"Latata" (stylized as "LATATA") is the debut single recorded by South Korean girl group (G)I-dle as the lead single from their debut Korean extended play (EP) I Am. It was released on May 2, 2018, by Cube Entertainment and distributed by Kakao M. It was written by member Soyeon, who also produced the song alongside Big Sancho.[4] A music video for the song was also released on the same day. Promotions for the song resulted in (G)I-dle's first music show win on SBS MTV's The Show on May 22, 2018.[5] The song also resulted in a second win on Mnet's M Countdown.[6]
A Japanese version was released on July 12, 2019 as the lead single from their Japanese debut EP of the same name.[7] An English version was released on May 15, 2020.[A][8]
Composition
"Latata" described as a Moombahton, trap song, featuring reggae rhythm.[2] It was composed in the key of A Minor with a tempo of 98 beats per minute.[9] Lyrically, it is about a woman in love, who expresses her desire to dance with her lover.[10] In an interview with MBC's Radio Star, Soyeon stated that "Latata's" chorus was a word-play on Song Joon-geun's catchphrase, she furthermore explained, "I was impressed with 'Ratata Arata', which was popularized by Song Jun-geun's character 'Gonzalez' from "Bongsunga School". After that, while listening to Latin music, the word 'Ratata Arata' came to mind, and that's how Latata was created".[11][12]
Promotion
The group started promoting their title track "Latata" on May 3. They first performed the lead single on Mnet's M Countdown, followed by performances on KBS' Music Bank, MBC's Show! Music Core and SBS's Inkigayo.[13] They received their first-ever music show win since debut on May 22, 2018 on SBS MTV's The Show.[14] Two days later, on May 24, the group received their second music show win for "Latata" on M Countdown.[15]
Commercial performance
"Latata" did not enter the Gaon Digital Chart in its first week, but did enter the component Download Chart at number 68, peaking at number 8 the following week.[16][17] In its second week, the song debuted at number 35 on the Gaon Digital Chart as a "hot" song and peaked at number 16 two weeks later.[18][19] It also entered at number 66 on the component Streaming Chart and peaked at number 23 the following week.[20] The song entered at number 4 on the Gaon Social Chart, and climbed to number 3 the following week.[21][22]
In the United States, the song entered at number 11 on the BillboardWorld Digital Songs chart, and climbed to number 4 the following week, selling 1,000 copies, making it the best-selling K-pop song in the week of May 10.[23] The song has sold 3,000 copies in America as of August 2018.[24]
In September 2020, "Latata" music video surpassed 160 million combined views for the official music video uploaded on 1theK's channel and (G)I-dle's official channel.[25] On June 27, 2022 the music video surpassed 200 million views for the official music video uploaded on 1theK's channel.[26]
^Kim, Ha-young (June 27, 2022). "상반기 접수한 (여자)아이들 'LATATA' MV로 2억 뷰 반열에 들어서다" [(G)I-DLE 'LATATA' MV, which was received in the first half of the year, entered the ranks of 200 million views.]. Sports Trend (in Korean). Retrieved October 24, 2022.
