Before U Go

Background

Their first album as a duo, Keep Your Head Down was released in January 2011. U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin recorded the album between 2009 and 2010, and had to re-record some tracks after their split. Keep Your Head Down was a commercial success upon its release, peaking at number one on the Gaon Albums Chart and maintained that position for two weeks. The album also peaked at number one on the Hanteo Chart, Hot Tracks, and number four on Media Traffic's United World Chart, a chart that compiles sales from the US Billboard, the Japan Oricon, and the UK Albums Chart. Keep Your Head Down received generally positive reviews from music critics and had nearly 240,000 shipments by mid-year, winning Gaon's Album of the Year award for the first quarter of 2011.

In early March 2011, S.M. Entertainment announced the repackage of Keep Your Head Down, titled Before U Go. The repackage was released on March 16, while the Japanese version of the release, which includes the Japanese version of the lead single "Before U Go", was released on May 5. Lead single "Before U Go" was described to be "traditional R&B track", equipped with a unique style that compliments the vocal structures of Yunho and Changmin. Yoo Young-jin, TVXQ's frequent collaborator, produced "Before U Go" and wrote the co-wrote the song with his brother, Yoo Han-jin.

Lead single

Despite the track's leak on March 12, the scheduled digital download release on March 14 topped various online download and streaming charts in the first few hours.

The music videos for "Before U Go" was released in three parts. The teaser trailer for the music videos was first unveiled on March 10, 2011. A short film with a running time of little over 15 minutes, the music video has actor Choi Jong-yoon and actress Ara star alongside Yunho and Changmin as morally-conflicted police officers. On March 14, the main video, directed by Jo Soo-hyun, was released. The full short film was released on March 20, and the last video, a dance version directed by Hong Won-ki, was released on March 29. The entire short film took five days to shoot at locations in Gangnam, Incheon, and Ilsan.

Music video synopsis

Yunho, Changmin, Choi and Ara are four close friends who attended the same police academy and work for the same security department, NDI. Affected by a troubled childhood, Choi is forced to work as a mole for the mafia. He immediately notifies the mafia when the NDI receives information of an illegal gambling ring, and the leader escapes in time before the bust. Choi primarily receives orders from the mafia through deciphering book codes.

Choi is ordered to kill a captured witness from the bust. Armed with a sniper rifle, Choi attempts to shoot the witness from the rooftop but misses, and shoots Yunho in the leg instead. He successfully kills the witness in his third attempt. Changmin follows the direction of the gunshots and catches a glimpse of Choi's shadow. By the time Changmin reaches to the roof, Choi is already gone. After the incident, Changmin investigates the CCTV cameras on the roof and sees a covered man with a sniper rifle. He suspects the man to be Choi, but does not confront him immediately due to the lack of evidence.

Not wanting to harm any more of his friends, Choi calls the mafia leader and tells him that he is unfit to carry on more missions. Changmin confronts Choi at the rooftop but lets him go, warning him that he will be unforgiving if he inflicts harm on Yunho again. A recovering Yunho also revisits the CCTV tapes at the department and immediately suspects the covered man to be Choi, but decides to dismiss the thought.

A year later, it is discovered that Choi's sister is held hostage by the mafia. Through a video message with his sister, the mafia orders Choi to kill Changmin and Choi rages in anger. Days later, he stops by Yunho's home to celebrate his birthday but attempts to leave upon seeing Changmin. Yunho holds him back and ensures him that he still sees Choi as his best friend. Choi's car breaks down as he is about to leave, but Yunho, who owns an auto repair shop, tells Choi to leave his car at his home so he can repair it for him. In Choi's car, Yunho discovers the mafia's message to Choi, which read "Kill Changmin Today".

The NDI is notified of a drug ring operation around midnight, and Choi tells the leader that this will be his last time helping them. Changmin, Choi, and their team arrive at the cargo port to pose as drug dealers. Yunho and Ara rush to the port to warn Changmin. Choi attempts to kill Changmin, telling him that this would be his "last time" and that he just needed Changmin to die. Yunho arrives in time to stop the drug exchange and kills the mafia leader. He confronts Choi and pleads for him to stop his doing, in which Choi tells him that he had no choice, as his sister was dying. Changmin asks Choi if their friendship was worthless, and Yunho tells Choi that he no longer exists in their lives. Failing his mission, the mafia murders Choi's sister. Choi cries, and memories of his times with Yunho, Changmin, and Ara flashes before his eyes.

Promotion

TVXQ debuted their first performance of "Before U Go" on KBS 2TV's Music Bank on March 18, 2011. In order to promote the single on MBC's Show! Music Core music program and the MBC radio, TVXQ slightly modified the lyrics of "Before U Go" to pass MBC's strict broadcast standards. The original lyrics "I was a stupid fool who couldn't even take care of you", was changed to "I was stupid and couldn't even take care of you". South Korea's other broadcasting corporations, including KBS and SBS, had no issues with the lyrics and the duo were allowed to perform the original edit on their shows. On March 25, "Before U Go" was the number one song of the week and topped the K-charts, winning a trophy on Music Bank. On March 27, "Before U Go" won on The Music Trend.

In August 2011, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family banned "Before U Go" and three other K-pop music videos, ruling that it was harmful media to youth as it promoted violence and gambling. S.M. Entertainment submitted a petition to refute their decision.

Chart performance

Before U Go debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon Albums Chart and the Hanteo Chart, selling 55,243 copies by July 2011. By the end of the year, Before U Go sold 60,709 copies. Including Keep Your Head Down, the albums collective sold over 324,000 copies in South Korea and 89,000 copies in Japan.