Universe (Let's Play Ball)
"Universe (Let's Play Ball)" is a song recorded by South Korean boy group NCT U, the first unit of NCT under the management of SM Entertainment. The song was served as the lead single of NCT's third studio album Universe, and it was released on December 10, 2021, four days prior to the release of the album. Composition and lyrics 
"Universe (Let's Play Ball)" was composed by Carlos Battey, Wayne Hector, Breyan Isaac, Alexandru Cotoi, Marcel Botezan, Dem Jointz, Ryan S. Jhun and Kenzie, with the arrangement was held by Issac, Cotoi, Botezan, Jointz and Kenzie. It was recorded at two SM Entertainment's recording studios, SM Yellow Tail Studio and SM SSAM Studio, and was produced by Dem Jointz and Kenzie, SM's long-time frequent collaborators. The song was composed in the key of F minor, with a tempo of 180 beats per minute. Described as an EDM hip-hop song with catchy hook, clattering percussion, the lyrics, which was written by Kenzie and NCT U's member Mark, talks about "espousement of fearlessness in terms of pursuing what one deems as his destiny", and also "made abundantly clear that a romantic interest plays an all-important role in his perception of achieving that goal". Music video 
The music video, which was directed by Hong Jae-hwan and Beomjin, was released alongside the song by SM Entertainment on December 10. It features scenes of NCT U's members "challenging each other to a game of baseball, alongside shots of the group performing choreography". Accolades

Credits 
Credits adapted from album's liner notes. Studio 
 SM Yellow Tail Studio – recording, digital editing
 SM SSAM Studio – recording
 SM Blue Ocean Studio – mixing
 Sound Pool Studio – digital editing
 821 Sound Mastering – mastering

Personnel 

 SM Entertainment – executive producer
 Lee Soo-man – producer
 Lee Sung-soo – production director, executive supervisor
 Tak Young-jun – executive supervisor
 NCT U – vocals
 Mark – lyrics
 Kenzie – producer, lyrics, composition, arrangement
 Dem Jointz – producer, composition, arrangement
 Breyan Isaac – composition, arrangement
 Alexandru Cotoi – composition, arrangement
 Marcel Botezan – composition, arrangement
 Carlos Battey – composition 
 Wayne Hector – composition 
 Ryan S. Jhun – composition
 Junny – background vocals
 Yoo Young-jin – background vocals, music and sound supervisor
 GDLO – vocal directing
 Noh Min-ji – recording, digital editing
 Kang Eun-ji – recording
 Kim Cheol-sun – mixing
 Jung Ho-jin – digital editing
 Kwon Nam-woo – mastering

Charts

Release history

References 

2021 songs
2021 singles
NCT (band) songs
SM Entertainment singles
Songs written by Dem Jointz
Songs written by Ryan S. Jhun
Songs written by Kenzie (songwriter)