Permission to Dance
"Permission to Dance" is a song by South Korean boy band BTS. It was released through Big Hit Music and Sony Music on July 9, 2021, as a stand-alone single. The song was also included as part of the CD release of the group's previous single "Butter", and is the band's third English-language single. The song topped the charts in five countries and reached the top ten in ten other territories.
"Permission to Dance"
Composition[edit]
"Permission to Dance" was written by Ed Sheeran, Johnny McDaid, Steve Mac and Jenna Andrews, with production being handled by Mac and Andrews alongside Stephen Kirk.[9] Sheeran had previously co-written "Make It Right", from BTS's Map of the Soul: Persona (2019).[5] The song is performed in the key of E major with a tempo of 125 beats per minute in common time with BTS vocals range spanning from C♯4 to B5.[10] Big Hit initially described that the song "will make your heart beat to the rhythm of BTS's positive energy".[4] It is a upbeat dance-pop track which is accompanied by a powerful string section, bouncy piano lines, and an enticing melody.[11][12]
Commercial performance[edit]
"Permission to Dance" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, on the issue dated July 24, 2021, earning 15.9 million streams, 1.1 million radio airplay impressions, and selling 140,000 copies in its first week of release. The song replaced "Butter" from the top of the chart, marking the first time an artist had self-replaced themselves since Drake's "In My Feelings" replaced his own "Nice for What" in 2018. The song also became BTS' fifth number-one hit on the chart in ten months and two weeks, making them the artist with the fastest accumulation of five number-one singles since Michael Jackson did so in 1988. Additionally, it became their fourth single to debut atop the Hot 100, extending their record as the group with the most number-one single debuts (tied with Justin Bieber and Drake, but behind Ariana Grande, who has five). On the Digital Songs chart, "Permission to Dance" became BTS' eighth number-one, extending their record as the group with the most number-one hits on the chart.[13] The song debuted atop the Billboard Hot Trending Songs, a chart powered by Twitter which tracks the most-discussed songs on the platform.[14]
In September, Oricon reported that the single had crossed 100 million streams in Japan, becoming BTS' fifth song to do so. This made the band the second male artist to have five songs accumulate as many streams in the country—Official Hige Dandism holds the record with seven.[15]