| "Red Flavor" | ||||
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 Mar Vista remix cover | ||||
| Single by Red Velvet | ||||
| from the EP The Red Summer | ||||
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| Released | July 9, 2017 | |||
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| Length | 3:11 | |||
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| Red Velvet singles chronology | ||||
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| "Red Flavor" on YouTube | ||||
"Red Flavor" (Korean: 빨간 맛; RR: Ppalgan mat) is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Red Velvet for their first Korean special extended play, The Red Summer (2017). It was released as the lead single from the EP on July 9, 2017, through SM Entertainment and was distributed by Genie Music, along with the accompanying fruit-infused music video. Written by SM collaborator Kenzie and composed by Daniel Caesar and Ludwig Lindell (known collectively as Caesar & Loui), it is primarily a dance-pop song with synths and percussion. The song reflects the summer funky vibe, while the lyrics hint towards a young relationship with summer references. A Japanese version of the song, adapted by songwriter Kami Kaoru, was later included on the group's first Japanese EP, #Cookie Jar, on July 4, 2018.
"Red Flavor" was well received by music critics; the song has appeared on several critics year-end lists and was awarded Best Pop Song at the 15th Korean Music Awards. In 2019, Billboard ranked it as the second greatest K-pop song of the 2010s. The song was a commercial success in South Korea, becoming Red Velvet's first number-one on the Gaon Digital Chart, their longest-charting single to date on said chart, and their fifth song to sell over one million downloads. It additionally peaked at number four on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart in the United States, and was the group's first single to enter the Billboard charts in Japan and the Philippines.
Since its release, Red Velvet has performed "Red Flavor" for all of their headlining concert tours. The song was performed at the Spring is Coming concert in Pyongyang at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre (alongside "Bad Boy") to an audience that included Korean Workers' Party chairman Kim Jong-un. Seen as an act of a wider diplomatic initiative between South Korea and North Korea, the group's appearance at the concert made them only the fifth idol group to have performed in North Korea and the first artist from SM in 15 years, since boy group Shinhwa. The song has also been adapted into an orchestral version by Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring the arrangement of Park In-young.