CHECKMATE (single)

## ***CHECKMATE***Single by VALKYRIE

### Songwriter(s)

Noday · Czaer · Max Martin · Calvin Harris · RYUJIN · YUNA · YEJI · Avril Lavigne

### Producer(s)

Max Martin · Dr Dre · Avril Lavigne

***CHECKMATE*** is a single released by South Korean girl group VALKYRIE as the lead & title track single from their second studio album CHECKMATE - The 2nd Full Album. It was released on July 4, 2022 as the albums lead single by Virtual Entertainment.

The single received critical acclaim from throughout the world, as many saw SO HOT as their peak, the girls chose the Pop Punk route and as such the single was viewed by many as 2022's best release, and the best release thus far of the 2020's decade. CHECKMATE details the girls self worth, and continued the lore previously from 2020's GIRLS, and 2022's RACER. The single was included later on in their 5 year anniversary album titled VALKYRIE - 5 Years.

### Background

Following the members and their solo releases throughout the previous year, VALKYRIE began being bashed in the media over the course of their hiatus for being described as inconsistent artist. CHECKMATE was initially going to be scrapped, as the idea was left on the table, VALKYRIE leader YEJI later was persistent on keeping the idea and the format, suggesting they go where they haven't, where many groups have aimed to go and that is the Pop Punk trend revival as of late. YEJI was later put in charge of enlisting writers, this being the first time an artist at Virtual Entertainment has been given the main job as lead writer on a track.

The single was later supposed to be a pre-release but following lyrical changes by the girls and a swap, RACER was placed as the pre-release while CHECKMATE was the lead track.

### Composition

CHECKMATE was co-produced with the aid of Avril Lavigne who inspired the Pop Punk trend in the 2000s with Calvin Harris, Max Martin, and Dr Dre coming together to be the lead executive producers on the track. Avril also provided writing aid for Calvin Harris, Noday, Czaer, Max Martin, YEJI, YUNA, & RYUJIN. CHECKMATE plays on the story of knowing where you stand, often focused on the idea of self worth and value while also playing on VALKYRIE's victory in the battle. It was composed in the key of C-sharp minor with a tempo of 124 beats.

### Critical Reception

The single was greatly applauded by critics and overnight it became a viral hit amongst Gen Z, and TikTok for its choreography and aesthetic. It was raved by VALORANTS across social media [VALORANTS being VALKYRIE's fanbase] while also being raved by critics alike with many music industry talents praising the production and melody of the track, along with the vocals, while some found RYUJIN's rapping a somewhat low in the song due to it being a bit sloppy in delivery.

Billboard listed the single at number one in their top 10 end of year review of 2022, as the top songs you have to listen to from the year! *The Heat Seeker* gave the single 3.8 stars while still claiming it was a brilliant song, it just wasn't what they fully expected to be released by the group, they later changed the rating following it growing on them. *RollingStone* ranked the single in their top 5 of Top 2022 Songs, along with the album describing it as a smart and clever choice by the group to once again diversify their sound and attempt new things. *RollingStone* described it as a powerful pop rock anthem "*playing on VALKYRIE being hailed as heroes of selfworth and finding the love in yourself*" while also adding RYUJIN's rapping was not as good as fans hyped it out to be, while emphasizing RACER was where she sounded the best. Nonetheless, the single was the highlight of the album and has over 5 million sales over the album it was released on.

VALKYRIE before performing CHECKMATE on a Music Show in 2022

### Promotion

Upon release, CHECKMATE was promoted across a variety of music shows for 2 weeks, before the girls prepared for their world tour. The single was promoted on the Jimmy Fallon Show, Saturday Night Live, VH1 Storytellers, Good Morning America (alongside the album and previous singles), The Times, Rolling Stone, Vogue, & various radio shows in the month prior, and after. The single was performed at the 2022 Lollapalooza event, KCON NY, and LA, and VALKYRIE's first world tour of the same name, CHECKMATE - The 1st World Tour. The single was performed at the 2023 Grammy Awards by YUNA, and YEJI where they also performed their collaborative release titled "BREAK MY HEART MYSELF".

### Commercial Performance

The single debuted #1 on every chart around the world, becoming an instant hit and VALKYRIE's first back-to-back global number one. The single is the fastest on MelOn's 24 hour chart to go #1 in just under 2 hours.

CHECKMATE debuted #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, earning VALKYRIE their sixth consecutive number one on the chart further extending their streak of consecutive number ones and further extending their record for most #1's be it debuts, or just charting by a Korean act on the chart. CHECKMATE sold 500k units first week on the Billboard Hot 100 selling the most for a Korean girl group on the chart first week. CHECKMATE would fall out of the Billboard Hot 100 after 44 weeks, having sold over 2,559,804 units in the country. It was certified 2X Platinum.

CHECKMATE debuted #1 on every Asia single tracking chart in the territory becoming the best charting song by an artist in the region of all time. It debuted first week with 1,253,821 units sold and has since became one of the bestselling singles in the region with an estimated 5,165,472 singles sold in the region. Having been released in July on the 4th, the single remained #1 on the charts until October 17th, where it fell to #2 due to TWICE's "I Can't Stop" which was released overtaking the single by 460k units.

Elsewhere, the single remained in the top 10 of all charts in its first 3 weeks, it fell from #1 in Canada in its second week to #2, the third week #7, the fourth week it remained stable, but on the fifth week, it fell to #11. In Latin America, the single remained in the top 5 for around 3 months before exiting at #15 outside of the top 10. In the United Kingdom, the single remained in top 10 for 11 weeks, falling to #5 in its third week. In Europe, the single remained #1 for two weeks, before falling to #4 in its third week and then remained in the top 10 for 13 weeks. In Oceania, the single remained #1 for two weeks before bouncing around the top 10 for 12 weeks, before falling out of the top 10.

CHECKMATE debuted #5 on the Streamies collection of all streams across platforms with over 131,883,614 on demand streams before rising up to #1 making VALKYRIE one of the few Korean acts to achieve this feat on the chart. In the second week, it rose to #1 with over 286,833,079 streams before falling to #4 in the third week with over 129,423,875 streams.

The single has since sold over 11,300,358 equivalent units. The accompanied music video has over 2,366,559,837 views. The single has been streamed over an estimated amount of 1,429,541,500 times.