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Checkmate (EP)

Checkmate
Digital cover
EP by
Itzy
ReleasedJuly 15, 2022
Length20:43
Language
  • Korean
  • English
Label
Itzy chronology
It'z Itzy
(2021) 		Checkmate
(2022) 		Cheshire
(2022)
Singles from Checkmate
  1. "Sneakers"
    Released: July 15, 2022
Alternative cover
Original digital cover

Checkmate is the fifth extended play (EP) by South Korean girl group Itzy. It was released on July 15, 2022, through JYP Entertainment, and Republic Records. The EP consists of seven tracks, including the lead single "Sneakers".[1][2][3]

Checkmate was a commercial success and debuted at number one on South Korea's Circle Album Chart with 700,000 copies sold in the first week of release, marking Itzy's fourth number-one album on the chart. In September, the EP became the group's first album to be certified Million by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) for surpassing 1,000,000 copies sold. It also debuted at number eight on the Billboard 200, becoming Itzy's first top-ten album in the United States.

Background and release

[edit]

On June 2, 2022, JYP Entertainment announced that Itzy would be returning with new music in July, which would be followed by their first world tour in support of the release.[4] The announcement featured a promotion scheduler with details of the new EP as well as a partial schedule of the tour.[5] The EP, Itzy's first new music in nine months since the release of their debut studio album Crazy in Love (2021), was announced to be entitled Checkmate with the lead single "Sneakers".[6] On June 13, the group teaser photo was released.[7] On July 11, a highlight medley teaser video for the album was released.[8] The album alongside the music video for "Sneakers" were released on July 15.[9][10]

Album cover

[edit]

The original digital cover for Checkmate featured a dark aura with a single chess piece in the middle. On July 22, 2022, JYP changed the album cover with no prior announcement, in response to fans complaints that the original cover did not match the group's concept or promotions.[11]

Accolades

[edit]
Awards and nominations for Checkmate
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2022 Asian Pop Music Awards Top 20 Albums of the Year (Overseas) Won [12]
Best Album of the Year (Overseas) Nominated [13]
2023 Golden Disc Awards Best Album (Bonsang) Nominated [14]
Seoul Music Awards Bonsang Award Nominated [15]

Commercial performance

[edit]

On July 15, JYP Entertainment announced that Checkmate had reached 720,665 pre-orders as of July 14, surpassing Twice's Formula of Love: O+T=<3 to become the fourth-most pre-ordered album by a Korean girl group.[16] On Hanteo Chart, the album recorded over 472,394 copies in its first week of release.[17] In South Korea, Checkmate debuted at number one with 700,000 copies sold on the Circle Album Chart for the week ending July 16, 2022, becoming Itzy's fourth number-one album and surpassing Crazy in Love (2021) as the group's best-selling album.[18] In the United States, Checkmate landed at number eight on the Billboard 200 with 33,000 equivalent album units, of which 31,000 units were album sales. This marked Itzy's first top-ten album and their highest position on the chart, surpassing the number 11 ranking of Crazy in Love.[19] In August 31, it is reported that the album has exceeded 1,000,000 sales on the Circle Chart.[20]

Track listing

[edit]
Checkmate track listing
No.TitleLyricsMusicArrangementLength
1."Sneakers"
  • Friday (Galactica *)
  • OGI (Galactica *)
  • Didrik Thott
  • Jessica Pierpoint
S. Thott2:59
2."Racer"
  • Noday
  • Iris Yerin Lee
  • Czaer
  • Czaer
  • Noday
  • Lee
Czaer3:12
3."What I Want"Saebom (Lalala Studio)
2:23
4."Free Fall"
  • Song Hee-jin (Solcire)
  • Kevin Oppa (Solcire)
  • Song
  • Kevin Oppa
  • Christoffer Semelius
Semelius2:59
5."365"Kenzie
  • Kenzie
  • Deez [ko]
  • Yunsu
  • Ylva Dimberg
  • Deez
  • Yunsu
3:05
6."Domino"Hwang Eun-bit (PNP)
  • Christian Fast
  • Gusten Dahlqvist
  • Jonna Hall
Dahlqvist3:06
7."Sneakers" (English version)
  • Friday
  • OGI
  • D. Thott
  • Pierpoint
  • Sophia Pae
  • D. Thott
  • S. Thott
  • Pierpoint
S. Thott2:59
Total length:20:43

Notes

Charts

[edit]

Certifications and sales

[edit]
Certifications and sales for Checkmate
Region Certification Certified units/sales
South Korea (KMCA)[37] Million 1,032,930[36]

Release history

[edit]
Release history for Checkmate
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various July 15, 2022
[38]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Kim, No-eul (July 15, 2022). ""내 멋대로 갈 거야"…여름 불태울 ITZY의 '스니커즈' (쥬크박스)[종합]". Xportsnews (in Korean). Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  2. ^ Dongre, Divyansha (July 15, 2022). "Itzy Embrace Their Queenship in the Latest Music Video for 'Sneakers'". Rolling Stone India. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  3. ^ Yeo, Gladys (July 15, 2022). "Watch ITZY's playful music video for 'Sneakers' from new mini-album 'Checkmate'". NME. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  4. ^ "ITZY to drop new EP 'Checkmate' next month". Korea JoongAng Daily. June 2, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  5. ^ Chin, Carmen (June 2, 2022). "Itzy announce 2022 North American tour and an upcoming mini-album". NME. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
  6. ^ Hana, Ahn (June 2, 2022). "있지 컴백, 7월 15일 새 앨범 'CHECKMATE' 발매" [ITZY comeback, release new album 'CHECKMATE' on July 15th]. MBN (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022 – via Naver.
  7. ^ Jimin, Kyung (June 13, 2022). "ITZY, 새 앨범 'CHECKMATE' 콘셉트 포토 첫 공개.."퀸들의 귀환"". Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022 – via Naver.
  8. ^ Soomin, Song (July 11, 2022). "있지 'CHECKMATE' 스포일러 영상…"팬심 사로잡을 힙한 에너지"" [ITZY 'CHECKMATE' spoiler video... “Hip energy that will capture the hearts of fans”]. Dispatch (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022 – via Naver.
  9. ^ "ITZY Drops New Mini Album 'Checkmate': Stream It Now". Billboard.
  10. ^ Ji-hye, Kim (July 15, 2022). "[팝's신곡]"원래 두려운 게 없어 난"..ITZY, '스니커즈' 신고 당당한 발걸음" [[Pop's new song] "I'm not afraid of anything", ITZY's SNEAKER Released]. Herald Pop (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 4, 2021. Retrieved July 15, 2022 – via Naver.
  11. ^ Kevin Miller (July 22, 2022). "JYP Changes ITZY's Newest Album Cover For "CHECKMATE" Due To Fans' Complaints About The Design". Jazmine Media.
  12. ^ "【APMA 2022】亚洲流行音乐大奖2022年度获奖名单" [[APMA 2022] Asian Pop Music Awards 2022 Winners List]. Weibo (in Chinese). December 28, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
  13. ^ "【APMA 2022】亚洲流行音乐大奖2022年度入围名单" [[APMA 2022] Asian Pop Music Awards 2022 Shortlist]. Weibo (in Chinese). December 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-12-16.
  14. ^ Mathew, Ilin (January 2, 2023). "Golden Disc Awards 2023 Performers, Presenters, Nominees, and More". International Business Times. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  15. ^ "The 32nd Seoul Music Awards – Vote". Seoul Music Awards. December 5, 2022. Archived from the original on December 5, 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022. (Note: Click/tap on the labelled tabs to view nominees for each category)
  16. ^ Maria, Scott (July 14, 2022). "ITZY's 'CHECKMATE' Becomes 4th Girl Group Album to Reach THIS Number of Pre-Orders". kpopstarz. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  17. ^ Akanksha, Kacker (July 22, 2022). "ITZY sets new personal record with 'CHECKMATE'; Find out". pinkvilla. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  18. ^ a b "Circle Album Chart – Week 29, 2022". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  19. ^ Rhian, Daly (July 25, 2022). "ITZY Score Highest Billboard 200 Position With 'Checkmate'". Yahoo. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  20. ^ Jim, Minkyung (August 31, 2022). "ITZY, 'CHECKMATE' 출고량 100만 장 돌파..밀리언셀러 달성" [ITZY, 'CHECKMATE' sold over 1 million copies. Achieved million sellers]. Naver (in Korean). Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  21. ^ "Ultratop.be – Itzy – Checkmate" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  22. ^ "Ultratop.be – Itzy – Checkmate" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 21, 2022.
  23. ^ "Checkmate – Week 35, 2022" (in Croatian). HDU. 5 September 2022. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
  24. ^ "Itzy: Checkmate" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  25. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2022. 32. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
  26. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-08-01" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  27. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Combined Albums: 2022-08-01" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
  28. ^ "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of July 20, 2022". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  29. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
  30. ^ "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 30" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  31. ^ "Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 22, 2022.
  32. ^ "Itzy Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  33. ^ "Itzy Chart History (World Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 26, 2022.
  34. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2022-08". Oricon. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
  35. ^ "Circle Album Chart – July 2022". Circle Chart. Retrieved August 11, 2022.
  36. ^ a b "2022 Album Chart". Circle Chart. Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2023.
  37. ^ "South Korean album certifications – Itzy – Checkmate" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA).
  38. ^ Citations concerning Checkmate release formats: