Red Velvet performs EXO's Ko Ko Bop at fancon after revealing it was originally meant for them; know more

EXO's Ko Ko Bop was recently performed by Red Velvet on their 10th anniversary fan concert. But did you know the track was originally meant for the girl group? Know more below!

Updated on Sep 20, 2024  |  04:43 PM IST |  91.4K
Red Velvet, EXO (Image Credits- SM Entertainment)
Red Velvet, EXO (Image Credits- SM Entertainment)

Happiness: My Dear, ReVe1uv is the first fan-concert tour headlined by South Korean girl group Red Velvet, celebrating the group’s tenth anniversary and supporting their seventh extended play, Cosmic. The tour kicked off on August 2, 2024, in Seoul, South Korea, and is set to visit four cities across East Asia and Southeast Asia.

In the Manila leg of their tour, the Red Velvet members took to the stage looking absolutely stunning as they performed numerous songs and interacted with fans. One standout moment was their performance of EXO's Ko Ko Bop, a track that many may not know was originally written for the girl group.

During one segment, the girls picked up questions and messages from fans. When asked if there was a song they wished was theirs, Red Velvet mentioned EXO’s Ko Ko Bop. Interestingly, the song was originally intended for them before it went to their label mates, EXO. In 2019, producer Styalz Fuego revealed that Ko Ko Bop was initially meant for Red Velvet.




On December 27 in 2019, Styalz Fuego took to Twitter to share a K-pop random fact. The Australian songwriter, who co-wrote and produced EXO’s 2017 smash hit Ko Ko Bop, surprised fans by revealing, “Ko Ko Bop was originally written for Red Velvet; the key was three notes higher but was then pitched down to suit EXO.”

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Styalz Fuego had previously hinted that Ko Ko Bop was originally written for a girl group, although he didn’t specify which one at the time. Another songwriter involved in the track also hinted that it was composed in a female key back in 2017, sharing a brief snippet of the original demo, which featured a female vocalist. However, that post has since been deleted.

Ko Ko Bop is an energetic reggae track featuring rhythmic reggae and bass guitar sounds. Co-written by EXO members Chen, Chanyeol, and Baekhyun, it was released digitally on July 18, 2017, and physically on July 19 alongside their album. According to Chanyeol, the term Ko Ko Bop means "Fun Dancing."

The song debuted at number one on five major real-time music charts, including Genie, Olleh, Bugs, Naver, and Melon, making EXO the first K-pop group to top the Melon Realtime Chart following changes implemented on February 27, 2017. The other tracks from the album also debuted in the top nine.

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Ko Ko Bop topped the Gaon Digital Chart for four non-consecutive weeks, making EXO the first artist to achieve this in 2017. They also became the third idol group to hold the number one position for four weeks and the first male idol group to do so. The song maintained its number one spot on the Chinese music chart Alibaba for three consecutive weeks and reached number two on Billboard's US World Digital Songs and the China V Chart.

ALSO READ: 10 years of Red Velvet: Know how Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy and Yeri’s dual concept for music set them apart in world of K-pop

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About The Author

Pratyusha Dash is an English Literature Graduate from Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies with a deep passion for Korean

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