There are a number of acts who have debuted in the past few decades and have dozens of song ratings on this blog. I thought it would be fun to lay these ratings out in chronological order, line-graph style, and take a macro view of their careers so far. Then, similar to my “Underrated K-pop” features, I can average their ratings into one mega-score and place them in a pantheon alongside other acts.
As always, this feature has some rules of its own. I’m including any “Song Review” ratings as part of this graph, including Japanese releases and collaborations with one other artist. I’m not including Buried Treasures or solo/sub-unit releases. For the ratings themselves, I’m using the most current number on this blog, so if a song was part of a “Risers and Fallers” or “Legendary Songs Inauguration” post, that’s the rating you’ll see displayed here. That means there will still be a few ratings here and there I find slightly inaccurate, but it’ll mostly reflect my up-to-date feelings.
Finally, these scores are completely subjective. Feel free to agree, disagree and argue (that’s part of the fun!), but know that this chart reflects the opinion of only one person (me).
Check out KIM SUNGKYU’s placement on the ULTIMATE ARTIST RANKING page!
KIM SUNGKYU: A Career In Song Ratings
The Breakdown
Highest Rated Songs
Lowest Rated Songs
Imperial Phases
60 Seconds -> Over It (2012-2026)
Slump Phases
None
Rating Average: 8.73
Overall Trendline:
60 Seconds is also my favorite single of his, but his b-side 41일/41 Days/41th from Another Me is one of my favorite songs of all time, Kpop or otherwise.
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Hey Nick.
Hate to be that guy but I just wanted to point out that 60 seconds was on your top 100 songs of all time list.
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Oh! So I did! haha
I’m actually surprised I put it that high. At this moment, I feel like it’s more of an honorable mention.
Still, I’m going to update the chart to honor that list.
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When that list was released, I thought it was subject to a lot of recency bias. A lot of the 2019 songs rank too high imo.
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hi Nick what are your thoughts on this song? personally I think it’s a very underrated awesome dance song.
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okay, not “underrated”, obviously. but still
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Oh my hot honey. He does vulnerably soft with such strength. As the saying goes, “I could listen to him sing the phone book”. Also, for a soloist he truly has his own sound and soundscaping. The sounds of the boops and plinks and space synths are like no other in kpop.
My favorites:
“60sec” ranks #15 on my all time played itunes, right behind Celine Dion’s “Pour que tu m’aimes encore”.
I also have “Hush” ranking high, as it was a soothing song from mid-quarantine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvaqF6Kvjpc
Finally, “Beautiful” from some OST. I have a playlist called “Beautiful” which is songs containing that word in the title in any language. (Not to be confused with another song titled “Beautiful” from another OST which is a duet with bandmate Nam Woo Hyun, equally good but very different, and also on my Beautiful playlist.)
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Oh, why not, yes, let’s. Let’s all listen the other Beautiful from some other OST duet with Nam Woo Hyun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItuBFmafOJU
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Favorite Korean singer! His work for INFINITE is self-explanatory but his solo work definitely deserves a lot of love! His first three albums are real comfort music, and since then he’s stepped into new genres and I love that for him!! He’s got such a lovely voice ❤
I would love to see him do a full-on rock album. He performed a cover of Hysteria by Muse a few years back (one of my top 3 artists, best of both worlds!) I hear he used to be in a band that covered songs from the likes of Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit, it would be so cool to see him tackle a heavier sound like that, can you imagine him singing Rollin’ by LB? lolol
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Such an interesting and dynamic vocalist. Definitely going to check out his solo work more!
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