The end of the year countdowns are finally here! As always, we’ll kick off with the big one: The Bias List’s top 50 songs of the year! Each day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the year’s best, until number one is revealed on Friday.
To be eligible for this top 50 list, songs must have had a Korean release as a title track, follow-up or promotional video between Dec. 1st, 2021 and Nov. 30th, 2022.
Curious about past countdowns? Check out the masterpost here!
10. RoaD-B – Icarus
A song can zigzag this way and that — indulging in as many breakdowns and offshoots as it wants — as long as it delivers a radiant chorus to come back to. Like its titular character, Icarus takes flight as soon as it hits its bounding hook. The languid verses ensure we never get too close to the sun, though the song might have scored even higher with a more consistent wind powering its sails. (full review)
9. DRIPPIN – Zero
Many of this year’s top songs felt like full musical feasts, well-structured and sprawling within their tight running time. A track like Zero moves intentionally, weaving through several unique highlights that eventually forge into a sucker punch climax. Zero takes you on a journey, and when the full brunt of its distorted guitars usher in the final chorus, every twist and lull in that trek feels earned. (full review)
8. TO1 – Drummin’
It’s deceptively hard to pull off a raucous party track like Drummin‘. Rely too heavily on chanted exclamations and crazy asides and you run the risk of driving the party bus right off the road. Sanitize your song too aggressively and you’ve cleaved off the grit that makes it feel genuine. Drummin‘ swaggers down the narrow pathway between these extremes. It’s a piñata of musical goodies: 70’s funk brass, ultra-catchy rap breakdowns and even a bit of cartoonish vocal fry. In between, we’ve got the year’s most stupidly brilliant rallying cry: “let’s get dumb and let’s get dumb.” (full review)
7. DRIPPIN – The One
Trilogies and inter-connected song series have become big K-pop business, but too often these projects open with their strongest punch before limping to the finish line with ever-diminishing returns. It’s rare to find a trilogy that grows stronger, song by song. The One stands as a new highlight in DRIPPIN’s burgeoning discography, harnessing many of the year’s trends (distorted guitar) and melding them to unique flourishes (drum and bass). Like its predecessor Zero, The One is a full musical meal, incorporating two distinct dance breakdowns before we rev toward its galvanizing conclusion. (full review)
6. Alice – Dance On
If I’m being honest, Dance On is the song I’d longed for from Kara’s big reunion. Of course, this is not a Kara song. This is Alice, reinvigorated with a new name and a spectacular new sound. In a year seemingly allergic to choruses, Dance On delivers a whopper of a centerpiece. The vocals are stacked to high heaven, the percussion is brisk and thrilling and the melody envelops you in a big pop embrace. You can feel the verses threatening to segue into the cheesy sing-talk styling that often mars K-pop dance tracks, but the producers are on their A-game with a series of rapid-fire drum hits that keep us speeding down the race track. (full review)
5. Tempest – Can’t Stop Shining
I’ve spent a good portion of the year writing about choruses — begging for good ones, jeering at bad ones. And yeah, Can’t Stop Shining‘s chorus is a big colorful fizz bomb of serotonin. But, it’s actually the surrounding pieces of this song that earn it a spot in my top five. To put it simply, Can’t Stop Shining‘s verses and pre-chorus are unmatched. The vocal arrangement is layered and lush, each note flowing into the next to create a sonic landscape so refreshing it practically drips right off the track. And when rap emerges during verse two, it plays in service to the groove, hitting the beat with gleeful exuberance. (full review)
4. RoaD-B – Nonstop
Out of nowhere they emerged, backed by the full power of a long-dormant Sweetune. RoaD-B’s Nonstop weaves a tempting tale, at once elusive and in-your-face. This melody is guided by a master hand, modulating in places you don’t expect but never losing its sense of tension. Nonstop oozes atmosphere, utilizing a gorgeous synth palette pulled from a different universe than anything else released this year. And when the song’s pathos reaches a head during its last-minute power note, Nonstop will fully sweep you away. This is absolutely brilliant songwriting. (full review)
3. IVE – After Like
The first few times you hear After Like, it’s hard to separate the song from its instantly recognizable I Will Survive sample. Do we love the track because we love the disco classic it’s built around? Or, would After Like be just as addictive without that bombastic post-chorus? The truth can exist somewhere in the middle. Gloria Gaynor’s immortal 1978 hit surely takes much of the credit, but that familiarity also raises the stakes. A flimsy pop trifle would collapse under the weight of that sample.
As After Like scaled the top of the charts, it proved itself anything but flimsy. The song is a pinwheel of sprightly hooks, buttressed by chunky house piano and a personality-rich performance that spawns multiple moments of K-pop iconography. It’s the sound of a rookie group coming into their own and doing it in style. (full review)
2. Girls’ Generation (SNSD) – Forever 1
There are many times when experimenting with your pop song pays off. Long-awaited anniversary tracks probably aren’t one of these times. A milestone release like Forever 1 should sound like a grand fireworks display stuffed into a pop song. It should engage all your senses. You should be able to close your eyes and see the music.
Forever 1 honors the legacy of its incredible performers, reuniting Girls’ Generation with longtime collaborator Kenzie. This sisterhood thrives within the song’s lyrical conceit and its self-referential sense of nostalgia. Its blistering EDM assault slots comfortably as part of Girls’ Generation’s early-10’s dominance while keeping one eye on the future as the group jets into a new era.
Maybe Forever 1 isn’t fireworks after all. Maybe it’s a confetti drop, flanked by confetti cannons. Whatever the case, there’s a lot to sweep up after the song has finished. Specks of multicolored paper, damp with tears of resilience and joy. (full review)
1. Golden Child – Replay
Since their debut in 2017, Golden Child have placed a total of twelve songs on my year-end countdown. Seven of these ranked within the top ten. The group is just that consistently good. But though they’ve played runner-up a few times, Golcha have yet to score my top song of the year. As much as I might love an artist’s music, I have to be true to my convictions. A song can’t climb all the way to the top based on goodwill alone.
Well, their perennial ‘runner-up status’ ends in 2022. Replay is a definitive choice, barreling to number one with indefatigable energy. Golden Child are a powerhouse group, but they rarely get a chance to display that intensity on a title track. Right from the start, you know Replay is going to be a very different beast. It announces itself with a double whammy of vocal refrain and chorus. You’re thrown right into the vortex of this gale force performance, unsure where its structure will ultimately take you.
And, what a structure this is! True to its theme of time manipulation, Replay unfolds as a series of dives and punches. The chorus initially seems locked in repetition — almost like an engine rolling over. The vocals break free on the fourth go-around, but relief is temporary. At its climax, the song resets with Joochan’s blistering “you and me” refrain. Replay‘s sense of movement is palpable, both in its claustrophobic containment and its moments of victorious exhilaration.
Once you think you’ve got a read on Replay‘s bag of tricks, the track rips itself open again as a pummeling guitar breakdown adds another level of intensity. The instrumental shreds. Golden Child shred. There’s rarely a moment to breathe. This is desperation in the form of a pop song, unyielding and extreme.
I’m 90% percent sure that Replay and Forever 1 share the same vocal sample — that pumping crowd cheer underlining Replay‘s weightless pre-chorus and Forever 1‘s rousing finale. Each song uses this sample in different ways. It’s a celebratory sense of unity for SNSD and their fans, but throughout Replay it becomes fuel for Golcha’s aggressive plea. I’ll take either emotion as long as a song makes me feel something. Replay feels deeply, its frayed nerves sewn into every beat. (full review)
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
CALLED IT GOLCHA TAKES THE CROWN 🥳
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I will say, it’s very satisfying that the top 3 is exactly the top 3 from August.
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Four songs in my top five are from August! 😮
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And Golcha wins! 🏆 That’s a perfect description of the emotion of the song too! It keeps switching in ways you never expected! Also it’s cool that 2 groups have double songs in your top 10! Is that a new record perhaps? 🙂
This year was a mixed bag in many ways with perhaps the most unlikeliest of groups giving me the most amazing of songs really! For the last two years Oneus has been my #1 with TBONTB and Luna, with bias playing a small role perhaps and though I had hoped for a hat trick it doesn’t seem to be in the stars…Moving on for my final ten :
10. Ateez Guerilla – One of my fave tracks from them. And that album rocks too! This song is oddly cathartic. And that bridge is shared for my second fave bridge of this year (The other 2nd fave bridge is Drippin’s Zero :D)
The next 3 are all equal in my heart really! They share the exact same properties of great vocal parts & catchy choreo! ❤
9. Twice Talk That Talk – These ladies are so dependable and that vibrant chrous never fails to make me feel bright!
8. Ive After Like – It’s so crazily addictive. And the amount of hair-flipping… I love it. A very simple song in many ways yet it is the kind you can burst out singing at random!
7. Miimirose Rose – My top gg song of the year! ❤ I really love the melody and it has so many interesting parts that I never get tired of singing it!
6. Treasure Hello – In terms of longevity this beats about 90% of my list lol. The nostalgic mood is so perfect and it definitely makes me ask the question to these guys : “Where you’ve been all my life?!” 😄❤
5. Up10tion Crazy About You – I still remember this from start to end lol. 💀 Again perfect structure in my books. It’s the kinda powerful emotional song that I find haunting and beautiful yet passionate. Haha I know nobody really cares for the song much so please let me get away with my poetic love for this 😂
4. Seventeen _World – After my low-key SOTY snub of Rock With You last year by delegating them to #2 and then regretting it… I paid very careful attention to their songs this time lol. This song in one word : Pretty. Everything from melody to the rap to ‘ahem’ the people are pretty ❤
3. Blitzers Bobbin – And THIS is my Number One Bridge of the Year!! That “Stay alive, and Trust Yourself!” gets me pumping every single time!! ❤🔥 This song is damn badass and noisy yet so… inspiring? I love it!
2. Golcha Replay – I really love the structure of this song! It’s straightforward yet keeps you hooked till the end!! And perfect blend of vocals and rap! And for some reason I got the feeling they all really enjoyed this one and put their heart into the performance every single time! Honestly I agree, SOTY material…..
Yet… it is not #1 for me because I’m shamelessly biased and so :
1. Kingdom Long Live the King – Lmao, I bet anyone who has seen my comments knew this was coming 😂 European aesthetic, stylish concept, vocals, rap, dance breaks, gorgeous costumes – this had everything and more to hype me up! And that finale alone is what really propels this to the top of my list!! ❤🔥
Will I regret this next year and go “Damn Treasure’s Hello and Nine.i Young Boy are the GOAT – what was I thinking…..” Who knows? 🙃
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This isn’t the first time more than one group had two songs in The Bias List’s Top 10. Back in 2019, ATEEZ, SKZ, and TXT all had two songs that landed in the top 10.
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I love Crazy About You. It’s not my favorite song on the album, but it’s strong.
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Sweetune’s not at #1? Blasphemy! LOL 😉
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i guess it has something to do with the fact that the two sweetune-produced songs here made 0 impact on the k-pop industry as a whole (nugu boy group with not even 10k spotify listeners)
icarus and non-stop are objectively VERY good songs but… people actually knowing the song affects the listening experience in a HUGE way whether you accept it or not. if same song was released by a group of a higher caliber like infinite (or even significantly lower like golden child) i would definitely eat it up
+ the mixing of the vocals is kinda bad lol
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These things are relative though, aren’t they? Look at Infinite’s streaming numbers on Spotify; they’re not much higher than RoaD-B’s. You might say it’s because it’s older, but Queen has some songs that are over 50 years old that have a billion-plus streams…
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Okay, scratch that, Infinite’s streaming numbers are more than I realized. I remembered seeing that some of my favorite tunes, like Lately only as 500,000 streams, and Nothing’s Over around 700,000, and extrapolating from that the idea that Infinite’s streaming numbers were low.
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(RoadB “Nonstop” mixing overall is not great. I keep trying to convince myself otherwise, but it is true, alas.)
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Really? I don’t hear any problems with the production or mixing. But then I’m not a producer. But I honestly don’t focus on that anyway, though; my favorite stuff historically has been rather lo-fi or indie-produced, so I’m not bothered. A bit of imperfection is human. If it was good enough for the Beatles, then I’m not bothered 😉 A great song’s a great song.
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I’ve actually come to love the mixing on Nonstop. It adds to the atmosphere, imo.
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When I play it on my current best earbuds and the car audio, it sounds like the song is being played in a room behind me, especially the vocals. I just want to reach into the song and crank the vocals up 2 or 3 notches. It might sounds different or better on other speakers (phone, computer, etc).
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for me, the road-b songs came and went. I don’t rememeber them at all, they had zero impact
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I was expecting FOREVER 1 to be lower but it’s #2! deserved because of how much I cried while listening to it
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I started crying five seconds in the first time I heard it 😭
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oh when the goddamn chorus hit I just burst out crying and couldn’t stop until it finished 😭
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Also happy so see my tearjerker of the summer very high on the list, it gives a bright feeling to the top haha
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My list:
1 RoaD-B “Nonstop”
2 Ulala Session “I AM FINE” … I gotta be FINE, and I
3 Kim Jae Hwan “The Snail” (link at bottom) If you have ever wondered what is meant to hear a song come home = this song, with every turn, every pass from chorus to verse and back, sounds like it is coming home.
4 Jeon Woong & Lee Dae Hwi “I’m Crazy” OST – the tempo shift is perfect
5 Yena “Smiley”
6 TAN “Du du du”
7 Max Changmin “Maniac”
8 Stray Kids “Maniac”
9 ATEEZ “Cyberpunk”
10 Dreamcatcher “Maison” – darling daughter played the shit out of this song
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My predictions were somewhat off again (although I did guess Golcha, IVE, Road-B (Nonstop) and DRIPPIN (Zero) in the right spots 🤪).
My top 10
10) TWICE – Talk That Talk
9) ATEEZ – Cyberpunk
8) Golden Child – Replay
7) ALICE – Dance On
6) Chung Ha – Sparkling
5) Seulgi – 28 Reasons
4) LE SSERAFIM – ANTIFRAGILE
3) CSR – Loveticon
2) CSR – Pop? Pop!
1) NewJeans – Attention
Thanks Nick, I’ve enjoyed reading your reviews this year
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Woollim boys really dominating on the list, as they should!
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Thanks for another year of your reviews Nick! I’ve kinda stopped commenting for a while but I still enjoy reading all of your posts, it’s still my favourite way of catching up on releases and getting introduced to things I’d miss otherwise!
Here’s my Top 10 title tracks:
1. Kwon Eunbi – Glitch
2. Twice – Talk that Talk
3. Le Sserafim – Antifragile
4. IVE – After Like
5. WJSN Chocome – Super Yuppers!
6. WJSN – Last Sequence
7. ALICE – Dance On
8. CSR – Pop? Pop!
9. Stray Kids – Mixtape: Time Out
10. Dreamcatcher – Maison
HM:
Astro – Candy Sugar Pop
Cherry Bullet – Love in Space
Fifty Fifty – Lovin Me
fromis_9 – DM
iKON – But You
IVE – Love Dive
NewJeans – Attention
It’s been such a good year for girl groups I love it! As someone who typically prefers girl group music my top lists are absolutely dominated, more than usual ahaha – even as I made it a goal this year to listen to more BGs! Excited for the new year :0
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Ah damn, I forgot to slide in Chiquita in my HMs as well
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Great list as always, Nick!
After way too much fuss, mine ended up:
1. Rocket Punch – Chiquita
2. WJSN Chocome – Super Yuppers!
3. IVE – After Like
4. RoaD-B – Nonstop
5. RoaD-B – Icarus
6. Red Velvet – Feel My Rhythm
7. Cherry Bullet – Love in Space
8. STAYC – RUN2U
9. Apink – Dilemma
10. DRIPPIN – The One
That said, B-sides ended up being WAY stronger on balance this year (IMO), so that’s the list I’m looking forward to most!
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I think that Replay is too on the nose Infinite-esque for me to actually properly enjoy. And maybe a hot take but I feel that Nonstop would be ignored if it wasn’t the return of Sweetune. It sounds like a 2011 nugu boy group b-side.
I haven’t fully figured out an order to my top 10 yet but it would probably include: Taeyeon, Yena, Eunbi, Acid Angel of Asia, OnlyOneOf and Rie. I’m looking forward to what Yena, Eunbi and OOO do next in particular and I hope Triple S doesn’t fail cos it is really 50/50 out there when Jaden is involved.
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Here’s my Top20 year-end chart (as long as it was officially released in 2022, it’s elegible to be counted, either title track or b-side as well):
1. KINGDOM, Illusion
2. ROAD-B, Nonstop
3. BLACKPINK, Yeah Yeah Yeah
4. J-HOPE, More
5. (G)I-DLE, Tomboy (R3hab Remix)
6. KEY, Another Life
7. WINNER, I Love You
8. J.Y. PARK FEAT. GAEKO, Groove Back
9. ATEEZ, Cyberpunk
10. KEY, Bound
11. XDINARY HEROES, Zzz..
12. PSY FEAT. HWA SA, Now
13. KANG DANIEL FEAT. PH-1 & WDBZ, Nirvana
14. JONG HO, Gravity (Reborn Rich OST)
15. STRAY KIDS, Super Board
16. ITZY, Boys Like You
17. LE SSERAFIM, The Great Mermaid
18. SUHO, Hurdle
19. PSY, Dear Me
20. STRAY KIDS, Maniac
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Great list, the songs on the countdown are much more familiar to me now since I’ve read pretty much all of the reviews this year. Love what you do by the way, keep it up!
My Top 10 (at the moment):
10. TWICE – Talk That Talk
9. Rocket Punch – Chiquita
8. woo!ah! – Rollercoaster
7. Jin – The Astronaut
6. WJSN – Last Sequence
5. CSR – Pop? Pop!
4. iKON – But You
3. RoaD-B – Nonstop
2. IVE – After Like
1. Girls’ Generation – Forever 1
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I’m looking at other lists on the Web, and the top 10 tend to go to the usual suspects. It seems they’re awarded for being the most popular, or having the most streams, or being the kind of coffeehouse singers these critics find the most soothing. And that’s fine, it’s nice to have a recap of what the culture listened to the most. But I love TheBiasList precisely because it highlights the best tunes – from a certain aesthetic criteria (re: bias) – many of which otherwise are ignored by the big Western media (your Billboard critics, NME, Rolling Stone, Time Mag, et al). Where else will you see groups at the height of their powers, like Golden Child, RoaD-B, OnlyOneOf, TO1, Drippin, Tempest featured so prominently? Thanks, Nick, for another great year of reviews!
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Thanks! This is exactly what I strive for with these lists.
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My top song of 2022 is “After Like” by IVE. Loved the sample and the melodies surrounding it. I’m glad to see it end up in your top 3.
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Surprised but not really that Dreamcatcher didn’t even have an honorable mention. Much as I love them, neither title track is among their very best and it feels like a down year for their music overall. Though I will forever appreciate Maison as their first win.
I do expect to see them in the B-sides countdown though, because they released many good ones.
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I’ll bet Starlight makes the best b-sides list. I remember he raved about it & gave that a great review.
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August being clearly the greatest month for K-Pop this year was no surprise!
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What is really smart about Dance On, to me, is at 2:58. In anticipation of the soft bridge, their vocals on the end of the chorus pull back. So many Kpop songs go full throttle before cutting to their much quieter moments, and it’s jarring. But Dance On transitions us smoothly. Really well done.
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Congrats golden child for taking #1!
My song of the year would prob be TAN’s Du Du Du Du or IVE’s Love Dive though…. maybe Blessed Cursed…?
Nevertheless, congrats Golden Child! And let’s hope forward to a new year!
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One sentence reviews of my favourite 20-ish title tracks this year in no order at all!
Play by Yuju- loved her solo debut, eagerly anticipating her next comeback!
Play by Yuju- loved her solo debut, eagerly anticipating her next comeback!
Smiley and Smartphone by Yena- feel like she’s filled a niche in the market very nicely for a cute but quirky over-the-top pop sound!
Delight, Holler, and Azalea by Rolling Quartz- I literally can’t choose one, I love all their songs
Run2u and Beautiful Monster by Stayc- Run2u was a slay and a half and I replayed Beautiful Monster a lot!
Thank You by Brave Girls- no, thank YOU. now where is the comeback! (more synths, please!)
Feel My Rhythm by Red Velvet- exactly the sort of thing I wanted them to release this year, so majestic
Glitch and Underwater by Kwon Eunbi- rooting for her to have a viral song next year, nothing but bops so far
Cheese in the Trap by Moonbyul- more rock and pop-punk from any Mamamoo member, please!
Pop! by Nayeon- exactly what I imagined Nayeon’s solo to sound like, and I was not disappointed
Heartburn by Sunmi- orange afternoon sister to pporipippam, gets better with every replay
Sparkling by Chungha- oh Chungha is BACK baby!
Nerdy by Purple Kiss- more violins in k-pop, thank you
Forever 1 by Girls Generation- we really are going into the new world, huh
Talk That Talk by Twice- this is the twicest twice has ever twiced
28 Reasons by Seulgi- this is the seulgiest seulgi to ever seulgi
Illella by Mamamoo- queens. more music in 2023 hopefully!
Limbo by Nature- when I say I want a more 2nd gen sound in k-pop, this is what I mean. CAMP
INVU by Taeyeon- dancing and crying and envying you
Animal Farm and Vengeance by Bibi- absolutely loved her album, fantastic singles too
DM by fromis_9- never going to be over those whistle notes in the last chorus
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I don’t know if i have a top 10 for the year — my music listening is pretty isolated to a few artists, and I’m not the adventurous type. But my soty is absolutely Antifragile, and it’s honestly my favorite girl group song period! It’s just so much fun.
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this year was truly terrible, i can barely list 10 title tracks i loved. le sserafim, billlie, seventeen and surprisingly blackpink were the only ones to release more than one or two decent b-sides. twice really did fall off, they had a good run music-wise from 2019 to 2021 but their last couple releases were a letdown.
anyway, cherry bullet released soty two years in a row and i don’t remember if they got a shout out at all, but love in space >>>>>
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Okay, here’s my tentative K-pop and Fellow Travelers list until the WayV album comes out. At that point, I’ll shuffle my titles and b-sides together for a heftier list. Once again a group’s debut tops my personal chart (last year it was Mirae’s Killa).
Titles
DU DU DU TAN
Tangerine Ayumu Imazu
LIGHTSIGN KAREKI,DinoJr.
Dreaming NCT DREAM
Forever Only JAEHYUN
Too Bad WEi
Replay Golden Child
Infection BLACK LEVEL
Sharp Objects Sorn
Dilemma Apink
B-sides
Decanting SUHO
Faster NCT 127
Cyberpunk ATEEZ
Shelter E’LAST
ALIEN SUPERSTAR Beyoncé
ACT! (Feat. BEAGLE (비글)) Kinoj2sly,BEAGLE (비글)
Flash UP10TION
Dejavu THE MAN BLK
Time Lapse NCT 127
Welcome To The Future MIRAE
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du du du by TAN honestly almost made my top ten
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Sohee’s rump is no joke!
But not enough to upend Golden Child 😦
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My top 10:
1) SNSD- forever 1
2) Cherry Bullet- Love in space
3) Rocket Punch- CHIQUITA
4) Red Velvet- feel my rhythm
5) Jo Yuri- Love shhh!
6)Kwon Eunbi- Glitch
7) IVE- After like
8) Sunmi- Heartburn
9) Alice- Dance on
10) Drippin- Zero
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yikes I’m an idiot and thought maniac by MAX CHANGMIN was a 2021 song. It’s number 4 ( sorry DRIPPIN)
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With After Like, it entertained me how many people picked up on the instrumental sample from I Will Survive, but so many people missed that when IVE sing “What’s after like?” it’s the exact same vocal melody as when Gloria sings “I will survive.” It just goes to show you how much vocal delivery can change a song or a melody as well.
Thanks for the great list and phenomenal song descriptions, Nick! Here’s holding that 2023 delivers August 2022 quality all yearlong! Ha!
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golden child’s replay is interesting to me in the sense that I always sing the opening line to myself , but I never actually listen to the song. I always feel the urge to but I just don’t , so weird
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honestly, I would’ve had a hard time coming up with a top 50 list this year,
most songs just didn’t stay in my rotation even though I liked them
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Congrats on the list once again Nick! I didn’t get to comment earlier due to this being a really busy week, but here I am! I normally try to predict the winner of each of the awards, but I missed it this year for SOTY I guess. Oh well, I was expecting Golden Child or ROAD-B to take it anyway. I do have guesses for the awards though!
Album of the Year: Drippin – Villain: The End
EP of the Year: Golden Child – Aura
MV of the Year: Changmin – Maniac
Choreo of the Year: NewJeans – Hype Boy
Artist of the Year: Drippin
Japanese Song of the Year: Sexy Zone – Forever Gold
Non Kpop/Jpop Song of the Year: MUNA – What I Want (maybe Ellie Goulding – Easy Lover also)
Guess it is time for me to be 50% correct once again! Either way, really solid list Nick, love your detailed write-ups as always. Unfortunately, I think this might be the most I have disagreed with Nick and the TBL reader base for a year-end list. Many of these songs are really good, but I feel none of them, minus perhaps ROAD-B’s two singles, have become songs that stand on their own. I guess sometimes I dislike these songs for the reasons you all enjoy them. Perhaps most notable is Girls’ Generation’s Forever 1, which really does not stand out on its own outside its factor as a nostalgia-dripping victory lap I guess.
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Such a great list!!!!!!!! #1 for me was Nonstop, I just love how emotional yet danceable it is. Like I’d shed tears but then shake my ass to Nonstop seriously!!
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the final j-pop review starts now!
flash – perfume
im currently going on a perfume marathon, and im discovering some absolute classics on the way. one of these songs is “flash.” its perfume’s most viewed MV on their channel, and for a good reason; its just so damn amazing.
the song opens with the typical sound for these kind of progressive house songs, segwaying into its first verse right off the bat. the song builds until we get to the song’s megawatt chorus. yes, the trademark processed vocals sort of get lost in the mix and blunt its impact, but there’s no denying a melody this strong. at first listen, i was expecting a typical drop that’s often seen in these edm songs, but im very glad that was not the case. the instrumental break we get after the chorus really keeps the intensity up and gets the blood pumping. and although the energy dips for the second verse (fortunately there’s no trap breakdown), you cant deny this song’s awesomeness.
hooks: 9
production: 9
longevity: 10
bias: 8
rating: 9
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also im upset that maison didnt make it into the list 😦
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I listen to old music mostly, and most of the music exploration I did this year was in other genres aside from kpop. But Kpop was still my top genre this year, and here are the top title tracks or singles from my listening history. I really had fun with Seventeen 🙂
10. Cheers by SVT leaders unit
9. Limbo by Jun (SVT)
8. Beatbox by NCT
7. Drip N’ Drop by Mirae
6. Run BTS by Bangtan
5. Maniac by Stray Kids
4. Hai Cheng by The8
3. Arson by Jhope
2. Blessed-Cursed by Enhypen
1. HOT by Seventeen
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