I Just Wanna Dance

I Just Wanna Dance

Digital cover artwork
EP by Tiffany
Released May 11, 2016 (2016-05-11)
Genre
Length 23:50
Language
Label
Producer Lee Soo-man (exec.)
Singles from I Just Wanna Dance
  1. "I Just Wanna Dance"
    Released: May 12, 2016[2]

I Just Wanna Dance is the debut extended play by South Korean-based American singer Tiffany. It was released by S.M. Entertainment on May 11, 2016.

Background and development

"I’m making music with a strong conviction. If you pay too much attention to rankings, you don’t do music that contains your color; you only do music that satisfies the public’s taste."

–Tiffany discussing the album's music styles[3]

Since 2007, South Korea-based American singer Stephanie Young Hwang (better known by her stage name Tiffany) has been known to be a member of the popular girl group Girls' Generation. During the early part of her career, her solo work mostly involved songs recorded for side projects and original soundtracks. In May 2016, Tiffany became the second Girls' Generation member, after fellow member Taeyeon, to officially debut as a solo artist, releasing her debut album, titled I Just Wanna Dance.[4][5][6][7]

Tiffany began working on her solo record during the summer of 2015, having the mindset of it being the "transition into the next chapter of [her] music career." She recalled having long meetings with her label, S.M. Entertainment, to figure out the music concepts for the project. Her label initially expected Tiffany to put together an album that reflects a bubbly image. However, the singer had a different idea, stating that she wanted "something much more chill". According to Tiffany, the "real exciting part" for her being a solo artist is the ability to decide her own new "sound" and "message", while still being a part of Girls' Generation.[4][5][6][7]

Heavily influenced by the American female artists of the 90's, Tiffany has described the album to embrace a throw-back American pop sound. She further described it as having "chill" and "natural" vibes and cited the most difficult part in putting the album together was her efforts in "work[ing] out of [her] comfort zone" and "learning how to push limits". She credited her 9-year experience being a member of girl group Girls' Generation as the force that helped making it easier for her to transition into a solo artist. She also hailed Girls' Generation member Taeyeon as "a big part" who had supported her throughout the entire process of the album preparation.[4][5][6][7]

Speaking of her titular title track, Tiffany expressed "Most girls my age, when they are stressed or want to kind of get away, they dance the night away. I think it should be everybody's theme song." Since 2014, Tiffany started writing music, calling it "nerve-wrecking to put out music [she’s] written on [her] own." One of her songs, "What Do I Do", made it to the final track list. Although Tiffany participated in both music writing and English lyrics for the track, Girls' Generation member Sooyoung helped write the Korean lyrics. Tiffany also named "Talk" as her favorite track of the album, recalling she was having a "fan girl moment" after finding out its music was written by Girls Aloud's Nicola Roberts.[4][5][6][7]

Known to be taking part in the artwork and visuals for previous Girls’ Generation and TTS’s releases, Tiffany purposely avoided it and only wanted to focus on the music for her solo album. She, however, took a directorial role for her follow-up single "Heartbreak Hotel". The track, featuring Simon Dominic, was supposed to be a part of the album, but was pushed back and released under the SM Station digital music platform in June 2016. She explained the song was meant to be a prequel to "I Just Wanna Dance", where the woman goes through the “falling for the bad boy” stage; being heartbroken, she forgets about her stress and dances the night away.[4][5]

“When I do create a performance or video, it’s not just going to be about a lot of pretty outfits and lights, a lot of teenage stuff; it’s going to have a lot more emotions and depth…I hope that I can be that type of artist…where I will put out something very honest or raw and someone else will be able to feel through that. Whether that’s something sad or something happy.”[5]

Release and promotion

On May 4, 2016, Tiffany was officially announced to be debuting as a solo artist with I Just Wanna Dance. The album was released one week after on May 11, 2016.[8] After receiving good feedback from the international fanbase, a remix for the English version of "I Just Wanna Dance", by South Korean music producer Kago Pengchi, was released on May 23, 2016.[9][5]

A promotional showcase for I Just Wanna Dance, where Tiffany performed four of the album's songs for the first time, was held on May 10, 2016.[10][11] Afterwards, the singer also held a live show where she interacted with fans through a Naver online app.[12] On May 12, 2016, she made her debut performance on Mnet's weekly music television program M! Countdown.[13] Tiffany spent June 2016 promoting the album through a series of small concerts titled Weekend.[14]

Reception

A writer from Popjustice wrote: "The EP contains very good music and comes with very good artwork."[15] Jeff Benjamin writing for Fuse noted the "unexpected sonic and vocal environments" on the title track "I Just Wanna Dance" and compared its musical styles to those of Carly Rae Jepsen, Ariana Grande and Mariah Carey.[16] In his review for The Star, Chester Chin wrote that Tiffany opted for "sexy shimmering melodies" instead of "one-two punch hooks and memorable choruses". He concluded that the album is "too safe for its own good".[17] The album was given a 3.5/5 star rating by IZM.[18]

Upon the release of the album, the title track debuted at number 8 on the Twitter Top Tracks by Billboard,[19] and number 49 on the Spotify Viral 50.[20] Joey Nolfi from Entertainment Weekly listed "I Just Wanna Dance" as one of the six songs that their readers should be listening to during May 2016.[21] The song was nominated for Best Dance Performance Solo and Song of the Year at the 18th Mnet Asian Music Awards.

Track listing

No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
1. "I Just Wanna Dance"  Hwang Hyun
 3:29
2. "Talk"  
 3:34
3. "Fool"  
  • Yorkie
  • Ryu-woo
  • Im Kwang-wook
  • Ryan Kim
  • Amanda Moseley
  • Chase
  • Dopio
  • Wkly
 3:28
4. "What Do I Do"  Choi Sooyoung
 3:03
5. "Yellow Light"  Jung Joo-hee
 3:22
6. "Once in a Lifetime"  
  • Hwang Hyun
  • Agnes Shin
  • Lee Joo-hyung
  • Sebastian Thott
  • Delisa Thomas
 3:51
Total length:
 20:47
iTunes Store, Spotify, Google Play Music and Apple Music bonus track
No. TitleLyricsMusic Length
7. "What Do I Do" (English version)Stephanie Hwang
  • Stephanie Hwang
  • Kim Tae-sung
  • Jake K
 3:03
Total length:
 23:50

Charts

Chart Peak
position
Korean Albums (Gaon)[22] 3
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[23] 41
US World Albums (Billboard)[24] 3
US Top Heatseekers (Billboard)[25] 10

Release history

Region Date Format Label
South Korea May 11, 2016
Worldwide[26] Digital download S.M. Entertainment

References

  1. ↑ Herman, Tamar (May 12, 2016). "Girls' Generation's Tiffany Releases 'I Just Wanna Dance' EP". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Playlist: May 12, 2016". KBS International Radio. Korean Broadcasting System. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  3. ↑ Kim, Shin Young (May 17, 2016). "Kim Shin Young's Hope Song at Noon". MBC FM4U radio (in Korean). MBC.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Benjamin, Jeff (June 16, 2016). "Tiffany Reflects on Solo Debut & U.S. Ambitions: 'It's Just The Beginning'". FuseTV. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Herman, Tamar (June 16, 2016). "Tiffany Talks 'Whirlwind' Solo Debut & Life Outside Girls' Generation Activities". Billboard. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Pops in Seoul _ Tiffany(티파니) _ Interview _ Part 1 (news program). South Korea: Arirang on YouTube / Google Inc. May 23, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Pops in Seoul _ Tiffany(티파니) _ Interview _ Part 2 (news program). South Korea: Arirang on YouTube / Google Inc. May 23, 2016. Retrieved June 5, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Tiffany of Girls' Generation to launch solo album". Yonhap. May 4, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  9. ↑ Kim Soo-hyang (May 22, 2016). "Tiffany to release EDM song". The Korea Herald. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  10. ↑ Ahn Sung-mi (May 4, 2016). "Tiffany to drop solo album next week". KpopHerakd. Herald Corporation. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  11. ↑ Park, So-young (2016-05-10). "'흥 많은' 솔로 티파니, 소녀시대 氣 받아 춤바람 났다". Chosun (in Korean). Retrieved 2016-05-11.
  12. ↑ Kim Soo-hyang (May 9, 2016). "Tiffany to release teaser clip". The Korea Herald. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  13. ↑ Choi, Jin-sil (2016-05-12). "'엠카' 티파니, 이제는 댄스파니로 컴백 'I Just Wanna Dance'". Xports News (in Korean). Retrieved 2016-05-12.
  14. ↑ Ahn Sung-mi (June 1, 2016). "Tiffany adds 3 more solo concerts". KpopHerald. Retrieved August 20, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Tiffany – 'I Just Wanna Dance'". Popjustice. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  16. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (May 10, 2016). "Girls' Generation's Tiffany Drops Dreamy Solo Debut 'I Just Wanna Dance'". Fuse. The Madison Square Garden Company. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  17. ↑ Chin, Chester (May 28, 2016). "Review: I Just Wanna Dance by Tiffany". Retrieved May 29, 2016 – via Star2.
  18. ↑ http://www.izm.co.kr/contentRead.asp?idx=27619&bigcateidx=1&subcateidx=3&view_tp=1
  19. ↑ "Twitter Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 6, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Spotify Viral 50". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
  21. ↑ Nolfi, Joey (May 20, 2016). "6 songs you should be listening to right now". EW. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
  22. ↑ "South Korea Gaon Album Chart". On the page, select "2016.05.08~2016.05.14" to obtain the corresponding chart. Gaon Chart Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  23. ↑ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2016-05-23" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved May 19, 2016.
  24. ↑ "World Music – Top World Album Chart". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. May 18, 2015. Retrieved May 18, 2016.
  25. ↑ Benjamin, Jeff (May 18, 2016). "Girls' Generation's Tiffany Makes Her Solo Mark on Multiple Charts With 'I Just Wanna Dance'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  26. ↑ "I Just Wanna Dance – The 1st Mini Album by Tiffany". iTunes Store (US). Apple Inc. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
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