Clap (Seventeen song)

"Clap" (Korean: 박수; RR: Baksu) is a song by South Korean boy group Seventeen. It was released as the lead single from their second studio album Teen, Age on November 6, 2017.

Background and release

In October 2017, Pledis Entertainment revealed that Seventeen would be releasing their second studio album titled Teen, Age. The full track list was revealed on October 28, with "Clap" serving as the album's lead single.

On November 7, Seventeen first performed "Clap" on a special broadcast by Mnet, alongside other songs from Teen, Age.

Composition

"Clap" is an upbeat song, while it spans a lot of meanings. The song shows how a boy, who has been living in solitude, grows up by stepping into a bigger world.

The lyrics for "Clap" were written by Seventeen members Woozi, Jeonghan, Hoshi, Mingyu, DK and Seungkwan, alongside regular collaborators Park Ki-tae of Prismfilter and Bumzu.

"Clap" has been described as a pop rock song, with a "gritty" guitar riff underscoring the song's chorus. It was composed by Woozi, Bumzu and Park, in the key of G♯ major with a tempo of 100 beats per minute.

Music video

The music video for "Clap" was released on the same day as Teen, Age. It was directed by VM Project Architecture, and features the members of the group planning and editing their own music videos. Within one month, the video had reached 10 million views on YouTube, a milestone that Seventeen celebrated by releasing a commentary video breaking down the behind the scenes content of making the music video. In 2021 it became Seventeen's second music video to surpass 100 million views, after "Don't Wanna Cry", four years after its release.

Reception

Critics noticed the return to Seventeen's earlier sound with "Clap", in contrast to the group's previous release "Don't Wanna Cry". Jung Yu-na reviewed the song for IZM, describing it as having a "masculine and powerful aura", and commended the use of guitar riffs during moments without singing or rapping.