remix version of the song produced by electronica musicians Clinton Sparks and The Disco Fries featuring Snoop Dogg was included on the US edition. A Japanese version was written by Hidenori Tanaka and Nozomi Maezawa and was included on the group's reissue of their debut Japanese album, Girls' Generation, which was entitled The Boys and released on December 28, 2011. To further promote their popularity to Western countries, S.M. Entertainment had the group signed with Interscope Records, which is affiliated with Universal Music Group, to debut in the United States. In an interview with MTV K, member Tiffany shared that the recording session of the song, both the English and Korean version, took one week to finish. She also expressed her excitement of the song's release in the United States, "We haven’t started on a full-length album, but we’re kicking off with this maxi single and hopefully it will lead to a full-length album." Musically, "The Boys" is a dance-pop, electropop and R&B song, with elements of hip hop, a genre that Girls' Generation had never ventured into. It features "military style drum breakdowns and killer vocal harmonies" in its composition, according to Angelica Wallingford from the San Diego City Times. The song's lyrics as explained by Eun-Young Jung on the book The Korean Wave: Korean Media Go Global (2013) as portraying "sexually daring girls" who are confident in their attractiveness and enjoy attention from men: I can tell you're looking at me, I know what you see Any closer and you'll feel the heat You don't have to pretend that you didn't notice me Every look will make it hard to breathe B-Bring the boys out Promotion In November and December 2011, Girls' Generation appeared on several South Korean music programs including Music Bank, Show! Music Core, Inkigayo, and M Countdown to promote "The Boys" and the album. To further promote the song to American audiences, the group appeared at Madison Square Garden in New York on October 23, 2011, and performed the song, as part of an SM Town concert, which also featured other S.M. Entertainment's singers and performers, including Shinee and f(x). Girls' Generation promoted "The Boys" upon making their debut on American television in February 2012. The group performed the English version of the song on two television shows: Late Show with David Letterman and Live! with Kelly and Michael on February 1. Their performances received