Keep Your Head Down is the fifth Korean studio album (ninth overall) by South Korean pop duo TVXQ, released on January 5, 2011 by S.M. Entertainment. Recording and writing for the album roughly began in the summer of 2010, but full production did not begin until August 2010, after U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin debuted their first performance as a duo at the SM Town Live '10 World Tour concert in Seoul, South Korea.

Bringing in a new line of producers, including E-Tribe and Outsidaz, Keep Your Head Down largely consists of dance-pop songs with urban and electronic arrangements. The album has been described by critics as fierce, dark, and powerful due to its SMP influence, an experimental genre that is defined by mixing the styles of orchestral pop, rock, and contemporary R&B with hip hop beats to create catchy, rhythmic tracks that allow for very strong dance performances. Released in two different versions, the album spawned two promotional singles with one lead single, "Keep Your Head Down". Lyrically, the album explores dark themes of relationships, betrayal and self-empowerment.

In South Korea, the album debuted at number one on the Gaon Albums Chart for the week of January 8, 2011, and maintained its number-one position for a second week. By the end of the month, Gaon reported that 230,227 copies were shipped. By the end of the year, 263,412 copies of the album were sold in South Korea alone, making it the third best-selling album of 2011.

Before U Go, the repackage of Keep Your Head Down, was released on March 16, 2011. The album was expanded to fourteen tracks, and its lead single "Before U Go" achieved moderate success on the Gaon Singles Chart.

In July 2009, Hero Jaejoong, Micky Yoochun, and Xiah Junsu filed a lawsuit against their agency S.M. Entertainment, claiming that their 13-year contracts were excessively long and their profits were unfairly distributed. In October 2009, the Seoul Central District Court granted the three members a temporary contract injunction, thus halting TVXQ's group activities in South Korea. The trio continued their activities with TVXQ in Japan under their Japanese label Rhythm Zone. In April 2010, Avex Trax, Rhythm Zone's parent label, announced the suspension of TVXQ's activities in order to sign Jaejoong, Yoochun, and Junsu as the band JYJ. The suspension pushed remaining TVXQ members U-Know Yunho and Max Changmin to an indefinite hiatus, and TVXQ's fifth Korean album was put on hold.

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