"Universe (Let's Play Ball)" is a song recorded by South Korean boy group NCT U, the first unit of NCT under the management of SM Entertainment. The song was served as the lead single of NCT's third studio album Universe, and it was released on December 10, 2021, four days prior to the release of the album.
"Universe (Let's Play Ball)" was composed by Carlos Battey, Wayne Hector, Breyan Isaac, Alexandru Cotoi, Marcel Botezan, Dem Jointz, Ryan S. Jhun and Kenzie, with the arrangement held by Issac, Cotoi, Botezan, Jointz and Kenzie.[1][2] It was recorded at two SM Entertainment's recording studios, SM Yellow Tail Studio and SM SSAM Studio, and was produced by Dem Jointz and Kenzie, SM's long-time frequent collaborators.[2] The song was composed in the key of F minor, with a tempo of 180 beats per minute.[3]
Described as an EDMhip-hop song with catchy hook, clattering percussion,[4] the lyrics, which were written by Kenzie and NCT U's member Mark,[1][2] talk about "espousement of fearlessness in terms of pursuing what one deems as his destiny", and also "made abundantly clear that a romantic interest plays an all-important role in his perception of achieving that goal".[5]
The music video, which was directed by Hong Jae-hwan and Beomjin, was released alongside the song by SM Entertainment on December 10.[2] It features scenes of NCT U's members "challenging each other to a game of baseball, alongside shots of the group performing choreography".[6]
^ abcdeNCT 2021 (2021). Universe (photobook). South Korea: SM Entertainment; Dreamus. Credits.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^Ji, Min-kyung (December 26, 2021). "NCT, 오늘(26일) 'Beautiful' 퍼포먼스 스테이지 공개..희망찬 에너지" [NCT unveils 'Beautiful' performance stage today (26th)... Hopeful energy]. OSEN (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 26, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
^"12월 5주순위". KBS (in Korean). December 31, 2021. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021.
^Lee, Seung-hoon (January 7, 2022). "'뮤뱅' NCT U, 'Universe'로 1위..쪼꼬미⋅원위 컴백→하이키⋅케플러 데뷔[종합]" ['Mubang' NCT U, 1st place with 'Universe'..Jokomi・Onewe comeback→Highkey・Kepler debut [comprehensive]]. OSEN (in Korean). Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
