Uh-ee

"Uh-ee"
Single by Crayon Pop
Released April 1, 2014
(see release history)
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2014
Genre K-pop
Length 3:13
Label Chrome Entertainment, Sony Music
Writer(s) Kang Jin Woo
Crayon Pop singles chronology
"Lonely Christmas"
(2013)		 "Uh-ee"
(2014)		 "FM"
(2015)
Music video
"Uh-ee" on YouTube
Music sample
"Uh-ee"

"Uh-ee" (Hangul: 어이) is the fourth single album, and sixth single overall by Crayon Pop. It was released on April 1, 2014 by Chrome Entertainment and Sony Music, and was written by Kang Jin Woo of Dumb & Dumber, the producers behind Crayon Pop's first three singles. The song is an electro house dance song mixed with trot music.[1] Jeff Benjamin of Billboard magazine described the song as having a "hyper-techno dance beat" that would fit into Dance Dance Revolution,[2] while Jonathan Cheng of The Wall Street Journal, noted the song's "almost frenetic backbeat" and difficult dance routine.[3]

Release

"Uh-ee" was performed for the first time on March 28 at a showcase at Olleh Square in Seoul.[4] For this comeback, Crayon Pop wore hanbok-inspired clothing: outfits made of ramie cloth, bandanas, and gomusin (traditional rubber shoes). At the showcase, Choa said, "We really had tons of meetings at our agency to come up with our next costume concept for our latest single. During the last New Year holiday we all took pictures in our hanbok and we realized if it was modified a bit it could actually be quite comfortable to wear around all the time... so that was our inspiration."[5] The song's intense choreography featured a "chicken leg" dance. The single album and music video were released on April 1.

Performances

Crayon Pop performing "Uh-ee" on 13 April 2014

The comeback stage was on April 3 on Mnet's Global M! Countdown.[6] The day before, "Uh-ee" was ruled unfit for broadcast by KBS because the lyrics contain the Japanese word for "shiny" (ppikka). According to KBS, the word was "a vestige of Japanese imperialism".[7] Crayon Pop re-recorded part of the song, and a modified version was submitted to KBS and later performed on Music Bank.[8][9]

"Uh-ee" was performed on music shows for two weeks before promotion prematurely ended due to the sinking of the MV Sewol.

Music video

The music video featured cameo appearances by Bumkey, DJ DOC's Kim Chang-ryeol, and comedian Yoon Sung-ho.[10] All five members of K-Much, and Bob Girls' Dahye and Jina also appeared. The music video received more than one million views within one day of release,[11] and has 7.2 million views as of January 2015. When the music video was released, it was still March 31 in many countries, and it received enough views to be number 8 in a list of most-viewed K-pop music videos in the United States for March 2014, as well as number 4 globally.[12]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Kang Jin-woo. 

Tracklist
No. Title Length
1. "Uh-ee" (어이) 3:13
2. "Uh-ee (Inst.)"   3:13
Total length:
 6:26

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel adapted from the album's liner notes.[13]

Charts

Single charts

Country Chart Peak
position
South Korea Billboard K-Pop Hot 100[14] 8
Gaon Digital Chart (weekly)[15] 10
Gaon Digital Chart (monthly)[16] 19
Gaon Digital Chart (mid-year)[17] 91
Gaon Mobile Chart 2
Gaon Social Chart 1
United States Billboard World Digital Songs[18] 15

Album chart

Country Chart Peak
position
South Korea
(Gaon Music Chart)		 Album Chart (weekly)[19] 9
Album Chart (monthly)[20] 28
Album Chart (mid-year)[21] 85

Sales and certifications

Chart Sales
Gaon physical sales 5,742+[22]
Gaon digital sales 353,916+[23]

Release history

Country Date Format Label
Worldwide April 1, 2014 Digital download Chrome Entertainment,
Sony Music
South Korea April 2, 2014 CD single
Taiwan April 29, 2014

References

  1. ↑ Park Jin-hai (April 3, 2014). "K-pop meets old popular music". The Korea Times. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  2. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (March 31, 2014). "Crayon Pop Unleashes Mind-Boggling, Non-Stop Dance Routine in 'Uh-ee' Video". Billboard K-Town. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  3. ↑ Cheng, Jonathan (April 2, 2014). "Crayon Pop’s Latest is Good, But Faces a High ‘Bar Bar Bar’". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ Shim Sun-ah (March 28, 2014). "Crayon Pop to return with new single next month". Yonhap News. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  5. ↑ Jackson, Julie (March 30, 2014). "Crayon Pop returns with red headscarves and 'Uh-ee'". Korea Herald. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  6. ↑ Jin Eun-soo (March 13, 2014). "Crayon Pop changes styles". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  7. ↑ Gale, Alastair (April 3, 2014). "Crayon Pop's 'Uh-ee' Banned for Shiny Japanese Word". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 12, 2014.
  8. ↑ Smith, Corynn (16 April 2014). "KBS Adds Orange Caramel, Crayon Pop, and Akdong Musician to Their Ban List". MTVK. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  9. ↑ Choi Hyun-Jung. "Crayon Pop request another deliberation for 'Uh-ee' to KBS". StarN News. Retrieved March 6, 2015.
  10. ↑ Jin Eun-soo (7 April 2014). "Crayon Pop’s ‘Uh-ee’ a YouTube hit". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  11. ↑ Park Jin-hai (2 April 2014). "Crayon Pop's new video appears on Billboard". The Korea Times. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  12. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (April 29, 2014). "Most-Viewed K-Pop Videos in America vs. Internationally: Quarter 1 of 2014". Billboard K-Town. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  13. ↑ Uh-ee (booklet). Crayon Pop. Chrome Entertainment. 2014.
  14. ↑ "Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 - Week of April 19, 2014". Billboard.com. Archived from the original on March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  15. ↑ "2014년 15주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on February 28, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ "2014년 04월 Digital Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 16, 2014. Retrieved October 11, 2014.
  17. ↑ "2014년 상반기결산 Digital Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  18. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (April 15, 2014). "K-Pop Hot 100: Park Hyo Shin Edges Out Apink". Billboard.com. Retrieved October 19, 2014.
  19. ↑ "2014년 15주차 Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on March 1, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  20. ↑ "2014년 03월 Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on February 17, 2015. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  21. ↑ "2014년 상반기결산 Album Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 8, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  22. ↑ "Gaon Album Chart (Domestic) – June 2014". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  23. ↑ Cumulative sales for "Uh-ee":