Format Digital download Length 3:39 Writer(s) G-DragonTeddyT.O.P | Genre traphip-hopR&B Label YG Entertainment | |
Released May 1, 2015 (2015-05-01) | ||
"Bae Bae" is a single recorded by South Korean group Big Bang. It was released digitally on May 1, 2015 by YG Entertainment, as the second single from MADE Series and M, it's remark the first music release alongside "Loser" for the band since 2012.
Contents
Background
YG Entertainment announced the title tracks of Big Bang's "MADE Series: M" in the third teaser, including two singles, "Loser" and "Bae Bae". Two of the four teasers for D-1 to D-4 consist of the song info, including who was responsible for the tracks' composition.
Composition
"Bae Bae" is a trap-infected hip-hop/R&B song, that was noted for its "boundary-pushing elements" and sexual references. G-Dragon relevead 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.”
Critical reception
Billboard ranked the track at number fifteen in their "20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2015" list while Dazed placed "Bae Bae" 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." Sun-Times included the track in their unranked list of ten best Big Bang songs. In a survey involving 30 music industry experts by South Korean magazine Dong-a Ilbo, "Bae Bae" was chosen as the fifth best male idol song in the past 20 years.
Chart performance
Within two days "Bae Bae" peaked 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. On the second week, the single rose to number two on the Digital and Streaming Chart, while it remained second on the Download Chart, selling 178,764 copies. "Bae Bae" sold 828,966 copies in two months. On August 13 the song surpassed 1 million copies sold in South Korea.
The song debuted on Billboard's 'World Digital Songs' chart at number two, behind the group's own "Loser" on May 7. The Music Video were also ranked 4th most viewed Kpop MV videos in the U.S. (April) according to Billboard, with only two days viewers. The song ranked eight as the best 20 Korean singles in 2015 in Taiwan.
Music video
The music video was directed by Seo Hyun-Seung, who previously directed "Fantastic Baby." The video includes various erotic, yet not explicit references, which was deemed "rather risque for K-pop standards." 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. Billboard said it is one of the most sexual K-pop videos from a male group ever. Fuse noticed how the group "defies norms" with the video's "craziest visual." Vulture 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."