Monster is the debut extended play by Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi, the first sub-unit of South Korean girl group Red Velvet. It was released on July 6, 2020, by SM Entertainment, with Dreamus serving as the South Korea distributor.[1] The EP contains six tracks, including the title track of the same name and a follow-up single "Naughty".

Monster
Digital and "Top Note" version cover
EP by
ReleasedJuly 6, 2020 (2020-07-06)
Recorded2020
StudioSM Studio Center (Seoul)
GenreK-pop
Length19:42
Language
  • Korean
  • English
Label
Singles from Monster
  1. "Monster"
    Released: July 6, 2020
  2. "Naughty"
    Released: July 20, 2020

Background and release

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On April 21, 2020, SM Entertainment confirmed that Irene and Seulgi would form Red Velvet's first sub-unit and that the duo was in preparation for their first major release in around June 2020. The release of the mini album was postponed from June 15 to July 6, 2020, on the grounds that it needed additional production on the album, in order to achieve a higher quality of music.[2] The physical release contains two different versions with a CD, a photo booklet, a lyric book and collectibles.[3]

Commercial performance

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According to Hanteo, Monster sold over 80,000 copies on its first day of availability, beating Red Velvet's first day and first week album sales records of the group's sixth extended play The ReVe Festival: Day 1, which set the record at 45,080 copies for its first day, and 71,431 copies for its first week. It also became the best-selling girl group sub-unit album of all time, surpassing Twinkle (2012) by Girls' Generation-TTS.[4] The EP reached 100,000 copies sold on Hanteo in under 3 days, making it the first Red Velvet album to do so.[5][better source needed]

The EP debuted at number five on the Billboard World Album Chart, becoming the duo's top-five entry.[citation needed]

Track listing

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Monster track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Monster"
  • Yaakov "Yash" Gruzman
  • Delaney Jane
  • Jenson David Aubrey Vaughan
  • Yoo Young-jin
2:58
2."Naughty" (놀이; Nori; lit. Play)
3:18
3."Diamond"Kim Yeon-seo (ADC Music)
Daniel "Obi" Klein3:16
4."Feel Good"Lee Seu-ran
  • Jonatan Gusmark (Moonshine)
  • Ludvig Evers (Moonshine)
  • Tania Doko
  • Maribelle Anes
Moonshine3:13
5."Jelly"Park Green (Joombas)
ADC Music3:12
6."Uncover" (Seulgi solo)Kim Yeon-seo (ADC Music)
Joseph Hong3:41
Total length:19:42

Notes:

  • "Naughty" is only available in the EP as a CD-only track. It was omitted from the digital release of the EP until July 20, 2020, when it was released on Korean music sites as part of the EP and as a standalone digital single in international music sites.

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from the liner notes of the EP.[6]

Musicians

  • Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi
    • Irene – vocals (tracks 1–5), background vocals (tracks 1–5)
    • Seulgi – vocals (all tracks), background vocals (all tracks)
  • Kenzie – Korean lyrics (track 1)
  • JQ (makeumine works) – Korean lyrics (track 2)
  • Lee Yeon-ji (makeumine works) – Korean lyrics (track 2)
  • Kim Yeon-seo – Korean lyrics (tracks 3, 6), composition (tracks 3, 5–6), background vocals (tracks 3, 5–6)
  • Lee Seu-ran – Korean lyrics (track 4)
  • Park Green (153/Joombas) – Korean lyrics (track 5)
  • Yaakov "Yash" Gruzman – composition (track 1), arrangement (track 1), drums (track 1), keyboards & synths (track 1)
  • Delaney Jane – composition (track 1), background vocals (track 1)
  • Jenson Vaughn – composition (track 1)
  • Yoo Young-jin – composition (tracks 1–2), arrangement (tracks 1–2)
  • Moonshine – composition (tracks 2, 4), arrangement (tracks 2, 4)
  • Louise Frick Sveen – composition (track 2), background vocals (track 2)
  • Charite Viken – composition (track 2), background vocals (track 2)
  • Daniel "Obi" Klein – composition (track 3), arrangement (track 3)
  • Andreas Öberg – composition (track 3), guitar (track 3)
  • Tania Doko – composition (track 4)
  • Maribelle – composition (track 4)
  • MinGtion – composition (track 5), arrangement (track 5), piano (track 5), bass (track 5)
  • Andrew Choi – composition (track 5)
  • Joseph Hong – composition (track 6), arrangement (track 6)
  • Jae Shim – composition (track 6)
  • Kriz – background vocals (track 1)
  • Seo Mi-rae – background vocals (track 2)

Technical

  • Yoo Young-jin – directing (track 1), recording (track 1), digital editing (track 1), mixing engineer (track 1), mixing (track 1)
  • Kenzie – directing (track 1)
  • ButterFly – vocal directing (track 2), Pro Tools operation (track 2), digital editing (track 2)
  • Kim Yeon-seo – directing (tracks 3, 5–6)
  • Kriz – vocal directing (track 4)
  • Jeong Eui-seok – recording (track 1), mixing (track 5)
  • Noh Min-ji – recording (tracks 2, 4–5), mixing engineer (tracks 2–3)
  • Kim Cheol-soon – recording (track 3), mixing (track 2)
  • Lee Ji-hong – recording (track 6), digital editing (track 6), mixing engineer (tracks 5–6), mixing (track 6)
  • Jung Yoo-ra – digital editing (tracks 1, 3)
  • Lee Min-kyu – digital editing (track 4), mixing engineer (track 4), mixing (track 4)
  • MinGtion – digital editing (tracks 5–6)
  • Namkoong Jin – mixing (track 3)
  • Cheon Hoon – mastering (tracks 1–2, 6)
  • Kwon Nam-woo – mastering (tracks 3–5)

Charts

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Certifications and sales

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Certifications for Monster
Region Certification Certified units/sales
South Korea (KMCA)[17] Platinum 250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Release history and formats for Monster
Region Date Format Label
South Korea July 6, 2020
Various
  • Digital download
  • streaming
SM Entertainment

References

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  1. ^ "Monster - The 1st Mini Album". Melon Music (in Korean). July 6, 2020. Retrieved July 6, 2020.
  2. ^ Lee, Min-ji (21 April 2020). "SM 측 "레드벨벳 아이린X슬기 유닛 준비 중"(공식입장)". Naver (in Korean). Archived from the original on 22 April 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Red Velvet Irene & Seulgi - 1st Mini Album: Monster".
  4. ^ Hwang Hye-jin (July 6, 2020). "유닛도 강력한 레드벨벳, 하루만에 앨범 판매량 8만장 돌파+음원도 1위[차트오피스]". Newsen (in Korean). Retrieved March 22, 2021.
  5. ^ "Red Velvet - IRENE & SEULGI surpassed 100,000 sales on Hanteo chart". Twitter. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  6. ^ Monster (photobook). Red Velvet - Irene & Seulgi. South Korea: SM Entertainment, Dreamus. 2020. Credits.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  7. ^ "Ultratop.be – Red Velvet - Irene & Seulgi – Monster" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. July 5–11, 2020. Archived from the original on June 11, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  8. ^ 週間 アルバムランキング – 2020年07月20日付 [Weekly Album Ranking – July 20, 2020]. Oricon (in Japanese). July 6–12, 2020. Archived from the original on July 16, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  9. ^ 週間 合算アルバムランキング – 2020年07月20日付 [Weekly Total Album Ranking – July 20, 2020]. Oricon (in Japanese). July 6–12, 2020. Archived from the original on July 15, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  10. ^ Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2020/07/15 公開 [Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2020/07/15 Release]. Billboard Japan (in Japanese). July 16–22, 2020. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  11. ^ 2020년 28주차 Album Chart [2020, Week 28 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). July 5–11, 2020. Archived from the original on July 29, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. July 10–16, 2020. Archived from the original on July 13, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  13. ^ "World Albums Chart". Billboard. Archived from the original on 2020-08-08. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
  14. ^ 月間 アルバムランキング – 2020年07月度 [Monthly Album Ranking – July 2020]. Oricon (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2022.
  15. ^ 2020년 07월 Album Chart [July 2020 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on September 1, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  16. ^ 2020년 Album Chart [2020 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 26, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  17. ^ "South Korean album certifications – 레드벨벳-아이린&슬기 – Monster - The 1st Mini Album" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA).