The Beginning (JYJ album)

Last updated

The Beginning
JYJthebeginning.jpg
Studio album by
JYJ
ReleasedOctober 14, 2010 (2010-10-14)
Recorded2010
Genre
Length29:16
Label
JYJ chronology
The...
(2010)
The Beginning
(2010)
Their Rooms "Our Story"
(2011)
Singles from The Beginning
  1. "Ayyy Girl feat. Kanye West, Malik Yusef"
    Released: October 19, 2010
  2. "Empty"
    Released: 2010

The Beginning is the debut studio album by South Korean pop group JYJ, formed by three of the five original members of TVXQ. It is the group's first English release, after their 2010 Japanese language extended play The... . It was released on October 14, 2010 through Vitamin Entertainment, a division of Warner Music Korea.

Contents

Two weeks before the release of the album in South Korea, 50,000 copies of the regular edition had been pre-ordered and pre-sales for the 99,999 copies of the special edition of The Beginning reached numbers of 400,000 requests. [1] [2]

The album was released on November 16, 2010 in the United States as a digital download, [3] and a wider release, planned by the group for early 2011, did not materialize. [4]

Background and development

Despite the album being sung in English, Jaejoong and Junsu were not fluent in English at the time of recording, and were still attending English lessons at the time of the album's release in America. [5]

Promotion

The first single from the album was "Ayyy Girl," featuring Kanye West and Malik Yusef. [6] The song had moderate success in South Korea, peaking at No. 19 on Gaon's single charts. [7] The music video for the album's second single, "Empty," was shot in December. [5] The song debuted at No. 18 in Korea during the album's release, due to strong digital sales. [7]

The band toured Asia in October and November 2010 in promotion of the album. [8] This began with two showcases in Seoul on October 12, at the 11,000 seating Hwaseong Tiger Dome at Korea University. [9] The tickets for these events sold out in 15 minutes, and a portion of the profits was donated to World Vision. [1] [10] The band planned concerts in the United States in New York Las Vegas and Los Angeles, however were denied P1 visas for these concerts. In response to this, the group performed free showcases on these dates and refunded ticket purchasers. JYJ's management, C-JeS Entertainment, was unsure of the reason for the visa denial. [11] The band's other planned US dates in Seattle, San Francisco and Hawaii were later cancelled. [12] 6,400 people attended the New York showcase, despite the venue being able to hold 3,400 people. [13]

The band was featured in Billboard magazine's release of the week in November, the first time an international act has been featured. This led to the magazine's website receiving its highest daily traffic day recorded, as of 2010. [14]

The band members' previous record label as the band TVXQ, SM Entertainment, filed an injunction against the sales of the album on October 8. [9] [15] However, South Korean digital retailers defied the request, and proceeded with the sales on October 14. [15] The injunction was issued due to the South Korean courts not having reached a verdict on the members' ongoing court case with SM Entertainment. [9] In December 2010 they were successful in their lawsuit against SM Entertainment.

Track listing

No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Intro" S. Tiger Brian Kim, BJD0:47
2."Ayyy Girl" (featuring Kanye West, Malik Yusef)Kyoko Hamler, P. Phenom, Kanye West, YusefWarren Taylor, Hamler, Phenom, West, Hassan Khaffaf, Jeff Bhasker, No I.D, Plain Pat4:31
3."Empty"L. Daniels, Hamler, T. Parker Rodney Jerkins 3:35
4."Be My Babe/Be My Girl"Daniels, Hamler, ParkerJerkins3:16
5."Still in Love"Hamler Hero Jaejoong 4:22
6."I Love You" (featuring Flowsik)Hamler, Flowsik Micky Yuchun 4:54
7."I Can Soar"Hamler Xiah Junsu 4:40
8."Be the One"Jae Chong, HamlerJae Chong3:11
Total length:29:16
US Edition: Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
9."Empty (DJ Eon Remix)"4:00
Total length:33:16
Korea Limited Edition: Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
9."Ayyy Girl (DJ Eon Remix)"4:03
10."Empty (DJ Eon Remix)"4:00
Total length:34:19
Korea Special Edition: Bonus Tracks
No.TitleLength
9."Ayyy Girl (DJ Eon Remix)"4:03
10."Empty (DJ Eon Remix)"4:00
11."Be My Girl (DJ Eon Remix)"4:00
Total length:41:19

Chart

Album chart positions

ChartPeak
position
South Korea Gaon Chart [7] 1
South Korea Gaon Chart monthly 1
Japan Oricon [16] 11

Reported sales

ChartAmount
Japanese physical sales [16] 62,000
South Korean sales[ citation needed ]398,000

*Sales figure is based on South Korean imports of the album, as the album has not been released domestically in Japan currently.

Release history

RegionDateFormatDistributing Label
South KoreaOctober 14, 2010 [17] CD, digital download Vitamin Entertainment
October 18, 2010 [18] "Luxury Package" CD
United StatesNovember 16, 2010 [3] Digital downloadShow Sharp
South KoreaNovember 22, 2010 [19] Re-released CDVitamin Entertainment

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