Growl (song)
Exo's breakthrough single with over two million downloads.
Exo’s “Growl” dropped on August 5, 2013, as a single from the repackaged version of their debut album XOXO. SM Entertainment put out both Korean and Chinese versions. The track became the group’s big breakthrough, selling over two million downloads in South Korea.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Exo
- Album
- Growl
- Released
- 5 August 2013
- Recorded
- 2013
- Studio
- SM Blue Cup (Seoul)
- InGrid (Seoul)
- Sound Pool (Seoul)
- Language
- Korean, Mandarin
- Genre
- R&B
- Length
- 3:27
Facts from the source article.
Release and promotion
"Growl" is a dance-pop track blending contemporary R&B and funk, written by Hyuk Shin, DK, Jordan Kyle, John Major, and Jarah Gibson. A leaked rehearsal video of the choreography surfaced online on July 27. Exo debuted the song on South Korean music programs starting August 1, ahead of its official release alongside the album on August 5, 2013. The group also brought the performance to Chinese television. Years later, "Growl" was featured at the 2018 Winter Olympics closing ceremony in Pyeongchang, alongside their 2017 hit "Power."
Music videos
Exo's Korean and Chinese music videos for "Growl" dropped on August 1, 2013, four days before the song's release. Filmed in a dim warehouse, they use a one-shot technique that mimics a single continuous take. A second set of videos, shot elsewhere, followed on August 20, 2013. On May 29, 2019, the Korean video hit 200 million YouTube views, making it Exo's fourth to reach that milestone.
Reception
In 2013, "Growl" climbed to number two on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart and hit number three on both the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100 and World Digital Songs charts. Billboard ranked it as the fifth best-selling K-pop song in the United States that year. The track earned fourteen first-place wins on South Korean music television programs. Billboard hailed it as "the crown jewel in EXO's fantastic 2013" and selected it as the best K-pop song of the year. It also received Song of the Year honors at the 2013 Melon Music Awards and KBS Song Festival. As EXO's best-selling single, it has surpassed two million downloads. In 2017, North Korean defectors reported that "Growl" is used secretly by youth there as a confession song for crushes, though listeners do not know the members' faces.
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