If you're into K-Pop, you've surely encountered the non-Korean, or even the non-Asian whose dream it is to break into the K-Pop industry. That's obviously a really stupid ass plan, seeing as
Korea is xenophobic as fuck, and would make your life a whole lot harder if you weren't born and raised in Korea, let alone being white/black/what have you
Korea's market is small. If you're American, British, Japanese, French, German, Australian, etc., you're only downgrading and limiting your potential to actually earn money by going to South Korea. Hell, even the emerging Chinese market is going to pass up Korea's soon
Korea's music industry is relatively new and doesn't have the same regulations most people consider reasonable, such as what companies are allowed to tell you to do, how much you can work, protections essentially stating that you can't be your company's slave
But after hearing Why Why... Hmm... Maybe we should reconsider bitchslapping these koreaboos into common sense every time they open their mouths. Because this shit is pretty bomb. Shannon completely nails the 60s pop music sound here. It reminds me off The Chantels's Maybe at an actually reasonable tempo and with non-shrill vocals. And the singing. Shannon is on point here, and the song has tons of melody and no random trap/electronic breaks or destruction of the melody via showboat-y melisma. I'm thinking we should re-consider ostracizing foreigners who want to seriously emerse themselves in the Korean music industry when they're putting out music that's better than the people actually living there, maybe this marks the start of... Oh wow, nevermind.
6. Laboum - Sugar Sugar
Speaking of 60s girl groups, here's a song I encountered doing a survey of K-Pop songs released in March that I knew was gold from the first listen. It flopped to the pits of hell in that survey, by the way, because Western K-Pop fans hate any K-Pop song that doesn't sound like it could be released by a Western artist today, but that's fine. Just know that I like this song.
Sugar Sugar is best described as what Girls' Generation's Lion Heart would sound like if it got everything right. Ripping off The Four Tops wholesale, the song's best descriptor is literally sugar: short and sweet, and most importantly, addictive. Laboum followed this perfect confectionery of a track up with the almost-as-good Aalow Aalow, which also ripped off an American classic. I'm thinking Laboum might have a future swiping from pop staples, keep it up, girls.
5. 4TEN - Why
I'd like to believe it was some supernatural trying to convince me not to off myself when I decided to set off listening to every K-Pop song released in 2015, because this was the first song I listened to, as it was the first "big" release of 2015. God, these 4TEN girls sure made themselves a hard act to follow, because Why is a strong song. The cinematic drums in the prechorus are a nice touch, but that chorus is easily the best thing to come out of pop music in 2015. Sweeping and grand, and those girls clearly have a set of pipes on them. Like with Why Why, no self-professed vocal connoisseur gave a shit because the songs weren't hits, but as long as I get to hear good songs, I don't care if they get a million views or (4)ten.
This video is also a nice touch, it's great to see K-Pop groups out using the natural world instead of in box sets that they'll burn to cinders anyways. You can even tell when the group was filming in New York, as you can see one of the members nodding smugly at a headline talking about the first American ebola case. "Yes, soon" she plots.
4. Road Boyz - Show Me Bang Bang
Hey, remember when boy bandsongs used to beany decent? They would have speed, drive, punch, impact, actually take advantage of the fact that there anywhere from 5-17 guys in the group and the harmonies/different timbre combinations that implies? Well never fear, Road Boyz brought back the heights of pre-2013 boy bands with Show Me Bang Bang.
The reaction to this song is really weird: whenever I played it on my radio show (And I played it multiple times, it's just that awesome.), without fail I would always get someone commenting on forums, or even entering the booth at my station to say: "Hey, this song you're playing right now... I can't understand a word, but it's great. It's better than the stuff on pop radio here." If people totally unfamiliar with foreign music praising this song isn't an endorsement, I don't know what is. Yet whenever I posted the video on K-Pop forums, I would always get a reaction along the lines of "lol what is this crap, my ears", "wtf did I just watch", etc. I sat and pondered why K-Pop fans reacted so radically different to fresh listeners. The answer should be obvious.
You can't see the video over the radio. K-Pop fans would listen to the song while watching the video. Which is understandable, seeing as K-Pop is very much a visual genre. So I understand why the cheap-ass video would throw off K-pop fans who are used to high-budget treatments. This is why I try to avoid watching a music video the first time I listen to a song, so that way a terrible MV doesn't distract me from a kickass Infinite-lite song, such as this one. That's it, I'm declaring Road Boyz as my number one K-Pop boy band bias. Here's hoping Road Boyz can continue putting out delightfully cheesy boy band tunes for years to come!
3. HALO - Surprise
Oh look, two boy bands released something of worth in 2015. Great stuff. This is eurodance stuff like UKISS used to do, something I actually enjoyed quite a lot and something they should've gotten famous for. Now that UKISS is doing... whatever they're up to, it's nice to see Halo picking up the slack. This song is closer to 0330 however, but it replaces the boring R&B tropes with the synths from Believe.
I like the dynamicism of this song in the verses, with the pads in the backing slowly ebbing and flowing to provide some contrast. The snare sample they use makes the track sort of clamor rather than slide along, which is a different choice in production that I can dig. Can we talk about the video, however? The faces of the guys in this group look weird as fuck. I'm worried they're going to tear something by pretending to be enthused and have fun. Generally the look of mock surprise goes on the person who the party is for, not the party throwers, boys.
2. Lizzy ft Jung Hyung Don - Not an Easy Girl
Everyone praised Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean? as the pro-consent, anti-rape culture anthem of 2015, but I'd like to believe that it was in fact Lizzy's Not an Easy Girl that earned that title. Take a look at the lyrics:
Just because I was being nice
Just because I smiled at you
I'm not an easy girl, no.
That settles it. I'd also like to believe that Lizzy's song went viral in the west. Western bloggers would've shared it for its message, and people would've incidentally fell in love with the catchy trot song and Lizzy's fantastic, honey-like vocal. The extreme interest in the track would've boosted first week sales, granting her a number one debut on the Billboard Hot 100. On the back of this blockbuster single, Lizzy would release a whole album of trot songs that sound just like this one (Meaning that they aren't throwaway tracks only meant to be pumped through the speaker system of a Chinese bingo parlor.) to extreme critical success and a 600k+ copies shifted first week.
Working for the rights of women everywhere, Lizzy would run as a third party in the 2016 Presidential Election, besting Trump to become the first female president. Her first executive order as Commander-in-Chief would be to make Rainaism the national religion of America. Under her rule, guns would be banned, and the only shooting allowed we be that of Orange Caramel fancams.
So what was my pick for the best K-Pop song of 2015?
There's only one choice. If you remember anything I've said about K-Pop songs this year, the answer should be obvious:
1. Lovelyz - Ah-Choo
You knew this was coming. But why Lovelyz? Aren't they just A Pink clones, chasing after the sound of early Girls' Generation?
In short... no, I don't think so. If anything, I think Lovelyz songs smack more closely of Orange Caramel songs like Magic Girl and Funny Hunny (No wonder I'm fond of them!). While groups like A Pink, GFriend, and April have a more "organic" and sunshine-y feel to their music, Lovelyz always incorporates electronic elements that make their tracks sleeker and colder to my ear. The contrast between the girlish vocal and the cool track is what makes them so interesting to my ear, and I bet Candy Jelly Love would've been my pick for the best K-Pop track of 2014, had I bothered to do a list then.
Not only do their tracks sound sleek despite being complex under the surface, but there's always a twinge of sadness in their music, hidden somewhere in the melody. It was in the prechorus of Candy Jelly Love, and now it's in the end of the verses, the lead into the titular "ah-choo", and especially that breakdown/bridge. That's how you do a half-time break in a song, no trap, no dubstep, just a great melody and backing that provides contrast to the rest of the song.
People always talk about ballads being emotional, but I've never really gotten that feeling from most of them. Despite Ah-Choo not being a ballad, I totally get it here. I get chills during the beginning of the last chorus. During those moments where the melody does a slight turn you weren't quite expecting, dipping into a feeling of melancholy rather than sticking with the cheer most other "innocent-concept" girl groups go for. It throws you for a loop, and I hope Lovelyz have many more surprises like that in store for me in 2016. There you have it, folks: Ah-Choo, the best K-Pop song of 2015.
Jaemyoung Doe "Phenomenon of October"
Taurine ft Yoo Joon Sang "Love is Coffee"
Produce 101 "Pick Me"
CL "Hello Bitches"
Chamsonyeo "Magic Words"
Girls Day "Ring My Bell"
San E "Luv U Hater"
Miss A "Love Song"
Jay Park "Sex Trip"
Best of the West, from #1 to #10
Chris Cornell "Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart"
Walk The Moon "Shut Up and Dance"
Icona Pop "Emergency"
Fetty Wap "Trap Queen"
Meghan Trainor "Dear Future Husband"
Miguel "Coffee"
Kanye West ft Paul McCartney "Only One"
Fall Out Boy "Uma Thurman"
Carrie Underwood "Something In The Water"
Carly Rae Jepsen "Run Away With Me"
Will have full write-ups for these on my blog, the Worst of for the West is already up, but the other three lists + honorable/dishonorable mentions will all be available to read in one place there soon. Updating the OP with the links as well. Thanks to everyone who followed this Best Of! Will do a reflection piece and I'm looking forward to the Best of 2016! (Will be a bit more organized next year, almost got everything in, but I know this time to have the write-ups completely done before starting.) See ya!
