just some top lists

I make lists as a way to think about pop culture, fine art and fan art.

[justsometoplists]

Favorite K-pop Singles Of 2018

24. Wanna One - 봄바람 (Spring Breeze)

Wanna One was created in 2017 thought a survival show where 101 hardworking trainees fought to get a spot in a temporary boy band. I enjoyed the program, but the result has not really lived up to my expectations. Wanna Ones songs have simply not been good enough and the dynamic between the varied group of promising idols seems somewhat off. Spring Breeze is, however a classic up tempo boy band ballad with a killer refrain, where every member gets to sing (not only the ones who are good at singing), and the feeling of it really matches the group. Sad then (maybe) that their contracts are ending and they will be moving in different directions in 2019.

23. IU - BBIBBI (삐삐)

Songwriter, singer and actor IU sometimes feels too good to be real. How can she manage to do all of the things she does with all of that charm, power and intelligence? BBIBBI is a song about drawing the line between your own feelings and others opinions about you, about not owing the sometimes very harsh public in Korea anything. A smart nonchalant respond to the judgmental gazes everyone, but specially idols, have to live with.

22. Super Junior Feat. Leslie Grace - Lo Siento 

This is really not good or intelligent at all. The music video is super embarrassing, the collaboration with Leslie Grace seems forced and the music is… I don’t know. But I admit, I have not only laughed at this, I have also listened to it quite a lot. When I heard it on the streets of Seoul last spring I started to giggle and sing along. Lo Siento is without doubt my guilty pleasure of the year. Super Junior, or parts of Super Junior (the ones who is not doing their military service or having ”breaks reflecting” because of scandals), at their…. not best, but still. Bad acting, terrible styling and amazingly stupid!

21. Yuri - 빠져가 (Into You)

Sometimes Eurovision Song Contest is the closest thing I have to describe the logic of K-pop for people who do not know anything about it. This song is composed and arranged by Jihad Rahmouni and Léon Paul Palmen and sounds like a good Eurovision tune. It is also my favorite Girls Generation member Yuris solo debut. When it comes to the video I am a little disappointed, although Yuri is super hot and charismatic it looks rather cheap and uninspired. The song might not be revolutionary either, but still very pleasant, a well made pop song. And I have listened to it a lot!

20. Pentagon - Shine (빛나리)

At first listen I categorized Shine as the kind of K-pop I do not click with; overexcited boy bands shouting and jumping, as if trying to prove some sort of masculinity or excessive stage presence. (Like early BTS, BAB or MONSTA X.) But then I listen to it one more time, and heard it differently, the changes and different complex layers of the song… The silliness. For me Shine describes the feeling of; don’t know what to do with all the feelings, it goes from stupidity, to ballad to jumping up and down. A playful song about falling in love (from a group which 2018 have been marked by not so playful love scandals. One of them to result in E’dawn, who co-wrote this song, leaving the group.)

[justsometoplists]

19. Yubin - 숙녀 (Lady)

This is Yubin from Wonder Girls solo debut. Remaining at JYP Entertainment after Wonder Girls disbanded in 2017 this song and video really shows Yubins potential as a solo act. 숙녀 is very much inspired by the 80s and I really like how Yubins voice sound like in the song. The melancholia has almost a trot vibe, but not like many other idols making fun of trot, this is more like a touch of it, a beautiful feeling of lost days and times. 

18. NCT U - BOSS

I really like the sound and production of the entertainment company SM, it was one of the things that really got me into K-pop over ten years ago, and BOSS it such a typical SM song. From the dance based refrain, to the rap (that in part seems a bit forced) and the sudden emotional ballad parts that almost sounds like a new song. The music video is also very esthetically pleasing with excellent camera work.

17. OH MY GIRL - Secret Garden (비밀정원)

There are no real K-pop lists without a song where someone sings with a forced baby voice. This is my favorite baby-voice-song of the year. The lyrics talks about a secret garden growing inside the young girl group, becoming more and more evident and beautiful each day. Sweet and catchy, this is a timeless K-pop hit from OH MY GIRL, with an equally timeless and beautiful video. 

16. S.O.U.L Get Myself With You (네 꿈이 좋아)

Top Management is a silly and low quality, but very entertaining, K-drama about a former trainee who becomes the manager of the boy band S.O.U.L. This is the fictive boy band S.O.U.L.s single. In the series one of the members writes the song and people start to listen to it to cheer up. And, it is not only in fiction this pop song cheers people up. Get Myself With You has gotten me out of bed on many dark November days. 

15. Red Velvet - Power Up

Another song to cheer… or power up. When I first saw and heard Red Velvets Power Up I thought there was something lacking, but I soon realized it is not the song. The song is fantastic! For me it is the choreography. I guess the idea is that the ”powering up” makes Red Velvet dance very fast making a lot of movements with their arms. But for me it makes them seem stressed and not able to perform to their fullest. Therefore the feeling of being empowered is not really there when I look at their live performances (although Red Velvet is very good performers). But, listening to the song is a truly uplifting experience! 

[justsometoplists]

14. Weesung - Breaking Down

My friend sent me Breaking Down and asked me why he was listening to this cliché sentimental power ballad on repeat. Why? I listened to it once and understood. This is a very underrated song, not even 60 000 views on YouTube, but one of my most played ones this year. A super sad autumn song for dark nights or days, with a poetic and very accurate description of an angsty breakdown. Sung by, by now veteran idol, Wheesung. 

13. TVXQ - 평행선 (Love Line)

Making this list I see it clearly; I really have a weak spot for silly songs. This is another one by no other than my first K-pop love TVXQ. In the music video Changmin and Yunho live together in a strange house in the middle of the sea. In the house is also a beautiful woman. The feeling is soft and fluffy, just as the song. Changmin drinks his cappuccino and ends up with a milk mustache and I cannot stop smiling. Why is not my life this carefree and cute all the time? 

12. Hwa Sa - 덤덤해지네 (Be Calm)

Another underrated song, 덤덤해지네 translates something like; be calm, and is about finding your way back to life in the midst of sadness or depression. It is written and sung by Hwa Sa from the girl group MAMAMOO. And there are so many good things about this, like the simplicity of the arrangement and Hwa Sas voice. It also has a very calming video. It is like the hole thing tells me: The world is sad but also beautiful and we are all going to be alright.

11. Key feat. Soyou - Forever Yours

I realized this is the third solo debut I put on this list; Key from SHINee. Forever Yours also features Soyou (from the disbanded Sistars). And as a fan of SHINee, this makes me super happy. Forever Yours have an addictive refrain (if not hooked at once, wait for it), a music video where Key fly out into the unknown and epic styling (that is so much like Key). The only thing I do not like is the count of the views of the video, where are all of them? 

10. Momoland - BBoom BBoom  (뿜뿜)

BBoom BBoom was released in the beginning of 2018, and was a big breakthrough for Momoland. And I really understand why, because the catchiness of the song has no end. It is just the kind of song and video the K-pop world crave for. The music production is very addictive, Momoland seems relaxed, full of charm and happy in the video. An explosion of playfulness and lucky energy!

[justsometoplists]

9. Seventeen - 고맙다 (Thanks)

I really liked Seventeen Don’t Wanna Cry from last year. Thanks is almost as good, but just almost. That is however a very good rating from me who knows almost nothing about the group, except that they have thirteen members (not seventeen), debuted under Pledis Entertainment 2015 and had some sort of reality show before that. Thanks is about growing up to understand how to thank someone for their love. I imagine the fans, of course, as this a fantastic boy band song.

8. EXO - Love Shot  

What is a love shot? I guess what EXO refers to is something similar to cupids armors. The boy band has been hit by the bullet of love, and there is nothing to do about all of their feelings. But, in the choreography the shot is not only symbolized by the movement of holding a pistol, it is also a drinking shot. The duality of drinking your sorrows away and being hit by love, or hit by rejection, is simple and maybe a bit stupid, but also so damn good. This is supposedly a sad song, but also very catchy. And it catches me so much; I want to watch the video again, and again.

7. APRIL - Oh! My mistake (예쁜 게 죄)

APRIL sings about the problem of looking too good, with a confidence and self awareness that I love. If Oh! My mistake had been given to a more popular group, say Twice for example, it would have blown up to this years megahit, I am sure. But APRIL is not one of the most popular groups yet, so it never became the hit it deserved to be. Composed by the Korean duo TAIBIAN, this just keep getting better and better the more I listen to it.

6. Taemin & Bewhy - Pinocchio (피노키오)

Pinocchio is a collaboration between one of my absolute favorite idols Taemin, from SHINee, and the rapper Bewhy. It was created in a program called The Call, where different musicians come together and create new songs, and was performed live only once . The song is about lying and concealing your true self or feelings. The two wish for their nose to grow, just as Pinocchios, every time they lie so they will not be able to. Pinocchio does sadly not have a music video. (But I would love for SM Entertainment to produce one, is it not too late yet, is it?)

5. Hyolyn - See Sea (바다보러갈래)

In 2017 Hyolyn from the disbanded group Sistar founded her own label. This is her second single on Bridge, and I simply love it. The summer feeling, the production, her voice, the styling and the dance. I also have a feeling Hyolin looks happier and stronger than ever. But then, what do I really know? In which case this song about wanting to go to the beach with someone special makes ME feel very happy and strong. A truly epic summer song! 

[justsometoplists]

4. Anda, Primary - Dressroom

Some might categorize Anda more as K-indie than K-pop, in 2015 she released the epic music video Touch, that was and still is very much too lesbian to be part of the in many ways conservative K-pop scene. But this summer Anda signed a contract with one of Koreas biggest entertainment labels YG (on its sub label YGX) and appeared in a video by Big Bangs Seungri. And the lines are indeed very blurry when it comes to categorizing musicians as K-pop, or not. Primary is not an idol per see, but still part of the K-pop scene with many collaborations with different stars. Dressroom is a song about emptying the closet and filling it up with new things after some sort of breakup. Not a mainstream hit but still K-pop (?), and so damn heartbreaking.  

3. BTS - IDOL

BTS have become the worlds biggest boy band and nothing seems to stop them. After the good, but also a little too typical, “dark concept” K-pop song Fake Love, came this more innovative piece. Using traditional Korean instruments, singing about self love, dissing haters and dancing a silly but complex choreography. I find IDOL playful and intelligent, a truly epic song worthy BTS and their big fandom. It is Jungkooks sexy smirk as he sings ”I love myself, I love my fans,” and I see fans all over the world growing stronger and more self loving. 

2. Sunmi - Heroine (주인공)

At first listen I thought Heroine was quite plain in comparison to Sunmis megahit Gashina from 2017, it took a second listen to be hooked. But after that it did not take long until I was dancing around my apartment singing along. Heroine is emotional and catchy, a bittersweet song about a break up. ”The show must go on…” Sunmi sings with a fake smile while dancing hysterically. According to Spotify Heroine is my most listened to song of 2018.

1. SHINee - 데리러 가 (Good Evening)

I love SHINee. After loosing Jonghyun in the end of 2017, this is a very emotional comeback. Thousands of complex feelings and questions comes along with this song and there is no way to write about it without mentioning his suicide. One person is missing, and although poetic signs of him can be seen in the music video, it strikes me every time. Listening and watching this is at times very hard. But 데리러 가 is not only a way to process a grief it is also a piece of epic pop culture. SHINee dancing in the rain, reminding us that the ones living needs to continue living.