Lupin is the third mini-album by South Korean girl group

Girl group

A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...

 Kara

Kara (band)

Kara is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media . The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara (Hangul: 카라, Japanese: カラ, often stylized as KARA) is a popular South Korean girl group signed with DSP Media (DSP). The band name Kara comes from the Greek Word "chara" Kara...

.

History

In early February, DSP Media announced that Kara would be coming back with "Lupin" and showing a darker, more mature concept. The song was released to digital outlets on February 17, 2010 and topped various charts the following day.

Han Seung-yeon

Han Seung-yeon

Han Seung-yeon is a South Korean idol singer, known for being a member of girl group Kara, formed by DSP Entertainment in 2007.- Biography :...

 noted that, although the group had a cute image with singles like "Pretty Girl

Pretty Girl (song)

Pretty Girl is a the second mini-album by K-pop girl group Kara. It was released on online music sites and on CD on December 4, 2008.-History:...

" and "Mister", "Lupin" would allow the girls to portray a "chic" concept.

Media reports noted that the group would be going up against Girls' Generation

Girls' Generation

Girls' Generation is a nine-member South Korean electropop girl group formed by S.M. Entertainment in 2007. The nine members are: Taeyeon , Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona and Seohyun...

, who had made their comeback a few weeks earlier with "Oh!".

Promotion

Kara made their comeback in late February, starting with M.Net

M.net

M.net refers to:* M.net - a South Korean cable channel of M.net Media dedicated to broadcasting and producing music-related entertainment programming 24 hours a day....

's M! Countdown

M! Countdown

M! Countdown is a South Korean music television program broadcast by M.net. It airs live every Thursday at 6:00PM KST. The show features some of the latest and most popular artists who perform live on stage. It is hosted by Tony An and Girls' Generation's Sooyoung...

on February 25, 2010. The group then performed on all major network music shows over the weekend.

On March 4, 2010, Kara won their first #1 award for "Lupin" on M! Countdown. The following week, Kara won yet another #1 award on M! Countdown, making it their second consecutive win on the program. "Lupin" also gave Kara their first #1 win on Music Bank

Music Bank (TV series)

Music Bank is a South Korean music television program broadcast by Korean Broadcasting System, KBS. It airs live every Friday at 6:10 PM KST. It is currently hosted by guest MCs...

on March 12, 2010, making it the group's first win on the music show since their debut, and held onto the position for three consecutive weeks. The song also won the Mutizen award from Inkigayo.

Music video

The music video was released on February 22, garnering more than 90,000 views in the first 2 hours and topping the hourly charts of the day. After the popularity of the group's "butt dance" with "Mister", netizens were curious to see the choreography of "Lupin"; as such, parts of the dance, including the "Emergency Exit" dance and the "Halla" dance, were highlighted by viewers. Other moves of interest were Goo Hara's "Hair Flip"

Tracklisting

Album chart

Chart	Peak position
South Korea Gaon Gaon Chart The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts...  Weekly albums chart	1
South Korea Gaon Monthly albums chart	2
South Korea Gaon Yearly albums chart	16
Japan Oricon Oricon , established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...  Weekly chart	100

Single chart

Song	Peak chart position
	Gaon Chart Gaon Chart The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts...
"Lupin"	1

Other songs charted

Song	Peak chart position
	Gaon Chart Gaon Chart The Gaon Chart is a national record chart of South Korea. It is complied by the Korea Music Content Industry Association and sponsored by South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism; with an aim to create a national chart for Korea similar to the Billboard charts and Oricon charts...
"Umbrella"	30
"Tasty Love"	41
"Lonely"	56
"Rollin'"	60

Sales and certifications

Chart	Amount
Gaon physical sales	70,037

Release history

Country	Date	Format	Label
South Korea South Korea The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...	February 17, 2010	Digital download Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... , CD	DSP Media
Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...	February 23, 2011