Super (Seventeen song)

"Super" is a song by South Korean boy group Seventeen. It was released as one of two lead singles from their extended play, FML, on April 24, 2023.

Background and release
"“Super” is also our answer to the question that follows the first track of the album, “F*ck My Life.” If you ask “So, how is SEVENTEEN fighting for ‘your’ life?” “Super” provides our answer by talking about how SEVENTEEN has fought our way through, for whom and with whose support, all of which also continue to propel us forward."

On March 31, Pledis Entertainment announced the release of the EP, FML. The song title, "Super" was revealed on April 20. Teasers that included snippets from the music video were released on YouTube on April 23 and April 24.

The "Workout" remix of the song was released on February 16, 2024, to commemorate the eighth anniversary of the group's fandom, Carats.

Composition
The Korean title for the song "손오공" refers to both the Monkey King Sun Wukong, a mythological character from the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, and Son Goku, the protagonist of the Japanese anime series Dragon Ball Z, whose character is also largely based on Sun Wukong. Thematically taking inspiration from the show, a line from the song's chorus, "Feels like I turned into Son Ogong", is performed to the act of drawing two fingers to one's forehead, alluding to Goku's instant transmission teleportation move.

Musically, the track is an alternative jersey club song characterized by its kick rhythms. It was written in the key of G♯ major with a tempo of 137 beats per minute.

Music video
The music video was released on the same day as the album release, April 24. It was directed by Oui Kim, and features high-energy choreography with 228 back-up dancers. The choreography was contributed to by performance director Yoon Hyelim and choreographer Choi Young-joon. On July 11, the music video for "Super" surpassed 100 million views on YouTube.

Reception
Hong Yoo from The Korea Herald praised the song, writing that "Seventeen went wild blasting its fierce energy not only through the music itself but also through choreography". IZM 's Jeong Su-min writing that the song "catches the eye with an attractive first impression", although Jeong criticized the song for "reinforc[ing] orientalism". Describing "Super", Neil Z. Yeung from AllMusic wrote that it "pulses to life with a booming beat, euphoric build-up, and a popping drop".

Featured on the list of the 100 best songs of 2023 by Rolling Stone, "Super" ranked number 47 and was dubbed "a victory-lap single". On NME's midyear list of the best K-pop songs of 2023, Rhian Daly wrote that the song "somehow arranges them into a cohesive and infectious whole" and called it "a constantly transforming song that shifts through vows to keep moving forward, gratitude-filled moments of reflection". Grammy included it in their list of the 15 K-pop Songs That Took 2023 By Storm. Palmer Haasch of Business Insider ranked it second best in The best K-pop songs of 2023.

The song was Seventeen's first top 40 entry on the Billboard Global 200. In South Korea, the song has been charting on the Circle Digital Chart for more than 14 weeks, reaching a peak of three on its second week. etc.