Growl (song)

"Growl" (Korean: 으르렁; RR: Eureureong; Chinese: 咆哮; pinyin: Páoxiào) 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 XOXO. 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.

"Growl"
Single by Exo
from the album Growl
Language	Korean Mandarin
Released	August 5, 2013 (2013-08-05)
Recorded	2013
Studio	SM Blue Cup (Seoul) InGrid (Seoul) Sound Pool (Seoul)
Genre	R&B[1]
Length	3:27
Label	SM KT Music
Composer(s)	Hyuk Shin DK Jordan Kyle John Major Jarah Gibson
Lyricist(s)	Seo Ji-eum Wang Yajun
Exo Korean and Chinese singles chronology
"Wolf" (2013) "Growl" (2013) "Miracles in December" (2013)

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".^[2]

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.^[3]

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.^[4][5][6] Billboard listed "Growl" as the fifth best-selling K-pop song in America during 2013.^[7] 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.^[8] 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.^[9][10]

"Growl" on critic lists

Publication	Year	List	Rank	Ref.
Billboard	2013	The 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2013	1	[11]
	2018	The 100 Greatest Boy Band Songs of All Time	58	[12]
	2019	The 100 Greatest K-pop Songs of the 2010s	50	[13]
British GQ		Best K-pop songs of the decade	No order	[14]
Dazed	2013	Top 10 K-pop Songs of 2013	2	[15]
The Dong-a Ilbo	2016	Best Male Idol Songs in the Past 20 Years	3	[16]
The Forty-Five	2023	The 45 best K-pop songs of all-time (Rhian Daly)	29	[17]
Melon	2021	Top 100 K-pop Songs of All Time	2	[18]
Munhwa Ilbo	2019	10 best K-pop songs of the decade (Kim In-goo)	No order	[19]
Rolling Stone	2023	100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music	34	[20]
SBS PopAsia	2013	Top 100 Asian pop songs of 2013	1	[21]

Accolades

Awards and nominations for "Growl"

Organization	Year	Award	Result	Ref.
Golden Disc Awards	2014	Digital Bonsang	Nominated	[22]
Hito Music Awards		Best J-pop & K-pop Song	Won	[23]
KBS Song Festival	2013	Song of the Year	Won	[24]
Korean Music Awards		Song of the Year	Nominated	[25]
		Best Dance & Electronic Song	Won
Melon Music Awards	2013	Song of the Year	Won	[26]
		Music Video Award	Nominated
Mnet Asian Music Awards	2013	Best Dance Performance – Male Group	Nominated	[27]
Seoul Music Awards	2014	Best Song	Won	[28]
World Music Awards		World's Best Song	Won	[29]

Music program awards (14 total)

Program	Date	Ref.
Music Bank	August 16, 2013	[30]
	August 23, 2013	[31]
Inkigayo	August 18, 2013	[32]
	August 25, 2013	[33]
	September 1, 2013	[34]
Show Champion	August 21, 2013	[35]
	August 28, 2013
	September 4, 2013	[36]
M Countdown	August 22, 2013	[37]
	August 29, 2013
	September 5, 2013
Show! Music Core	August 24, 2013	[38]
	August 31, 2013
	September 7, 2013

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2013) Peak position South Korea (Gaon)[4] 2 South Korea (K-pop Hot 100)[5] 3 US World Digital Songs (Billboard)[6] 3

Year-end charts Chart (2013) Position South Korea (Gaon)[39] 56 South Korea (K-pop Hot 100)[40] 19 US World Digital Songs (Billboard)[41] 14

Sales

Region	Sales
South Korea (digital)[42]	2,023,254

Release history

Release history for "Growl"

Region	Date	Format	Label
Various	August 5, 2013	Digital download streaming	SM KT Music

References

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38. "'음악중심' 엑소, 으르렁으로 3주 연속 1위" ['Music Core' Exo takes first place for 3 consecutive weeks with Growl]. The Dong-a Ilbo (in Korean). Naver. September 7, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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42. Cumulative sales for "Growl":

    • "Online Download – 2013 Year End Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
    • "Online Download – 2014 Year End Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
    • "Online Download – 2015 Year End Chart". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
    • "Online Download – January 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
    • "Online Download – February 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
    • "Online Download – March 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
    • "Online Download – Week 16 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on September 14, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
    • "Online Download – Week 20 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 3, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
    • "Online Download – Week 21 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
    • "Online Download – June 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
    • "Online Download – Week 31 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 15, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
    • "Online Download – Week 32 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 16, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
    • "Online Download – Week 34 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on August 29, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
    • "Online Download – Week 39 2016". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Industry Association. Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved May 25, 2018.

External links

• "Growl" music video (Korean version) on YouTube
• "Growl" music video (Chinese version) on YouTube