The Beginning (JYJ album)

The Beginning
Studio album by JYJ
Released October 14, 2010 (2010-10-14)
(see release history)
Recorded 2010
Genre Pop, R&B
Length 29:16
Label Warner Korea
JYJ chronology
The...
(2010)		 The Beginning
(2010)		 Their Rooms "Our Story"
(2011)
Singles from The Beginning
  1. "Ayyy Girl feat. Kanye West, Malik Yusef"
    Released: October 19, 2010 (2010-10-19)
  2. "Empty"
    Released: 2010 (2010)
South Korean re-release cover

The Beginning is the debut studio album by South Korean pop group JYJ, formed by three of the five original members of TVXQ. It is the group's first English release, after their 2010 Japanese language extended play The.... It was released on October 14, 2010 through Warner.

Two weeks before the release of the album in South Korea, 50,000 copies of the regular edition had been pre-ordered and pre-sales for the 99,999 copies of the special edition of The Beginning reached numbers of 400,000 requests.[1][2]

The album was released on November 16, 2010 in the United States as a digital download,[3] however a wider release is planned by the group in early 2011.[4]

Contents

Background and development

Despite the album being sung in English, Jaejoong and Junsu were not fluent in English at the time of recording, and were still attending English lessons at the time of the album's release in America.[5]

Promotion

The first single from the album was "Ayyy Girl," featuring Kanye West and Malik Yusef.[6] The song had moderate success in South Korea, peaking at #19 on Gaon's single charts.[7] The music video for the album's second single, "Empty," will be shot in December.[5] The song debuted at #18 in Korea during the album's release, due to strong digital sales.[7]

The band toured Asia in October and November 2010 in promotion of the album.[8] This began with two showcases in Seoul on October 12, at the 11,000 seating Hwaseong Tiger Dome at Korea University.[9] The tickets for these events sold out in 15 minutes, and a portion of the profits was donated to World Vision.[1][10] The band planned concerts in the United States in New York Las Vegas and Los Angeles, however were denied P1 visas for these concerts. In response to this, the group performed free showcases on these dates and refunded ticket purchasers. JYJ's management, C-JeS Entertainment, was unsure of the reason for the visa denial.[11] The band's other planned US dates in Seattle, San Francisco and Hawaii were later cancelled.[12] 6,400 people attended the New York showcase, despite the venue being able to hold 3,400 people.[13]

The band was featured in Billboard magazine's release of the week in November, the first time an international act has been featured. This led to the magazine's website receiving its highest daily traffic day recorded, as of 2010.[14]

Legal injunction

The band members' previous record label as the band TVXQ, SM Entertainment, filed an injunction against the sales of the album on October 8.[9][15] However, South Korean digital retailers defied the request, and proceeded with the sales on October 14.[15] The injunction was issued due the South Korean courts not having reached a verdict on the members' ongoing court case with SM Entertainment.[9] in December 2010 they were successful in their lawsuit against SM Entertainment.

Track listing

No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. "Intro"     Brian Kim, BJD 0:47
2. "Ayyy Girl" (featuring Kanye West, Malik Yusef) Kyoko Hamler, P. Phenom, Yusef Trinidad, Hamler, Phenom, West, Yusef, Jae Joong 4:31
3. "Empty"   L. Daniels, Hamler, T. Parker Rodney Jerkins 3:35
4. "Be My Babe/Be My Girl"   Daniels, Hamler, Parker Jerkins 3:16
5. "Still in Love"   Hamler Hero Jaejoong 4:22
6. "I Love You" (featuring Flowsik) Hamler, Flowsik Micky Yuchun 4:54
7. "I Can Soar"   Hamler Xiah Junsu 4:40
8. "Be the One"   Jae Chong, Hamler Jae Chong 3:11
Total length:
 29:16

Chart

Album chart positions

Chart Peak
position
South Korea Gaon Chart[7] 1
South Korea Gaon Chart monthly 1
Japan Oricon[16] 11

Reported sales

Chart Amount
Japanese physical sales[16] 62,000
South Korean sales 293,000
Worldwide sales[17] 520,000

*Sales figure is based on South Korean imports of the album, as the album has not been released domestically in Japan currently.

Preceded by
Still 2:00PM by 2PM		 Gaon Chart weekly number-one album
October 23, 2010		 Succeeded by
Hoot by Girls' Generation
Preceded by
Hoot by Girls' Generation		 Gaon Chart monthly number-one album
November 2010		 Succeeded by
GD & TOP by G-Dragon & T.O.P

Release history

Region Date Format Distributing Label
South Korea October 14, 2010 (2010-10-14)[18] CD, digital download Warner
October 18, 2010 (2010-10-18)[19] "Luxury Package" CD
United States November 16, 2010 (2010-11-16)[3] Digital download Show Shop
South Korea November 22, 2010 (2010-11-22)[20] Re-released CD Warner

References

  1. ^ a b 유, 순호 (2010-10-07). "JYJ 파워! 하루 70억 수입" (in Korean). MetroSeoul. http://www.metroseoul.co.kr/Metro.htm?Dir=Ne&Part=Ent&Mode=View&idx=20101006215259. Retrieved 2010-10-11. 
  2. ^ "JYJ 첫 앨범 '동방신기' 넘나" (in Korean). Hankooki. 2010-09-30. http://sports.hankooki.com/ArticleView/ArticleView.php?url=entv/201009/sp2010093006115596010.htm&ver=v002. Retrieved 2010-10-11. 
  3. ^ a b "The Beginning by JYJ" (in iTunes). Hanteo. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-beginning/id404932575. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  4. ^ "JYJ、来年米国でアルバムリリース" (in Japanese). Chosun Online. November 23, 2010. http://www.chosunonline.com/entame/20101123000031. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  5. ^ a b "Meet JYJ - Kanye West's New Proteges". Us Magazine. November 16, 2010. http://www.usmagazine.com/moviestvmusic/news/meet--jyj-kanye-wests-new-proteges-20101611. Retrieved November 22, 2010. 
  6. ^ "JYJ Announces "The Beginning"". Music Releases. September 30, 2010. http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=134469. Retrieved November 22, 2010. 
  7. ^ a b c "Gaon Chart Search: JYJ" (in Korean). Gaon Chart. Korea Music Content Industry Association. http://gaonchart.co.kr/main/section/search/list.gaon?Search_str=JYJ&x=28&y=10. Retrieved October 31, 2010. 
  8. ^ "TOUR SCHEDULE". JYJ Official Website. http://www.tinsel-pr.com/JYJ/schedule.html. Retrieved 10 October 2010. 
  9. ^ a b c "JYJ vows brand new beginning to fans". Korea Times. October 13, 2010. http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/art/2010/10/201_74501.html. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  10. ^ "동방신기 3인, 월드와이드 쇼케이스 나서" (in Korean). Hankooki. 2010-10-04. http://sports.hankooki.com/ArticleView/ArticleView.php?url=music/201010/sp2010100413301995510.htm&ver=v002. Retrieved 2010-10-11. 
  11. ^ "JYJ denied P1 visas; will perform for free in US tour". Jonathan M. Hicap. Manilla Bulletin. November 7, 2010. http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/287201/jyj-denied-p1-visas-will-perform-free-us-tour. Retrieved November 22, 2010. 
  12. ^ "JYJ’s tour in shambles, possible cancellation?". All Kpop. November 11, 2010. http://www.allkpop.com/2010/11/breaking-jyjs-tour-in-shambles-possible-cancellation. Retrieved November 22, 2010. 
  13. ^ "JYJ’s New York showcase draws 6,400 fans". Jonathan M. Hicap. Manilla Bulletin. November 15, 2010. http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/287678/jyj-s-new-york-showcase-draws-6400-fans. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  14. ^ "JYJ Billboard Release Of The Week Content Helps To Sell Out Billboard Magazine In 24 Hours And Set New Traffic Records On Billboard.com". Mi2n. November 7, 2010. http://www.mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=135748. Retrieved November 22, 2010. 
  15. ^ a b "SM Entertainment Asks Court to Stop Release of JYJ Album". Jonathan M. Hicap. Manilla Bulletin. October 14, 2010. http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/282119/sm-entertainment-asks-court-stop-release-jyj-album. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  16. ^ a b "オリコンランキング情報サービス「you大樹」". Oricon. http://ranking.oricon.co.jp. Retrieved 2010-11-22.  (subscription only)
  17. ^ http://www.allkpop.com/2010/10/jyjs-the-beginning-has-sold-over-520000-albums-in-pre-order-sales
  18. ^ "제이와이제이(Jyj) - The Beginning: Nomal Limited ED." (in Korean). Hanteo. http://www.hanteo.com/search/album_info.asp?mcode=005800671. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  19. ^ "제이와이제이(Jyj) - The Beginning: Special Limited E." (in Korean). Hanteo. http://www.hanteo.com/search/album_info.asp?mcode=043000380. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
  20. ^ "제이와이제이(Jyj) - The Beginning: New Limited ED." (in Korean). Hanteo. http://www.hanteo.com/search/album_info.asp?mcode=043000384. Retrieved November 24, 2010. 
JYJ
Studio albums
Korean
English
The Beginning
Extended plays
Korean
Japanese
Related topics