Rum Pum Pum Pum

This article is about the f(x) song. For the Christmas song with this phrase, see The Little Drummer Boy.

"Rum Pum Pum Pum"
Single by f(x)
from the album Pink Tape
ReleasedJuly 29, 2013
Genre
Length3:17
LabelSM
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)Jun Gan-di
F(x) singles chronology
"Electric Shock"
(2012) 		"Rum Pum Pum Pum"
(2013) 		"Red Light"
(2014)
Music video
"Rum Pum Pum Pum" on YouTube

"Rum Pum Pum Pum" (Korean: 첫 사랑니; RR: Cheot Sarangni; lit. "First Wisdom Teeth") is a song by South Korean girl group f(x). It was released as the lead single from the album Pink Tape on July 29, 2013, through SM Entertainment.

The song was well received by music critics. It was named one of the 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time by Billboard in 2019 and one of the Top 100 K-pop Songs of All Time by Melon in 2021.

Background and release

"Rum Pum Pum Pum" is a song of dance-pop with exotic hand drums, whiplash-y snares, funky sixties guitar riffs, and synthesized squirt. Lyrically, it expresses first love on a wisdom teeth.[1] f(x) compare themselves to the pesky molars in another one of their typically bizarre metaphors, with lyrics like, "Attention boys! I'm a bit different / I pushed aside all the others and took my place," and, "I will pierce through your heart's wall and grow."[2]

The song's "Rum Pum Pum Pum" title is used to imitate the sound of a beating heart, which is brought to life with a brilliant "Little Drummer Boy" sample that later segues into samba. It is interspersed throughout the song "peoreom peoreom peom" (퍼럼퍼럼펌) and "reom peom peom peom" (럼펌펌펌). The pain of the first love is like the pain of the first wisdom tooth.

On July 17, SM Entertainment announced that f(x) would be returning to the Korean music market with their second studio album Pink Tape on July 28, 2013, after a year's absence.[3] On the same day, the agency also released a photo teaser of Krystal on the official f(x).[4] On July 18, SM released photos teasers of Victoria and Amber.[5] Four days later, on July 22, SM Entertainment revealed a video teaser the album's title track, "첫 사랑니 (Rum Pum Pum Pum)", on their official YouTube channel.[6]

Commercial performance

The song rose to the number one spot on all of South Korea's music portals upon its release.[7] With less than half the week to build sales and downloads to be included in the K-Pop Hot 100, the song was still able to debut in the top 20, appearing in 14th place in the week of August 10, 2013.[8] A week later, the song topped the charts, marking the first number one single for the group in the Billboard Korea charts.[9]

Music video

The music shows f(x) dancing to choreography by Jillian Meyers.[10][11] It features three sets: one white sparkling set, another pink room with glossy pink borders, and red ceiling-to-floor room with lights on the sides. The members are shown wearing four different outfits and showing different hairstyles. Throughout the video, the camera focuses on choreography, and zooms in on each girl in walking on the white set room with floating flowers.

Plagiarism

An issue of plagiarism arose when the Department of Health of the Philippines when they released a music video called "Gaga Girl Bobo Boy" for their campaign against teenage pregnancy. Some internet users claimed the video sounded too much like "Rum Pum Pum".[12] A representative of SM Entertainment revealed to No Cut News and My Daily on December 8 that "By no means have we permitted the use of the music, 'Rum Pum Pum Pum.' The original publisher of 'Rum Pum Pum Pum' confirmed that the music used by the Philippines' public service campaign in question is indeed plagiarism, so we have started taking action.[13]

Accolades

Music program awards
Program Date Ref.
Show Champion August 7, 2013
M Countdown August 8, 2013 [14]
Music Bank August 9, 2013 [15]
Inkigayo August 11, 2013 [16]
"Rum Pum Pum Pum" on critic lists
Publisher/critic List Rank Ref.
Billboard 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2013 3 [17]
100 Greatest K-pop Songs of the 2010s 33 [18]
100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time 59 [19]
Ciarra Gaffney 25 Best K-pop Songs of the 2010s 5 [20]
Dazed Top ten K-pop songs of 2013 6 [21]
Melon Top 100 K-pop Songs of All Time 55 [22]
Pitchfork 20 Essential K-pop Songs Placed [23]
Vice The 20 Best K-pop Songs of 2013 4 [24]

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[25]

Studio

  • SM Yellow Tail Studio – recording
  • SM Big Shot Studio – recording
  • In Grid Studio – recording
  • T-Studio – recording
  • SM Concert Hall Studio – mixing
  • Sonic Korea – mastering

Personnel

Charts

References

  1. ^ Cha, Yo-rim (August 9, 2013). "Eyelike: Expect the unexpected in 'Pink Tape'". Korea Herald. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  2. ^ Peterson, Jacques (July 25, 2013). "f(x) Sings About Wisdom Teeth In Weirdly Amazing New Single, "Rum Pum Pum Pum"". Pop Dust. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  3. ^ "걸그룹 '에프엑스', 오는 29일 새 앨범 발매 앞두고 '아트필름' 선공개". Newsway (in Korean). July 7, 2013. Retrieved July 28, 2013.
  4. ^ "에프엑스, 1년 만에 정규 2집으로 컴백 '아트필름' 특별기획". Nate (in Korean). July 17, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  5. ^ "'컴백' 에프엑스f(x), 정규 2집 'Pink Tape' 감성연출 '아트필름' 공개". Nate (in Korean). July 18, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
  6. ^ "에프엑스 '첫 사랑니', 독특 패션-화려한 퍼포먼스…"그들이 돌아왔다!"". Nate (in Korean). July 23, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  7. ^ Lee, Sun-min (July 31, 2013). "Girl groups battle for top music spot". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  8. ^ "K-Pop Hot 100: Ailee Rules Second Week at No. 1". Billboard. August 1, 2013.
  9. ^ Benjamin, Jeff; Oak, Jessica (August 9, 2013). "Quirky girl group f(x) notch their first K-Pop Hot 100 No. 1 with new single "Rum Pum Pum Pum," plus chart notes on COOL, T-ara, Davichi, EXO and more". Billboard. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  10. ^ Oak, Jessica (July 30, 2013). "f(x) Stay Quirky With Sophomore LP 'Pink Tape'". Billboard. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  11. ^ Cha, Yo-rim (July 30, 2013). "f(x) makes vibrant comeback with 'Pink Tape'". Korea Herald. Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  12. ^ "Netizens decry DOH anti-pregnancy video". Rappler. December 1, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  13. ^ "SM Entertainment address the Philippine's Department of Health's plagiarism of f(x)'s 'Rum Pum Pum Pum'". Allkpop. December 8, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  14. ^ "에프엑스, 컴백 1주만에 '엠카' 1위 차지". n.news.naver.com (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2020.
  15. ^ 8월 2주 순위 [Music Bank ranking for the second week of August]. KBS Music Bank (in Korean). August 14, 2013. Archived from the original on July 2, 2022. Retrieved July 2, 2022.
  16. ^ <8월 둘째 주 인기가요 차트> [Inkigayo chart for the 2nd week of August]. SBS (in Korean). August 12, 2013. Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  17. ^ "20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2013: K-Town Picks". Billboard. December 23, 2013. Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved July 23, 2022.
  18. ^ "The 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s: Staff List". Billboard. November 25, 2019. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  19. ^ "100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time: Critics' Picks". Billboard. Retrieved July 11, 2017.
  20. ^ Gaffney, Ciara (December 30, 2020). "25 Best K-Pop Songs of the 2010s". Medium. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  21. ^ Glasby, Taylor (December 10, 2013). "Top ten K-Pop of 2013". Dazed. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  22. ^ "Top 100 K-pop songs of all time revealed". Manila Bulletin. August 29, 2021. Retrieved September 24, 2021.
  23. ^ Dorof, Jakob (August 7, 2014). "20 Essential K-Pop Songs". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  24. ^ Dorof, Jakob (December 11, 2013). "The 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2013". Vice. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  25. ^ f(x) (2013). Pink Tape (photobook). South Korea: SM Entertainment. Credits.
  26. ^ "Digital Chart – Week 32 of 2013". Circle Chart (in Korean). August 4–10, 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  27. ^ "Korea K-Pop Hot 100 (The week of August 17, 2013)". Billboard. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  28. ^ "Digital Chart – August 2013". Circle Chart (in Korean). August 2013. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  29. ^ "Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100 – Year-End 2013". Billboard. Retrieved October 3, 2022.