SO HOT

## ***SO HOT***Single by VALKYRIE

SO HOT is a single released by South Korean girl group VALKYRIE through Virtual Entertainment. It was released on December 23, 2019 as a gift to the fans following the success of their previous release ENDLESS, and it's mini album. The single was included on VALKYRIE's first full album GIRLS - The 1st Full Album being released in the following year. It was later included in their 2023's VALKYRIE 5 Year Anniversary album.

The single was met with critical acclaim from VALORANTS [their fanbase] and various critics of the industry for being an experimental risk in their discography at such an early state in their career. In it's first week it was amongst the biggest opening week for a single of the 21st century in it's first week moving over 3,278,965 equivalent sales. The single is VALKYRIE's second consecutive debut at #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

### Background

Following the release in the previous year with the successful release of their first global hit ENDLESS, the group wanted to experiment with more sounds, and sought out various producers in the industry. The girls were coming off fresh, with the hype surrounding them and Calvin Harris later came in contact with the girls over June, and July.

They began writing and composing the piece, alongside the instrumental portion to it. Calvin described working with the girls as a fresh breeze, and probably one of the easiest productions he's ever done for an artist. Following the completion of the song at VECU Labs, which is the home of VE Station and various other things presented by Virtual Entertainment, the company later sought out to find a choreographer who could create something visually appealing and something that was creative.

### Composition

"*SO HOT*" is a deep house song. *Your EDM* described it as an "upbeat tune", containing "bass-y plucks and piano chords". For Hayden Manders of *Nylon*, the track is influenced by 90s Euro house and compared it to Disclosure's music. Max Martin was included as co-producer on the track, a standard for the producer as Virtual entered an agreement as it was announced for him to produce majority of VALKYRIE's singles.

RYUJIN has a rap line that was heavily praised for being incorporated into the song which many personally appreciated as a bit of a break to the song.

The single puts the breaks on the ongoing storyline, "*further proclaiming self love, while still keeping the storyline in a way intact by furthering they need to love themselves before they can step into the battle*" as described by fans.

### Critical Response

The single was met with an overall universal appreciation of the single, and Calvin's production overall on the track. The lyrics were met with some confusion however later didn't matter enough as the production overtook it and spot on became the centerpiece.

Fans overall raved over the song, as such it is typically always referred to now whenever they reference the group as it was a global hit and the first of many for the artist. It smashed many records around the world most notably the biggest first week on the Billboard Global chart with a record 3,278,965 sales globally.

*NME.com* ranked the song as record of the year, stating it was a global hit right upon the hearing of the first beat in the song! *Noisey* stated the song was good and a hit especially from a Korean girl group however they didn't see the appeal behind the single.

*EW.com*, *The Heat Seeker*, and *RollingStone* all praised RYUJIN's delivery on her rap, YUNA, LIA, CHAERYONG, and YEJI's vocal delivery in the chorus, and all over the verses however they all stated the song was just random and out of the blue to them that a girl group this early in their careers would journey and take this risk nonetheless, they stated all together that the song was memorable and had the potential to claim #1 around the world.

### Promotion

The single was promoted across a variety of events in the world, for its global dominance on the charts it was played across many outlets. The group promoted the single across numerous US media shows and television shows, alongside Korea music shows where it racked up over 19 music show wins becoming a notable thing to cover in the media at the time. Elsewhere, the single was promoted on television shows and The Late Night Show, alongside The Times in Oceania.

The single was performed at the 2019 Dream Concert, 2021's Summertime Ball, 2022 Lollapalooza, KCON LA, Rock In Rio, 2023's KCON NY, and KCON LA.

It was further performed and had an extended edit on the CHECKMATE - The 1st World Tour.

### Commercial Performance

The single debuted #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and remained in the top 10 for 9 weeks on the chart, keeping #1 for two weeks. Upon release, it gave VALKYRIE their third top 10 entree on the US Billboard Hot 100, and their second consecutive #1 debut on the chart. The single has sold over 2,813,211 nearing 3x platinum in the country. It left the chart after 38 weeks.

The single debuted in Asia at #1 with the single being VALKYRIE's third perfect all kill on the platforms in Asia, and Korea. The single remained #1 for 5 weeks. It remained in the top 20 throughout the first half of the year, with the single eventually leaving the chart after 64 weeks.

Elsewhere, the single is one of VALKYRIE's best selling singles in Canada having sold 251,122 units and charting for over 128 weeks. It remained #1 for 4 weeks, before falling to #2 for 3 weeks then #4 in the following week. In Latin America, the single debuted #1 and remained #1 for 4 weeks before falling to #3 in the coming week. The single sold over 381,559 copies in the region. In the UK, the single sold 931,059 units, claiming #1 for its first four weeks before falling to #3 in the coming week. In Europe, the single debuted at #19 lasting on the chart for 3 weeks before falling out. It sold 143,594 units in its run. In Oceania, the single debuted #1 for a week, and then proceeded to fall out in the coming weeks. It sold 88,971 units in the region.

On streaming, the single debuted #10 before rising to #2 in the coming week. It proceeded to fall to #4 in the coming week, and then #7 before falling out of the top 10. According to Streamies, the song was streamed over 1,202,724,861 times.

In terms of music video views, the M/V debuted #1 and was the most trending video of the year following its release. The M/V has been played over 1,960,269,182 times! It is just one of VALKYRIE's many billion play'd videos.