Youth in the Shade

Youth in the Shade is the debut extended play by South Korean boy group Zerobaseone. It was released on July 10, 2023, by WakeOne and comprises six tracks, with "In Bloom" serving as the lead single.

Youth in the Shade
Digital cover
EP by Zerobaseone
Released	July 10, 2023
Recorded	2023
Genre	K-pop dance R&B
Length	17:42
Language	Korean
Label	WakeOne
Zerobaseone chronology
Youth in the Shade (2023) Melting Point (2023)
Singles from Youth in the Shade
"In Bloom" Released: July 10, 2023

Background and release

Zerobaseone was formed through Boys Planet, a reality competition show, which aired from February 2 to April 20, 2023. The group's final members were announced on the show's finale, which was broadcast live on April 20.^[1]

A spoiler film for the album, titled "Youth in the Shade", was uploaded on May 14 and a title poster was released on June 7.^[2] The first teaser for "In Bloom" was released on July 6^[3] and an album sampler, with audio snippets of each song, was released on July 8.^[4] The second teaser for "In Bloom" was released on July 9.^[5] The single's music video, along with the full album was released on July 10.^[6] A press showcase in Gwangjin District was also held on the same day.^[7][8]

The EP concept was centered around the theme of "the beauty of youth and the shadow behind it".^[8] It was released for pre-order on June 21, and is available in two artbook versions and nine digipack versions.^[9][10]

Composition

Youth in the Shade consists of a total of 6 tracks. The opening track, "Back to Zerobase," is a drum and bass song that is meant to capture the initial emotions felt when a dream comes true, with the members expressing feelings of anticipation for the future and journey they face ahead.^[11] The second track and lead single, "In Bloom," is a drum and bass and synth-pop song that samples the main riff from the 1984 single "Take On Me" from the Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha.^[6][11] The lyrics describe the members having the courage to take their first meaningful step as a group, while being aware of an inevitable end, as they are determined to run to you.^[11] The third track, "New Kidz on the Block," is a dance-pop song with elements of UK garage, 2-step garage, and deep house that describes the group's determination to rise to the top.^[11] The fourth track, "And I," is a R&B pop song that captures the members secret admiration for someone through social media.^[11] The fifth track, "Our Season," is a pop song that discusses the members friendship and dreams, their excitement for the moments they will capture, and the memories they will make throughout their time as a group.^[11] The closing track, "Always," is a solo song designated to member Zhang Hao as a prize for placing first in the final ranking of Boys Planet.^[12] It is an alternative R&B song in which he expresses his appreciation and gratitude towards his fans, making a promise to always be with them.^[11]

Commercial performance

Preorders for the EP surpassed 780,000 copies in five days and 1.08 million copies in 13 days, breaking the record for the most pre-ordered K-pop debut album and becoming the first K-pop debut album to sell over a million copies.^[13][14] According to the Hanteo Chart, the album sold 1.24 million copies on its first day of release and 1,822,028 copies in its first week.^[15] The album was subsequently certified double million by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA), setting a record as the first K-pop debut album to sell more than 2 million copies.^[16][17] According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)'s Global Music Report for 2023, Youth in the Shade was the eighteenth most-consumed album across all formats, and the eleventh best-selling album worldwide, having sold 2.2 million units.^[A][18][19]

Track listing

Youth in the Shade track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Arrangement	Length
1.	"Back to Zerobase"	Jo Yoon-kyung Danke (Lalala Studio) Seo Ji-eum Seulli (MUMW) Yiyijin	Will Lansley (Punctual) John Morgan (Punctual) Jordan Shaw Danny Shah	Lansley Morgan Shaw Shah	2:45
2.	"In Bloom"	Seo Young-jun Danke (Lalala Studio) Jo Yoon-kyung Yiyijin Suh Ji-eum Rum (MUMW) Jeon Hye-kyung (MUMW)	Imsuho (Ntrophy/P.Maker) Niko (Ntrophy/P.Maker) MLC Gabriel Brandes	Imsuho Niko	3:00
3.	"New Kidz on the Block"	Jo Yoon-kyung	Imsuho (Ntrophy/P.Maker) Niko (Ntrophy/P.Maker) Andreas Öhrn	Imsuho Niko	3:32
4.	"And I" (우주먼지; Ujumeonji [lit. 'Cosmic Dust'])	Jeong Se-hee (MUMW) Young (MUMW)	Val Del Prete Moon Kim (Room01) Nild (MonoTree) Lee Seung-hun Haring Orom	Nild Lee Haring Orom	3:15
5.	"Our Season"	Ji In (Flyinglab) Jung Yeon-ji (Artiffect) Yoon Na-ra (Artiffect) Yoo Ga-young (Artiffect) Vendors (Collin) Alphabet (153/Joombas) Kim So-ha (Artiffect) Kim Hye-jeong (PNP) Yoon (Artiffect) Jung Ha-ri & Choi Bo-ra (153/Joombas) Na Jung-ah (153/Joombas) Song Yoo (Artiffect) Cian (Artiffect)	El Capitxn Andy Love Vendors (Prnce) Vendors (Chiller) Vendors (Collin) Haring	El Capitxn Vendors (Prnce) Haring Vendors (Chiller)	2:57
6.	"Always" (Zhang Hao solo)	Yiyijin	Imsuho Niko Dr. Han (Ntrophy/P.Maker) Julie Yu Elias Öberg	Imsuho Niko Dr. Han	2:09
Total length:					17:42

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for Youth in the Shade Chart (2023) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[20] 131 Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)^[21] 27 Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[22] 2 Japanese Combined Albums (Oricon)^[23] 2 Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)^[24] 12 South Korean Albums (Circle)^[25] 1 Swedish Physical Albums (Sverigetopplistan)^[26] 4

Monthly charts Monthly chart performance for Youth in the Shade Chart (2023) Position Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[27] 7 South Korean Albums (Circle)^[28] 2 Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for Youth in the Shade Chart (2023) Position Global Albums (IFPI)^[18] 18 Japanese Albums (Oricon)^[29] 48 South Korean Albums (Circle)^[30] 9

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Youth in the Shade

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
China	—	64,000^[31]
Japan	—	100,000^[32]
South Korea (KMCA)^[33]	2× Million	2,000,000^^
Summaries
Worldwide (IFPI)	—	2,200,000^[19]
^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Release history for Youth in the Shade

Region	Date	Format	Label
South Korea	July 10, 2023	CD digital download streaming	Wake One
Various		Digital download streaming

Notes

1. 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.

References

1. Yang, Haley (April 21, 2023). "Nine finalists announced on 'Boys Planet' K-pop audition show". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
2. Moon, Wan-sik (June 7, 2023). "제로베이스원, 7월 10일 데뷔 확정..데뷔 앨범 'YOUTH IN THE SHADE' 발매" [Zerobaseone confirmed to debut on July 10th..Released debut album 'YOUTH IN THE SHADE']. Naver | Star News (in Korean). Retrieved July 10, 2023.
3. Yeo, Gladys (July 6, 2023). "ZEROBASEONE tease debut single 'In Bloom'". NME. from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
4. Oh, Seo-rin (July 8, 2023). "제로베이스원(제베원), 'YOUTH IN THE SHADE' 하이라이트 메들리 공개" [Zerobaseone 'Youth in the Shade' highlight medley released]. Top Star News (in Korean). Retrieved July 11, 2023.
5. An, Byeong-gil (July 9, 2023). "ZEROBASEONE 'In Bloom' 두번째 MV 티저" [ZEROBASEONE 'In Bloom' 2nd MV Teaser]. sports.khan.co.kr (in Korean). Retrieved July 11, 2023.
6. Yeo, Gladys (July 10, 2023). "ZEROBASEONE are 'In Bloom' on their debut single". NME. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
7. Dong, Sun-hwa (July 11, 2023). "ZB1 from 'Boys Planet' begins journey to make K-pop history". The Korea Times. Retrieved July 11, 2023.
8. Yang, Haley (July 10, 2023). "ZeroBaseOne steals spotlight with million-seller 'Youth in the Shade'". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
9. "ZEROBASEONE | The 1st Mini Album [𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄] (ARTBOOK Ver.) Pre-order Sales Announcement". Mnet Plus. June 21, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
10. "ZEROBASEONE | The 1st Mini Album [𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐓𝐇 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄] (DIGIPACK Ver.) Pre-order Sales Announcement". Mnet Plus. June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 16, 2023.
11. "YOUTH IN THE SHADE – ZEROBASEONE (제로베이스원)". 멜론 (in Korean). Retrieved July 14, 2023.
12. 이, 지현. "'보이즈 플래닛', 역대급 1위 혜택 공개 "데뷔 앨범 솔로곡 수록"". Naver News (in Korean). Retrieved July 14, 2023.
13. Kim, Min-ji (June 26, 2023). "제로베이스원, 데뷔 앨범 선주문량 78만↑ '신기록'". News 1 (in Korean). Retrieved July 16, 2023.
14. Yoon, So-yeon (July 5, 2023). "Preorders for ZeroBaseOne's debut album surpass one million". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved July 10, 2023.
15. Lee, Jae-hoon (July 17, 2023). "제로베이스원, 데뷔 음반 초동 182만장". Newsis (in Korean). Retrieved July 18, 2023.
16. "South Korean album certifications – Youth in the Shade" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). Retrieved October 12, 2022.
17. Kim, Min-ji (October 13, 2023). "제로베이스원, 데뷔 앨범 '더블 밀리언셀러' 달성...K팝 그룹 최초". News 1 (in Korean). Retrieved October 13, 2023.
18. "Seventeen's FML announced by IFPI as biggest-selling Global Album of the Year" (Press release). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. February 27, 2024. from the original on February 27, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
19. "Taylor Swift, Seventeen and Morgan Wallen top IFPI Global Album Charts" (Press release). International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. March 28, 2024. from the original on March 28, 2024. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
20. "Ultratop.be – Zerobaseone – Youth in Shade" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
21. "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2023. 30. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
22. "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2023-07-24" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved July 19, 2023.
23. "Oricon Top 50 Combined Albums: July 24, 2023" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved July 21, 2023.
24. "Billboard Japan Hot Albums – Week of July 19, 2023". Billboard Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved July 19, 2023.
25. "Circle Album Chart – Week 32, 2023". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved August 17, 2023.
26. "Veckolista Album Fysiskt, vecka 29". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved July 28, 2023.
27. (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on August 9, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
28. "Circle Album Chart – August 2023". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 7, 2023.
29. 年間 アルバムランキング 2023年度 [Annual Album Ranking 2023] (in Japanese). Oricon. p. 5. from the original on December 19, 2023. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
30. "Album Chart 2023". Circle Chart. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
31. "YOUTH IN THE SHADE". y.saoju.net. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
32. Total sales in Japan:
    • [Oricon Monthly Album Ranking on July 2023] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on August 9, 2023. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
    • [Oricon Monthly Album Ranking on August 2023] (in Japanese). Oricon. Archived from the original on September 13, 2023. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
33. "South Korean album certifications – Zerobaseone – Youth in the Shade" (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). Retrieved October 12, 2023.