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, 2022 and Nov. 30th, 2023.
Curious about past countdowns? Check out the masterpost here!
Honorable Mentions
SONGS 50-41
SONGS 40-31
30. The Boyz – Watch It
Many of my favorite 2023 songs utilized a sense of build to craft a sonic story. Watch It is addictive from the start, but truly blossoms into a showstopper during its theatrical, powerhouse bridge. (full review)
29. ZEROBASEONE – In Bloom
Unlike so many competition show spawned groups, ZEROBASEONE debuted with a specific sound and tone. In Bloom took awhile to grow on me, but its atmospheric synth lines ended up winning the day. (full review)
28. aespa – Spicy
Spicy may not be the most “aespa” sounding track in their catalog, but the group’s stab at a summer song proved to be their finest 2023 moment. (full review)
27. Lim Young Woong – Do Or Die
While many of his peers continued to mine the 80’s for inspiration, Lim Young Woong delved into the early-2010’s for this EDM banger. It’s exciting to hear him tackle a song so outside his usual repertoire. (full review)
26. AMPERS&ONE – On And On
Overflowing with youthful energy, On And On showcased AMPERS&ONE’s skills over a taut, unrelenting arrangement. Post-chorus rap breakdowns have become very formulaic in K-pop, but this is one time that segment became a song’s highlight. (full review)
25. Teen Top – HWEEK
Where too many of their second-gen peers attempted a comeback with overly trendy material, Teen Top stuck to classic summertime tropes for a pinwheeling pop track that would sound good in any era. (full review)
24. Treasure (T5) – Move
Treasure’s strongest 2023 track ended up coming from a sub-unit. Move offered a new taste of their sonic spectrum, borrowing from 2000’s-era hip hop production to create an incredibly addicting highlight. (full review)
23. from20 – Bad Revenge
from20 stuck to his synth guns with Bad Revenge — a propulsive banger with a killer chorus and compelling performance. He pulls off this sound so well. (full review)
22. Limelight – Madeleine
I’m not sure how many heard Madeleine, but Limelight delivered incredible counterprogramming to many of the year’s trends. If you’re looking for a soaring melody and consistently upbeat production, you’ve found the right song! (full review)
21. xikers – Do Or Die
Many groups opted for rock influences this year, but xikers’ Do Or Die proved to be the most boisterous explosion of rookie energy. It’s a massive sound, stuffed with personality and charm. (full review)
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Spicy is my number 1 with almost 420 plays this year 🤣
I always love Aespa and I’m bias to everything that they released. Spicy is everything that I want from girl group. Straightup bombastic summer hit with confidence. The instrumental goes hard too and I believe the last 60 seconds of the song is the highlight of their career.
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I 100% agree, spicy is amazing.
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I have Lim Young Woong’s Do Or Die & aespa’s Spicy in my top 20. I wouldn’t say I’m an aespa fan, but this felt like their strongest year (esp if we include Hold On Tight from the Tretris OST), finally delivering on the promise of Next Level.
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I suppose at this point of the countdown I should move myself off the couch and write something up. That is how much motivation I have for this blah year for kpop for me.
Primary ranking was playcount on my ipods. Next pass was if from title alone could I sing the song and if so, how much. Were said lines living rent free, and if so was it clever and catchy rent-free or undeservedly craptastic rent-free, or both. (Bonus point of course goes to the craptastic rent-free.)
In 21-30 bucket, in some order, listed here alphabetically
Cravity “Ready Set Go”
Lim Young Woong “Grain of Sand”
Mark “Golden Hour”
OnlyOneOf “Chrome Hearts”
Pixy “Karma”
Stray Kids “S-Class”
Tan “Fix You”
Teen Top “Hweek”
The Wind “Island”
The Wind “We Go”
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Seeing watch it, in bloom & spicy one after the other killed me because they are at the top of my list this year. Especially spicy, as said above, that song is actually spectacular. Spicy is what I love and adore about kpop. It is crazy, bombastic and just fun and makes me smile. No song has come close to my love for that song this year. As giselle said, the song is a 10 out of 10, honestly.
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Big fan of wheek and on & on.
Do or die from Xikers is also a banger.
LYM is what you get if you ask AI to make you a club banger from 2010.
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it was a great year for boy group debuts. I love both In Bloom (my 4th most played song this year) and On & On (my personal favorite debut of the year).
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Move by T5 is in my top 10 of the year. I haven’t liked anything else by Treasure but this song and MV delivered classic suave bg vibes. I feel like this was the year of the Sexy Subunit…this song, Passion Fruit by The Boyz, IDUBILU by SVT PU, Untie by Viviz (okay, not a real subunit but still feels like one to me.)
Also love the old-fashioned gg sound of Madeleine.
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man i forgot about madeleine, that track’s a banger!
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I completely forgot about Treasure’s subunit T5 when ranking my songs! My dumb brain :(((. Their song “Move” would be around #25-#20 for me. That means all the songs below “Move” will move down a rank lmao.
Aside from that, here’s my top 30-21 bracket:
30. TXT – Chasing That Feeling
29. IVE – Kitsch
28. NCT Dream – ISTJ
27. tripleS – Rising
26. BSS (Seventeen) – Fighting (feat. Lee Young Ji)
25. Jay Chang (One Pact) – Rockstar
24. Jimin (BTS) – Like Crazy
23. TXT – Sugar Rush Ride (aka the “BANG BANG BANG” of 2023 for me)
22. Jungkook (BTS) – Seven (feat. Latto)
21. Jeon Somi – Fast Forward
Things are looking good for the top 20… 👀
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and I just realized I also left out xikers’ great “Do or Die” as well ughhh. I almost want to redo my rankings lmao.
I’m satisfied with my top 10 though for now. Hopefully, I won’t come across any other songs that I’ve listened to and liked this year but forgot to include them in my rankings lmao.
Next year, I’m gonna start saving songs that I’ve listened to lmao.
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If I didn’t have this blog my lists would probably be a total mess haha (especially this year)
Even *with* this blog I forgot so many early-2023 releases and had to go back to remind myself how they sounded…
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Madeleine was such a pleasant surprise this year, made even moreso cus it lead me to check out some of Limelight’s other stuff – their past singles Eye to Eye and Honestly ended up making it on my most played for 2023 as a result!
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I decided that only songs that satisfied my “Kpopness” standards (a few exceptions squeaked in) deserved to be in my
Top 30 list:
30. NCT Dream – ISTJ
29. JustB – Medusa
28. Cravity – Groovy
27. TNX – Kick it for now
26. G’Idle – I Do
25. From20 – Bad Revenge
24. ATBO – Next To Me
23. E’last – Thrill
22. T5 (Treasure)- Move
21. WOODZ – Drowning
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I’m so happy that LimeLight’s Madeline made the list. It’s my #4 most played track this year and I just love it.
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I’m guessing Riize’s Get a Guitar made it to the top five list. Talk Saxy top 15 😀
2023 is such a bad year for Kpop that I don’t even listen to ONF 😦 …
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Spicy was such a catchy song and it fit Aespa’s energy so well.
I’d love to see T5 comeback. Move was one of the better boygroup released of the year.
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jehehe
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“Watch It” and “Bad Revenge” were really good, may be adding those to my library. Also enjoyed “Do or Die” and “On and On”, and being the only group name I recognized, Teen Top delivered with “Hweek” (However, you pronounce that).
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