Superstar is the first Japanese extended play by South Korean boy group Shinee. It was released digitally on June 28, 2021, through EMI Records, with its physical release following a month later on July 28. The EP contains five songs including the lead single, "Superstar". It reached number one on Oricon's weekly album chart.

Superstar
Digital and Regular edition cover
EP by
ReleasedJune 28, 2021 (2021-06-28)
GenreJ-pop
Length16:15
LanguageJapanese
LabelEMI
Shinee chronology
Don't Call Me
(2021)
Superstar
(2021)
Hard
(2023)
Singles from Superstar
  1. "Superstar"
    Released: May 24, 2021

Background and release

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On May 23, 2021, Shinee commemorated the 10th anniversary of their debut in Japan with an online fan meeting, Bistro de Shinee. They announced the release of their upcoming Japanese album, their first in three years, and previewed two new songs, "Superstar" and "Seasons".[1][2] Lead single "Superstar" was released on digital music platforms the following day.[3] "Superstar" is a dance-pop song with the message, "Let's live our lives trusting ourselves instead of comparing ourselves with others."[4] On June 25, it was announced that Shinee would release the digital edition of the EP on June 28, followed by the physical release a month later on July 28. The EP features the two songs already previewed, as well as three additional tracks: a Japanese version of Shinee's previous Korean release, "Don't Call Me", "Atlantis", and another new Japanese song, "Closer". The music video for "Superstar" premiered on YouTube on June 29.[5]

Commercial performance

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Superstar debuted at number seven on Billboard Japan Hot Albums on the chart issue dated July 7, 2021.[6] It rose to number two following the release of the EP's physical edition on July 28.[7] The EP also debuted at number one on the weekly Oricon Albums Chart, selling 73,975 copies in the first week.[8] It was Shinee's first release to top the chart since 2018's Shinee The Best From Now On, and their fourth overall.[9] Superstar was certified Gold by RIAJ for selling 100,000 album shipments.[10]

Track listing

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Superstar track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Superstar"Amon Hayashi (Digz Inc.)
  • LDN Noise
  • Lenno Linjama
2:55
2."Closer"Junji Ishiwatari
  • Richy Sebastian (1and2 Productions)
  • Antoni Polimeni (1and2 Productions)
1and2 Productions2:43
3."Don't Call Me" (Japanese version)
3:40
4."Atlantis" (Japanese version)
2:58
5."Seasons"Sara Sakurai (T's Music)
  • Kenzie
  • Adrian McKinnon
Kenzie3:55
Total length:16:15

Charts

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Weekly charts

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Weekly chart performance for Superstar
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[7] 2
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[8] 1

Year-end charts

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Year-end chart performance for Superstar
Chart (2021) Position
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[11] 46
Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[12] 60

Certifications and sales figures

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Certifications for Superstar
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Japan (RIAJ)[13] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

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Release history and formats for Superstar
Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Various June 28, 2021 EMI [14]
Japan [15]
July 28, 2021 [16]

References

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  1. ^ "駆け抜けた軌跡に思いあふれ涙、SHINeeの10周年ファンミでテミンが約束「20周年は一緒に" [Taemin promises at Shinee's 10th anniversary fan meeting, "Together for the 20th anniversary"]. Natalie (in Japanese). May 23, 2021. Archived from the original on May 31, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  2. ^ Yeo, Gladys (April 30, 2021). "SHINee to release new Japanese mini-album in July". NME. Archived from the original on April 30, 2021. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  3. ^ Choi, Jin-kyung (May 24, 2021). "샤이니, 日 신보 타이틀곡 '슈퍼스타' 음원 선공개" [Shinee pre-released new Japanese title track 'Superstar']. Newsis (in Korean). Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  4. ^ "Songs from SHINee's 'Superstar' coming June 28". Korea JoongAng Daily. June 25, 2021. Archived from the original on June 25, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  5. ^ "SHINeeが会見場に乗り込む!? 新作『SUPERSTAR』ジャケ写&収録内容公開" [Shinee enters the press conference hall!? New 'Superstar' jacket photo and contents released]. Oricon (in Japanese). June 24, 2021. Archived from the original on June 26, 2021. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  6. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2021/07/07". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 4, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  7. ^ a b "Billboard Japan Hot Albums: 2021/08/04". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Archived from the original on August 5, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2021-08-09" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  9. ^ "SHINee、最新アルバム『SUPERSTAR』が通算4作目の1位獲得【オリコンランキング】" [Shinee's latest album 'Superstar' becomes their fourth number one album [Oricon Chart]]. Oricon (in Japanese). August 3, 2021. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
  10. ^ "RIAJ Certifications for July 2021" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  11. ^ 年間 アルバムランキング 2021年度 [Yearly album ranking – 2021] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved December 30, 2021.
  12. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums Year End". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). December 10, 2021. Archived from the original on April 27, 2022. Retrieved December 10, 2020.
  13. ^ "Japanese album certifications – SHINee – SUPERSTAR" (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. Select 2021年7月 on the drop-down menu
  14. ^ "SUPERSTAR - EP". EMI Records. June 28, 2021. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021 – via Apple Music.
  15. ^ "SUPERSTAR" (in Japanese). June 28, 2021. Archived from the original on June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021 – via Rakuten Music.
  16. ^ Citations for physical release formats: