Wikipedia

The Baddest (K/DA song)

"The Baddest" (stylized in all caps) is a song by virtual K-pop girl group K/DA. It was released on August 27, 2020, as the pre-release single from their debut extended play All Out. It is K/DA's first song since "Pop/Stars" in 2018. The song was composed by Riot Music Team in collaboration with Bekuh Boom. The song was accompanied by a lyric video which was uploaded to League of Legends official YouTube channel on the same day.

"The Baddest"
Single by (G)I-dle, Bea Miller, and Wolftyla as K/DA
from the album All Out
Language
  • English
  • Korean
ReleasedAugust 27, 2020
Genre
Length2:42
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Riot Music Team
K/DA singles chronology
"Pop/Stars"
(2018) 		"The Baddest"
(2020) 		"More"
(2020)
(G)I-dle singles chronology
"Dumdi Dumdi"
(2020) 		"The Baddest"
(2020) 		"More"
(2020)
Bea Miller singles chronology
"That Bitch"
(2019) 		"The Baddest"
(2020) 		"Wisdom Teeth"
(2020)
Wolftyla singles chronology
"Butterflies"
(2020) 		"The Baddest"
(2020)
Lyric video
"The Baddest" on YouTube

Background and release

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K/DA launched their official Twitter and Instagram account on August 20. Simultaneously, Riot Games revealed the single image of the K/DA logo, including the comeback's date and the titled of their pre-release song with the phrase "YOUTUBE PREMIERE 8.27.2020 12 PM PT #KDA #CALLINGALLBLADES #KDAISBACK #COMEBACK #THEBADDEST".[2] Starting August 24, 2020, K/DA individual images with new appearance and member introduction were released from Ahri the Queen, Evelynn the Diva, Kai’Sa the Dancer to Akali the Rebel.[3][4] Ahead of its release, League of Legends' Shazam page revealed Wolftyla and Bea Miller would take over the roles of Kai’Sa and Evelynn;[5] original artists Jaira Burns and Madison Beer reprised their roles in later K/DA songs.

Composition

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In terms of music notation, "The Baddest" was composed using 4
4 common time, written in the key of E-flat major with a tempo of 150 beats per minute,[6] and a running time of 2:42 minutes.[7] Soyeon and Miyeon of (G)I-dle, Bea Miller, and Wolftyla provide vocals for the song.

Critical reception

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Mike Stubbs from Forbes wrote in his article that he "only listened to it a handful of times and it is already stuck in [his] head!"[8] Shacknews's TJ Denzer was impressed by the music video, saying that "it brings back the pop stylized versions of in-game champions Ahri, Evelynn, Akali, and Kai’Sa in full and fashionable form to deliver The Baddest", and described the song as "a cornucopia of good vocals and visuals set to an entrancing beat".[9] League of Legends European Championship (LEC) caster Daniel Drakos didn't really like the song upon first hearing it on Twitter. Instead, he recommends listening to The Baddest on music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music for better sound quality. Meanwhile, another LEC caster, Indiana "Froskurinn" Black, was fond of Kai'Sa's lines "I came to slay back and I'm better and ready to stay."[10]

"The Baddest" was included in Hyperbae's Best K-pop Songs and Music Videos of 2020.[11]

Track listing

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  • Download and streaming[1]
  1. "The Baddest" – 2:42
  2. "The Baddest" (inst.) – 2:42

Credits and personnel

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Credits are adapted from Melon and Tidal.[1][12]

  • Vocals – Soyeon and Miyeon of (G)I-dle, Bea Miller and Wolftyla
  • Riot Music Team – production, composer, songwriting, vocal production, mix engineer, mastering engineer
  • Sebastien Najand – composer
  • Bekuh Boom – songwriting, additional vocals
  • Lydia Paek – Korean translation
  • Minji Kim – Korean translation
  • Oscar Free – vocal production

Lyric video

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On August 27, a live countdown started at 12 PM PT on League of Legends's official YouTube channel, with nearly 180,000 viewers live on during its premiere.[13] In 10 minutes, the video surpassed 500,000+ views,[14] and reached 4 million views in 8 hours.[15] The video was directed by Riot Games and Jordan Taylor Studios who had previously worked for Pitch Perfect 2, Netflix's documentary film Kingdom of Us and Joey Badass' "Unorthodox".[16] The next day, Riot Korea released a behind-the-scenes video of (G)I-dle's recording session of the song.[17][18]

Accolades

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Awards
Year Award Category Result Ref.
2021 Hollywood Music in Media Awards Outstanding Song – Video Game Won [19][20]
Year-end lists
Critic/Publication List Rank Ref.
Hypebae Best K-Pop Songs and Music Videos of 2020 — [21]

Charts

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Chart (2020) Peak
position
Canada Hot Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[22] 30
Czech Republic (Singles Digitál Top 100)[23] 62
Greece (IFPI)[24] 62
Hungary (Single Top 40)[25] 21
Hungary (Stream Top 40)[26] 16
Lithuania (AGATA)[27] 70
Malaysia (RIM)[28] 16
New Zealand Hot Singles (RMNZ)[29] 6
Scotland (OCC)[30] 70
Singapore (RIAS)[31] 7
South Korea (Gaon)[32] 178
UK Download (Official Charts Company)[33] 74
UK Indie (OCC)[34] 18
US Digital Songs (Billboard)[35] 28
US World Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[36] 1

Release history

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Region Release date Format Distributor Ref.
Various August 27, 2020
Riot Games [37]
South Korea August 29, 2020
[1]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "[싱글] THE BADDEST ((여자)아이들, Wolftyla, Bea Miller, K/DA)" [[Single] THE BADDEST ((G)I-DLE, Wolftyla, Bea Miller, K/DA)]. Melon (in Korean). Kakao Corporation. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  2. ^ "League of Legends K-Pop Group K/DA's Will Comeback With The New Single Titled 'The Baddest'". www.techtimes.com. August 21, 2020. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  3. ^ Han, Jihui (August 25, 2020). "'롤' 걸그룹 K/DA, 26일 공개 멤버는 '소연' 생일에 맞춰 '아칼리'?". ThisIsGame. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  4. ^ Alan Bernal (August 26, 2020). "League K-Pop group K/DA have new looks for upcoming single 'The Baddest'". www.dexerto.com. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  5. ^ Tyler Esguerra (August 27, 2020). "Shazam reveals 2 new artists will be taking over for Kai'Sa and Evelynn in K/DA's next song". Dot Esports. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  6. ^ "K/DA "THE BADDEST" Sheet Music". Musicnotes.com. September 4, 2020. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
  7. ^ "Key and BPM of THE BADDEST by K/DA, (G)I-DLE, Wolftyla, Bea Miller, League of Legends". musicstax.com. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  8. ^ Mike Stubbs (August 27, 2020). "'League Of Legends' K/DA Pop Group Returns With New Single, EP Coming Soon". Forbes. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  9. ^ TJ Denzer (August 27, 2020). "K/DA 'The Baddest' single launches from League of Legends virtual pop group". Shacknews. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  10. ^ Kristine Tuting (August 27, 2020). "The esports community reacts to K/DA's The Baddest". Yahoo! News Singapore. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  11. ^ YeEun Kim (August 28, 2020). "THESE ARE THE BEST K-POP SONGS AND MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2020". Hyperbae. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  12. ^ "THE BADDEST by K/DA, (G)I-DLE, Wolftyla, Bea Miller, League of Legends". Tidal. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  13. ^ Lara Lunardi (August 27, 2020). "K/DA's newest single, The Baddest, is here!". Invenglobal. Retrieved September 1, 2020.
  14. ^ Robert N. Adams (August 27, 2020). "K/DA 'The Baddest' song drops on YouTube, racks up 500k views in 10 minutes". GameRevolution. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  15. ^ Moon Dae-chan (August 28, 2020). K/DA, 연타석 흥행 이어가나… 신곡 발표 8시간 만에 조회수 400만 육박. KukiNews.
  16. ^ "Jordan Taylor Studios". Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  17. ^ Daniel "Quest" Kwon (August 27, 2020). "Riot Korea unveils the 'behind the scenes' video of K/DA's newest single, 'The Baddest' (ft. (G)I-DLE)". Invenglobal.
  18. ^ League of Legends - Korea (August 27, 2020). "THE BADDEST" Recording Session Behind the Scenes with MIYEON and SOYEON of (G)I-DLE. YouTube. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  19. ^ Grein, Paul (January 28, 2021). "Diane Warren & James Newton Howard Among Top Winners at 2021 Hollywood Music in Media Awards". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  20. ^ Chris Willman (January 15, 2021). "Hollywood Music in Media Awards Announces 2021 Nominees; Kenny Loggins Set for Lifetime Honor (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety.
  21. ^ "These Are the Best K-Pop Songs and Music Videos of 2020". HYPEBAE. December 14, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
  22. ^ "The Baddest (Canadian Digital Songs)". Billboard. September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  23. ^ "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Digital Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Select 36. týden 2020 in the date selector. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  24. ^ "Charts". September 14, 2020. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  25. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  26. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Stream Top 40 slágerlista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved September 11, 2020.
  27. ^ "2020 36-os SAVAITĖS (rugpjūčio 28-rugsėjo 3 d.) SINGLŲ TOP100" [2020 36th week's top 100 most listened] (in Lithuanian). AGATA. September 4, 2020. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  28. ^ "Top 20 Most Streamed International & Domestic Singles In Malaysia". Recording Industry Association of Malaysia. Recording Industry Association of Malaysia. Retrieved September 13, 2020.
  29. ^ "The Official New Zealand Music Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  30. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  31. ^ "RIAS International Top Charts Week 36". Recording Industry Association (Singapore). Archived from the original on September 8, 2020.
  32. ^ "Gaon Weekly Digital Chart - The Baddest". August 30 – September 5, 2020.
  33. ^ "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100 | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  34. ^ "Official Independent Singles Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved September 6, 2020.
  35. ^ "The Baddest (US Digital Songs)". Billboard. September 12, 2020. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  36. ^ "World Digital Song Sales: September 12, 2020". Billboard. September 12, 2020.
  37. ^ "THE BADDEST (feat. bea miller & League of Legends) - Single by K/DA, (G)I-DLE & Wolftyla". Retrieved August 31, 2020.
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