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Bae Bae

"Bae Bae" is a song recorded by South Korean boy band Big Bang. It was released as a digital single on May 1, 2015, through YG Entertainment, serving as one of the eight lead singles from the band's third Korean-language studio album Made (2016); the song, along with "Loser", was initially included in the single album M. It marks the band's first release in three years, since Still Alive in June 2012. Written and produced by G-Dragon, Teddy Park and T.O.P, "Bae Bae" was noted for its sexually suggestive lyrics and music video.

"Bae Bae"
Single by Big Bang
from the album Made
A-side"Loser"
ReleasedMay 1, 2015 (2015-05-01)
Genre
Length3:39
LabelYG Entertainment
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Teddy
  • G-Dragon
  • T.O.P
Big Bang singles chronology
"Loser"
(2015) 		"Bae Bae"
(2015) 		"Bang Bang Bang"
(2015)

The song was a commercial success, peaking at number 2 on both the Gaon Digital Chart and US World Digital Song Sales chart. By the end of the year, the single sold more than 1.4 million digital units and was ranked as the fourth best performing song of the year in the country—simultaneously making BigBang the first act to have three songs within the top five on the year-end Gaon Digital Chart.[1]

Background and composition

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YG Entertainment announced the title tracks of BigBang's "MADE Series: M" in the third teaser, including two singles, "Loser" and "Bae Bae".[2] Two of the four teasers for D-1 to D-4 consist of the song info, including who was responsible for the tracks' composition.

"Bae Bae" is a trap-infected hip-hop/R&B song,[3] in style of country music[4] that was noted for its "boundary-pushing elements" and sexual references.[5] The song uses instrumentation from guitar.[4] G-Dragon revealed that the song was inspired by the work of British artist Francis Bacon. He explained that "one day I was looking at some of Francis Bacon's work in a museum and it strangely felt erotic to me. I'm not sure why." And added "we were working on the album at the time, while I was writing the music, I kept looking at his paintings. So they inspired me a lot one way or another."[6]

Critical reception

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Billboard ranked "Bae Bae" at number fifteen in their "20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2015" list[7] while Dazed placed the track at number eight in their list of the same name, stating that the song "offered a playful wander through young love in contrast to their signature airtight construction, with rappers G-Dragon and T.O.P delivering a bouncing, energetic flow while Taeyang, Daesung and Seungri's vocals smoothed out its brashest moments."[8] Korean online magazine IZM also named it one of best singles of the year, complimenting the song's confidence over its "shameless beat", and how the track was able to get the unusual achievement of being both popular in the mainstream and an experimental piece.[9]

The Chicago Sun-Times included the track in their unranked list of ten best BigBang songs.[5] In a survey involving 30 music industry experts by South Korean magazine The Dong-a Ilbo, "Bae Bae" was chosen as the fifth best male idol song in the past 20 years.[10] While commenting on the single, Alicia Tan from Mashable stated that "one can't deny how Big Bang always hits the nail on the head when it comes to balancing out soothing vocals with hard-hitting rap to make on point songs."[11] "Bae Bae" was nominated for Best Rap/Hip-Hop Song and won Song of the Year at the 2016 edition of the critics given Korean Music Awards.

"Bae Bae" on critic lists
Publication List Rank Ref.
Billboard The 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2015 15 [12]
The 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s 40 [13]
Dazed The Top 20 K-Pop Tracks of 2015 8 [14]
The Dong-a Ilbo Best male idol songs in the past 20 years 5 [10]
Vice The Top 20 K-pop Songs of 2015 15 [15]

Awards and nominations

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Awards for "Bae Bae"
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards Best Music Video Won [16]
RTHK Top Ten Chinese Music Awards Ten Best Sales Digital Releases Won [17]
2016 Korean Music Awards Song of the Year Won [18]
Best Rap & Hip-Hop Song Nominated

Commercial performance

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With only two days in the tracking week, "Bae Bae" debuted at number two on the Gaon Download Chart with 217,594 sales, number three on the Digital Chart, and number 15 on the Streaming Chart.[19][20][21] On the second week, the single rose to number two on the Digital and Streaming Chart, while it remained second on the Download Chart, with 178,764 copies sold.[22][23][24] "Bae Bae" sold 828,966 copies in two months. By the end of the year, "Bae Bae" sold 1,421,715 digital units, making it the seventh most downloaded single in the country in 2015.[25]

The song debuted on Billboard's 'World Digital Songs' chart at number two, behind the group's own "Loser" on May 7.[26] The music video was the fourth most viewed K-pop video in the U.S. and around the world for the month of April, according to Billboard, with only two days worth of views.[27] The song ranked eight as the most popular Korean singles in 2015 in Taiwan by music streaming service KKBOX.[28] In Hong Kong, "Bae Bae" was one of the ten best-selling songs of 2015, and received a digital award by the RTHK.[29]

Music video

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The music video was directed by Seo Hyun-seung, who previously directed "Fantastic Baby" (2012). The video includes various erotic, yet not explicit references, which was deemed "rather risque for K-pop standards."[30] It starts with G-Dragon rubbing female mannequins and it continues with Taeyang dressed as a cowboy. T.O.P's part was noted for its heavy innuendos, with the rapper symbolically ejaculating with a syringe while cosplaying as the Joker. Then Daesung gets "hot and heavy" with his love interests. Seungri's visuals were described as "masquerading as a Christian Grey-esque sugar daddy in what looks like an Evanescence video circa 2000." At the end, the five members unite on the moon with a pack of models dressed as Disney princesses.[31][30]

Billboard referred to "Bae Bae" one of the most sexual K-pop videos from a male group ever.[30] Fuse noticed how the group "defies norms" with the video's "craziest visual."[3] Vulture.com choose the single in the "10 Best New Songs of the Week," stating that "Big Bang is the best at blending aesthetics, and the music video is a prime example of how they jump from romance-novel realness to the Mad Hatter like a psychedelic bumblebee in."[32] "Bae Bae" won Best Music Video at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music Awards.

Chart performance

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Sales

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Sales figures for "Bae Bae"
Country Sales
South Korea (digital)[39] 1,739,205
United States (digital)[40] 8,000

Release history

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Release history and formats for "Bae Bae"
Region Date Format Label
South Korea May 1, 2015 Digital download YG Entertainment
Various
Japan May 27, 2015 YGEX[41]

References

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  1. ^ Kim, Jin-woo (January 21, 2016). "2015년 음악시장 결산" (in Korean). Gaon Chart.
  2. ^ "BIGBANG – MADE SERIES [M]". YGLife. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "8 Reasons You Need to Pay Attention to BIGBANG Right Now". fuse. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  4. ^ a b Peterson, Jacques (December 29, 2015). "The 25 Best K-Pop Songs Of 2015". Idolator. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Miller, Kaitlin (May 2, 2015). "Big Bang's 10 best songs of the past 10 years". Sun-Times. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  6. ^ Lee, Eunho (June 8, 2015). "지드래곤 "'배배', 프랜시스 베이컨 작품 보고 야한 느낌 받아 작업"". Ten Asia (in Korean). Nate.
  7. ^ Benjamin, Jeff (December 30, 2015). "The 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2015". Billboard. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  8. ^ Glasby, Taylor (November 30, 2015). "The top 20 K-Pop tracks of 2015". Dazed. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  9. ^ "2015 올해의 가요 싱글". IZM Magazine (in Korean). Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  10. ^ a b "'반짝반짝 눈이 부셔'… 빅뱅-소녀시대 역대 최고 아이돌". Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). September 2016. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  11. ^ Tan, Alicia (December 5, 2015). "These 5 videos prove K-pop is having more than just a 'moment'". Mashable. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  12. ^ Benjamin, Jeff (December 31, 2015). "The 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2015". Billboard. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  13. ^ "The 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s: Staff List". Billboard. November 25, 2019. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  14. ^ Glasby, Taylor (November 30, 2015). "The top 20 K-Pop tracks of 2015". Dazed. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  15. ^ Dorof, Jakob (December 9, 2015). "The Top 20 K-pop Songs of 2015". Vice. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  16. ^ "Mnet Asian Music Awards 2015 Winners". Mnet Asian Music Awards.
  17. ^ "Hong Kong Digital Music Award Presented – 2015". IFPI. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  18. ^ "KMA2016: Nominees for 13th Korean Music Awards". February 28, 2016. Retrieved February 28, 2016.
  19. ^ "Gaon Download Chart – Week 19". Gaon Chart. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  20. ^ "Gaon Digital Chart – Week 19". Gaon Chart. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  21. ^ "Gaon Streaming Chart – Week 19". Gaon Chart. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  22. ^ "Gaon Download Chart – Week 20". Gaon Chart. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  23. ^ "Gaon Digital Chart – Week 20". Gaon Chart. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  24. ^ "Gaon Streaming Chart – Week 20". Gaon Chart. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  25. ^ "2015년 Download Chart". Gaon Chart. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  26. ^ "Big Bang's 'Loser' & 'Bae Bae' debut at No. 1 & 2 on Billboard's 'World Digital Songs' chart". Allkpop. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  27. ^ "Most Viewed K-Pop Videos in America & Around the World: April 2015". Billboard K-Town. Billboard. May 6, 2015.
  28. ^ "2015韓語年度單曲/專輯榜TOP 20 (in Chinese)". KKbox Taiwan. February 3, 2016. Retrieved February 5, 2016.
  29. ^ "Hong Kong Digital Music Award Presented – 2015". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group). Archived from the original on October 8, 2016. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  30. ^ a b c "BIGBANG Are at Their Emotional and Sexual Peaks in New 'Loser' and 'Bae Bae' Videos". Billboard. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  31. ^ Aja, Romano (April 30, 2015). "Big Bang, the biggest name in K-pop, releases 2 dazzling videos". The Daily Dot. Retrieved February 20, 2017.
  32. ^ Jung, Alex. "10 Best New Songs of the Week". Vulture. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  33. ^ "Suomen Virallinen Lista" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat. Retrieved October 4, 2021.
  34. ^ "Digital Chart Week 19". Gaon Chart. May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  35. ^ "Billboard's World Digital Singles Chart: Singles". Billboard. May 7, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  36. ^ "Monthly Digital Chart – May". Gaon Chart. June 8, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2015.
  37. ^ "Yearly Digital Chart – 2015". Gaon Chart. Retrieved February 3, 2016.
  38. ^ "World Digital Song Sales – 2015". Billboard. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  39. ^ Cumulative sales for "Bae Bae":
  40. ^ "BIGBANG Own Top Two Slots on World Digital Songs...Again!". Billboard. June 12, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2015.
  41. ^ "全世界を席巻中!! BIGBANG3年ぶりのカムバックシングル5/27(水)日本配信リリース決定!!". YG. May 8, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2015.
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