Growl (song)


"Growl" is a song recorded by South Korean–Chinese boy band Exo, released on August 5, 2013, for the repackaged edition of their first studio album Growl. It was released in both Korean and Chinese versions by their label SM Entertainment. The song is known as Exo's breakthrough single, with over two million downloads in South Korea.

Release and promotion

Composed by Hyuk Shin, DK, Jordan Kyle, John Major and Jarah Gibson, "Growl" is described as a dance-pop song with contemporary R&B and funk influences. After its release was announced, a video filming the group practicing the song's choreography was leaked online on July 27. Exo began performing the song on South Korean music TV shows on August 1 before it was officially released together with the album on August 5, 2013. They also performed the song on several Chinese TV shows.
The song was performed during the closing ceremony for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, along with their 2017 song "Power".

Music videos

The Korean and Chinese music videos for "Growl" were released on August 1, 2013, four days ahead of the song itself. They exclusively feature Exo's performance of the song at a dimly lit warehouse and utilized the one shot style, appearing to have been filmed in a single take. Another set of music videos for the song, filmed at a different location, were released on August 20, 2013.
On May 29, 2019, the Korean music video surpassed 200 million views on YouTube, becoming their fourth music video to do so.

Reception

Music charts

"Growl" reached number 2 on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart, as well as number 3 on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100 and World Digital Songs charts. The song also won first place 14 times in total on South Korean music TV shows.
Describing it as "the crown jewel in EXO's fantastic 2013", Billboard picked "Growl" as the best K-pop song of 2013. It was named Song of the Year at the 2013 Melon Music Awards and KBS Song Festival. The song is Exo's best-selling single to date, having accumulated over two million downloads.

Public reception

In July 2017, defectors from North Korea stated Exo has some popularity in North Korea, although people have to listen to them in secret and don't know what the members look like, and Growl in particular is used as a confession song amongst youth to confess to one's crush due to the lyrics.

Accolades

YearOrganizationAwardResult
2013KBS Song FestivalSong of the Yearalign="center"
2013Korean Music AwardsSong of the Yearalign="center"
2013Korean Music AwardsBest Dance & Electronic Songalign="center"
2013Melon Music AwardsSong of the Yearalign="center"
2013Melon Music AwardsMusic Video Awardalign="center"
2013Mnet Asian Music AwardsBest Dance Performance Male Groupalign="center"
2014Golden Disk AwardsDigital Bonsangalign="center"
2014Seoul Music AwardsRecord of the Year in Digital Releasealign="center"
2014World Music AwardsWorld's Best Songalign="center"

Critic/PublicationListRank / YearRef.
BillboardThe 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2013: K-Town Picks1
BillboardThe 10 Greatest K-Pop Choruses of the 21st Century10
BillboardThe 100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time58
Billboard2013's Biggest-Selling K-Pop Songs in America: PSY, Girls' Generation, 2NE1 & More5
BillboardThe 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s50
DazedTop 10 K-Pop Songs of 20132
SBS PopAsiaTop 100 Asian pop songs of 20131
Munhwa IlboTop 10 best K-pop songs of the decadealign="center"
British GQBest K-Pop songs of the decadeYear of 2013

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Sales