I was torn between including either this or their two-month delayed most recent comeback, but ultimately I picked this because it stayed with me longer, and just felt a bit more exciting. This is a daring mess of a song - the bubbling verses, the back and forth whiplash between the rap and singing sections, that chorus that really is a curveball. Everything clashes in the most beautiful way. Honestly, this to me is the far superior version of 4Minute's Hate. Hopefully this explanation clarifies a bit more why I was going to include Born To Be Wild, and also the inclusion of another certain song much much further down my list
18. Puer Kim - Emeralds
Excuse the video, Puer Kim stans are clearly the pits at getting her stuff online. There are two remixes of this of this b-side but no lyric or audio video. Those tropical house remixes are awful by the way, they tear away the smooth, sentimentality that makes this song so lush and beautiful. This song really just brings out some weird emotion in me, despite, it's nonsensical english lyrics. I love this song like giving avocados to your dogs.
17. Nada, Jeon Soyeon - Scary
This season of Unpretty Rapstar kinda had the most listenable tracks, although nothing reached the heights of Puss, thanks to a reduced amount of trap and hip hop ballads than in the last two years. My love of this song basically boils down to the fact that in a year of Puss rip-offs, and with no worthy follow up from the mother****ing top madam herself, this was the best one.
16. Crayon Pop - Doo Doom Chit
Vroom Vroom was here until the last minute when I swapped it out because my inclusion of the Laysha song in my honourable mentions somehow made me realise this was better....or something. Anyway this was super fun, a throwback to Sexy Love/My Copycat, and the instrumental on the rap break makes me lose it every time.
15. Stellar - Sting
People were disappointed by this at the beginning of the year, which they then forgot when they were disappointed by Crying (a great song too by the way, this just had the edge thanks to a stronger concept) and acted like they'd loved this all along. I doubt they'll ever top their opus Vibrato in the eyes of many people, myself included, by that doesn't mean that this isn't any less brilliant. I'm honestly just kinda a sucker for this runway house type music too.
Wave can be dragged even if it was the most tolerable of their EDM ventures I suppose. Very NICE/Liar Liar, I kind of like the former, but I don't have a huge connection to either of them really... I see what you mean by placing them on your worst.
Paradise had me fuming. Go back to Brave Sound pls
I like all songs in the best section to a varying degree. I have Puer Kim's albums which I enjoyed but I had no idea she released something this year, the song kinda snatches
I probably heard Wave only once, pretty forgettable. OMG are overrated but LL is not their worst song this year unless you have more by them.
It's sad a Taiwanese woman made one of the more tolerable korean songs this year
Here for this to become a trend
Quote:
Originally posted by minho
Dark Circle was disgusting lsjkfd I hated it
Wave can be dragged even if it was the most tolerable of their EDM ventures I suppose. Very NICE/Liar Liar, I kind of like the former, but I don't have a huge connection to either of them really... I see what you mean by placing them on your worst.
Spoiler: only one f(x) release this year doesn't appear on a list. Not saying yet if that's good or bad.
I think our opinions are going to start to differ a bit more from this point down the list dffd
Quote:
Originally posted by Suilen
I like all songs in the best section to a varying degree. I have Puer Kim's albums which I enjoyed but I had no idea she released something this year, the song kinda snatches
I probably heard Wave only once, pretty forgettable. OMG are overrated but LL is not their worst song this year unless you have more by them.
Yeah her whole mini albumi/maxi single/whatever slays but that was my fave song from it.
This is Oh My Girl's peak on either list.
Though if Aing did make a list, it would be closer to my Best Of, than Worst Of.
Just because you have zero expectations for something doesn't make it any less awful when you do hear it.
17. Jimin (ft. Xiumin of EXO) - Call You Bae
On the flipside, it's just as soul crushing when you do have high expectations for someone to follow up an amazing, well-crafted banger, and they come through with some boring lovey-dovey (but not the good Lovey Dovey) nonsense.
16. Jun. K - Think About You
I can't believe somebody sat down and thought "you know what sounds great? A song with a slow ass tempo consisting only of one synth and the lighest snare drum machine you've ever heard".
Oh I apologise, I completely forgot about that awful section that dives into warbling-over-piano ballad territory.
15. Agirls - Uhoo
I kind of have some sympathy with this one. I feel like they were aiming for some sort Dancing Queen 2.0 thing, which is as great an inspiration as any. Unfortunately the result ended up more like Crayon Pop's worst with unexciting melodies and grating childish vocals, with poor production to top it off.
I love the descriptions for the worst sings, kind of made me want to listen to them more than the best ones ddd but these last 5 are truly so bad. Fiestaloca
Super cute, super fun, super upbeat. This a great bop that went completely under the radar for the majority of K-pop followers because these girls are super nugu as evident by the usage of the same MV set from Piano Man and that Hyolyn solo. A shame because not only does it remind me of a mix of Orange Caramel and early T-ARA, it's also the best song I've ever heard with 'Chu' in the title.
13. Icia - Time Bomb
This was the really last minute entry because I only started listening to it regularly around a week before I posted the first batch of honourable mentions. Reminiscent of Chu, it's a cool, upbeat dance bop, but this pushed just ahead thanks to some fun lyricism and stronger legs as a dance song. When I first heard this 7 months ago, I shunned it because I thought it was cheap, tacky and slightly corny. Now, it's still all of those things to a degree, but above all I find it charming. This was definitely a year where my tastes in K-Pop shifted.
12. 10 Seconds - AOA
And here's the b-side of the year! The production on this is just gorgeous, the whole song feels so immaculately crafted. I love the prominence of that flute-like synth throughout, and the airy vocals all add to the lusty, longing vibe but never overpower the instrumental. The live stages for this were beautiful to watch too, it should've been the title track.
11. 9Muses A - Lip 2 Lip
Another group I got into during the latter part of this year, although this is probably their only comeback I'm going to get to sit through before they disband at some point next year. Everyone, except some of the most deluded stans clinging onto Sungah for some reason, knows that this "sub-unit" is all that's been left of the group for a good few months. A shame as the bouncy, fun ska production here is amazing, and the girls look astounding; this should've finally been the song to give them their breakout.
10. HeeJin (Loona) - ViViD
Kinda the best IU song since Love of B, with a dash of Gain and Lim Kim for good measure. I hope their CEO continues to put his mob money to good use.
9. Badkiz - Ear Attack 2
I know lots of people preferred the original but I think this remix/sequel is much superior. The whole thing's been beefed up and padded out a bit more, making it that much more of a banger, and much less irritating during repeated listens. One of the best things featuring the Harley Quinn cosplay much used this year.
8. Luna - Livii
My fave "K-R&B/Indie" offering of the year stood out far from the rest because it actually tried to do something different instead of aping it's western counterparts. Starting out smooth and hazy, but eventually building into a big, glitchy explosion, Livii (she's now known as Alice Vicious or something dumb)'s lisped baby vocals tie the whole thing together into an aural trip.
7. Grace - I'm Fine
We know that Grace fancies herself as hep-hap, which is complete bs because this is exactly the type of "indie" pop done in the west by the likes of LIZ Y2K and Charli XCX (Grace outdoes them all btw) which I was obsessed with last year. Regardless, this is so vapid and trashy, and jam packed with hooks to the brim that Grace has turned it into an art form.
6. Hyomin - Sketch
After coming for netizens and Miley Cyrus' stylist with her last comeback, Hyomin now sets her sights to every melodyne-carried hook girl. If this had been leaked as a Cassie demo, you can bet we'd have been hearing from Pitchfork about what a masterpiece it is for the next 20 years. And they'd be right.
I love the descriptions for the worst sings, kind of made me want to listen to them more than the best ones ddd but these last 5 are truly so bad. Fiestaloca
Thanks, I tried to find something entertaining to say without just saying "this song is ****"
Fiestaloca truly is something
Quote:
Originally posted by 8thPrince
Yessss Hyomin came for Selena's throat>>>>
I hope the China stans are talking about how she uses autotune like an instrument
Quote:
Originally posted by Suilen
Wow Switch better come through with that bop
The whole LOONA project is a big for me, love the rest of the picks.
I kinda feel that way about LOONA, this is the only song that was super amazing for me, but at the same time there's only been two songs I haven't liked in any way and I figure that's a decent ratio considering the rate of output.
Taeyeon acted like a real iljin thug in this music video but the netizens didn't give a damn because SM wisely paired it with the audio equivalent of horse tranquilizers.
12. Seventeen - Pretty U
Exactly the same as the previous song but it's by Seventeen so I like it even less [2]
11. Sejeong (gugudan) - Flower Way
I can't even use something here to make a witty comment because there's literally no substance. If I was Zico, I wouldn't have been proud enough of producing this to shove my name on it in as many ways as possible.
10. Pledis Girlz - We
The female Seventeen singing something from Girls Generation First Album sounds like something I'd despise from the first second. I have no interest in them writing in themselves, it just means the girls are actually responsible this time for the low quality instead of a group of producers hiding in the album credits.
9. CLC - High Heels
I don't like this type of music when it comes from the likes of Secret or Mamamoo; it's not any better when it's done by girls who can't actually sing, and just feels pointless.
8. AKMU - Rebye
2:01 was me every time someone on Twitter retweeted this bland bluesy mess onto my timeline this year.
7. Highteen - Boom Boom Clap
Like a bizarro cross between Miss A's Breathe and Red Velvet's Happiness, two of the worst K-pop songs ever.
6. VRomance - She
These guys are so old for a rookie group, can you imagine the irrational hatred they'd get if they were a girl group? Mind you, it's not like these guys blew up with this re-labelled Mamamoo b-side with some Michael Jackson-isms thrown in.
Stan for B side and song of the yer 10 Seconds! Lots of good stuff here! AKMU is so boring Why does SK stan for them?
For a good bit after it was released, 10 Seconds was my fave song of the year but there was a released a couple of months after that stole it's shot at #1, and some last minute shuffling of my list JUST knocked it out of Top 10.
I agree, AKMU have never done anything to raise any level of interest in me.
Quote:
Originally posted by Suilen
Dean + Yawn, two boring things don't equal good by default.
Drag Gugudan, Pledis Girlz and CLC, though there is hope that PG serve something decent in the future.
Can't fault either statement, though I think PG only have hope
if they truly commit to being After School 2.0 which looks unlikely at the moment.