XOXO

XOXO is the first studio album of the boy band Chinese-South Korean EXO, released on June 3, 2013 by the label S.M. Entertainment. The album is the follow-up to the EP debut of EXO, MAMA (2012). Like all the music from the group, the album was released in two versions - "Kiss" is the Korean edition and "Hug" is the Chinese edition.[1]

XOXO
EXO XOXO logo.png
Studio album by
ReleasedJune 3, 2013
August 5, 2013 (repackage)
Recorded2011-2013; S.M. Studios, Seoul
GenreK-pop
Language
LabelS.M. Entertainment, KT Music
Producer
Exo chronology
Mama
(2012)
XOXO Miracles in December
(2013)
Singles from XOXO
  1. "Wolf"
    Released: May 30, 2013
  2. "Growl"
    Released: July 30, 2013
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Two main singles were released from XOXO: "Wolf" and "Growl", with the latter being the first single from the album of the repackaged version released on August 5, 2013. Both singles went to the list in the top 10 of Gaon Singles Chart, and "Growl" was at number three in Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100. The album won "Álbum of the Year" in 2013 Mnet Asian Music Awards and sold about a million copies, becoming the best-selling album in Korea since 2001.

Background

The single main album "The Wolf and the Beauty" known in English as simply "Wolf", was composed by Will Simms, Nermin Harambasic by Dsign Music and composer of S.M. Entertainment Kenzie. Kenzie has of the letter for the version Korean of the song while Zhou Weijie wrote the letter for the version in Chinese mandarin, "狼与美女". Yoo Young-jin provides the vocals. The song dance was choreographed by Tony Testa. In various programs such as After School Club of Arirang, members explain that the dance has 3 elements: trees and forests, caves and the Wolf itself. The member Kris revealed that it took about 3 to 4 months to learn the choreography, because of their level of difficulty. A demo version of the song was leaked in February 2013, in response to producer Ryan Jhun later gave a warning to those who download illegally on May 29, 2013: "I'm going to inform of this to the FBI and the Department of service for all those links."[2]

Several tracks in "development" were produced and recorded in 2011 before the official debut of EXO in the entertainment industry, but he never did in his first EP MAMA. Some of these tracks were included on album XOXO, including "Black Pearl" and "My Lady". In July 2013, a repackaged version of XOXO, was renowned as a 으르렁 (Growl) was developed with three tracks additional.[3] Composed by Hyuk Shin (Joombas), DK, Jordan Kyle, John Major, and Jarah Gibson, "Growl" is dance-pop genre with R&B and funk. The single was leaked prematurely online July 27, when a video of the group practiced for the Korean version of the song was uploaded to several sites[4]

Release and promotion

On May 30, 2013, the Korean and Chinese versions of the music video of "Wolf" were released,[5] EXO sings the song for the first time in M! Countdown of Mnet.[6] Both versions of the song were released to their download on June 3, 2013 and on the same day, two physical formats of the album XOXO were also released in South Korea: "Kiss" Korean edition and "Hug" in Mandarin edition.[7] After a performance in Inkigayo of SBS on June 3, 2013, EXO visited and thanked 2,000 fansho had been waiting in a nearby park to meet them.[8] The premiere of the Mandarin version of the song was broadcast on a popular Chinese variety show Happy Camp in mid-June.[9] The album reached more than 300,000 collective order[1] and reached number one on the Billboard Albums Chart a week after the release.[10] From December 2013, the Korean and Chinese versions of the album as well as their respective versions of repackaging, have collectively sold more than 1,070,000 copies,[11][12][13] making it the best-selling album of the year in the industry of K-pop. With over 1 million copies sold, XOXO also the best selling album in twelve years Korea became.[14]

Tracklist

XOXO (original edition)

Growl (repackaged edition)

Charts

Chinese and Korean versions
Chart Peak positions
XOXO
Kiss edition
XOXO
Hug edition
Growl
Kiss edition
Growl
Hug edition
China Weekly Sino Chart 3 1 N/A N/A
South Korea Gaon Weekly Albums Chart 1[15] 2[15] 1[16] 2[16]
Japan Oricon Weekly Albums Chart 9 18 N/A N/A
South Korea Gaon Monthly Albums Chart 1[17] 2[17] 1[18] 2[18]
Japan Oricon Monthly Albums Chart 18 36 N/A N/A
South Korea Gaon 2013 Yearly Albums Chart 3[19] 6[19] 1[19] 7[19]
South Korea Gaon 2014 Yearly Albums Chart 53 83 15 67
Combined version
Chart Peak positions
China Sino Chart 1
Billboard Heatseekers Albums Chart[20] 23
Billboard World Albums Chart[21] 1
Taiwan G-Music's Combo Album Chart 6

Sales and shipments

Album sales

XOXO

Chart Sales
Japan (Oricon) 28,000+ (Hug version)
62,000+ (Kiss version)
South Korea (Gaon) 224,373+ (Hug version)[19]
308,298+ (Kiss version)[19]

Growl (Repackage)

Chart Sales
South Korea (Gaon) 234,764+ (Hug version)[19]
458,306+ (Kiss version)[19]

Release history

Edition Date Region Format Label Catalog
Original June 3, 2013 Worldwide / South Korea[22][23] CD, digital download S.M. Entertainment, KT Music SMK0242
SMK0243
July 19, 2013 Taiwan[24] Avex AVKCD80280/A
AVKCD80280/B
July 27, 2013 Philippines Universal Records SMK0242
SMK0243
June 12, 2013 Thailand S.M. True
Repackage August 5, 2013 Worldwide / South Korea S.M. Entertainment, KT Music SMK0275
SMK0276
September 13, 2013 Taiwan Avex Taiwan AVKCD80280/C
AVKCD80280/D
August 16, 2013 Thailand S.M. True

Awards and nominations

Year Award Nominated work Category Result
2013 Golden Disk Awards Growl Digital Bonsang Nominated
XOXO Disk Bonsang Won
Disk Daesang Won
MelOn Music Awards Growl Song of the Year Won
Music Video award Nominated
XOXO Album of the Year Nominated
Mnet Asian Music Awards XOXO BC - UnionPay Album of the Year[25] Won
Growl BC - UnionPay Song of the Year Nominated
Seoul Music Awards Record of the Year in Digital Release Won
KBS Music Festival Song of the year Won
World Music Awards Best World Song Won

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "EXO finally drop their 1st full album, 'XOXO', was it everything you waited for?". 2013. Retrieved May 4, 2013.
  2. "EXO's producer gives illegal downloaders a warning". Allkpop. May 29, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  3. sallice10 (July 25, 2013). "EXO to release repackaged album and gear up for follow-up promotions with 'Growl'". Allkpop. http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/07/exo-to-release-repackaged-album-and-gear-up-for-follow-up-promotions-with-growl. Retrieved July 31, 2013. 
  4. "EXO's 'Growl' dance practice video leaked". ttwigo. July 27, 2013. http://www.ttwigo.com/2013/07/exos-growl-dance-practice-video-leaked/. Retrieved July 31, 2013. 
  5. "EXO releases "Wolf" MV!". Allkpop. May 30, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  6. "EXO to become "Wolf" boys for their title track + first comeback stage on May 30th". Seoul: Allkpop. May 22, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  7. "EXO's 1st full album, 'XOXO' ranks high on real-time music charts". Allkpop. June 3, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  8. "EXO celebrate their comeback with 2,000 fans at fanmeeting". Allkpop. June 3, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  9. "EXO to head to China for their first performance of "Wolf" on 'Happy Camp'". Seoul: Allkpop. May 28, 2013. Retrieved June 4, 2013.
  10. Addy (June 14, 2013). "Chinese-Korean boy band, Exo, reaches No. 1 on Billboard World Album Chart". JayneStars. http://www.jaynestars.com/music/chinese-korean-boy-band-exo-reaches-no-1-on-billboard-world-album-chart/. Retrieved August 4, 2013. 
  11. "EXO becomes the first million seller in twelve years!". Allkpop. December 27, 2013. http://www.allkpop.com/article/2013/12/exo-becomes-the-first-million-seller-in-twelve-years#axzz2lcckqbN6. Retrieved December 27, 2013. 
  12. "EXO-M @ Weibo" (in zh). Weibo. October 14, 2013. http://www.weibo.com/2612183504/AdZlXnNoJ. Retrieved October 14, 2013. 
  13. Jeon Su Mi (September 3, 2013). "EXO achieves major feat with 740,000 albums sold". Mwave E-News World. http://mwave.interest.me/enewsworld/en/article/45151. Retrieved September 3, 2013. 
  14. "EXO just a few records shy from selling one million copies of XOXO". Kpop Starz. October 14, 2013. http://uk.kpopstarz.com/articles/592/20131014/exo-few-records-shy-selling-one-million-copies-xoxo.htm. Retrieved November 22, 2013. 
  15. 15.0 15.1 "2013년 24주차 Album Chart". Gaon. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  16. 16.0 16.1 "2013년 33주차 Album Chart". Gaon. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  17. 17.0 17.1 "2013년 06월 Album Chart". Gaon. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. 18.0 18.1 "2013년 8월 Album Chart". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on January 4, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 19.5 19.6 19.7 "2013년 Album Chart". Gaon Chart. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved February 8, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  20. "Exo Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 14, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  21. "Exo Chart History - World Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  22. "엑소(EXO) - 정규 1집 XOXO [Kiss Ver.]" (in 한국어). music.aladin.co.kr. June 3, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  23. "엑소(EXO) - 정규 1집 XOXO [Hug Ver.]" (in 한국어). music.aladin.co.kr. June 3, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  24. "EXO - XOXO (Kiss&Hug)」[Hug版/中文版]" (in 中文). G-Music. July 19, 2013. Archived from the original on January 21, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2013.
  25. "2013 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine. MAMA. Retrieved June 12, 2014.