We Boom is the third extended play of South Korean–Chinese boy band NCT Dream, the third and teen-aged sub-unit of the South Korean boy band NCT. Released by SM Entertainment and Dreamus digitally on July 26, 2019, and later physically three days later, the EP consists of six tracks, and is the first release of the unit to not contain any Mandarin version for the lead single.[1] SM founder Lee Soo-man continued as the release's executive producer, while several songwriters and producers, such as Ryan S. Jhun, Yoo Young-jin, Sonny J Mason, Deez, Moonshine, Cazzi Opeia, Benjamin Ingrosso, Livvi Franc, Louis Schoorl, Bobii Lewis, Jamil `Digi` Christmas, MZMC, and others, contributed both lyrics and production to the extended play. It was the unit's first major release as a sextet, following the graduation of member Mark in December 2018.

We Boom
Digital and We version cover.
EP by
ReleasedJuly 26, 2019 (2019-07-26)
Recorded2019
StudioSM Studios (Seoul)
GenreK-pop
Length21:22
LanguageKorean
Label
Producer
NCT Dream chronology
We Go Up
(2018)
We Boom
(2019)
The Dream
(2020)
NCT chronology
We Are Superhuman
(2019)
We Boom
(2019)
Take Over the Moon
(2019)
Singles from We Boom
  1. "Boom"
    Released: July 26, 2019

Commercially, the extended play experienced success in South Korea; it became the unit's third chart-topper on the Gaon Album Chart, their first release to receive a Platinum certificate by KMCA, and subsequently the best-selling release by an NCT unit in 2019. In the United States, the EP earned the unit their best sales week to date while becoming the group their second and third top-ten entry on the Billboard World Albums and Billboard Heatseekers Albums, respectively. In conjunction to the EP's promotion, "Boom" was released as the lead single, to where it peaked at number ninety on the Gaon Digital Chart, while barely missing out the top ten on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart. The song, however, was the unit's first entry on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart, debuting at number forty, and has since become one of the unit's signature songs. The unit has since performed several songs from the extended play on The Dream Show and their Beyond LIVE concert in May 2020.

Background and release

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On July 8, 2019, it was announced that NCT Dream was preparing for a summer comeback.[2] On July 17, it was revealed that NCT Dream would return with their third EP We Boom and the lead single "Boom" on July 26. Teaser photos were released for each member from July 17 to June 22.[3] The music video teaser was released on July 24 and the full music video on July 26.[4]

The EP was released digitally on July 26, 2019, through several music portals, including MelOn, iTunes and Spotify.[5] The music video for the title song Boom was released the same day.[1] The physical version was released on July 29. The EP title song Boom was described as a piece of urban Hip hop, featuring "powerful verses - a bridge in the latter half of the song that features expressive back-to-back belts by Haechan and Renjun and leads into a warm-toned display by Jisung."[1] The group started promoting their title track "Boom" on July 26 together with "Stronger". They first performed the lead single on KBS' Music Bank,[6] followed by performances on MBC's Show! Music Core and SBS' Inkigayo.

Reception

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Critical reception

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Refinery29 ranked "Boom" as the 28th best K-pop song of 2019[7] while MTV ranked "Bye My First..." as the 12th best K-pop B-side of the year.[8]

Commercial performance

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The album became NCT Dream best sold album up till then, selling more than 300,000 units after a month of release.[9] It also debut on Billboard World albums chart at #7 and NCT Dream was at #3 on Billboard Social 50 Chart.[10] NCT Dream received two wins for "Boom" on The Show on August 6, 2019, and on August 20, 2019, respectively.[11][12] We Boom later became the best selling album released by any NCT sub-unit up until and in the year of 2019.[13]

The Dream Show

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The Dream Show is NCT Dream's first solo concert which lasted from November 2019 to March 2020.[14]

Tour dates

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List of concerts showing date, city, country, and venue
Date City Country Venue
November 15, 2019 Seoul South Korea Jangchung Arena
November 16, 2019
November 17, 2019
December 1, 2019 Bangkok Thailand Thunder Dome Muang Thong Thani
December 2, 2019
January 26, 2020 Tokyo Japan Tokyo International Forum Hall A
January 27, 2020 NHK Hall
February 2, 2020 Kobe Kobe Kokusai Hall
February 3, 2020
February 29, 2020 Manila Philippines New Frontier Theater
March 1, 2020 Jakarta Indonesia Istora Senayan

Cancelled tour dates due to Covid-19

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List of cancelled concerts showing date, city, country, and venue
Date City Country Venue
February 7, 2020 Macau China Macau Broadway Theatre
February 8, 2020
February 15, 2020 Singapore The Star Performing Arts Centre
March 13, 2020 Tokyo Japan Musashino Forest Sport Plaza
March 14, 2020
March 15, 2020

Track listing

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Credits adapted from Naver

We Boom
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Boom"
  • Cedric "Dabenchwarma" Smith (3Sixty)
  • Keynon "KC" Moore (3Sixty)
  • Yoo Young-jin
  • Curtis Richardson (WayBetta)
  • Adien Lewis (WayBetta)
  • Ryan S. Jhun
3:15
2."Stronger"
3:26
3."119"
  • Moonshine
3:59
4."Bye My First…" (사랑이 좀 어려워; Sarang-i Jom Eoreowo; lit. Love is a Little Difficult)3:27
5."Best Friend"
3:24
6."Dream Run"
3:44
Total length:21:22

Charts

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Certifications and sales

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Certifications and sales figures for We Boom
Region Certification Certified units/sales
South Korea (KMCA)[27] 2× Platinum 506,569[26]

Accolades

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Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Result Ref.
2020 34th Golden Disc Awards Album Bonsang Won [28]
Album Daesang Nominated
Music program awards
Song Program Date Ref.
"Boom" The Show August 6, 2019 [29]
August 20, 2019 [30]

Release history

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Region Date Format Label
Various July 26, 2019 SM
South Korea
July 29, 2019 CD

References

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  1. ^ a b c NCT Dream Face Themselves in New Music Video for 'Boom'
  2. ^ (in Korean) NCT DREAM, 이달말 컴백 확정...MV 촬영 완료 '막바지'
  3. ^ NCT Dream Shares Spellbinding MV Teaser For "Boom" Comeback
  4. ^ NCT Dream Returns With Sleek And Enthralling "Boom" MV
  5. ^ "We Boom by NCT Dream". Spotify. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  6. ^ NCT DREAM, new song 'BOOM' comeback stage July 26 'Music Bank' first broadcast
  7. ^ Morin, Natalie (December 20, 2019). "The Best K-Pop Songs Of 2019". Refinery29 . Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  8. ^ Bell, Crystal (December 27, 2019). "The Best K-pop B-sides of 2019, From Twice to BTS". MTV. Archived from the original on December 27, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
  9. ^ "국내 대표 음악 차트 가온차트!".
  10. ^ "NCT Dream Score Best U.S. Sales Week to Date, Artist 100 Chart Debut | Billboard". www.billboard.com. Archived from the original on 2020-05-09.
  11. ^ "Watch: NCT Dream Takes Win For "Boom" On "The Show"; Performances By PENTAGON, KNK, And More". Soompi. August 20, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  12. ^ "Watch: NCT Dream Grabs 2nd Win For "Boom" On "The Show"; Performances By Weki Meki, JBJ95, And More". Soompi. August 6, 2019. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  13. ^ "국내 대표 음악 차트 가온차트!".
  14. ^ "NCT DREAM, 첫 단독 콘서트 11월 16일 개최…오는 8일 선예매 오픈". Hankook Ilbo. October 1, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2022.
  15. ^ "Top Albums Téléchargés - Week 33" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. August 2, 2019. Retrieved 2019-08-09.
  16. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2021. 13. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  17. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2019-08-12" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
  18. ^ "Gaon Album Chart – Week 33, 2019". Gaon Chart (in Korean). Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  19. ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 05, 2023.
  20. ^ "2019년 Album Chart". Gaon. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  21. ^ "2021 Gaon Album Chart". Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Retrieved January 7, 2022.
  22. ^ "NZ Hot Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. August 5, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  23. ^ ""Singapore Top 30 Regional Streaming Chart Week 31"". Recording Industry Association (Singapore). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 7, 2019.
  24. ^ "Boom – 2019년 31주차 Digital Chart". Gaon Digital Chart. August 3, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  25. ^ "US World Digital Song Sales". Billboard. August 10, 2019. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
  26. ^ Cumulative digital sales of We Boom on Circle Chart:
  27. ^ "South Korean album certifications – NCT DREAM – We Boom - The 3rd Mini Album" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA).
  28. ^ Yoo Jung-na (January 5, 2020). "[2020 골든디스크]방탄소년단, 음원+음반 대상 동시 석권…"공정한 2020년 기대"(종합)" [[2020 Golden Disc] Bulletproof Boy Scouts to Dominate Music + Music Records "Fair 2020 expectations" (general)]. Sports Chosun (in Korean). Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  29. ^ Jeon, Aram (August 6, 2019). '더쇼' NCT DREAM, 컴백 첫 1위…파나틱스 데뷔·TRCNG 컴백 [종합] ['The Show' NCT DREAM, No. 1 comeback… Panatics debut, TRCNG comeback [Comprehensive]]. Xports News (in Korean). Retrieved April 29, 2020 – via Naver.
  30. ^ Kim, Bora (August 20, 2019). '더쇼' NCT DREAM '붐' 1위..제노 "곧 3주년, 엔시티즌에 감사"[종합] ['The Show' NCT DREAM 'Boom' 1st place .. Geno "Thanks soon, thanks to N-Citizen" [Comprehensive]]. OSEN (in Korean). Retrieved April 29, 2020 – via Naver.