"Be Natural" is a remake song recorded by South Koreangirl groupRed Velvet. Originally recorded and released as a single by S.E.S. in 2000, the song was re-recorded by the then-quartet Red Velvet and released by SM Entertainment as a digital single on October 13, 2014. Written and produced by SM songwriter Yoo Young-jin, the jazz-influenced R&B track was the group's second digital release in 2014, featuring a rap verse from then-SM Rookies Lee Tae-yong. It also marked as their first single to be released under the "Velvet" concept with a drastic change to a mature, more-sultry image, and also the group's last release as a quartet. Upon its release, "Be Natural" was regarded as a favorite by the fans for the group's image and musical diversity. The song however, managed to peaked at number 33 only on the Gaon Digital Chart. It fared better somehow on the US BillboardWorld Digital Songs, becoming the group's second top-ten entry within a year as the song reached a peak of number six on the chart.
Background and release
"Be Natural" was originally recorded and released by S.E.S. in 2000, becoming a hit single from their fourth studio albumA Letter From Greenland. As part of promotions for SM Entertainment's pre-debut group SMROOKIES, which three of the members were a part of, a performance video of "Be Natural" by member Irene and Seulgi was uploaded onto the label's Youtube channel on July 17, 2014, shortly before the video teaser for "Happiness" 10 days later. The record used in the performance was also re-recorded. The first teaser was released on October 6, 2014, showing all four girls in suits, hinting at a transition to a more mature concept from their first single, "Happiness". More teasers were released before the group made their comeback stage on M! Countdown on October 9. S.M. Entertainment released the music video for the song on their official YouTube account hours later. The single, on the other hand, wasn't released digitally until October 13.
Composition
"Be Natural" is mainly an R&B song composed and arranged solely by songwriter Yoo Young-jin, with strong influence from soul and jazz elements. It also contained a rap verse, performed by Shinhwa member Eric & Andy in the original version and then-SR14B's Taeyong. For the re-recorded version by Red Velvet, the arrangement and rap verse remained the same to the original version by S.E.S., composed in the key of B♭ minor with a tempo of 89 beat-per-minute.
Music video
The music video was directed by Shim Jae-won, who also worked with renowned choreographer, Kyle Hanagami, for the choreography. The music video shows the original choreography seen in the pre-debut performance of members Irene and Seulgi on July 17, 2014. It also featured then-SR14B member Taeyong performing the rap verse, instead of not including the rappers in the original video by S.E.S. in 2000.
Live performances
Following the music video release, Red Velvet began the promotion for "Be Natural" on Mnet's M! Countdown on October 9, followed by performances on Music Bank, Music Core, Inkigayo and Show Champion. The girlgroup would then perform the song again as a dance section during their first concert Red Room in 2017, which also marked their first time performing it as a quintet since member Yeri joined the group shortly after its release in October 2014.
