Sin's K-Pop Roundup 2022 Part 3/3 FINAL
It's over... it's finally over... |
| 1 |  | Suran
Flyin' Part1
Flyin’ Part1 (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Really solid r&b in a SZA-ish vein. There’s a couple of dull moments but one can’t deny the sensuality of her voice which really carries the whole thing. Couple of pretty decent highlights too.
ICONIC JAM material: Diamonds (feat. Taeyong), Wish I Could. |
| 2 |  | Taeyeon
INVU
INVU (Album)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Another solid outing for Girls Generation leader and all-around icon Taeyeon. Sits in that very nice middle ground between r&b and dance-pop making full use of her incredible vocals. Titl;e track might be one of the best songs she’s ever recorded. Falls off a little when things are slowed down though, not quite as consistent as Purpose was. Still great fun.
ICONIC JAM material: INVU, Toddler, You Better Not. |
| 3 |  | TAN
Limited Edition ‘1tan’
Limited Edition ‘1tan’ (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Very tight for a debut release, DU DU DU is exactly the kind of obnoxious bop a new group needs to get themselves out there and the rest ain’t bad either.
ICONIC JAM material: DU DU DU.
W Series ‘2Tan’ (Wish Ver) (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
I can’t really fault the effort on this one, but this feels a decade out of date in terms of the edm trends it’s pulling from on Louder and the rest doesn’t fare much better on the songwriting front.
W Series ‘2Tan’ (We Ver) (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Continuing to disappoint since the promise of their debut release, this is yet further regression into mediocrity. Has little of anything going for it - at least the others seemed sincere.
DREAM & DEURIM (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
A bit more energy than the last snoozer, but yeah this group doesn’t seem like they’re gonna outdo their debut at this rate. Two songs that don’t really go anywhere. |
| 4 |  | TEMPEST (KOR)
Shining Up
It’s ME, It’s WE (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Harmless. The energy on this one is cute but it’s kinda missing anything that makes it worth hearing twice.
Shining Up (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Damn ok, this one’s kinda groovy, and aside from the first track pretty fun. This group's vocal balance is really winning me over, but I want to hear a true bop from them, because at the moment they’re just coasting along on C-tier instrumentals.
On & On (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Man, they keep putting the worst song first. At least it gets better after, although I’m not sure this shows the same minimal amount of promise as the last EP. Loses the tiny element of funk that made the previous one somewhat interesting. |
| 5 |  | TNX
Way Up
Way Up (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Another boring boy group. Who could have guessed. |
| 6 |  | TO1
WHY NOT??
WHY NOT? (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
I’ve beyond run out of words for mediocre boy groups at this point so songs suck performances are meh don’t waste your time etc. etc.
UP2U (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
As above, so below. |
| 7 |  | Tomorrow X Together
Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child
Minisode 2: Thursday’s Child (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Lazy, derivative, uninspiring. Easily the worst thing they’ve released and the fact a really good intro track like Opening Sequence is wasted on this is all the more disappointing. Trust Fund Baby is top 5 worst songs of the year.
ICONIC JAM material: Opening Sequence. |
| 8 |  | TREASURE
The Second Step: Chapter One
The Second Step: Chapter One (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Another group competing for the title of biggest boy band following the BTS hiatus. And honestly from a musical standpoint I quite fancy them. Jikjin is a certified maybe-bop, maybe-not. The problem however is the classic issue of not having cultivated much of a personality or identity.identifiable through their tracks, although they’ve made a lot of progress from their mediocre beginnings. This is a plea to the industry though - for the love of god, stop ending releases with these insipid ballads.
ICONIC JAM material: Jikjin.
The Second Step: Chapter Two (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
An interesting progression. I like the expanding influences here, although as might be expected there’s a couple of misses. The pop-rock style of VolKno really suits them though. The closing ballad isn’t even bad to be fair.
ICONIC JAM material: VolKno. |
| 9 |  | TRENDZ
Blue Set Chapter. (Unknown Code)
BLUE SET Chapter 1. TRACKS (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Zero personality and the songs are lame. Half these guys either had a shocking day at the office recording this or are nowhere near the level of vocal talent needed to be in this industry.
BLUE SET Chapter 2. CHOICE (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Same story as the last, except they seem to be slightly more comfortable vocalists and re : daybreak treads dangerously close to good territory. Still sucks though.
BLUE SET Chapter. [UNKNOWN CODE] (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
The two proper songs here are their best yet. That’s not really saying much though. |
| 10 |  | TRI.BE
LEVIOSA
LEVIOSA (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
A-side KISS is perhaps the most annoying song I’ve heard all year. The B-side is luckily much better, but there’s really no reason to listen to this that I can think of. |
| 11 |  | tripleS/Acid Angel from Asia
ACCESS
ACCESS (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Fantastic new project from LOONA and OnlyOneOf mastermind Jaden Jeong that seems to function as a female NCT with its battalion of members and endless sub-units. This one happens to be the first, and serves up some safe but endlessly jammable dance-pop. A good start.
ICONIC JAM material: Generation, Charla, Dimension (AAA Ver.). |
| 12 |  | Twice
Between 1 and 2
Celebrate (Album)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
I think I’m finally 100% sure of the opinion that TWICE can do no wrong. Even on this, an album specifically for the Japanese market, the performances on what are otherwise B-tier songs are so consistently good I can’t help but like it a lot. They even managed to get 2021 single Doughnut on the record as an album closer too, which is the epitome of what a GOOD slow k-pop ballad sounds like (why is it so hard for people to get them right). It’s not their A material on display, but it is consistently fun throughout.
ICONIC JAM material: Celebrate, Bitter Sweet, Doughnut.
BETWEEN 1&2 (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
One of the most consistent TWICE releases yet, really no complaints with any of this outside of the weak final track (and even that isn’t bad). Talk That Talk and Basics are easily two of their best tracks, and they have so much confidence and synergy as a group that it seems they can’t miss. The Onces are eating.
ICONIC JAM material: Talk That Talk, Queen of Hearts, Basics, Trouble, Brave, Gone. |
| 13 |  | UP10TION
Code Name: Arrow
Novella (EP)
🌕🌗🌑🌑🌑
No thematic consistency whatsoever and very little else to salvage. Poor effort.
Code Name: Arrow (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Better (convincingly so), but still missing any semblance of identity or personality. I’m not sure if it’s the brain rot kicking in at this point though or it’s legitimately good but the opening track Angel was strangely boptastic. |
| 14 |  | Various Artists (K-Pop)
Queendom2 Position Unit Battle Part.1-2
Part.1-1 (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
All of the following stuff is from some song/dance competition where various girl groups perform shit. I haven’t watched the show but I’m not going to bother giving a description for each one because screw that here are my ratings for the stuff that's up on spotify.
Part.1-2 (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
ICONIC JAM material: Brave Girls - Chi Mat Ba Ram+Rollin’(Remix), WJSN - As You Wish.
Part.2-1 (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
ICONIC JAM material: LOONA - SHAKE IT, Brave Girls - MVSK (Remix).
Part.2-2 (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Position Unit Battle Part.1-1 (Single)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
ICONIC JAM material: Sun and Moon (LOONA/Kep1er) - Don’t Go (Queendom2 Version).
Position Unit Battle Part.1-2 (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
ICONIC JAM material: KEV1Z (VIVIZ/Kep1er) - Purr.
FANtastic QUEENDOM 1-1 (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
FANtastic QUEENDOM 1-2 (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
FINAL (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
JINAON (Epilogue) (Single)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑 |
| 15 |  | Verivery
Series 'O' (Round 3 : Whole)
Series 'O' (Round 3 : Whole) (Album)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
This is a mediocre quality mishmash of every other boy group rolled into one, with little to no thought of how the songs work with the group. It’s mostly pretty bad because of this, but sometimes (mostly Velocity) it works and shows the direction it should have gone in, rather than trying to be and do everything at once.
ICONIC JAM material: Velocity.
Liminality - EP.LOVE (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
What on earth am I listening to? I know exactly what they are going for with Tap Tap but oh honeys you do not pull it off. Just blasting segments of three completely different songs every 15 seconds or so does not work here. Similar story on the b-side too. Like this production is certainly interesting, it just forgets to be good as well. |
| 16 |  | VICTON
Chaos
Chronograph (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Tries to be funky. Fails.
Chaos (EP)
🌕🌗🌑🌑🌑
Oh my gooood shut up this sucks.
Choice (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
A marginal improvement. There’s one vocalist here who immediately annoys me though every time I hear him. Really ruins any chance I’d give this more than a judgement once over. |
| 17 |  | Viviz
Beam of Prism
Beam of Prism (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
I love veteran groups. They may not always be amazing, but it’s nice to hear more mature artists still passionate about pop music, and given the wealth of experience and quality these former GFRIEND members possess it’s no wonder this is an instant success. It’s discoish dance-pop, you’ve heard it before, but it’s in the polish where this shines. Oh and BOP BOP! sticks in your head like crazy.
ICONIC JAM material: BOP BOP!, Lemonade.
Summer Vibe (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Surprise surprise, Summer vibe is full of summer vibes. It’s bright, happy and a little too flavourless at points, but I can’t deny how much of a mood this is. I had fun at least.
ICONIC JAM material: Love Love Love, #FLASHBACK.
Rum Pum Pum (Single)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Why are there two songs with this title in the same year? I was hoping for a cover of the Lee Jin Ah song, but whilst this isn’t up to that high standard this one’s fun too, Hoping this group can go up another gear in 2023 to make good on the promise they’ve shown in 2022. |
| 18 |  | WayV
Phantom
Phantom (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
NCT spinoff group WayV continue to do the same thing they’ve always done, namely dark trap-pop that doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but is done decently enough that it’s not really a problem. Just beginning to get the feeling that there’s a lot more potential with these guys that is being a little squandered.
ICONIC JAM material: Bounce Back. |
| 19 |  | Weeekly
Play Game : AWAKE
Play Game : AWAKE (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Oof what a miss! I come to Weeekly for fun dance-pop, not generic soulless trap-pop. No idea what they were thinking here, course correction needed.
Love (Single)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Cover of an old Brown Eyed Girls song - this just works! Love love love the disco-ier take on the original and the vocal performances are more cohesive too. Maybe AWAKE was just a momentary blip. I hope anyway.
ICONIC JAM material: Love. |
| 20 |  | WEi
Love Pt. 2 : Passion
Love Pt. 1: First Love (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
This is the laziest thing I’ve ever heard.
Youth (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Japanese EP with one new song, it’s fine. Kinda groovy, but has a very predictable and lazy chorus and the safeness is suffocating.
Love Pt. 2: Passion (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
More energy than the first part, and the first two tracks were promising. It all comes crashing down after that point though. |
| 21 |  | Whee In
WHEE
WHEE (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Silky, mature r&b that impresses in consistency more than highlights. Doesn’t really go wrong anywhere so a very comfortable listen, but perhaps a risk or two would have elevated this.
ICONIC JAM material: Pink Cloud. |
| 22 |  | WINNER
Holiday
Holiday (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Yeah this isn’t very good, but i’ll give them points for continuing to be what they’ve always been - annoyingly catchy. |
| 23 |  | WJSN (Cosmic Girls)
Sequence
Sequence (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Classic Cosmic Girls stuff here. They aren’t reinventing the k-pop wheel but it’s effortless dance-pop with great hooks.
ICONIC JAM material: Last Sequence, Done. |
| 24 |  | WJSN Chocome
Super Yuppers!
Super Yuppers! (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
This is like crack for my poor undiagnosed ADHD.. So annoyingly catchy it comes back around to being good. Lovely 80s synthpop/hi-nrg sounds on the title track. B-side is very fun too.
ICONIC JAM material: Super Yuppers!, Sweetie. |
| 25 |  | WONHO
Bittersweet
Obsession (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Nice sounds but this bores me to tears.
Facade (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
A marginal improvement but still lacking any kind of energy really.
Don’t Hesitate (Single)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Some decent ideas here but they don’t amount to much overall.
Bittersweet (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Hey we’ve finally got to some jammable songs. The b-side especially is pretty nice. |
| 26 |  | Wonpil
Pilmography
Pilmography (Album)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
R&B of the very adult contemporary type. Really well-produced, great vocal performance, but I feel like a broken record because yet again aside from a couple of highlights, this just does very little on the songwriting front.
ICONIC JAM material: Stranded, A journey. |
| 27 |  | woo!ah!
Pit-a-Pat
Joy (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
One great song (Danger). One of the biggest bops of the year (Catch the Stars). And four tracks of absolute mid. Please quality control when this is good this is so good.
ICONIC JAM material: Danger, Catch the Stars.
Pit-a-Pat (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Rollercoaster is instantly one of my favourite k-pop songs ever. It feels like Korean Run Away With Me in that in my head I spin around in a gleeful daze in the middle of some neon city everytime I hear it. LOVE THING is also excellent, really sensitive and romantic pop r&b with finesse. Praying for a comeback soon!
ICONIC JAM material: Rollercoaster, LOVE THING. |
| 28 |  | Woodz
Colorful Trauma
Colorful Trauma (EP)
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
Really boring pop rock, and the attempts at 80s cock rock swagger fall so flat. A big swing and a miss. |
| 29 |  | Woosung
MOTH
MOTH (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
You know that weirdly decent Shawn Mendes album a while back (well decent might be pushing it, but it had a couple of really good songs on it) - this reminds me of that, but better. Really solid production and vocals, and it actually feels earnest and real. The first track is pretty mediocre, but everything after that is a keeper.
ICONIC JAM material: Side Effects (feat. SATICA), Phase Me, Modern Life. |
| 30 |  | Xdinary Heroes
Overload
Hello, world! (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
A bit more unique than many boy groups, and a definite step up from their awful debut single. No real bops though, but I think their take on pop rockier sounds is promising for the future.
Overload (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Like the previous EP, but overall a much more fun and carefree offering. I do think the ingredients for a truly great boy group are there if they can continue to refine their sound.
ICONIC JAM material: X-MAS. |
| 31 |  | Xia
Dimension
Dimension (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Two pretty solid tracks sandwiching a boring ballad. Good vocal performance here elevates things a little.
ICONIC JAM material: HANA. |
| 32 |  | Xiumin
Brand New
Brand New (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Extremely skippable. Ballads are really bad. Next. |
| 33 |  | YENA
ˣ‿ˣ (SMiLEY)
ˣ‿ˣ (SMiLEY) (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Excellent bops from yet another IZ*ONE solo debut. Like the pop rock angle on some of these tracks a lot. That’s it, that's all that needs to be said.
ICONIC JAM material: SMILEY (feat. BIBI), Lxxk 2 U, PRETTY BOYS, VACAY.
SMARTPHONE (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
More of the same. Extremely addictive, and title track is her best yet.
ICONIC JAM material: SMARTPHONE, WithOrWithOut, Lemon-Aid. |
| 34 |  | Yerin
ARIA
Aria (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
The second GFRIEND member to make their solo debut after the groups dissolution (Yuju being first),this is a somewhat unmemorable step given how strong the aforementioned group’s later material was.Title tracks a banger though.
ICONIC JAM material: ARIA. |
| 35 |  | Yerin Baek
Pisces
Pisces (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
An excellent trio of tracks from Yerin, whose releases have been disappointingly sparse since her incredible last album. The Mitski-esque synthpop opener is a particular highlight, but you can’t go wrong anywhere here.
ICONIC JAM material: It was me, Pisces. |
| 36 |  | YooA
Selfish
Selfish (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Marking her second solo project (whilst her comrades in OH MY GIRL have yet to make their debuts) this EP proves to be an unfortunate step down from her first. In one ear and out the other really, Blood Moon is kinda cute, but it’s nothing that she hasn’t already done better both by herself and with her aforementioned group. |
| 37 |  | Yoojung
Sunflower
Sunflower (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
First year since their debut we didn’t get a proper Weki Meki release, but this solo 3-track single goes a decent way towards scratching the itch. A bit more laid back than a lot of the main group material, which unfortunately results in a slightly less interesting listen, but it’s a workable teaser for potential future solo projects from Yoojung. |
| 38 |  | Yoon Jisung
MIRO
MIRO (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Performed well, but boring ass songs. |
| 39 |  | Youha
love you more,
love you more, (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗
Such an incredible debut, every song here is an absolute banger. After she dropped Abittipsy as a standalone track in 2021 I knew she had potential, but this is so mature and fully realised beyond any of my expectations. Versatile too, there’s synthpop, pop rock, r&b every flavour you want. This feels special, and hopefully she can build on this quality even further in the future.
ICONIC JAM material: Satellite, Last Dance, Flower Rain, We, NUMB. |
| 40 |  | Youngjae
Sugar
Sugar (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Really solid pop r&b that doesn’t have a killer song to grab on to. |
| 41 |  | Younite
Youni-Birth
Youni-Birth (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Man, what a fun debut - full of life and energy, these guys feel hungry. The songs are carefree and insanely jammable, and while it’s nothing new it’s just done really well. Good ass job.
ICONIC JAM material: 1 of 9, EVERYBODY (feat. DJ Juice), I GOT THE FEELING.
Youni-Q (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Not quite the flawless follow-up it could have been, but this is still pretty well-done. Songs are once again oozing with a youthful vitality that’s missing amongst many of their contemporaries, they’re just not quite as bop-worthy as their previous effort.
ICONIC JAM material: TRAVELER.
Youni-On (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Same story as the last - a bit darker in the production in places which sometimes works and sometimes doesn’t. Really wanna hear something as good as their debut at this point.
ICONIC JAM material: Power. |
| 42 |  | Yugyeom
Take You Down
Take You Down (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Very smooth, but little else of interest. Solid enough. |
| 43 |  | Yuju
REC.
REC. (EP)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
GFRIEND solo debuts ruled 2022 a little bit, and this is a pretty decent example. Maybe a bit slow for my tastes at times, but the ballads here actually have life in them - success! It’s pretty good for what it is.
ICONIC JAM material: Bad Blood (Intro), Play. |
| 44 |  | ZICO
Grown Ass Kid
Grown Ass Kid (EP)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Very generic pop rap. Not particularly interesting. |
| 45 |  | Red Velvet
Russian Roulette
+++++ SINGLES SECTION +++++ |
| 46 |  | Big Bang
MADE
BIGBANG - Still Life
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
You know, after one of your former members gets convicted for sex trafficking, you’re gonna need a hell of a good comeback to help people look past that and other scandals from your past..You don’t want to release a half-baked easy listening ballad that squanders the talents that made you Korea’s biggest pre-BTS musical export. Unfortunately that’s exactly what the group does here. Considering the talent each member has demonstrated in the past, this is one hell of a letdown.
Choi HEART - Elastic Love
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
More modern k-city-pop, more love love love this sound.
Choi HEART - Million
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 ICONIC JAM
Like the last track, but with a much synthier instrumental and even better. Idk who this lady is but she has a bright future.
Chuu - One and a Half
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Another LOONA member and another track that’s not bad, but not the quality we’ve come to expect from them. |
| 47 |  | Subin
Our Love
Crush - Rush Hour (feat. j-hope)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
I like what this is going for, laidback groovy 80s-inspired pop rap, but the execution is painfully mediocre.
DALsooobin - 337
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Rather unique energy on this one, quite like the fact the production here seems deliberately non-glossy. It’s not amazing, but it is different.
DAWN - Stupid Cool
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
This is funny bad so it gets a slight bump.
The Deep - Muah!
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Only found out about this very late but this is a fantastic slice of 2-step pop with some wonderful vocals and an addictive hook. Very excited to hear more. |
| 48 |  | GOT the beat
Stamp On It
DKZ - CHASE EPISODE 2: MAUM
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Really solid dance-pop track from a boy group, who as a whole so often fail to capture that free-spirited energy that the girl groups have had down to a formula for years at this point. Not all too familiar with this group (this shorter name is definitely an upgrade/downgrade (depending on perspective) from their oddly homo-erotic old name DONGKIZ) but this gives reasons for optimism.
DKZ - CHASE EPISODE 3: BEUM
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
This one less so, it’s a little too close to the generic edm-pop boy groups that saturate the market already without much to stand out. Certainly not the worst of its kind, its fairly tasteful for the style, but I’m hoping for more in the vein of the previous track and less of this in the future.
Girls2000 - Bad★Girlfriend!
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
So goddamn fun and infectious, this short-lived project involving the aforementioned Ban Seolhee is cutesy pop rock perfection, nothing much else needs to be said.
GOT the beat - Step Back
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
This debut single from the earth-shatteringly stacked supergroup (BoA + members of Red Velvet, aespa AND Girls’ Generation) is unfortunately not more than the sum of its parts, but the sheer weight of talent still makes it pretty good. It’s got a very unusual harmony going on throughout that I don’t even know if I know if it works, but it’s stuck in my head anyway. Excited for their upcoming mini. |
| 49 |  | HeeJin
K
HeeJin - Honestly
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Apparently a cover of some other singer I’ve never heard of, this is probably the best solo LOONA track I’ve heard this year, if you like bouncy synths in your r&b this’ll be right up your alley.
HeeJin & JinSoul - Masquerade
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
I do not understand how TV soundtracks work in Korea, and why so many k-pop artists record all these random tracks that no one seems to listen to (I might be wrong but I never see them talked about). However I noticed this one got a little bit of attention - two LOONA members combining for a loud bombastic single - unfortunately there’s very little in the way of staying power even if it’s mostly decent.
Huh Yunjin - Raise y_our glass
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
It’s like a Billie Eilish imitation’s B-side ballad that didn’t make the B-sides compilation out of mediocrity..
HWASA - [Hwa Sa Show Vol.1] just talking to myself
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Sweet groove on this one and her vocals have a really nice understated grandiosity to them. A bit too Hallmark-approved to capture the attention beyond that.
HWASA - [Hwa Sa Show Vol.2] Grey Christmas
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
As you could probably tell from the title, this is even more in that direction. It’s serviceable I guess. |
| 50 |  | IU
Last Fantasy
ISEGYE IDOL - Winter Spring
🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑
Unbelievably garbage ballad. This is so insipid, generic and offensively dull it hurts. Vocals are mixed as if they are recorded in completely different places and stitched together. Avoid avoid avoid.
IU & Kang Seungwon - Mother Nature (H₂o)
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Ok, full disclosure IU was the first Korean artist I ever got into or heard, specifically with her 2011 album Last Fantasy, so I’m forever gonna be biased when it comes to her stuff. And really this reminds me a lot of that project compared to her later albums - it’s heavily inspired by more traditional pop tunes and that’s not gonna be everyone’s cup of tea, but for what it's worth I enjoy this a lot.
Jaehyun - Forever Only
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Really good 2000s contemporary r&b vibes here - bouncy instrumental, smooth and gliding vocals, that moment when the doubled vocals in the chorus hit. It;’s really solid.
Jessi - Zoom
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
If 95% of you heard this you’d 1 it instantly. But I have a strong stomach and I stan our ratchet queen. About 20 penis euphemisms away from an early Cupcakke banger. |
| 51 |  | Jung Kook
GOLDEN
Jin - The Astronaut
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
This sounds like a Mylo Xyloto-era Coldplay song. Oh wait it is an old re-recorded Coldplay demo lol. Now that sounds bad (although I somewhat defend Mylo, it’s not the greatest comparison), but somehow I really enjoy this. Jin’s vocals are very solid and earnest, and it’s a vibe I don’t recall hearing from any of the other BTS members.
Jun - LIMBO
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Really odd song, it tries to do a ton of things and ends up doing a mediocre job at all of them. I’m all for doing something different, but this just didn’t work.
Jungkook - Dreamers
🌕🌑🌑🌑🌑
Here I was praising BTS solo offerings this year. Ok, World Cup songs are usually the lowest common denominator anyway so I shouldn’t have expected much, but at least make it campy fun or memorable. This is just garbage.
Jungkook - Stay Alive
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
This isn’t much better. Ok it is, but it’s not good is what I mean. Really boring affair, nothing memorable about it. You’re letting your brothers down. |
| 52 |  | Loona Odd Eye Circle
Max & Match
Kang Hyewon & Stella Jang - Like a Diamond
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Fun little laidback duet. Both have good chemistry, wish the instrumental was a bit more adventurous but it’s solid enough as it is.
Kim Wan-sun - Feeling
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
It’s enduring how long she’s been going at this point having first debuted in the mid-80s, and honestly this puts a lot of her younger contemporaries to shame. It’s not the greatest synthpop I’ve ever heard, but it’s certainly impressive for someone who's been in the game this long.
LaLaGirl’s - 대리만족 (Dimwit)
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
One song is not a mini-album wtf are these format naming conventions? As for the song, this is a fun little trot number - in layman’s terms, if you want to hear a modern Korean interpretation of Boney M, you’ve come to the right place. It’s cute if a bit too corny to take seriously.
Lim Kim - VEIL
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
I’m hoping she comes out with something a bit more substantial soon because all these random tracks she’s been dropping since Generasian have not been up to that EP’s brilliance. Like this is still pretty solid and kinda bop-ish but it’s heavily lacking in the experimentation and boldness departments.
LOONA ODD EYE CIRCLE⁺ - Sick Love
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
OMG queens this is so mid. Thank god you’re free now so we don’t have to put up with these lazy ass tracks anymore. |
| 53 |  | Mamamoo
reality in BLACK
LUNARSOLAR - Do You Wanna Get Down
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Lazy but passable. Another group that called it quits this year.
Maka Maka - I Am
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Fun, but this feels stuck in about 2012 and just doesn’t particularly hit these days. That, and many groups have done this bigger and better.
MAMADOL - WooAh HIP
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
This is either a one-off collaboration or the quickest disbandment in history, lasting from December 2021 to February 2022. The song is fine, but it’s eerily similar to the Robin Schulz remix of that one Baby Bash song and I can't hear anything else when listening to it.
MAMAMOO+ - Better (feat. BIG Naughty)
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
MAMAMOO member’s Solar and Moonbyul collab for a boring track that doesn’t seem to justify its existence. It’s hardly offensive but there’s just nothing about this track that calls for it to be put out under a different name, it’s exactly the same kind of stuff MAMAMOO already releases at a higher quality. |
| 54 |  | Momoland
Great!
Mark - Child
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
He just sounds like an odd fit to this track. The washed out surfy electric guitar the track is built around is just too sleepy for him to do much vocally, and when he tries it feels laboured and awkward. Unfortunately a poor solo debut.
MINIMANI - PUO PUO
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Ooh, Eastern European eurodance-influences in MY k-pop? Don’t mind if I do! This is a better version of that LaLaGirl’s song with more energy and more camp appeal. Could totally hear this as a late-2000’s Moldovan or Romanian Eurovision entry (except in Korean of course.)
MINSEO - mOS 2.74
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Very impressed by her vocals, really bold and distinct. The instrumental is solid but it can’t keep up with her quality-wise.
MOMOLAND & Natti Natasha - Yummy Yummy Love
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Momoland are (me from the future: were) very hit or miss, and this collab with Dominican popstar Natti Natasha just about veers into the hit side. It’s a bit calculated and safe, but it’s generally a solid bop.
Moon Sujin & Jiselle - Only U
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Sweet sensual r&b jam, definitely in love with Jiselle’s voice. |
| 55 |  | NiziU
Blue Moon
NCT U - coNEXTion (Age of Light)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
ANOTHER NCT unit, and one that’s not nearly as good as they promised to be based on their debut single. Having said that, I do like this one, it has an interesting drop and feels more complete than some of their other cuts, however its so fucking loud I feel like I need to rest my ears afterwards.
NCT U - Rain Day
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Just a rather boring and uninspired slice of r&b. Nothing else to say.
Nicole - YOU.F.O
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Just really solid dance-pop. Nicole has always been a fantastic vocalist and that doesn’t change here.
NiziU - ASOBO
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Forgot to include them in the main list so shoving them here for now. Japan’s biggest k-pop group serves up a really mediocre dance-pop track with little in the way of flavour.
NiziU - Clap Clap
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Yeah this is another uninteresting duo of tracks that really struggle to have any impact or identity. Short Trip is the better of the two but suffers from a fairly weak chorus.
NiziU - Blue Moon
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Marginally better - strong vocal performances carry these two tracks. Not essential. |
| 56 |  | Loona
Olivia Hye
N.O.M - LOOK
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Interesting track from a group I know very little about. Seems they are going for a ballroom-kinda vibe? It kinda works. It’s very camp in a way that feels authentic and not just put on for show. Their 2021 single Mega Punch is actually fucking awesome too, maybe a group to watch out for in the future? They have to release more often if so.
Olivia Hye - I’ll Be Your Spring
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Disappointing given the quality of her other work with LOONA, but it’s kinda cute.
Park Bom & Kim Minseok - Flower
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Fine ballad, nothing more.
PRITTI-G - Let Me Out
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Ok this is so saccharine it hurts, but despite that I kinda enjoy it even if everything here seems very C-tier.
PRITTI-G - Love Taker
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
LMAO what is this? It’s the cuteness of the last song but they’re trying to do some Evanescence kinda thing and it’s fucking sending me why is this weirdly good/great. |
| 57 |  | Rothy
Color of Rothy
RoaD-B - Nonstop
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Really well done, but unfortunately the song doesn’t hit me as much as I’d want to with a strong hook leaving me a little unsatisfied. It’s close to being something really great, but just falls a tad short.
RoaD-B - Icarus
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 ICONIC JAM
Oh god this is everything I wanted to the last song to be this is so addictive. Such a unique hyperactive energy to this and great vocals. It's mixed a little weirdly but that just adds to the charm. Thank god now I’ve got to sifting through the dregs of the k-pop world I've found something that’s made it worthwhile, because this is the sound of a group that with the right promotion could blow up hard.
Rothy - Believe
🌕🌕🌑🌑🌑
YAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWNNNNNNN.
Rothy - Changed Number
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
A bit better, interesting instrumentation, but doesn’t really become anything more than interesting. Needs more oomph. |
| 58 |  | Seori
?depacse ohw
Ryu Su-Jeong - Come Out
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Sunny. Cheerful. Summer breeze. These are just some of the words on this track’s moodboard. Pretty good is written in the centre.
Ryu Su-Jeong - Pink Moon
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Slick dance pop with a hint of city pop goodness. Very very good, just shy of greatness.
Seori - Can’t Stop This Party
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Another track that’s very Billie Eilish, but pulls it off slightly better than Huh Yunjin’s attempt. I didn’t really vibe with her EP a couple years back (although am due a relisten), and unfortunately I don’t get an awful lot from this, despite it being mostly competent. Just feels a little low-effort non-genuine.
Sorn - Sharp Objects
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Fun little synthpop track with some nice cutting (sorry) lyrics. Almost gives me a Sky Ferreira vibe.
Sorn - Scorpio
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Sharp Objects’ more generic little sister. It’s well done but I’ve heard this song a million times in Western charts. |
| 59 |  | SUMIN & Slom
Miniseries
Sorn - Save Me
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Even more derivative. I get that some of these sounds are a bit more adventurous for the Korean market but it's so overdone elsewhere that it's like why?
Sorn - Nirvana Girl (feat. Yeeun)
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Yes, take down the industry queens! The lyricism on here is very blunt, but the toxic culture behind the entertainment companies/cartels running k-pop can always use direct criticism. The song itself is a bit overshadowed by the message it portrays, but it’s fun regardless.
SUMIN - Play Life Music, Pt. 4
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
It’s r&b, it’s fine and inoffensive. It’s not setting my world on fire.
SUMIN - Cookie
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
The only song on this list that isn’t on Spotify which is fucking annoying. To be fair this is just a cover of the NewJeans track anyway - it’s sung by an adult which makes it less problematic, but I’m undecided if I like the slowed, minimal instrumental. It’s fun, but it doesn’t really compare to the original.
SUMIN - Hugs
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Yeah ok this is an alright ballad, def has more energy and passion than a lot of the mediocre ones I’ve sat through. You get a pass. |
| 60 |  | Taeyong
SHALALA
Suzy - Satellite
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 ICONIC JAM
What the hell? Who dropped their shoegaze in my kpop? And why am I just realising it makes complete sense that this combo works so well? Goddamn check this song it’s so beautiful!
Suzy - Cape
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
The other track she dropped this year. Unfortunately no shoegaze-y influences here, but it does rule regardless - a softer dream poppier sound whose mellow and homely production meshes beautifully with her vocals. Hoping from more of this sound going forward.
Taeyong & Wonstein - Love Theory
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Yeah I mean, it’s fine and inoffensive.
Ten - Birthday
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
The future bass parts of this are a nice touch, and this has a solid vibe throughout, I’m just not too fond of the high register in the chorus, it’s a bit grating by the end. Solid though. |
| 61 |  | Wanna One
1×1=1 (To Be One)
Vernon - Black Eye
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
K-pop-punk? Uh, I have no idea what to think of this. It sounds somewhat authentic to that mid-00’s sound I guess. It’s kinda catchy and I would def have jammed this when I was like 14. It does get way too close to MGK-core though. Wait, is that a bleep censor for the naughty swear word? What the fuck that’s so jarring. Gah I don’t know.
Wanna One - B-Side
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Pretty random for a single to pop up from a group which disbanded in 2019, and whilst it’s not bad at all I’m not sure it was worth the effort. It may be slightly better than what limited knowledge I have of their stuff, but it’s definitely not worth the reminder that they were just one of the other boy groups who existed.
We;Na - Like Psycho
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
Fun in an all over the place way. Feels quite j-poppy but it’s a fairly solid debut single. I highly doubt this group is gonna last too long though.
Woozi - Ruby
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
Kinda limp pop rock number by the SEVENTEEN member. Makes the cardinal sin for this style of having a forgettable chorus. |
| 62 |  | XG
NEW DNA
XG - Tippy Toes
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
I struggle to describe why I like this because it’s not very good in all fairness. Too lowkey for its own good, but something just hits me in the right spot.
XG - Mascara
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Extremely obnoxious, but again this is somehow exactly my thing. Interpolating Lesley Gore over poppy bass house is certainly a choice, but that build-up is glorious. Not for the faint of heart.
Yein - Plus n Minus
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
Lovelyz member Yein’s solo debut is a wonderful slice of r&b heaven. That goddamn groove is so infectious.
Yein - Bus
🌕🌕🌕🌗🌑
A lot more laidback adult contemporary style, really well done for the style but it’s a style that’s generally shit so it’s not saying an awful lot. |
| 63 |  | Yukika
Soul Lady
Yezi - NO NAME
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
It’s a mediocre trap song. I like her vocal performance but other than that this is a bit of a non-starter.
Yezi - ACACIA
🌕🌕🌗🌑🌑
A bit better and more r&b influenced, but still nothing really sticks out as memorable.
YuA - I Like That
🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
Great song, but absolutely wasted on some virtual idol bullshit. You will never be Hey QT.
YUKIKA & Kim Mi Jeong - Moonset
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑 ICONIC JAM
God she just cannot miss can she? On the funkier side of city-pop revivalism, which suits me just fine.
YUKIKA - Scent
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 ICONIC JAM
Might just be her best song yet, this is so bursting with life and beauty and everything good. Genuinely who else can even claim to be on her level?
YUKIKA - Space Science
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌗 ICONIC JAM
Even her slower cuts are so fucking good and wipe your fave’s career highlights. Peep that DK country-ass flute in the background of the chorus and feel true elation for once in your life. |
| 64 |  | April
The Ruby
In Memoriam: Groups we lost this year.
April
Who could have seen this coming? After the bullying allegations came out I’m surprised they lasted this long, but guess it’s all over now. Musically, they were a classic example of a group who at their best were unstoppable but struggled with consistency. They did give us Oh My Mistake though, which is one of the best pop songs ever written, Korean or otherwise. A-
Bling Bling
This group started off really promising and just didn’t release anything. Wasted potential. B-
bugAboo
Already mentioned in the main list , but following up your very good debut single with Pop is not gonna give you staying power. C
BVNDIT
Also already mentioned but yeah, never were essential and being good only gets you so far when you’re not great. C+
CLC
Very similar to APRIL in that they got decent towards the end after a few lacklustre releases, but unlike APRIL they didn’t write Oh My Mistake. They did write Helicopter though which is a bop, so I’ll give them credit. B
Hot Issue
Who? C-
LUNARSOLAR
Turns out you can only copy better, more successful artists for so long before it gets tiring. C
NU’EST
I have literally never heard of this group somehow. After a shallow dive into their catalogue I feel confident in saying I don’t know why anyone else would need to. D |
| 65 |  | Tomorrow X Together
Minisode1: Blue Hour
Top 3 Worst Songs of the Year!!!😡😡😡
3. TOMORROW X TOGETHER - Trust Fund Baby
2. Jungkook - Dreamers
1. ISEGYE IDOL - Winter Spring |
| 66 |  | fromis_9
From.9
Top 10 Best Songs of the Year!!!🥰🥰🥰
10. KARA - WHEN I MOVE
9. fromis_9 - DM
8. Lee Jin-ah - Rum Pum Pum
7. KWON EUN BI - Glitch
6. NewJeans - Attention
5. IVE - Love Dive
4. Cherry Bullet - Love in Space
3. Rocket Punch - CHIQUITA
2. woo!ah! - Rollercoaster
1. NewJeans - Ditto |
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