One more for now:
Leo - I'm Still Here
Tscott wrote:I'm curious what others think of the new Everglow comeback, Pirate. There's a lot going on here.
You weren't kidding. It's catchy enough in parts, but in between... I'm going to have to give it another listen. But I've always enjoyed Everglow's B-sides, so I think I'm looking forward more to the rest of the album
Didn't even know they were having a comeback.
Yeah. I might be coming around to Pirate after a couple days. It kept reminding me of other songs in parts and it took a while for me to pinpoint them- 2NE1-I'm the Best and Psy-Gentleman. Now that I'm listening to it with second gen Kpop in mind I think I'm getting where they're coming from.
Man, I have a whole ton of songs to share--it's been far too long that I've read but not posted.
I'm starting to check these out, but you've already got me crying with the first Younha song you posted.
Speaking of crying... here's a new Japanese single from Twice.
TWICE - Doughnut
I never got into IZ*ONE enough to know the members, but just found out this new debut group, IVE, features two members from IZ*ONE: Yujin and Wonyoung. I also love the unique transition into the chorus here.
IVE - ELEVEN
Also, I checked this next song out a couple months ago and liked it, but don't think I posted it here. I also didn't know at the time that she was also a former member of IZ*ONE.
JO YURI - GLASSY
So, this happened.
I liked Winter's "I think he's lying" interjection. I didn't realize they were in New York for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I looked up their performance- yeah, it's just weird and awkward, but any artist who I ever enjoyed who also performed on a float in the Parade suffered the same fate.
In other news, IVE just got their first win for Eleven. They're now the fastest girl group to win after debut- in only seven days.
A cute concept from PIXY?
PIXY - Call Me Performance MV
And new song by MoonByul
MoonByul - G999 (feat. Mirani)
And a Christmas song by Billlie
Billlie - Snowy Night
This year is drawing to a close, and so perhaps it's time for a round-up of what that year brought us. These are the songs that I held dearest to my heart from the many girl groups/female soloists releases. I stuck with just the girl groups because although I did enjoy many songs by Stray Kids, Ateez, Seventeen, BTS and more, I have a hard time ranking them against the girl groups that dominate my playlists. I'm curious to see what others thought about this year, so if you're inclined, please post some of your favorite (male and female) kpop songs from 2021.
BTW, I've linked to each youtube video instead of embedding them all in this post to save on the load of this page. Here we go....
21 Top K-pop (Girl Group) Songs of 2021
21. Joy - Hello An unbelievably bright and energetic cover. An absolutely infectious song.
20. Youha - Abittipsy Another adorable and cute song. I want to drive at night with the volume turned up when I hear this.
19. Itzy - Swipe Itzy had a good year with (Mafia) In the Morning and Loco, but this B-side is the one that has my heart. Cute video, and I can't get over the "swipe" motion in the choruses' choreo
18. Jeon Somi - XOXO Somi is like the best of Avril Lavigne and Kesha in how she delivers pop perfection with a rebellious edge.
17. Purple Kiss - Zombie Just a fun song by this rookie group. I can't get this chorus out of my head.
16. BerryGood - Time For Me Sweet and beautiful. BerryGood were always underappreciated, but they always seemed so earnest with their more classic sounding k-pop style. Sadly they've now disbanded. This was a solid song to end with, but I will miss them.
15. Pixy - Bewitched Pixy debuted this year, and this is the 4th or 5th video they've released. They're all strong songs, with a dark edge, but this one slightly edges out Wings and Addicted for me probably solely for the "eaten uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup swallowed" moment leading into the first chorus.
14. Ring X Ring - Billlie Another rookie group with a darker concept, Billlie seem to stand out as unique and a group to keep your eye on going forward.
13. Bugaboo - Bugaboo Bugaboo has my full attention even though this is the only release they've had so far. In a very strong year for rookie groups, this is my favorite debut of the year.
12. CL - Lover Like Me Her whole album, Alpha, is amazing. Lover Like Me is one of two standouts. Spicy is the other, and I regret only being able to pick one for my list.
11. Mamamoo - Where Are We Now An emotional ballad full of bittersweetness, and a feeling of things being up in the air, and unsureness of the future. Perfect song for 2021- almost too perfect.
10. Red Velvet - Queendom Queens doing what Queens do best. Red Velvet can cast their spell on me anytime they like.
9. Sunmi - Tail I love this dark and sultry side of Sunmi. Powerful and sexy. Also, some of the best choreography of the year, especially that ending pose.
8. STAYC - ASAP STAYC also released Stereotype which was another strong contender to be on this list, but ASAP's anti-drop in the chorus and J's rap section has its hooks in me.
7. Chungha - Killing Me Chungha started the year by releasing the fabulous album Querencia, and then ended the year releasing this "special single" which is both a personal and an emotional bop.
6. Twice - Scientist Twice seem to be unfailable, and this album Formula of Love is possibly their best yet. The single, Scientist, seems almost like b-side material and less like a title track- and for Twice that's a compliment because they recorded some of the best b-sides in k-pop.
5. Weeekly - After School OMG--- THIS SONG. A simple song about hanging out with your friends after school, but tugs at my heartstrings with the bittersweet realization that "this moment will never come again" so let's record a video of this very moment, I feel so free.
4. Loona - (PTT) Paint the Town Continuing to go hard with their title tracks, this might be my favorite single since Butterfly. This song starts out as an anthem, but by the end seems almost like a war cry. Loona's coming- don't get in their way.
3. Dreamcatcher - Because A perfect mix of cute and creepy. This is Dreamcatcher at their top-tier best.
2. Wendy - Like Water After over a year of recovery, a solo album from Wendy was an amazing way to mark her return. The title track shows her strength within her, plus the strength she got from those who supported her.
1. Cherry Bullet - Love So Sweet A comment from Form of Therapy under this video said, "This song goes hard in the softest way possible". I don't know a better way to describe it. Combine the amazing song with the infinite room video concept that is perfectly executed in every way, and I've been watching this on repeat for the last twelve months.
Some runner-ups (a.k.a. let's round this list up to an even 30):
These songs seemed a lot more like western pop than k-pop, so it was hard to place them on my list, but I love all 3:
BiBi - The Weekend
Rosé - On the Ground
Lisa - Money
Everyone one of these is genius and I fully appreciate them. But they're not always what I'm in the mood to listen to and just barely missed my list:
aespa - Savage
Everglow - Pirate
Jessi - What Type of X
Late discoveries/late entries. I love these and maybe if I had more time with these songs I would've found a place for them on my list:
Hwasa - I'm a B
Ive - Eleven
Pink Fantasy - Tales of the Unusual
뱀뱀 (BamBam) 'Who Are You (Feat. 슬기 [Seulgi] of Red Velvet)' MV
JEON SOMI (전소미) - ‘Anymore’ M/V
Music video for a B-side from her XOXO album.
(OH MY GIRL) - 'Shark' M/V
I'm curious to see what others thought about this year, so if you're inclined, please post some of your favorite (male and female) kpop songs from 2021.
I've prepared a list, but it's based on a rather incomplete sampling. My attention was stolen by some new interests during the later half of 2021, so I've fallen pretty far behind on new Kpop releases since around August.
I thought that would make it difficult to come up with a list, but on the contrary, I still had to make some cuts to fit in a top 20. I just divided my list into a top 10 and 11-20. There's no particular order otherwise.
Top 10
AKMU (ft. IU) – Nakka
Dreamcatcher – BEcause
Weekly – After School
CL – Tie A Cherry
Chungha – Killing Me
Loona – PTT (Paint the Town)
BIBI – The Weekend
BamBam – ribbon
woo!ah! – Round&Round
Shinee – Atlantis
Honorable Mentions (11-20)
Heize (ft. Song Joong Ki) – Happen
Day6 – You Make Me
StayC – ASAP
Red Velvet – Queendom
Cherry Bullet – Love So Sweet
Hoshi – Spider
Purple Kiss – Ponzana
Whee In – Water Color
(G)I-DLE – Hwaa
Dalsooobin – Sign
Yukika – Insomnia
And since the male representation is a little low around here generally, here are some other songs from male artists that I enjoyed:
DPR IAN – Scaredy Cat
Penomeco – Jaja
AB6IX – Close
The 8 – Side By Side
Victon – Flip A Coin
Gaho – Ride
Ateez – Deja vu
Lastly, here are some songs from indie or less popular artists that I discovered and enjoyed this year. Most are from 2021, but a few were released earlier:
sogumm (ft. OHHYUK) – yayou hoi
kang – Twin
LambC (ft. Stella Jang) – Fortune Teller
GSoul – Broken Record
015B (ft. Dawon) – Waiting For Victor
Kim Sejeong – Do dum chit
AVOKID – deep water
youra – Mimi
LEEBADA – Love Drug
It looks like I've missed out on a ton the last few months, so I'll be using the last few pages of this thread to help me catch up a bit
Nice list! I’m definitely finding some songs I missed out on. I know I tend to stick to one area in the kpop genre so I’m happy to see and hear recommendations from out of my bubble.
Also that BamBam song- I know Spotify has played it for me more than once and I liked it but never paid attention to who the artist was. Now I know.
Nice list! I’m definitely finding some songs I missed out on. I know I tend to stick to one area in the kpop genre so I’m happy to see and hear recommendations from out of my bubble.
Also that BamBam song- I know Spotify has played it for me more than once and I liked it but never paid attention to who the artist was. Now I know.
This thread is pretty good for that. There are just so many releases worth checking out that it's tough to keep up with everything even if you are paying attention. Love So Sweet is one such released that slipped by me until I was catching up on this thread a bit. I think I may be the only regular Spotify user here, but I tend to make most of my K-indie discoveries on one particular playlist there called In The K-Indie. Without that, most of those would pass me by too.
BamBam's riBBon has been a real ear worm for me most of this year. It also keeps up with the trend of GOT7 solo members releasing some of my favorite Kpop singles.
I’m very behind on this thread and hope to catch up soon. In the meantime, here’s Momoland’s first comeback in over a year & collaboration with Natti Natasha
Momoland - Yummy Yummy Love
Very nice. Even though you're behind on the thread, I had a feeling you'd be on top of this release.
I don't think Aespa's Dreams Come True had been posted here.
It's a remake, or more like reimagining, of an S.E.S song of the same name from 1998:
S.E.S. - Dreams Come True
Also, this week there's, not one, but two Mamamoo solo albums to look forward to. I think Wheein's is tomorrow, and then MoonByul's is a couple days after.
Whee In - Make Me Happy
Her EP, Whee, is also out now. It's her first release from her new label. Last year she did not renew her contract with Mamamoo's label, RBW, even though she's arranged it so she's still in the group at least until the end of this year.
I didn't know any of this was coming out today. This is a good way to start a Monday.
TAEYOUN - Can't Control Myself (single)
FROMIS_9 - DM (from their new EP Midnight Guest)
YENA - SMiLEY (feat. BiBi)
Title track from her debut EP. The b-side LxxK 2 U sounds good too. I'm definitely going to give the rest of the EP a listen later.
문별 (Moon Byul) - LUNATIC
I'm instantly in love with this song.
MoonByul's album, 6equence, is out now with 6 tracks plus an English ver of LUNATIC. It includes G999 (feat. Mirani) which was posted above, and Shutdown (feat. Seori) which hasn't been posted yet, so here it is:
[Special] 문별 (MoonByul) - 머리에서 발끝까지 (Shutdown) (feat. Seori)
She's been coy in interviews in answering questions about the lyrics to this song, but it is kind of sexy (and kind of gay).
Rolling Quartz, a five member female rock band, have released their first EP Fighting with six songs. They've also released the first of several videos for the EP which is an official MV of their version of Dreamcatcher's Good Night.
Rolling Quartz - Good Night
You may also recall their debut single, Blaze, which came out a little over a year ago. Looking forward to more from them.
I wasn't a huge fan of Blaze when it released, but I'm really looking forward to checking out that EP. It's so cool to see an all-girl K-rock band, and I love that they added some sweet guitar solos to Good Night.
I've been listening to several CL songs and Moonbyul's Lunatic a lot lately.
For anyone that misses Gfriend, half of the group is back. Viviz is SinB, Eunha and Umji and they've re-debuted today. First single is BOP BOP! and it's off their first mini-album "Beam of Prism"
Viviz - BOP BOP! MV
Want more Gfriend? Yuju also debuted recently with the song Play.
YUJU - PLAY MV
The last two members, Yerin and SoWon, have also apparently also signed onto new companies as well. More details on all the members signings can be found at this reddit post for anyone interested.
I'd seen Yuju's solo already. I'm really liking the Viviz debut. Both songs are a big departure from what Gfriend had before.
I'm also loving Jamie's new comeback - Pity Party:
NATURE - RICA RICA MV
NATURE had a comeback a few weeks ago. Their previous comeback was "Girls" which was a pretty big success for them. Their most recent comeback was... less successful. I feel this was due to 3 reasons.
1) Fans of "Girls" may have been expecting another dark concept which this wasn't.
2) The official MV was low budget and basically a dance performance video.
3) The white tripod thing in the area where they're performing is too distracting. It's clearly not removable but why didn't they place some prop in the background to block it from view? Other artist who filmed in this location did so - like Chung Ha in PLAY and Bugaboo in BUGABOO for a couple examples.
They also have released a number of dance practices including a Cheerleader version and Casual version. My favorite is just simply called 'RICA RICA' 4K Dance Practice (Focus Ver.) and I wonder if this had been released as an official "Special Performance MV" instead of the MV if fans would have responded differently.
In any case, my legs hurt from just thinking about filming all those versions of the dance. That choreo cannot be easy.
There were some rumors that this single was a stop-gap to try and get more funding for a more ambitious comeback down the road. Lets hope they got what they needed for that if that is true.
Apink - Dilemma
Taeyeon - INVU
I'm really enjoying INVU and the MV is absolutely gorgeous. The rest of her album is very good as well.
Me too. It's been stuck in my head all day. I'm looking forward to checking out the full album soon.
STAYC - 'RUN2U' MV
Also, a gift from Wendy on her birthday:
'Light Me Up' (La Rouge Ver.) Live VideoㅣHappy WENDY Day
Here's the debut of the newest JYP girl group. They have Twice and Itzy and now... NMIXX.
NMIXX - O.O
Also, Apink have graced us with a performance video of Nothing- a bside from their album Horn.
Apink - 'Nothing' Performance Video
Billlie | 'GingaMingaYo (the strange world)' M/V
Billlie's first comeback, and I'm liking it. Their lore is kind of interesting too, although I'm not sure where they'll go with it.
I watched Form of Therapy's reaction to NMIXX last night and they were kind of down on it- the song and MV at least (not the girls themselves). Some of their points were that the MV didn't serve to make anyone standout in particular, and thus wasn't good as a debut song, and the song was too disjointed. I can see criticisms as it does seem almost like a medley of 3 songs and moods (dreary day, colorful day, night time), but I'm feeling a little more generous to NMIXX... and definitely interested in what they do next.
Anyway, it seems like the comebacks are picking up after a little drought and that should continue on into March with comebacks from Red Velvet, Weeekly and (G)I-DLE ...and I'm sure more...
People seem to be talking about this fancam of Billlie's TSUKI and her facial expressions. According to comments, these expressions are more a trait of J-pop idols, which TSUKI got her start in. It's pretty incredible seeing her switch from one to another so quickly. I don't think I make this many expressions in a day...
Billlie TSUKI 'GingaMingaYo(the strange world)
Pages