s.[13]

That same year, music webzine Music Taste Y ranked it at number 25 in their list of 120 greatest dance songs of all time, where critic Kim Yun-ha noted the multi use marketing that commercializes not only music, but also fashion and characters, and said that the song acts as sort of the ancestor of all those combined elements that the K-pop industry has become accustomed to in the present.[14] 35 music and pop culture critics organized by Seoul Shinmun and Melon ranked "Candy" at number 17 in a 2021 list of the 100 best K-pop songs of all time; critic Jeong Byeong-wook echoed that its beats, "dances, related fashions, various derivatives, and the fandom culture that surrounds it have all become pioneering models of the K-pop business today."[15]

H.O.T.'s "Candy" on select rankings
Publisher Rank Rank Year published
MTV Korea Most popular songs from 1996 1 2005[2]
Gallup Korea 100 All Time Favorite Korean Songs 13 2006[16]
JukeOn List of hit dances of all time in the music industry No order 2007[17]
Spin 21 Greatest K-pop Songs of All Time 1 2012[12]
Mnet Legend 100 Songs No order 2014[18]
Music Y 120 greatest dance tracks of all time 25 2014[19]
The Dong-a Ilbo Best male idol songs according to experts 2 2016[20]
Melon Top 100 K-pop Songs of All Time 17 2021[15]
Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music 2 2023[21]

NCT Dream version
"Candy"
Single by NCT Dream
from the EP Candy
ReleasedDecember 16, 2022 (2022-12-16)
Recorded2022
GenreK-pop
Length3:37
LabelSM
Composer(s)Jang Yong-jin
Lyricist(s)Jang Yong-jin
NCT Dream singles chronology
"Beatbox"
(2022)		 "Candy"
(2022)		 "Best Friend Ever"
(2023)
NCT singles chronology
"2 Baddies"
(2022)		 "Candy"
(2022)		 "Phantom"
(2022)
Music video
"Candy" on YouTube

South Korean boy group NCT Dream released another version of "Candy" on December 16, 2022. It served as the lead single for their extended play of the same name. The song was featured on a commercial. It debuted at number seven on the Circle Digital Chart.

Release and promotion

On November 18, 2022, NCT Dream announced that they would re-record "Candy" and release it as the lead single for their Christmas-themed extended play of the same name.[22] Before its release, the song was featured in a Kookmin Bank's commercial starring the group.[23] A portion of the song was featured in promotional videos released via YouTube Shorts.[24] A teaser for the music video was released on December 14.[25] The song was released on December 16, 2022, alongside an accompanying music video, showing the members seize a candy factory and celebrating Christmas.[22][26] NCT Dream performed the song at the 2022 KBS Song Festival on the same day of release.[25] They performed the song alongside the b-side "Graduation" on South Korean music show Show! Music Core on December 17.[27]

Chart performance

"Candy" debuted at number seven on the Circle Digital Chart in the issue dated December 11–17, 2022,[28] and peaked at number three the next week.[29] The song debuted at number one on the component Download Chart.[30] It debuted at number 14 and 122 on the component BGM Chart and on the component Streaming Chart respectively.[31][32] The song peaked at number 63 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100 in the chart issue dated December 28, 2022.[33] It peaked at number 198 on the Billboard Global 200 in the chart issue dated December 31, 2022.[34]

Accolades
Music program awards
Program Date Ref.
M Countdown December 29, 2022 [35]
Music Bank December 30, 2022 [36]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from album's liner notes.[37]

Studio
  • SM Ssam Studio – recording
  • SM Starlight Studio – recording, digital editing
  • SM Blue Cup Studio – recording, mixing, digital editing
  • SM Yellow Tail Studio – digital editing
  • Doobdoob Studio – digital editing
  • 821 Sound Mastering – mastering

Personnel
  • SM Entertainment – executive producer
  • Lee Sung-soo – production director, executive supervisor
  • Tak Young-jun – executive supervisor
  • Yoo Young-jin – music and sound supervisor
  • NCT Dream – vocals
    • Renjun – background vocals
    • Haechan – background vocals
    • Chenle – background vocals
  • Kwon Ae-jin – background vocals
  • Jang Yong-jin – lyrics, composition
  • Kenzie – arrangement, piano, vocal directing
  • Kim Yoo-hyun – guitar
  • Kang Eun-ji – recording
  • Jeong Yu-ra – recording, digital editing
  • Jung Eui-seok – recording, mixing, digital editing
  • Noh Min-ji – digital editing
  • Jung Woo-young – digital editing
  • Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

References
  1. "올해의 골든디스크 대상에 김건모의 [스피드]". Yonhap News (in Korean). December 8, 1996. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 3, 2021 – via Naver.
  2. "'1996년 최고 인기가요는 H.O.T '캔디''" ["The most popular song of 1996 was H.O.T's 'Candy'"]. Yonhap News (in Korean). January 7, 2005. Archived from the original on November 15, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2022 – via Naver.
  3. Fuhr, Michael (2015). Globalization and Popular Music in South Korea: Sounding Out K-Pop. Routledge. pp. 74–76. ISBN 978-1317556916. Archived from the original on August 3, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
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  8. "Then & Now: A look back at the changing tides of K-pop". The Korea Herald. August 13, 2013. Archived from the original on August 13, 2013. Retrieved January 2, 2022.
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