Golden is the debut studio album by South Korean singer Jung Kook of BTS, released on November 3, 2023, through Big Hit Music. Primarily a pop record and an all English album, it was met with generally favorable reviews from critics. It features guest appearances by Jack Harlow, Major Lazer, Latto and DJ Snake. The album was supported by the pre-release singles "Seven" and "3D", as well as "Standing Next to You", which was released concurrently with the album, and "Yes or No", which was sent to Italian radio in 2024.
Background and promotion
In July 2023, Jung Kook spoke to Variety about his first solo album, saying at the time that he was working on it but that it was too early to "mention anything specific". That same month, he released the single "Seven" featuring American rapper Latto, which debuted atop the US Billboard Hot 100 and reached the top 10 in numerous other countries. Jung Kook released another single, "3D" featuring American rapper Jack Harlow, on September 29.
Big Hit Music announced the 11-track album on October 3, including the previously released songs "Seven" and "3D". Golden takes its theme from the "golden moments" of Jung Kook as a solo artist. A press release further dubbed him the "Golden Maknae", referring to his status as the youngest member of BTS with a "unique timbre that will captivate listeners worldwide". In promotion of the album, Jung Kook is set to deliver "special stage performances and making various appearances alongside the release". The tracklist was revealed on October 15, including the third single released alongside the album, "Standing Next to You". On September 13, 2024, the album track "Yes or No" was sent to Italian radio as the album's fourth single.
Live performances
Jung Kook made a surprise concert at Times Square in New York City on November 9 and performed five tracks from the album: "Standing Next to You", "Yes or No", "3D", "Please Don't Change", and "Seven".
Documentary
A film documentary titled I Am Still, chronicling an eight-month period of Jung Kook's foray as a solo artist, beginning around the time of "Seven" and culminating with Golden, was announced on August 14, 2024. The singer previously teased the project in July. Distributed by Trafalgar Releasing, the film was released to theatres in 120 territories worldwide on September 18.
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized score out of 100 to ratings from publications, the album received a weighted mean score of 75 based on six reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Rhian Daly of NME appreciated that Jung Kook "embodies each song's emotions and style with ease; a musical chameleon becoming each new sound". As best tracks she chose "what feel like classic pop king anthems", therefore "3D", "Yes or No", "Hate You" and "Too Sad to Dance", while she criticized "Somebody" for the use of the robotic processor. Overall she found that Golden manages to "capture Jung Kook's multifaceted artistry, charismatic vocals and irresistible pop appeal in 10 easily palatable songs primed for commercial success", but also that "it doesn't feel like an album he and he alone could have released", concluding that however "the 2020s have found their pop king and 'Golden' more than secures him the throne".
AP News's Maria Sherman called it "one of the strongest pop debuts of the year" and an "album of pop bliss", while for David Smyth of Evening Standard, the album "ticked a lot of boxes for pop lovers" and "what elevates it is his fluid, expressive voice, which consistently raises chart-friendly material to a higher plane". Consequence's Mary Siroky found that "the bright spots in the album are truly dazzling, while some of the b-sides aren't very memorable in comparison, and for that reason, the album feels quite top-heavy — the first five tracks are clear bangers, but the energy dips through the back half of the record", concluding that "even in the less enduring moments in Golden, Jung Kook remains interesting, wielding his voice with athletic precision".
For Ed Power of I, "Seven" and "3D" at the beginning of the album give the impression that "Jung Kook's solo career will be big on recycled ideas and NSFW lyrics", but "happily, that impression proves misleading. Golden traces the arc of a romance from infatuation to heartache. As the mood darkens, the tunes improve". According to The Observer's Michael Cragg, "Golden is full of bright spots, but only fully shines on occasion", "taking off when Jung Kook can focus on his honeyed falsetto" on "Standing Next to You" and "3D", while the use of sounds already experimented by singers such as Craig David and Justin Timberlake "highlight Jung Kook's struggle to find his own sound and identity".
The Guardian's Alexis Petridis wrote that "it's well-made, hooky – but nevertheless, Golden is an album bound to leave more agnostic listeners pondering what the fuss is about. [...] it just sounds like decent mainstream pop: there isn't anything happening sonically that sounds particularly unique or fresh", and called "Standing Next to You" "the only real misfire" that "starts fabulously – a big, splashy, live-sounding intro that could have stepped off Daft Punk's Random Access Memories – then devolves into pallid mid-tempo disco-house".IZM's Han Sung-hyun panned Golden, claiming it lacks individuality and "feels like listening to an algorithmically generated playlist".
Paste ranked the album number nine in their list of The 20 Best K-pop Albums of 2023.
Accolades
Name of the award ceremony, year presented, award category, nominee(s) of the award, and the result of the nomination
Golden entered music charts in 25 countries and topped the South Korean, Belgian, French, Lithuanian, and Japanese album charts. It reached the top-10 in 14 countries including Australia, France, and Germany, and debuted at number three in the United Kingdom, becoming the highest-charting album by a Korean solo artist. In the United States, it debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 210,200 equivalent album units. This figure comprised 164,800 pure sales (128,500 CDs and 36,300 digital downloads), making it the top-selling album of the week; 29,800 SEA units (equaling 41.59 million on-demand official streams of its 10 songs); and 15,600 track equivalent (TEA) units. As of November 2023, it has sold over 2.4 million copies worldwide. Golden sold 244,000 copies in the United States during 2023 and ranked as the 10th bestselling CD album of the year according to Billboard.
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)'s Global Music Report for 2023, Golden was the fourteenth most-consumed album across all formats, and the seventh best-selling album worldwide, having sold 2.7 million units in less than two months.
↑Hosted by the Hong Kong Asia Pacific International Group and Sunway Records, the Asian Pop Music Awards bases its winners on the "Asian Pop Music Chart" which opened in September 2019.
↑The IFPI Global Albums chart ranks, in order, the albums that generated the most money globally across streaming, download, and physical record sales (combined) in a calendar year. The Global Album Sales Chart measures global unit sales across all physical formats, as well as full album downloads.
↑Lee, Da-gyeom (January 10, 2024). NCT 드림, '2023 써클차트' 디지털 앨범상...올해의 가수상은 20팀(종합)[NCT Dream won the '2023 Circle Chart' Digital Album Award... Singer of the Year Award goes to 20 teams (Comprehensive)]. Maeil Gyeongje (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024– via Naver.
↑Kang, Da-yoon (January 7, 2024). '4관왕' 세븐틴·'2관왕' 뉴진스, 나란히 대상 쾌거 "거창한 상에 당당할 수 있도록" [38회 골든디스크](종합)['Four-time winners' Seventeen and Two-time winners' NewJeans wins the grand prize "To be able to win a huge prize" [38th Golden Disc] (Comprehensive)] (in Korean). My Daily. Archived from the original on January 7, 2024. Retrieved January 7, 2024– via Naver.
