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Play (stylized in all caps) is the debut studio album by South Korean brother-sister duo, AKMU, and their first release since winning K-pop Star 2 in 2012. It was released through YG Entertainment on April 7, 2014.
Background
On March 31, 2014, YG Entertainment revealed the first teaser picture. On April 1, the second teaser picture was revealed, followed by the album's track list on April 2.
Composition
Lee Chan-hyuk produced and wrote all the songs on the Play album. YG Entertainment's CEO Yang Hyun-suk explained,
"Up to now, I was in charge of producing albums for many singers. However, Akdong Musician's was the hardest for me. The musical genres I had mainly worked with were hip hop and R&B. However, Akdong Musician's genre is folk. It was a genre I have never tried before, so it was only right that they did it themselves. The two members of Akdong Musician debuted at an extremely young age. This year, Chan-hyuk will be 18 and Su-hyun will be 15. Because they are so young, if I were to order them to do this and that, their purity could get ruined. I decided it might actually be much more effective if the siblings personally it. As you can see by the results, this was verified after the album came out.
Promotion and release
The album was digitally released on April 7, 2014. The album, consisting of 11 songs, was released worldwide through iTunes, Melon, Genie, and other online music portals. The physical album hit stores on April 9. The group's first stage comeback was on K-pop Star 3 on April 6. "200%" and "Melted" had been chosen directly as the title tracks, and the third title track, "Give Love", was chosen on April 14 after a round of fan voting.
Accolades
In 2024, EBS named Play one of the 100 best Korean popular music albums since 2004.
"2000년대 한국 대중음악 명반 100 (2004–2023)" [Top 100 Korean pop music albums of the 2000s (2004–2023)]. EBS (in Korean). 2024-04-01. Retrieved 2024-04-02.
Choi, Ji-ye (April 19, 2014). 악동뮤지션, 결방된 '엠카'서 데뷔 후 첫 1위 [Akdong Musician, first place after debut in 'M-Countdown']. My Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020 – via Naver.
Moon, Wan-sik (April 24, 2014). 악동뮤지션, 결방 '엠카'서 2주 연속 1위 [Akdong Musician, ranked 1st in Gyeolbang 'M-Countdown' for 2 consecutive weeks]. StarNews (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020 – via Naver.
Sun, Mi-kyung (May 2, 2014). 악동뮤지션, 결방 '엠카'서 3주 연속 1위 [Akdong Musician, ranked 1st in Gyeolbang 'M-Countdown' for 3 consecutive weeks]. Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 2020 – via Naver.
음중차트 [Music Core Chart] (in Korean). Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved January 18, 2021.