Cherry Bomb (NCT 127 song)

The song was written by Jennifer Decilveo, Deepflow, Lim Jung-hyo, Oh Min-joo, Taeyong and Mark, whilst music composition was handled by numerous producers, including Dem Jointz, Deez, Michael Woods, Kevin White, Andrew Bazzi and MZMC.

After wrapping up promotion activities for their second extended play Limitless in January 2017, SM Entertainment confirmed NCT 127 was preparing for the group's comeback in June on May 25, one day after their attendance at the I Seoul U concert held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

He also revealed that South Korean songwriter and producer Deez co-produced the song's bridge section and added in "more colorful side" to the keys in the track, mostly via online connection.

Lyrically, the song sees the group proclaim to be "the biggest hit" on such "propulsive and built to be performed" stage the members swagger about, referring the thrill of it "tastes like a cherry bomb".

Writer Jeff Benjamin from Fuse called the song "edgy" and "explosive", oozing confidence which "makes the case" for NCT 127 to be an "experimental" act.

[17] In an album review from Seoulbeats, the song is said to be a "jam-packed from top to finish" track, and while it may "sound messy and disorganised", the final result eventually worked.

[18] Writer Sarah Boumedda from The Kraze magazine commented how the song was "hard to reconcile" at first, but "begs" its listeners to repeat again after several times, highlighting certain musical section such as the bridge and "beautiful" vocal melody break.

Subsequently, the song became the group's first single to appear in a monthly issue of a component Gaon chart, peaking at number ninety-six with an accumulative of 71,061 downloads.

[29] Directed by South Korean director Oui Kim, the animation-laced music video for "Cherry Bomb" emphasizes the group's dance performance at a seemingly-abandoned construction site and factory storage, featuring motorcycle and wirework stunt.

[31] It was choreographed by Tony Testa, with two additional "dance practice" versions for the song uploaded onto the label's YouTube channel from June 21 to 23, 2017, a week after the release of its official music video.

[41] The group would continue to promote the song throughout 2017, having attended and performed at several year-end ceremonies including MBC's 2017 Gayo Daejejeon and 2018 Seoul Music Awards.

[44][45] The group then attended as an exclusively-invited act for the Apple Store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn on June 25, 2017, where they performed both "Cherry Bomb" and "0 Mile", along with "Limitless".