Maps of Music

Girls on Top (2005)

Where the lyrics of Girls on Top take you, and where it was really made.

BoA's fifth Korean album pushed her image toward a "mature and self-confident" look, with female empowerment at its center.

Key places

SM Yellow Tail Studio, Seoul (2005)

Recording site Big Hit Studios, Seoul — Listed in the album's recorded relation as one of the studios used. The point marks Seoul city center, not the studio building itself. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: Private company studio, not open to visitors.

Album story

Overview

• Girls on Top: fifth Korean studio album by BoA
• Released through SM Entertainment on June 23, 2005
• Repackage titled Moto followed on August 17, 2005
• Japanese special edition with a DVD released by Avex Trax on March 26, 2008
• Continued the image change that began with the previous album My Name (2004)
• Aimed at a "mature and self-confident" image built on female empowerment themes

Background

• Title track "Girls on Top" promoted as the main single
• Title track carries themes of female empowerment
• Previous releases had mostly lighter concepts and feminine visuals
• Overseas version added a Mandarin version of the lead single
• English version of the song recorded and later included on BoA's English album BoA (2009)
• Visual for "Autumn Letter" showed BoA in traditional Korean fashion

Recording

• Recording studios with a recorded relation: SM Yellow Tail Studio, SM Booming System Studio, SM Blue Ocean Studio, K.T. Studio

Cover

• Bohemian look on the cover art, meant to represent freedom and depth

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Kwon Bo-ah, born November 5, 1986 in Gyeonggi Province, was discovered by SM Entertainment talent scouts at a 1998 talent search while accompanying her older brother.
• After two years of training in vocals, dance, English, and Japanese, she debuted in South Korea in 2000 with the album ID; Peace B.
• Her Korean label arranged with Avex Trax to launch her career in Japan, and she quit school to prepare.

Career

• Her debut Japanese album Listen to My Heart (2002) became the first album by a Korean artist to debut at number one on the Oricon chart.
• Valenti (2003) sold over 1,249,000 copies, and Best of Soul (2005) sold over a million copies in Japan.
• Her self-titled English album (2009) was the first record by a K-pop artist to appear on the Billboard 200.
• She has sold over ten million albums and has been called the "Queen of K-pop" for helping open the Japanese market to Korean pop.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Girls on Top peaked at number three on the monthly MIAK album chart for June 2005
• Sold 52,558 copies on the MIAK sales chart in that month
• IZM compared the title song's production to that of Usher and Ciara
• IZM felt the change in styles unveiled a new side of BoA's music
• IZM said the remake of Kim Min-ki's "Autumn Letter" offered a "feeling of gradual maturity"

Records

• Sold a total of 112,954 copies by the end of 2005
• Ranked 14th best-selling album of 2005 in South Korea
• Entered the album charts in Taiwan and Japan
• Taiwan: number 12 on the G-Music Combo Albums chart, number 3 on the G-Music J-pop Albums chart
• Japan: number 153 on the Oricon Albums Chart in 2008

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Girls' Generation covered the title track along with My Name during a special stage on November 10, 2007
• Shinee performed the song on MBC Star Dance Battle on October 4, 2009, and renamed it Boys on Top
• Oh My Girl and WJSN performed parts of the song at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards
• Team China performed the song on the dance competition show Stage K in 2019
• In 2022 SM Entertainment debuted the supergroup Got the Beat as part of a project group titled Girls on Top

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact