Hype Boy
"Hype Boy" is the second single by South Korean idol girl group NewJeans, taken from their debut extended play (EP), New Jeans (2022). ADOR, an independent division of Hybe Corporation, released the song for download and streaming on July 23, 2022. 250 and Ylva Dimberg produced "Hype Boy", and the latter wrote the lyrics with Gigi and NewJeans member Hanni. A future bass and synth-pop track, it is driven by pulsing synthesizers and distorted instrumentals that evoke 1990s and 2000s styles such as R&B, electronic, and moombahton. Music critics praised the retro-styled production of "Hype Boy" and commented that it featured a dreamy atmosphere. Publications including NME, NPR, and Rolling Stone included it in their lists of the best songs of 2022. "Hype Boy" also featured on various K-pop-specific lists, ranking atop the list by NME. The single peaked at number two on the South Korean Circle Digital Chart and reached the top 10 in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Both the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) and the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) certified the track platinum for exceeding 100 million streams in respective countries. "Hype Boy" is currently the longest-running song on the Billboard Global 200 by a K-pop female act, charting for 35 weeks. Background and release

Under the direction of art director Min Hee-jin, South Korean idol girl group NewJeans was formed and signed with ADOR, an independent division of Hybe Corporation where Min is the CEO. Their first single, "Attention", was surprise-released on July 22, 2022, without prior information regarding the group's lineup. The following day, ADOR announced a four-track extended play (EP), New Jeans, which was set for release on August 1, and released "Hype Boy" as the group's second single. "Hype Boy" was accompanied by a 50-second clip introducing the five members' names and four music videos specific to the members' perspectives. Of the four music videos, three were for individual members Minji, Hyein, and Hanni, and one was for a collective unit of Haerin and Danielle. Min explained that by releasing "Attention" without confirming the members' names and "Hype Boy" featuring individual members, she expected that "people would come back to the first video to look them up". "Hype Boy" was one of the EP's three singles. On August 4, NewJeans held their debut stage on Mnet's M Countdown, where they performed all singles from their self-titled EP, including "Hype Boy". Composition 

Gigi, Ylva Dimberg, and NewJeans member Hanni wrote the lyrics to "Hype Boy", a song about young love akin to a daydream. The track was produced by Dimberg and 250, and the latter also programmed the instrumentals. The song has lyrics in both Korean and English, and it is two minutes and 56 seconds long. It is composed in the key of E minor, with a tempo of 100 beats per minute. "Hype Boy" is propelled by pulsing synthesizers and distorted instrumentals. It is a future bass and synth-pop song that incorporates influences of 1990s R&B and electronic music, and its rhythms evoke moombahton. South Korean digital music site Melon described "Hype Boy" as a hybrid of moombahton and electropop that has a "unique pre-chorus" and highlights individual members' vocals. Carmen Chin of NME felt that "Hype Boy" has a production reminiscent of 2000s music, but with a modern twist. Chin added that the track's arrangement using "tropical touches and future bass" makes for "a dreamy, almost hazy atmosphere". Writing for the same publication, Derrick Tan said the song's production resembles the music of Kaytranada and NewJeans sing with "honeyed vocals" over "lush" R&B beats before "belting out passionately in the euphoric chorus". Time's Kat Moon wrote the track features "soft" beats and "mellow" instrumentals but described the vocals in the chorus as "soaring". Critical reception 
Carmen Chin of NME wrote in a review for the group's EP New Jeans that "Hype Boy" eschews the "slow-jam nostalgia" of the preceding single "Attention" and "instead invokes contemporary reimaginations of 2000s sounds with its tropical touches and future bass," and "the way these elements are arranged make for a dreamy, almost hazy atmosphere." Subsequently, NME placed "Hype Boy" at number 1 on their list of the 25 best K-pop songs of 2022. In December 2022, Rolling Stone placed "Hype Boy" at number 24 on their list of the top 100 best songs of 2022, highlighting it as a "standout" from the group's EP with "its addictive choreography and catchy chorus". Time named it one of the best K-pop songs of the year. Accolades

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Notes

References

NewJeans songs
2022 songs
2022 singles
Korean-language songs
Hybe Corporation singles
Future bass songs
South Korean synth-pop songs