Top 10 Most Underrated K-pop Songs of 2021 (Artist Edition)
Many wonderful songs by K-Pop artists helped us get through the shit show of 2021.
Continuing with the K-Pop Timeout Tradition (see 2020 Ver) of listing the Top 10 Most Underrated K-Pop Songs because all the other sites are just bothered with the Top 10 that pretty much everyone will have heard of/have fan wars over, below are our top 10 picks of songs that did not rank high (and with MVs just AROUND OR BELOW 1 MILLION VIEWS too) but deserves your attention!
This is the list for artists’ tracks, so the Top 10 underrated non-idol tracks. Click here for the Top 10 underrated idol tracks of 2021.
Some of the non-idol artists have escaped the list in recent years to stardom (for example DPR LIVE, CRUSH and GEMINI) so hopefully, it happens again!
This is in alphabetic order NOT in the order of awesomeness because all of them are awesome.
CHANHYUN - TELEVISION
This song straight-up sounds like a 80s-90s Korean Drama OST jam, with a sexy saxophone intro to boot. Like you can envision this blasting in the background of "Reply 1988" as the leads look lovingly at each other. Given how such OSTs are usually very popular in South Korea, it is surprising that Chanhyun's song with similar vibes and delivered beautifully by him (he completely encapsulated the enunciation of singers of that time period) has LESS THAN 4,000 VIEWS at the time of writing this post. Go check it out if you love 80-90s style K-Pop!
DAVII “Fever” ft. Blue.D
DAVII truly never misses but South Korea and even many international fans continue to sleep on him like he is a prime memory foam mattress. Back with his signature jazzy and sexy sound, this time he is joined by smoky voice vocalist Blue.D, who was stuck in the YG basement until she escaped to form her label in 2021. And these two underrated crooners delivered one of the best duets of the year...with less than 20,000 views at the time of writing this post. If you love alternative RnB duets, you really need to give this a listen.
Hoppipolla “Your Ocean”
After a few sexy recommendations, we are slowing it down for a sad boy ballad. Hoppipolla's "Your Ocean" is emotional and pulls at your heart strings because of the simple and empty feeling the clean vocals creates along with the piano, cello and electric guitar create. The winners of JTBC's survival show Superband in 2019, the band name was taken from the Sigur Rós song of the same name meaning “jumping into puddles” in Icelandic. And indeed, listening to this song, you feel yourself jumping into a puddle of feels, like you are a K-Drama lead who just went through a heart-wrenching breakup. This song barely passed 1 million views and deserves more love for this perfect execution. If you want to experience your own K-Drama dramatic heartbreak moment, play this song on a rainy day.
레인보우노트 (Rainbow note) "얘얘 (YEAH YEAH)"
Okay, there were clearly many retro throwbacks this year and many that caught our eyes and perked our ears because here is another one making our underrated recommendations list. But instead of a more mature romantic mood that CHANHYUN's "TELEVISION" creates, "얘얘 (YEAH YEAH)" screams first love in high school between some clumsy af female lead and some idol type male lead. This has to be one of the cutest 90s energy K-Pop songs of the year. Of recent shows, I can think of this working well in "Hospital Playlist" as a soundtrack, probably for the Ikjun and Seonghwa loveline and during a cute flashback...yet it has less than 12,000 views at the time of writing this post. If you love some cutesy old-school vibes, this is the song for you!
SUMIN "Love is Strange" ft. Qim Isle
Yo, SUMIN did not produce for BTS, Red Velvet, BoA, EXO and Brown Eyed Girls for you guys to sleep on her like this. LESS THAN 60,000 VIEWS ARE YOU KIDDING ME. Especially when she is making such great quirky and experimental pop music. I don't know how to explain it in more simple terms except call it "alien music that is very lit" (for those into late 90s-2000s electronic music, this gives The Chemical Brothers kind of energy but with a modern K-Pop twist). If you like to listen to something more electronic and different, you have to check out this song.
Susan “Eros”
This song is a VIBE. It starts off with very simple guitar chords but is joined by classy RnB-style beats and synth loops to create a charming alternative soul track. To be honest, I do not know much about Susan until this track but it makes me want to get to know her and her music a lot more and why she only got less than 35,000 views here. Her super dreamy sound is reminiscent of Syd from the hip-hop collective Odd Future and alternative band The Internet as well as little dashes of early Jorja Smith. If you are into alternative soul and RnB, you would love Susan's "Eros"!
TAEWOO "hitmeup"
How does this song have LESS THAN 10,000 VIEWS?? This song sounds like a British alt-rock song, due to the electric guitar, drum set loop and the grainy-effect used to process the vocals as well as the melancholy undertone which seems to thread the song from start to finish. People who listen to The Smiths, Keane and more recently Kodaline know what I am talking about. "hitmeup" does not sound exactly like any one of the artists I have just listed but somehow like a combination of all of them - if that makes sense. If you want to listen to some alt-rock sad boy music, this is the song for you!
VINXEN “DON’ NEED”
There has been many great hip-hop songs this year from South Korea but this is definitely one of the most unique ones. This is a funky hip-hop jam with great use of autotune and the electronic guitar and drum set, sounding like Post Malone-kind of music mixed with Woodie Gochild-style vocals and vibes. Hence, it is odd this song has just around 160,000 views at the time of writing this post. You would have expected more attention on VINXEN, since he did finish as 3rd place in Mnet's High School Rapper Season 2 but it seems like the world is still sleeping on his talent. If you like rock-influenced rap, you would love this song!
YONGYONG(용용) "HE'S GONE" feat. Jayci Yucca
Rapper YONGYONG collabs with fellow rapper Jayci Yucca in a catchy performance with dashes of 2000s punk-rock energy. This whole song sounds like an OST for a coming of age kind of show like KBS' long-running "School" series - there is longing, there is angst, there is the smooth and edgy alternative sound that young people enjoy. Seriously, why does this collab only have less than 350,000 views at the time of writing this post? Honestly someone get YONGYONG to do an actual OST for a coming of age show because all her past outings sound perfect for these shows. If you like youthful pop and punk-rock, like early Avril Lavigne and Paramore, but with a more K-RnB and hip-hop twist to it, you should really check out this song!
Youra “MIMI”
Youra just has her OWN SOUND. Like it is dark, yet soft and distant, walking the fine line between something secretly sinister and a relaxing adventure. Her MVs also share the same comforting yet also somewhat discomforting and strange energy. She is like the soft girl version of BIBI - her voice is unique and dark but carefully restrained, mysterious and inviting. Yet most of her songs are underrated and relatively unknown. For example, "MIMI" has only around 500,000 views at the time of writing this post. If you like experimental alternative and indie pop singers like OOHYO with the darker RnB elements of BIBI and Suran, you really need to listen to Youra!
Which non-idol songs do you think were underrated this year? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and let the song sharing begin!!!
