I just finished my writeup for my favourite Kpop songs of 2018 and that can be found here.
If you don't want to click through which will have badly written paragraphs and embeds for each song the top 10 is below:
10 - Love Bomb by Fromis_9
9 - Mantra by Drunken Tiger
8 - I Need You by EXID
7 - Idol by BTS
6 - One shot, Two shot by BoA
5 - Millions by Winner
4 - BBIBBI by IU
3 - What is Love by TWICE
2 - Tear by BTS
1 - Egotistic by Mamamoo
THanks @hexahedromancer for keeping this thread going. I feel like its not everyones fault as I have also been lacksadaisacal with the kpop this year. That being said You covered a whole bunch of songs that I have also been listening to that released very recently. I figured I would also post a few songs that you may have missed as well as a special little video of mine to share.
We Can Love Again - RJP - As you already knmow if you see any of my posts in this thread i love and am fascinated by the idea of korean reggae so this post is not an exception. It sounds like Skull the lyricist performs on this song with an animated video. It is a fine little happy song.
Woman - Boa - Boa has another single titled woman. Not as good as one shot two shot or the other from the previous album but this still has a very sultry i1st verse that subtlety builds to a pretty nice chorus. It is a pretty fun song.
Oh! My mistake - APRIL - Im not sure why i like this song but i kind of do. The very mellow beat and vocals are very infectious to me. I kind of like it a lot.
Bbibbi - IU - IU is back and as you can guess, IU is doing stellar work. IU is one of my favourite solo lady artists vocally as she has a great sound to herself and creats fun little songs that are awesome to listen to. Bbibbi is not an exception to this rule as it has a super simple beat to it as well as a great little narrative to what the song is about. IU continues to always impress and should be heavily featured in all kpop fans playlists.
I teased earlier that I had a special little video of mine and that is because I was extremely lucky to obtain tickets to BTS in london (and managed to get some very good tickets in the process) And I can say that A BTS show is super fun and amazing to go to. I know tickets are almost impossible to get but they are super fun live. Here is a video I recorded wheere im not singing to the lyrics, its Mic Drop by BTS
It has been a long time since I have visited this thread, life stuff came in the way but I am back for now to post all the bublegum you can handle!
Semina - Gugudan : Gugudan are up to their normal ways of creating cute infectious songs. This time they have a really great back beat to their song and have expanded from the whole "we are dressed the same as if a cutesy rookie band". This song is extremely fun and is well deserved to be a summer song (although maybe not a banger) Gugudan is one of those bands that I need to research more to see if they will fit into my wheelhouse of groups i really like.
Summer Dream - Elris : speaking of groups that are cutesy here is a link to Elris latest song which is fine for me, a little too cutesy though but has summer vibes to it.
Moonlight Offical by Marmello : I have become a massive Marmello mark, I really love how they play their own instruments in each song and create some very good songs in the process, they are all upbeat and are not so ballady (which makes sense considering you have a whole band to showcase).
Laugh by Skull and Haha : It wouldn't be an update by me if I did not highlight a Skull and Haha song. I really love this duo, they are up there with Mad clown and San E for me. The video for this is all animated and is a very relaxed beat for them. I really like this as a more chill song from the duo and will always enjoy what they produce.
Here is the Twice segment, skip if you want...
Regardless of how you feel with TWICE's ability to sing live, it would be a mistake to not highlight the amuont of good songs they have produced so far this year
What is Love by TWICE : a very cutesy great song which highlights silly but cute romantic scenes from western films including that godawful (the one i most love) romeo and juliet film. It is a very fun song with good visuals for the song
I want you back by TWICE : Yes I am not entirely sure why they decided to do this but they covered the Jackson 5 song of I want you back, arguably one of the best songs that Jackson 5 ever did and sonehow they did it well? The vocals are on point enough that this is a superb cover but for some reason I have almost an uncanny valley issue when i see the TWICE ladies try and sing in english in this video, it kind of seems like they are out of sync.... but they are not. its really weird for me.
Dance the Night Away by TWICE : Another actual single from TWICE aimed at the summer releases, this is fine by me but honestly nothing special. It has a really fun hooking chorus line but its not as special as their previous songs so far this year.
Sunny Summer by GFRIEND : Gfriend are doing their usual thing of being a top tier unit, dancing as they are the best and being the cutest they can be with a summer song. It is not entirely my type of song but it is still pretty darn good
Mmook Jji Bba by Saturday : That intro sax is extremely infectious and the ladies in this group keep it up with almost an orange caramel feel of their music. I really enjoy this because of that even though it can be considered very generic by others.
And another header for a bunch of links that are from the same group. It would be a shame if we did not mention the year of MAMAMOO
As I am a mamamoo mark I will link all of these songs but it seems like Mamamoo are trying to make a banner year where each lady of the group will get a solo mini ep as well as through the year release group singles. It is safe to say that they are doing very well for themselves so far.
Starry Night by Mamamoo : Using a main beat from a dance music producer the entire group make an extremely infectious song where each lady shines with their vocals. This is already a pretty good summer banger earlier in the year (march) even though it relies a lot on the backbeat. As always with Mamamoo as a team their vocals are absolutely top tier.
Easy by Wheein : my favourite lady from Mamamoo, a vocal performer and not a rapper came out with this song featuring Sik-K. It is honestly not my favourite type of song and brings in one or two from mamamoo to help (like Hwasa) but again, it doesn't entirely appeal to me.
Selfish by Moonbyul : The "secondary" rapper from the group is next with her solo song with Seulgi from Red Velvet helping out in a guest appearance. Moonbyul has had one of the better careers by being able to adapt and grow in her position to become one of the standout lady rappers and mark her own style of rapping in the kpop world. This song doesn't feature much of it but still is very cute, it reminds me a lot of a Kisum song and that is always great.
Its been a Long time by Solar : Another one of the vocal performers and the "visual" of the band Solar is a cutesy fun part of the mamamoo group but she can definitely sing as she showcases in this upbeat fun song.
Egotistic by Mamamoo : At this point it is pretty clear that you cannot beat the ladies when they are together. In this instant classic for a top tier summer banger of 2018 comes an absolutely infectious song with some acoustic guitars right from the start. All the parts of the group nail their parts and create a top tier song in kpop for 2018. I cannot stop listening to this song.
Another block of songs, finally by some males but it is all BTS. I have a bias to BTS as they are one of the only bands that I will happily listen to all of their songs, my gf pushes them on me and they are one of the first guy bands that I even listened to, but their Love yourself part 2 album tear is filled with some amazing songs. I think why I love Tear so much more than Her stems from the fact that the rap line was given SO much mroe control of this album. Almost all of the songs feature them in a prominent role and it doesn't flirt too much with the artsy ballady style of music. We all know of Fake Love so I will not link it but it is VERY good.
Love maze by BTS : This is a great backing sound to this song. The vocal performance of this song is also very good and matches the song very well. The chorus is also extremely good and is a very fun song to listen to for me.
Anpanman live : Anpanman is a superhero with an Anpan as a head, a bean filled pastry, a legitimate cartoon manga from Japan. It is incredibly silly that they totally decided to use this as a basis for a song, and the song is Great!! It is a superbly fun listen and again the rap themes are oozing out of this song, which again i love. I love doofy shit like this and this hooked me in immediately.
Outro to Tear : this song has SO much emotion and features the rap line almost entirely I absolutely love this song. From the backing beat to the vocals that expand in emotion during the chorus and has a fervor right from the start, It harkens back to a moody version of their original selves and I absolutely love this song.
So What by BTS : If there ever were a summer banger in 2018 it is this. I am honestly just waiting for the MV to accompany this song as it is SO GOOD. from the vocals to the super simple but infectious backbeat this song has everything it needs to be a summer banger. If Egotistic did not exist this would be my clear favourite for summer banger this year.
Sorry it has been so long since my last post, I have attempted to keep up with Kpop, I just haven't had the time to actually post in here my thoughts.
nice detail in your lists and adding categories too @kaigan_sake I take it you mostly listen to rap and hiphop?
At first I was really pessimistic about Kpop in 2017, hearing so many groups going on hiatus or separating I was not a fan of the initial content output that was coming out either. With all that behind me I can easily say 2017 has kept up the pace of creating and producing a whole bunch of great songs and here is my top 10 list.
Before I delve into that just a brief list of 10 or so songs which were right on the edge of my 10 that could not quite make it in there: Jelly by Jeon Soyeon, Hobgoblin by CLC, Island by Winner, Don't Recall by KARD, Hwi Hwi by Laboum, Want you to say by Playback, Power by EXO, Aze-gag by Mamamoo, KKPP by Miso, Love me Love me by Winner.
Of course I had to have one Mamamoo song on my list. They are one of my favourite groups in Kpop today and this is a very solid song for the kind of songs that they produce. I felt like Mamamoos year was slightly not as great as last years and could only put this at 10 but they still maintain their cute fun, stellar vocal performances in their songs and im glad to see they are already continuing that in 2018.
What started the year off with multi gendered groups of KARD, Triple H quickly followed. Hyuna teaming up with Hui and E'Dawn from Pentagon created a trio that had a very nice vocal mix and a weird but fun music video. I do like Hyuna and this is a nice change of pace to her more adult risque side which many of her songs tend to be. I also like the funkier beat that this song has.
What a fun cutesy summer banger. Red Velvet produces a top tier Red Velvet type song, I really like how simple the song first sounds but with lots of very little details. The main chorus dance is really fun and cute too, this was a really great song to brighten up summer of 2017.
When I said previously I really like it when Hyuna shies away from her adult risque type songs? Babe was a lead single from her which did that, and it is a really nice fun song! I thought this was a good song from Hyuna with a catchy chorus and after chorussy bit.
A later entrant than most of the other kpop songs that I considered for this list I was skeptical at first as to how good a song this was but it really grew on me. The super weird whimsical music video to the incredibly infectious vocals and back beat. Red Velvet really had a coming out year of sorts with some amazing music and were consistent with releases all throughout the year, they had an amazing 2017 and I look forward to more of their infectious songs in the coming years.
From a group that has had an amazing 2017 to a group who had the best 2016. BTS are still killing it and while their musical output has largely been misses for me, I cannot deny that they have put out some incredibly catchy songs. Not to mention they seem to have taken the world by storm which I am very pleased with. DNA is still a great song to me with a good chorus and I love the silly fashion that they have chosen to wear. The breakdown 2nd verse by the rappers is also one of my favourites too.
What a major turnaround this band has done for me. I was not much of a fan of Pristins first song Wee Woo and generally mocked it but oh boy this song is such cute infectiousness. There was a long stretch of time where I would happily listen to this song eat least once a day, ideally finding a new video each time. I like (du-du-du-du-du) this song very much.
A very late climber in my list at first I was not paying much attention to this song but everytime I listened to it I could not help get a giant smile on my face. Learning much more about this song from Wemibelle's writeup I understand why it has such an 80's feel to it. It is such a great cover that I think was IUs best work this year, the music video is really fun to watch too with a fun orange colour palette.
I was introduced to Winner late on in the year when I became annoyed as to why a group was even beating Mamamoo in a best vocal group award. From then I have been very glad I found them out and found other songs from friends. Like Red Velvet, Winner have had an absolutely stellar year with Love me, Love me and Island (a big summer banger) also coming out. Really Really has an incredibly strong chorus/intro bit with the song and throughout the song just has top tier vocal performances. I also like the black and white tone they used for this song.
I know this might not be for everyone but when this song came out it instantly blew me away. Being a follower of what Twice puts out I was very dissapointed for a long time since TT as to what I thought was pretty dissapointing songs. Then they released Likey somewhat late to be a summer banger but I still include it and will include it as one of my summer banger songs. The strong horns, the usual Twice type intro and the girls seemingly just having fun through this song lend to the whole music video (especially with it being oversaturated and set in Vancouver). On the track all their vocal performances are done very well and the hook pre-chorus starting at 1:05 has been one of my favourites this entire year. I also like that the song focused on an instrumental breakdown with some lead dancing that seemed to be on point (the song even includes a dab!!!)
Im not sure why but Likey just completely lifts up my spirits every time I hear it and continues to do so.
Sorry this list was done so late I had a very hard time cutting down my intial list of 50 to even the 20 I have listed here but I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Has F(x) not oficially disbanded yet? I assumed they did huh.
Also my top 10 should be posted tomorrow (its taken a while to cut mine down) but I also prefer last night story by IU over Palette even though most people I talk to prefer Palette ha.
Figured I would do a quick post as I finally got around to listening to FEMMs new album which sort of revives songs from the 80s and 90s Jpop in a modern style refreshing. There are some really awesome songs on here and it really is worth a listen.
There are not many youtube videos of the actual songs from it but it is on (UK) spotify and on Itunes so you should be able to find sources but it really is a great listen through.
Konyaha Boogie Back - Femm feat Lil Fang from FAKY and Yup'in
I do like how Faky and FEMM seem to collaborate on quite a few tracks, I think even to the extent of creating a different name called FAMM'IN
I kind of like Jeon Soyeons Jelly song, its got a decent amount of rap style mixed with the super cutesy pink scenes. Im up on the Jelly.
I was reading back and noticed @onimonkii you went to a Seventeen gig, how did that turn out, manage to grab any videos or cool tidbits that happened during it?
I was slow so you guys have posted a lot of the songs I was going to add but I would like to call out TWICE with Likey as instantly rocketing to top 5 of my songs this year and Playbacks Want you to Say is also pretty catchy.
Laboum - Hwi Hwi : I am not quite sure why but we all mised pointing out this song from Laboum came out earlier this year. It is pretty generic with its verses but I am a sucker for silly choruses and buildups like it has with the whistling bit.
NRG - 20th Night : I have never heard of this group or can't recognize the faces involved but seems like its three or so guys which have made a fun slightly funky song and it is a pretty nice listen.
Marmello - Can't Stop : What sounds like the perfect song for an anime Opening credits song. It is interesting with a live rock band theme to it but I like the song and it seems pretty fun (I am a sucker for people playing instruments)
Stella Jang - Cheerleader : This MV has an animated design to it and its pretty fun to watch and seems like a nice cute theme with the lyrics. It is a pretty nice song to listen to with a rappy type feel to it.
Jimin (AOA) - Hallelujah : A very weird song where I assume because AOA is taking a break Jimin has worked herself into getting a single release by herself and... yea its not great. While I understand her appeal and know she does most of the choreography work for AOA Jimin has always been one of the weakest in that band for her vocal abilities and it really shows in this song. Still the chorus is somewhat fun I guess
EXID - DDD : As mentioned above here is the full MV for the song by EXID. It sure is something! EXID continue their general theme with their music by pushing sexiness a lot as well as having mid verse cuts to Le (who I really like). Sadly their 5th member still seems missing from this video and touring cycle but I hope she returns as quickly as possible. When I first listened to this song I was super unsure (especially for Hanis extremely high stressed sounding vocals) but I figure this song can be remixed very easily into some form of club banger.
I haven't posted in a long time, partly because I took a kpop break and also I kept getting distracted with IRL stuff but hopefully I should be back for a little while and fill in whatever was missed in the last couple posts.
Pristin - We Like : That first Pristin song did not hit me at all, I don't know why as it is in my wheelhouse of things I like in kpop but I thought it was bad. The complete reverse is occuring for me with this song, I think it is because it is incredibly cheesy and infectious.
BlackPink - As If Its Your Last : I am not a big BlackPink person but I really like this one. This may be due to its very poppy nature (it really reminds me of 9muses song from last year during summer). This is a definite summer banger
Mamamoo - Aze Gag : Being the big Mamamoo fan here I will post both their songs, first their secondary single from their new mini album. Features a more talking/rapping style to their singing and features heavily on the "dad jokes" in Korea. It is an incredibly fun beat and song and makes me smile when I listen to it, It also has a pretty fun beat to it.
Mamamoo - Yes I am : Their lead single which features Mamamoo being stellar at what they do, being incredible singers while having a fun song and MV to back them. I really do think Mamamoo are underrated in the kpop scene but then again they are probably one of my favourite groups so I have shaded eyes.
Hyuna - Babe : I took a real dip from Hyuna lately, the last few singles she produced were a little too much and while 365 fresh was a pretty great song that grew on me I wasn't sure if I would be excited for another Hyuna song. Then she made this song and it has REALLY hooked me. It has a nice funky beat to it, is a little slower than her previous songs (which is good) and has catchy beats to it which have a little more nuance to them compared to her previous songs, all around this is a great return to form for Hyuna for me.
EXO - Power : EXO have been a very hit or miss band for me because partly I just do not really like kpop boybands but Ko Ko Bop earlier this summer was pretty decent and following that with this incredible banger (I am struggling to find excuses to allow a september release of a song into my summer banger list) have let me accept why EXO is so popular. This song reminds me of a Pitbul esque type of beat and is extremely catchy. (Live version without all the crazy sound effects and long lead in time)
BTS - Love Yourself : I am a massive BTS fan, this song is not hitting me, mostly because it is a ballad but also a comeback trailer? I hope the album they are making has some bangers on it and isn't just full ballad or else I (and probably only me) will be a little dissapointed in that release. Before this song they also had a very very long build up of 30 second to minute long clips of video of them and ladies trying to tell a story but I did not follow any of it. BTS try to do some really arty cool stuff with their videos but it kind of just goes over my head sometimes.
Primary - Right? : PRIMARY IS BACK!!!! With a mini album he is following a more R&B route with some of the songs and has an interesting take on the MVs produced with a bunch of snippets on 1thek with this song producing a full length video. It has a really catchy smooth beat with some really nice vocals. If you want to watch a collation of all the videos and the music and how it kind of plays out in a story form 1thek has your back in a 10 minute video.
Skull&Haha - Nora : I will always update this blog with any Skull and Haha because I find the whole concept somewhat funny of jump up reggae music coming from Korea, nevertheless this is a pretty fun summer banger from Skull and Haha with fun singalong choruses and a good beat (as always) behind it.
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