open discussion

Open Discussion (June 19, 2022)

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Open DiscussionIt’s Sunday, which means it’s time to end the week with an open discussion post!

To keep things civil, there are a few rules:

  1. Be kind and respectful to one another. Any harassing language will be deleted.
  2. This is not a place to state what you don’t like about me and/or my blog. Move elsewhere, trolls.
  3. Video/gif/image embedding is totally fine. Just try to limit yourself to a couple per comment. Otherwise my moderation filter goes crazy.

Each week, I’ll open with a question to get the conversation going. Feel free to chat about anything, but if you’re not sure what to write you can use this question as a starting point.

This week’s question:

With summer right around the corner, what do you look for in a great K-pop summer song? And, what’s your go-to track during these hotter months?

38 thoughts on “Open Discussion (June 19, 2022)”

  2. Number one requirement song for me is definitely a huge hit of dopamine and actual melodies (it is ridiculous that I have to actually say this). I personally avoid summer songs that are heavily reliant on percussion or rap, I prefer just vocal summer songs. Subdued summer tracks are fine for me, like Whistle by BG was great for me. First artists to hit in summer, definitely Sistar and BG. Particular songs I enjoy are Summer 127, Navillera, Hello, Red Flavour and SEE SEA.

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  3. A great kpop summer song for me would be a song that encapsulates the season well. My go-to summer track would be Enhypen’s Tamed-Dashed since they did a great job in showcasing what a summer track performance would look like with through energetic moves and lively spirit.

    Another go-to of mine would be ONF’s Popping

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  4. Bouncy fun, that is all. Below is my go to summer song, even though it was released in November a few years ago.

    Outside of kpop, anything by the Go-Go’s is a summer song.
    ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQyazt4RDTM

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  6. Summer is a few weeks from getting over where I live lol.

    My favorite songs of the summer – Crazy Sexy Cool, Ring Ring Ring, Hide & Seek, Man In Love, H.E.R and (especially) DamDaDi. So, I want something, deliriously happy and hopefully a little dumb, but with the hooks immaculate.
    Out of the songs K-pop’s given us this year, Crazy, Beatbox, Maniac (Both the SKZ and Changmin ones), Candy Sugar Pop and for some reason Circus. Most of these songs aren’t meant for summer, but we’ve already been starved for great music this year so I won’t ask for too much….

    Anyways, looking forward to see your Risers – Fallers post at the end of this month, in that regard this year was crazy

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  7. If I had to make a top 5 of songs that scream SUMMER (coz I can’t choose less than 5) it would be, without specific order :
    1- Platonic Love by Snuper (listen to nugus)
    2- Popping by ONF
    3- Thrill Ride by The Boyz
    4- After We Ride by Brave Girls
    5-Beatbox by NCT Dream

    They give me either those fresh summer, hot days, funny vibes for Beatbox, Popping, and Thrill Ride, or this late summer nights chill or fun vibes, walking down the beach for Platonic Love and After We Ride

    Btw I love all of your suggestions, you all have good taste.

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  8. Time to tap into my “That K Summer playlist.”

    Firstly my favorite summer albums are NCT Dream’s We Young, WJSN’s For the Summer, Brave Girls Summer Queen, and Shinee’s The Story of Light. You can’t go wrong with any song off of any of these albums for Summer, and in general many of my summer favorites come from these artist across all of their discographies too.

    Some of my other summer favorite include:
    ACE’s Dessert
    NCT 127 Love Me Now
    The Boyz Bloom Bloom (still my favorite song from them)
    ONF Original (I know ONF does nothing but drop bops but this is still my favorite)
    Wayv Electric Hearts
    AB6IX Surreal
    Shinee Savior
    Red Velvet You Better Know
    AKMU Dinosaur ( I really never get stick of this one)
    Hyolyn See Sea
    Jonghyun White T Shirt
    Oneus Hero (still one of my favorite b sides ever)
    NCT Dream Trigger the Fever (still one of my favorite kpop songs ever)
    Gfriend Fever
    TRCING Missing (I could seriously go for a boy group track like this now!)

    In general I just want summer tracks to be bright, catchy, and vocal heavy. They need to be fun and lighthearted. Also a heathy dose of brass or a huge EDM refrain is definitely a plus too.

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  10. When I think of summer, I do tend to think of something energetic and unapologetically fun – a full-on dance party, filled with carefree happy vibes. To that end, I agree with all the other songs already mentioned in this thread and elsewhere on this blog. Lots of fantastic reliable tunes this time of the year, and the fact that I got into kpop around the time the tropical house trend was in full swing only makes it better.

    But personally, the one kpop song that really encapsulates everything that I think about now when I’m reminiscing about summer all year long, is Seventeen’s Our Dawn is Hotter than Day (that entire EP actually has a lovely journey through all the different facets of a summer day, it’s great). It has that nostalgic quality to it which perfectly captures the feeling of a warm summer night, winding down after a long day, with a tinge of melancholy but also hopefulness – it’s not exactly ‘summer’ if I’m just thinking about the word ‘summer’, but it’s the feeling of summer nonetheless, if that makes sense!

    Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAWM7Y9Wnd0

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  11. THEE kpop songs of the summer idc







    i wouldve put tbzs thrill ride just for the aesthetic of the mv but the song itself is definitely in the lower half of their tts for me

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  13. Well, I have two kinds of summer songs that I like, the upbeat and the lazy-sexy one, so ideally I like a playlist that alternates both?
    So let’s say:
    IU Jam jam
    UP10TION Tonight (thanks for the 2016 top btw!)
    DPR Live Hula Hoops
    EXO 3.6.5
    etc

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  14. As much as I love a relentlessly upbeat banger to move to under the sun, my ideal summer song would actually be something that strikes a nice balance between the lively atmosphere it conjures and its more gentle and delicate moments.

    Ever since its release almost eight years ago now, SISTAR’s I Swear has remained my go-to Kpop song of the summer. It’s definitely more on the high-energy side, complete with exuberant brass and all, but there’s also a yearnful and fragile quality to its melodies that makes the whole thing feel especially weighty and sincere (if that makes sense lol).

    Not too far behind it are AKMU’s Dinosaur and B1A4’s Rollin’, which are also songs I can’t get enough of during the summer and that I feel do an equally good job of juxtaposing its liveliness with sentimental undertones. Those two form the basis of my “gentle rays” playlist, which is home to this peppy little western pop track that gets a fair amount of playtime during the hotter months alongside my usual Kpop favourites.

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  16. I personally dislike hot summers, so if it gets too warm, I stay inside and listen to “winter” music. (Sad ballads, noise, melancholy jazz) until I can leave my lair.
    DAY: it should sound good blasting out of a car window. Hard but not heavy soul, rap and rock. In the past, the works of War, Isley Brothers, pre Back in Black AC/DC, Chuck Berry, Eric B. &Rakim, Tone-Loc, Run-DMC, Santana work well. Citified soul (Chicago and Motown) is also cool. New favorites Epex – Do 4 Me, UP10TION- Attention, WEi – Bad News, Snuper – Platonic Love, SHINee – Excuse Me Miss. Wonho’s – Crazy would sound great out of a car window.

    NIGHT: songs that remind me of summer evenings, gentle with a little funkiness (playlist attached). Some are absolute classics, others are just nice. Good to listen to with a beer in your hand. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3pI9aYnz8aQzO0kBt3GQqD?si=2PrJum1rQZWNNDpSifYxzA

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    • I re-read “The Call of the Wild” a few years ago during a scorching summer. Kind of did the trick, like your song choices. This Tuesday is supposed to be 101 degrees here, so I guess I’ll have to put “Hwaa” on repeat.

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  17. i tend to steer towards something that has a lush instrumental while being something i can sing along to in the car for the summer! my recent favorite has to be weki meki’s tiki taka (99%) but i am also quite fond of wjsn’s boogie up, sistar’s loving u, and red velvet’s red flavor.

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  18. I personally consider myself to be a connoisseur of summer songs (I have a six hour-long playlist dedicated to them).

    Within K-Pop, these are my top choices:
    1. You Better Know – Red Velvet (club songs always hit the spot)
    2. Galaxy – Luna
    3. Summer 127 – NCT 127
    4. Dinosaur – AKMU
    5. Energetic – Wanna One
    6. Zoo – Red Velvet (honestly, I should just throw this whole album in)
    7. View – Shinee
    8. Chi Mat Ba Ram – Brave Girls (a brand-new addition to the list)
    9. 365 Fresh – Triple H
    10. Pirate – Everglow (released at the tail-end of winter in my area, but it sounds so much like a summer song)
    11. Call Me Baby – EXO
    12. Roll Deep – Hyuna
    13. Touch It – EXO
    14. Touch My Body – SISTAR (I mean…obviously!)
    15. Umpah Umpah – Red Velvet

    And to cap it off, a few Bollywood songs that are my other summer anthems:
    1. Bang Bang – Benny Dayal
    2. Sooraj Dooba Hain – Arjit Singh (one of my all-time favorite songs too, if I’m being honest)
    3. Goriye – Prem Hardeep
    4. Zaalima – Arjit Singh
    5. Sher Aaya Sher – DIVINE

    I hope everyone enjoys the next few months of blissful heat!

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    • THANK YOU for adding Bollywood tracks!! I was at an Arijit Singh concert recently and I was desperately wishing he’d perform Sooraj Dooba Hai. He didn’t lol but it was an amazing show nonetheless. Gonna go listen to it right now for a mood booster!

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  20. 200% energy from start to finish, and a huge melodious chorus! Step by KARA is my go to summer Kpop song, but apparently it came out in September so I don’t know if it really counts as a summer song. But it is one to me!

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    • i agree even if it’s a bit later in the summer. recently, this was the song (plus mister and mamma mia) that got me and my partners to finish our thesis / graduate strong so i love it even more!

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  21. I’m not very seasonal in my musical associations. If I had to pick certain elements, though:

    -Surf guitar (or otherwise something bouncy/gritty) (Rainbow’s “A”, Red Velvet’s “Swimming Pool”, ONEWE’s “Veronica”)

    -Tropical house (AKMU’s “Dinosaur”, Winner’s “Really Really”, Berry Good’s “Don’t Believe”)

    -Wild sax centerpieces (Saturday’s “Mmook Jji Bba”, ONF’s “Complete”, Orange Caramel’s “My Copycat”)

    -Uncategorized?? (YooA’s “Bon Voyage” is undoubtably summery, but I have a hard time pinning down why.)

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  22. My go-to summer track these days: “Tamed-Dashed” – ENHYPEN. It’s not your typical tropical house-y summer kpop track, but an 80s new wave-y song with lots of propulsion and energy, with just a hint of post-punk and indie pop darkness. Love the punchy drums, the warbly synths in the chorus, the echoing synths in the “ooh-ooh”-ey post-chorus, and the absence of a rap verse. Most especially, the instrumentals in the post-chorus remind me of obscure indie rock songs buried in Bandcamp, like Trunk Weed’s “Days of Haze.”

    I love Tamed-Dashed. It’s straightforward, catchy, energetic, and feels like something rarely done, if not at all, in k-pop. I hope there’s more new wave and post-punk in k-pop.

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  24. I liked fun and light songs with a good melody for Summer like B4A1 Baby Goodnight, Teen Top Miss Right (even if it wasn’t a Summer song…), AOA Heart Attack,

    Otherwise, did you see that Mnet will release a show with bands: Great Seoul Invasion. There are already established ones or new ones. They will have mentors.

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  25. Honestly, now that I’ve been out of school for a few years, I want the song to feel nostalgic and also like… bombastic? The song should make me want to either party or relax at a swimming pool or oceanside, people-watching. To me summer songs should make me want to let loose/feel free from obligations, like how we used to have summer vacations….

    That said this post reminded me of Junsu’s underrated summer classic! (I don’t care for Quincy’s rap here, but hoo boy this chorus has everything I want out of a summer song).

    Otherwise I think the only summer bops I’ve really fallen in love with are Chi Mat Ba Ram and Tiki-Taka (99%). But hey, at least we have 2-3 more months for potential new summer bops 🤷‍♀️

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  26. anything Sistar and a song like Girls’ Generation’s “Party,” and AOA’s “Good Luck,” although that one was officially released in May (2016).

    of course there have been other k-artists that release summer songs, and many of them bops, but honestly for me, since Sistar (the official ‘Summer Queens!’) disbanded, i have not been as giddy about kpop summer releases…i guess i need to give other k-artists a listen, because Sistar is probably not coming back….what are some good summer k-bops that you would recommend?

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