Top 10 rankings in kpop, 2023.
Jan. 24th, 2024 07:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
etrerireHaven't posted anything longform in a while, so it's time to dust off my old Dreamwidth that I almost forgot I had!
Initially, I just wanted to rank my top 10 releases of 2023, but then I realized that a) I haven't actually listened to a lot of kpop compared to everyone else doing their rankings, and b) a lot of my favourite kpop songs I listened to in 2023 weren't even released in 2023, and c) what even is a 'ranking,' anyway? Like, what metrics should I be using? Should they be objectively good songs? Should I have listened to them on repeat? Could they be catchy and annoying but still addicting? So instead of making just 1 list, my overthinking ass decided to make 3.
Anyway, here goes.
1) TOP 10 2023 KPOP RELEASES
(Disclaimer: I'm limiting this to 1 song per group because otherwise certain groups will take up the entire list. However, I am indeed counting BSS separately from Seventeen. How could I not?)
10. Drama - Aespa. I wasn't initially a fan of the repetitive chorus, but it hooked me anyway. Winter and Ningning's high notes are impeccable as usual. The instrumentals go so hard on this one from the get-go, and really ramp up in the chorus. Listening with headphones makes it feel even more (pun intended) dramatic. Despite their shortcomings in other aspects, one thing SM knows how to do is make good music. The MV is also a slay.
9. Allergy - G-Idle. Look, Queencard was my second most played song of the year, but I have to go with Allergy here. It has the sort of pop-punk-esque sound I enjoy in my kpop. Despite the bad English (which honestly at this point is a staple of G-Idle, so I've stopped minding), the message is still quite nice, and the song is catchy, enjoyable, and worth listening to on repeat.
8. Teddy Bear - Stayc. Obligatory disclaimer, I don't stan Stayc and this is the only 2023 Stayc song I've heard, but it's a damn good one. It's fun, catchy, upbeat, and everything kpop should be (to me, at least). I'm convinced people who hate it just hate fun. I literally cannot hear this song without wanting to get up and dance.
7. On the street - Jhope & J.Cole. I almost forgot this song came out in 2023... God, this year has been so long. Hobi has never been one of my biases in Bangtan, and if I'm being honest, his rap caught my attention the least (not an insult, just a testament to how good their rapline is). But this song. This song gets me. He's come so far as an artist that I get emotional just thinking about it. I often like songs with more energetic/upbeat melodies, but the melancholic hopefulness of this one hits hard. Also, shoutout to J.Cole, who I never listen to but whose verse is pretty incredible.
6. Ditto - NewJeans. Listening to this song and watching the MVs when it came out made me tear up. I'm weak for nostalgia-type concepts, and the message of this storyline really hit home. Of course, you can interpret it in many ways—such is the charm of most NewJeans MVs—but I've chosen to interpret it as a girl reminiscing on the time she spent being a fan of a girl group, wishing she could be like them and experience that sort of deep bond with them in person, but then eventually sort of closing the door on that part of her life and re-entering reality. As a fan myself, it made me Feel Things. The song itself is also a gem, quietly melancholy with a lovely wintery feel.
2. Lips - Ive. Look at me, picking an underrated b-side yet again instead of a title track. Despite constantly putting out great music, Ive title tracks were simply too good in 2022 that their 2023 title tracks feel lackluster in comparison. Lips, however, makes up for all of that. I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it. It gives me 2nd gen kpop vibes, with a catchy melody, sweet lyrics, and really lovely vocals, especially Yujin's. Listening to it feels like 'yearning' personified, and I am nothing if not a yearner. If only Lips had an MV, or like, a fraction of the attention Baddie got.
1. Fighting - BSS. This song singlehandedly did more for my mental health than any of my SSRIs. 'Don't kill yourself, we are BSS!' No, but really. 2023 has been a shit year not just for me but for a lot of us, so this song is exactly the kind of positivity that we need. Good music doesn't have to be 10 layers deep; sometimes you just want to vibe to a song that sounds like a multivitamin in audio form, and reminds you that life isn't so bad after all.
Honourable mentions: Perfect Night - Le Sserafim (finally an overplayed Le Sserafim song that I actually think is good), Sugarcoat - Natty (one of the best solo songs I've heard all year), Drowning - Woodz (I actually discovered this one in the last week of December, so it didn't feel fair to put it on the list, but now that I think about it I really want to because fuck, it's so good).
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2) TOP 10 GREATEST KPOP SONGS EVER MADE
I actually compiled this list before I even made the first one, even though it wasn't my initial goal. I don't know why I did that. Blame the ADHD. Again, one song per group. And also, obligatory "this is my personal opinion" and "I do not know anything about how to describe music" disclaimers. But also my opinion is correct and these songs are the greatest ever.
10. So Bad - Stayc. I waffled for a long time over which Stayc song to include because they make really fucking good music, but I think I have to go with So Bad because it makes me feel something that very few other kpop songs (certainly not Teddy Bear, despite me being a major Teddy Bear enjoyer) have ever made me feel. Which is the common denominator for most songs on this list, really. You'll definitely see a pattern in terms of the types of moods and melodies I gravitate towards. I actually discovered this song very late in the game—when Hao sang it on Lee Mujin Service—but it's already one of my favourite songs ever, and to think it was their debut track, too. Why don't I stan Stayc? Should I stan Stayc?
9. Hwaa - G-Idle. As much as I enjoy their newer releases, I do sadly have to admit that their peak was before Soojin's departure. This is a level of artistry that you don't see anymore in their newer songs. Everything from the vocals to the instrumentals ties together so well and just makes me Feel Things. I'm really bad at describing music so I don't know how else to put it. It's like... dramatic, sad, hopeful, and powerful all at once. I remember Soyeon once said that she compares every title track to Latata and always tries to do better than Latata. Listen, Soyeon, this one blows it out of the park, okay?
8. What is Love - Twice. My Twice feelings have chilled out over the years, but for a while I was convinced they were the best girl group out there, and this song is a huge part of why I felt that way. Something about it just gets me. Maybe it's the whole 'being a yearner' thing, and this song certainly does a good job of capturing that upbeat, bubbly, innocent, slightly desperate pining that being a young adult in love entails. I also lived in Tokyo when this song caught on, so I heard it everywhere, constantly, nonstop for months. And yet it did not dampen my enjoyment of it, so I think that speaks volumes.
7. After School - Weeekly. I know literally nothing about this group. This is the only song I have ever heard. But it is soooo good. Why is it so good? I love a song with a clear melody and a varied range of notes, like how the chorus gets really high and makes me feel really hyped up. It also sort of sounds melancholy at the same time, so it's not just upbeat. I don't even know what the lyrics mean but I don't care. It's just good. I want to hear it again for the first time so badly.
6. Energetic - Wanna One. You probably guessed that this song would show up at some point. This song is my Roman Empire (yeah, I know, overused meme and I'm not even using it correctly etc). It's just peak kpop and makes you feel so... (don't do it, don't do it)... energetic. I think about it all the time and how no survival group will ever have a debut this good again. Hui, you are the goat.
5. Love Dive - Ive. Again, if you know me at all, you should've expected to see this song somewhere. If I made this list in 2022, it might've ranked number one, but my feelings have mellowed out a bit over time. I love that it's got a dramatic beat/feel to it from the first second of the opening, and I love the slightly dark(?) undertones of the song. I normally don't care for songs that don't sing much in the chorus, but. It is also my humble opinion that rapping is not Ive's strong suit, so the less rap the better, and this song has like, no rap! (Side note: this is why I also really enjoyed Eleven.)
4. Don't Wanna Cry - Seventeen. I spent an unbelievably long time trying to figure out which Seventeen song to include on this list, because as a whole, their discography is my favourite in all of kpop. It was a truly daunting task and even now I'm almost tempted to change my mind, but I won't. I know that a lot of Carats think this song is overhyped or overplayed, but it was the first Seventeen song I ever heard and it grabbed my heart in a really special way. I also performed this at a piano recital in 2019, so the sentimental value likely bumps it up the list for me. Regardless, this song is just so comforting and soothing and lovely, and to me, it embodies everything Seventeen stands for in their music and artistry.
3. Halazia - Ateez. Whoa. How did this song get so high? I only know like, fifteen Ateez songs, but I know enough to know that they are one of the most formidable 4th gen groups in terms of having an absolutely banger discography. Even then, this song is definitely my favourite by far. I really like dramatic songs, songs with flair, songs that you can tell have a certain level of artistry beyond slapping together a catchy melody and a few repetitive lines. So I had to honour this song on this list, because it is so dynamic and so chock full of Artistry and Feeling. I doubt I'll ever hear another song that makes me feel this way again.
2. Euphoria - BTS Jungkook. Words cannot describe the way I felt when this song first came out. HYYH era Bangtan was, and still is, my favourite era in kpop, so to hear them put out a song and MV that channels the exact same energy as HYYH was just nostalgia on top of nostalgia. And I am now experiencing a third wave of nostalgia just thinking about it. Jungkook is also my favourite vocalist in all of kpop, so of course the BTS song that snags a spot on this list is a solo JK song, even if it might feel a bit unfair to the others. (Sorry.) The melody is just hopeful, joyful, and beautiful in a way that I haven't heard in any song since, and JK executes it flawlessly with his youthful, airy, emotional delivery. I love him so much.
1. 0x1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You) - TXT. Absolutely no one is surprised. I don't know if I've ever felt this way about a song in my life. Like, if you took a blood sample from me you would surely discover that this song runs in my veins. Is that weird? Good. I'm about to get weirder. If this song were a person I'd be legally married to it. I want this song to play at my wedding and at my funeral. When I die, press my ashes into a vinyl record of this song and make sure my great-grandchildren listen to it and tell them they've disappointed their ancestors if they don't.
Okay, in all seriousness, this song takes everything I love about music and bundles it into one—the nostalgic/melancholy vibes, the dramatic instrumentals, the rock and pop-punk vibes, the Yearning, the HYYH-esque video about youth and found family and running away, the incredible fucking vocals courtesy of Hyuka and Taehyun in particular, the totally-not-gay Yeonbin bridge... I could go on and on. TXT isn't my ult group, and I'll probably ult many other groups in the future, but I'm sure this will continue to be my favourite song for years to come.
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3) TOP 5 KPOP SONGS I GASLIT MYSELF INTO ENJOYING AND NOW UNIRONICALLY ENJOY
... What it says on the tin. I made this one because I realized a bunch of songs on my most played list in 2023 are not songs I actually like or even think are particularly good. But I guess a part of me does think they're good, since I listened to them all the time? I don't know. The human mind is an interesting place. Again, one per group or else the entire list would be Le Sserafim, my ult girl group whose title tracks I don't even like. <3
5. Sneakers - Itzy. I know. I know!!! But come on. It's fun, it's upbeat, it's catchy. They pronounce the word "put" wrong and I don't even care. I'm going to put my sneakers on right this minute. Also, have you ever been at a club while this song is playing? Try it. It might change your mind.
4. Dynamite - BTS. I don't think that BTS's English releases even sound like BTS, really, but whoever sang this one did a good job. I'm kidding. But really. If you ignore the fact that BTS became known for their deep, thought-provoking, society-upending, life-changing discography, this song is pretty damn fun to bop to. It's 1dpop at its finest, and I was once a devout Directioner, so.
3. Antifragile - Le Sserafim. God, Le Sserafim are so special to me because I love their b-sides to death but I do not like any of their title tracks. Why didn't they make No Celestial a title track? Or Blue Flame? Regardless, from a marketing standpoint, I can see why they picked this as their title track because it's catchy as hell, and the Latin-type beat is unique and memorable in kpop. I can and will shake ass to this song unapologetically. (Same with Unforgiven, even though the choreo is even more cringe than Antifragile. In their defense, they make it look good! I, however, cannot.)
2. Kangaroo - Wanna One Triple Position. Okay, this one is good. Like, I firmly believe it's actually good. I did not like it at first because of the autotune and I forced myself to listen to it because I was a hardcore Daniel stan, but then it grew on me, grabbed me in a chokehold, and to this day it's still one of my top played Wanna One songs. Can I also just take a moment to say that even though none of Wanna One's title tracks ever lived up to Energetic, they were all still good? Stop saying that Boomerang and Light sucked because they didn't. Y'all just had insanely high standards.
1. Queencard - G-Idle. I'm hot. My boob and booty's hot. Hot girls love Queencard, and I am one. Seriously, can kpop fans stop taking themselves so seriously? Yes, feminist theory is important and all, but sometimes you just want to shake ass and be sexy. If this had won SOTY in 2023 I wouldn't even have been mad. It would have been a historic moment. I'm going to go listen to it right now.
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That's a wrap! I spent way too long on this instead of unpacking. Let me know your thoughts, or make your own lists with mine as a template, or simply be a lurker and close the tab (don't do that! I made a Dreamwidth to engage with my fandom friends! This is me begging for engagement on one of the only non-algorithm-driven platforms we have left.)
Initially, I just wanted to rank my top 10 releases of 2023, but then I realized that a) I haven't actually listened to a lot of kpop compared to everyone else doing their rankings, and b) a lot of my favourite kpop songs I listened to in 2023 weren't even released in 2023, and c) what even is a 'ranking,' anyway? Like, what metrics should I be using? Should they be objectively good songs? Should I have listened to them on repeat? Could they be catchy and annoying but still addicting? So instead of making just 1 list, my overthinking ass decided to make 3.
Anyway, here goes.
1) TOP 10 2023 KPOP RELEASES
(Disclaimer: I'm limiting this to 1 song per group because otherwise certain groups will take up the entire list. However, I am indeed counting BSS separately from Seventeen. How could I not?)
10. Drama - Aespa. I wasn't initially a fan of the repetitive chorus, but it hooked me anyway. Winter and Ningning's high notes are impeccable as usual. The instrumentals go so hard on this one from the get-go, and really ramp up in the chorus. Listening with headphones makes it feel even more (pun intended) dramatic. Despite their shortcomings in other aspects, one thing SM knows how to do is make good music. The MV is also a slay.
9. Allergy - G-Idle. Look, Queencard was my second most played song of the year, but I have to go with Allergy here. It has the sort of pop-punk-esque sound I enjoy in my kpop. Despite the bad English (which honestly at this point is a staple of G-Idle, so I've stopped minding), the message is still quite nice, and the song is catchy, enjoyable, and worth listening to on repeat.
8. Teddy Bear - Stayc. Obligatory disclaimer, I don't stan Stayc and this is the only 2023 Stayc song I've heard, but it's a damn good one. It's fun, catchy, upbeat, and everything kpop should be (to me, at least). I'm convinced people who hate it just hate fun. I literally cannot hear this song without wanting to get up and dance.
7. On the street - Jhope & J.Cole. I almost forgot this song came out in 2023... God, this year has been so long. Hobi has never been one of my biases in Bangtan, and if I'm being honest, his rap caught my attention the least (not an insult, just a testament to how good their rapline is). But this song. This song gets me. He's come so far as an artist that I get emotional just thinking about it. I often like songs with more energetic/upbeat melodies, but the melancholic hopefulness of this one hits hard. Also, shoutout to J.Cole, who I never listen to but whose verse is pretty incredible.
6. Ditto - NewJeans. Listening to this song and watching the MVs when it came out made me tear up. I'm weak for nostalgia-type concepts, and the message of this storyline really hit home. Of course, you can interpret it in many ways—such is the charm of most NewJeans MVs—but I've chosen to interpret it as a girl reminiscing on the time she spent being a fan of a girl group, wishing she could be like them and experience that sort of deep bond with them in person, but then eventually sort of closing the door on that part of her life and re-entering reality. As a fan myself, it made me Feel Things. The song itself is also a gem, quietly melancholy with a lovely wintery feel.
5. In Bloom - Zerobaseone. One of the best 5th gen debuts ever, not that 5th gen has had a lot of debuts or anything. This song literally feels like if you took the transition from spring into summer and pressed it into a CD. Very fresh, youthful, happy vibes. I mean, I was listening to it every day before I even knew anything about the group, so that must count for something. I'd probably rank it a bit higher if I wasn't biased because Energetic is still fresh in my mind and this comes just short of that, but like, will anything a survival show group puts out ever be as good as Energetic? (Or Never, for that matter?)
4. Super - Seventeen. Every song they put out is a fucking banger, especially title tracks. I don't think I've ever stanned a group that has been active for this long (8 years?!) and has not had a single miss. But Super ranks above their other 2023 releases just for how iconic it is. From Woozi's (instead of Coups) "Seventeen right here," to the Sun Wu Kong references (I grew up with Journey to the West, okay), to Gyushua's "darumdarimdas," to the insane performance, I can't find a flaw.
2. Lips - Ive. Look at me, picking an underrated b-side yet again instead of a title track. Despite constantly putting out great music, Ive title tracks were simply too good in 2022 that their 2023 title tracks feel lackluster in comparison. Lips, however, makes up for all of that. I fell in love with the song the first time I heard it. It gives me 2nd gen kpop vibes, with a catchy melody, sweet lyrics, and really lovely vocals, especially Yujin's. Listening to it feels like 'yearning' personified, and I am nothing if not a yearner. If only Lips had an MV, or like, a fraction of the attention Baddie got.
1. Fighting - BSS. This song singlehandedly did more for my mental health than any of my SSRIs. 'Don't kill yourself, we are BSS!' No, but really. 2023 has been a shit year not just for me but for a lot of us, so this song is exactly the kind of positivity that we need. Good music doesn't have to be 10 layers deep; sometimes you just want to vibe to a song that sounds like a multivitamin in audio form, and reminds you that life isn't so bad after all.
Honourable mentions: Perfect Night - Le Sserafim (finally an overplayed Le Sserafim song that I actually think is good), Sugarcoat - Natty (one of the best solo songs I've heard all year), Drowning - Woodz (I actually discovered this one in the last week of December, so it didn't feel fair to put it on the list, but now that I think about it I really want to because fuck, it's so good).
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2) TOP 10 GREATEST KPOP SONGS EVER MADE
I actually compiled this list before I even made the first one, even though it wasn't my initial goal. I don't know why I did that. Blame the ADHD. Again, one song per group. And also, obligatory "this is my personal opinion" and "I do not know anything about how to describe music" disclaimers. But also my opinion is correct and these songs are the greatest ever.
10. So Bad - Stayc. I waffled for a long time over which Stayc song to include because they make really fucking good music, but I think I have to go with So Bad because it makes me feel something that very few other kpop songs (certainly not Teddy Bear, despite me being a major Teddy Bear enjoyer) have ever made me feel. Which is the common denominator for most songs on this list, really. You'll definitely see a pattern in terms of the types of moods and melodies I gravitate towards. I actually discovered this song very late in the game—when Hao sang it on Lee Mujin Service—but it's already one of my favourite songs ever, and to think it was their debut track, too. Why don't I stan Stayc? Should I stan Stayc?
9. Hwaa - G-Idle. As much as I enjoy their newer releases, I do sadly have to admit that their peak was before Soojin's departure. This is a level of artistry that you don't see anymore in their newer songs. Everything from the vocals to the instrumentals ties together so well and just makes me Feel Things. I'm really bad at describing music so I don't know how else to put it. It's like... dramatic, sad, hopeful, and powerful all at once. I remember Soyeon once said that she compares every title track to Latata and always tries to do better than Latata. Listen, Soyeon, this one blows it out of the park, okay?
8. What is Love - Twice. My Twice feelings have chilled out over the years, but for a while I was convinced they were the best girl group out there, and this song is a huge part of why I felt that way. Something about it just gets me. Maybe it's the whole 'being a yearner' thing, and this song certainly does a good job of capturing that upbeat, bubbly, innocent, slightly desperate pining that being a young adult in love entails. I also lived in Tokyo when this song caught on, so I heard it everywhere, constantly, nonstop for months. And yet it did not dampen my enjoyment of it, so I think that speaks volumes.
7. After School - Weeekly. I know literally nothing about this group. This is the only song I have ever heard. But it is soooo good. Why is it so good? I love a song with a clear melody and a varied range of notes, like how the chorus gets really high and makes me feel really hyped up. It also sort of sounds melancholy at the same time, so it's not just upbeat. I don't even know what the lyrics mean but I don't care. It's just good. I want to hear it again for the first time so badly.
6. Energetic - Wanna One. You probably guessed that this song would show up at some point. This song is my Roman Empire (yeah, I know, overused meme and I'm not even using it correctly etc). It's just peak kpop and makes you feel so... (don't do it, don't do it)... energetic. I think about it all the time and how no survival group will ever have a debut this good again. Hui, you are the goat.
5. Love Dive - Ive. Again, if you know me at all, you should've expected to see this song somewhere. If I made this list in 2022, it might've ranked number one, but my feelings have mellowed out a bit over time. I love that it's got a dramatic beat/feel to it from the first second of the opening, and I love the slightly dark(?) undertones of the song. I normally don't care for songs that don't sing much in the chorus, but. It is also my humble opinion that rapping is not Ive's strong suit, so the less rap the better, and this song has like, no rap! (Side note: this is why I also really enjoyed Eleven.)
4. Don't Wanna Cry - Seventeen. I spent an unbelievably long time trying to figure out which Seventeen song to include on this list, because as a whole, their discography is my favourite in all of kpop. It was a truly daunting task and even now I'm almost tempted to change my mind, but I won't. I know that a lot of Carats think this song is overhyped or overplayed, but it was the first Seventeen song I ever heard and it grabbed my heart in a really special way. I also performed this at a piano recital in 2019, so the sentimental value likely bumps it up the list for me. Regardless, this song is just so comforting and soothing and lovely, and to me, it embodies everything Seventeen stands for in their music and artistry.
3. Halazia - Ateez. Whoa. How did this song get so high? I only know like, fifteen Ateez songs, but I know enough to know that they are one of the most formidable 4th gen groups in terms of having an absolutely banger discography. Even then, this song is definitely my favourite by far. I really like dramatic songs, songs with flair, songs that you can tell have a certain level of artistry beyond slapping together a catchy melody and a few repetitive lines. So I had to honour this song on this list, because it is so dynamic and so chock full of Artistry and Feeling. I doubt I'll ever hear another song that makes me feel this way again.
2. Euphoria - BTS Jungkook. Words cannot describe the way I felt when this song first came out. HYYH era Bangtan was, and still is, my favourite era in kpop, so to hear them put out a song and MV that channels the exact same energy as HYYH was just nostalgia on top of nostalgia. And I am now experiencing a third wave of nostalgia just thinking about it. Jungkook is also my favourite vocalist in all of kpop, so of course the BTS song that snags a spot on this list is a solo JK song, even if it might feel a bit unfair to the others. (Sorry.) The melody is just hopeful, joyful, and beautiful in a way that I haven't heard in any song since, and JK executes it flawlessly with his youthful, airy, emotional delivery. I love him so much.
1. 0x1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You) - TXT. Absolutely no one is surprised. I don't know if I've ever felt this way about a song in my life. Like, if you took a blood sample from me you would surely discover that this song runs in my veins. Is that weird? Good. I'm about to get weirder. If this song were a person I'd be legally married to it. I want this song to play at my wedding and at my funeral. When I die, press my ashes into a vinyl record of this song and make sure my great-grandchildren listen to it and tell them they've disappointed their ancestors if they don't.
Okay, in all seriousness, this song takes everything I love about music and bundles it into one—the nostalgic/melancholy vibes, the dramatic instrumentals, the rock and pop-punk vibes, the Yearning, the HYYH-esque video about youth and found family and running away, the incredible fucking vocals courtesy of Hyuka and Taehyun in particular, the totally-not-gay Yeonbin bridge... I could go on and on. TXT isn't my ult group, and I'll probably ult many other groups in the future, but I'm sure this will continue to be my favourite song for years to come.
---
3) TOP 5 KPOP SONGS I GASLIT MYSELF INTO ENJOYING AND NOW UNIRONICALLY ENJOY
... What it says on the tin. I made this one because I realized a bunch of songs on my most played list in 2023 are not songs I actually like or even think are particularly good. But I guess a part of me does think they're good, since I listened to them all the time? I don't know. The human mind is an interesting place. Again, one per group or else the entire list would be Le Sserafim, my ult girl group whose title tracks I don't even like. <3
5. Sneakers - Itzy. I know. I know!!! But come on. It's fun, it's upbeat, it's catchy. They pronounce the word "put" wrong and I don't even care. I'm going to put my sneakers on right this minute. Also, have you ever been at a club while this song is playing? Try it. It might change your mind.
4. Dynamite - BTS. I don't think that BTS's English releases even sound like BTS, really, but whoever sang this one did a good job. I'm kidding. But really. If you ignore the fact that BTS became known for their deep, thought-provoking, society-upending, life-changing discography, this song is pretty damn fun to bop to. It's 1dpop at its finest, and I was once a devout Directioner, so.
3. Antifragile - Le Sserafim. God, Le Sserafim are so special to me because I love their b-sides to death but I do not like any of their title tracks. Why didn't they make No Celestial a title track? Or Blue Flame? Regardless, from a marketing standpoint, I can see why they picked this as their title track because it's catchy as hell, and the Latin-type beat is unique and memorable in kpop. I can and will shake ass to this song unapologetically. (Same with Unforgiven, even though the choreo is even more cringe than Antifragile. In their defense, they make it look good! I, however, cannot.)
2. Kangaroo - Wanna One Triple Position. Okay, this one is good. Like, I firmly believe it's actually good. I did not like it at first because of the autotune and I forced myself to listen to it because I was a hardcore Daniel stan, but then it grew on me, grabbed me in a chokehold, and to this day it's still one of my top played Wanna One songs. Can I also just take a moment to say that even though none of Wanna One's title tracks ever lived up to Energetic, they were all still good? Stop saying that Boomerang and Light sucked because they didn't. Y'all just had insanely high standards.
1. Queencard - G-Idle. I'm hot. My boob and booty's hot. Hot girls love Queencard, and I am one. Seriously, can kpop fans stop taking themselves so seriously? Yes, feminist theory is important and all, but sometimes you just want to shake ass and be sexy. If this had won SOTY in 2023 I wouldn't even have been mad. It would have been a historic moment. I'm going to go listen to it right now.
---
That's a wrap! I spent way too long on this instead of unpacking. Let me know your thoughts, or make your own lists with mine as a template, or simply be a lurker and close the tab (don't do that! I made a Dreamwidth to engage with my fandom friends! This is me begging for engagement on one of the only non-algorithm-driven platforms we have left.)
