staygame | favorite kpop songs

i started writing this post back in may, then decided i don't really have that much to say about music and scrapped it. but then i spent several weeks listening to old kpop playlists and i kept thinking about what i would say about my favorite tracks so fuck it, i'm doing it. here are a list of my favorite kpop songs of all time.

i've only considered songs that are at least a year old to avoid the primacy effect. i also admit that my only knowledge of music comes from years of consuming other people's thoughts and researching for fic.

onto the list!

honorable mentions (this category is also called: my favorite songs from groups i never stanned but also never listened to casually) (yes it's all boy groups)

winner - really really (2017): i watched WIN in 2014, a full year after it aired, and emerged a team b stan and team a hater. i am a contrarian, my inner circle friends hate me. anyway this song is so fucking good. tropical house was one of the better kpop trends for me, but this may be my favorite example.

shinhwa - this love (2014): old men vogueing aside, this song feels straight out of an american club circa 2013 in the BEST POSSIBLE WAY. the pre-chorus is so cheesy, but in exactly the right way to fit the drama of the rest of the song.

b1a4 - what's happening? (2013): who would've thought a song about suspecting that a girl is cheating on you could sound so upbeat? what's happening is quintessential kpop—it's bright, the chorus is infectious, and the choreography is both fun and memorable. this is what a bright concept should strive to be.

wanna one - energetic (2017): credit entirely to hui, even i, who planned on hating wanna one from the start as the only person on earth who did not watch produce, listened to energetic once and went "oh no it's good". this song is so slick and every layer of it just works. possibly one of my favorite debut songs...ever?

got7 - just right (2015): this was the song i listened to every morning on my way to class for weeks, because this is the kind of energy i need to start my day. this beat is so good and i love the repetitive, catchy chorus.

songs i can't listen to anymore because the artists ruined them for me: ok there's just one song in this category and it's big bang - fantastic baby (2012) (but also possibly "bad boy" because the whole alive album is GOOD). like i never thought big bang were especially good dudes but the seungri thing really uhhhh put the nail in that coffin. which is a shame, because fantastic baby is so good. top's rap! the taeyang/daesung pre-chorus! bunwigineun gwayeol HUH catch me on fire HUH! fuck you big bang this was my karaoke go-to.

songs i can't listen to anymore because i played them to death: aka red velvet's red flavor (2017). it was a perfect summer song and one of the most satisfying last 45 seconds of any song but alas, i poisoned myself with this song. similarly to how i had to take a two year break from listening to their b-side red dress 💔

kpop adjacent (k-hip hop, k-indie, etc.):

sik-k (ft. crush) - party (2017): i went back and forth on whether or not i should include party or iffy, but in the end i can't resist a crush feature. when you hear "groovy everywhere" some good shit is about to follow. sik-k has made a lot of music i love, but his h.a.l.f. ep is still my favorite. his laidback flow in combination with crush's vocals over a chill groovyroom production make this song infinitely listenable, the platonic ideal of a mellow khh song for me.

fromm - under the daylight moon (2014): fromm has been one of my favorite k-indie singers since this song came out. her voice is clear and emotive, perfect for ballads like her twelve nights ost i was obsessed with or the aftermath with minhyun. under the daylight moon is a song i always listen to alone, when i can get deep in my feelings. it's a song for being reflective while driving home at midnight, gently coaxing you into the unknown future.

crush (ft. beenzino) - outside (2017): it's genuinely hard to pick a favorite crush song. he's explored so many different genres, playing with trends and experimenting with pared down productions. should i choose hug me, his first single from his first album that's still unbelievably good? sofa, the emotional ballad that shows off just how fucking good his voice is? ohio, the jaunty existential crisis song? maybe it should be one of those, but instead i had to go with outside. this is a groovy summer song about wanting to go out and have fun with some hot girls. what's especially memorable about it is the music video, which features crush's beloved dog doyou knocking him out and then taking crush along in a suitcase for a bucket list vacation on his owner's dime. iconic shit.

giriboy (ft. heize) - traffic control / giriboy (ft. kid milli, lil tachi, kim seungmin, no:el, cjamm) (2019): i love early giriboy (special, hogu, the entire sexual perceptions album); but his 2018-2019 output was impressive both in quantity and quality. i remember this interview from years and years ago where he shared that his vocal coach said his charm is that he can't sing and she refused to teach him. traffic control exemplifies this; his mumbling, unaffected singing style pairs so nicely with heize's unique tone. i'm sick is another song with an addicting chill beat (can you tell where my tastes lie) and while i like giriboy’s opening verse, it may be kid milli and kim seungmin who are the standouts for me. the band version is also worth a listen for yunhway’s asmr-inducing verse.

my personal all-time faves (in no order):

bts - i need u (2015): sometimes music is good because it's good and sometimes it's good because it reminds you of [bts voice] the most beautiful moment in life. 2015 was objectively a Not Good time for me (transitional stage of my life, crippling loneliness), but it also holds some of my most precious memories, including seeing bts with all of my friends, some of whom were only acquaintances at that time. i look back at the depth of emotion i felt for them at that time (the way i felt when they got their first #1 for i need u, the way i felt spending hours exchanging fic ideas with my friends) and even though i've moved on, i feel really fondly about that passion. anyway, emotions aside, i still love this song musically. it's distilled teenage angst, with that opening tune repeated throughout to drive home the heartbreak and a swelling post-chorus drop. i still automatically fill in the fanchants whenever i listen to this song.

vixx - on & on (2013): vixx has some great songs, but how can you deny the genius of a hook like "i need therapy, lalala therapy"? maybe i just really like songs that represent pivotal points for groups but this is my favorite single out of vixx's 2013 run. no one else was doing it like them and they committed to the fantasy of it all, from the choreography to the colored contacts. my partner once pointed out that i like "epic" songs and yes, I DO. i believe the official line distribution has the chorus sung by everyone, and in music shows they split it up live with leo first and then ken, but it's ken's vocal tone that carries the nahante wae ireonendeeeee for me and when you combine that with some adlibs and n's lines in the final chorus, that's epic. no other word for it. it's a full and dramatic song that comes to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion.

fromis_9 - love bomb (2018): this was, for me, one of those songs i listened to once and immediately needed to listen to again. i do not know enough about music to definitively say that this is a perfectly crafted song but it certainly FEELS like a perfectly crafted song. the combination of the ticking clock sample, the synths, the frenetic energy of the verses that give way to this subtly melancholic chorus with a killer hook. my literal only complaint is that the bridge goes on a touch too long for me but bringing back the intro after the bridge and adding that percussion is chef's kiss. and the final chorus with all of its vocal layers!! a love that very cutely and sweetly punches you in the gut.

loona - love cherry motion/girl front (2017): yes i am cheating, yes this is my own damn list so i can do whatever i want. em and i watched the love cherry motion mv together in LA and i went "huh ok", then flew home and promptly became addicted. you know those compilations of people reacting to the beat drop? exactly. the rest of the song is perfectly competent bubblegum pop, but it’s that incredible #duality that makes this song so compelling. girl front is a summer song, in the other worldly electronic style that’s peak loona for me. the best part for me is the urgency after the bridge, with all the musical elements combining for the last chorus. odd eye circle managed to produce a pretty fucking good discography with only about ten songs between them. legends only!!

snsd - genie (2009): i can't talk about genie without talking about the iconic styling. legs for days! tiffany's bob! yuri's thighs! and just look at them on stage. not to look back at second gen with rose-tinted (pink-tinted?) glasses, but there is something effortless about these performances. musically, genie has stood the test of time. there's a bit of the bubblegum pop from gee/kissing you/etc, but there's a certain maturity here as a dance track that makes it a perfect midpoint between gee and run devil run. the final chorus, following tiffany's classic "dj put it back on", is chills-inducing with taeyeon's adlibs. it's a moment designed to be delivered with pyrotechnics and it always delivers.

pentagon - shine (2018): i'm going to be 75 years old telling my grandchildren about the first time i listened to shine the way people recount where they were during the moon landing. (actually it's not a great story—it came out while i was on vacation and i heard about the hype but didn't check out any new releases until i got back. i promptly understood the hype.) coming out alongside songs like w1’s boomerang, nct u’s boss, and mx’s jealousy, shine dared to say 👉🥺i'm just a loser who loves you🥺👈 it's a relatively simple song, driven by a memorable piano melody and sing-talking verses. this allows hui and jinho's incredible vocals to uh... shine during the chorus. there are so many satisfying parts of this song (e'dawn's nasal rapping, jinho's high note and his adlib during the last chorus, "my baby!") but after three years of continuous listening i've decided the best part is kino's prechorus with those lovely backing vocals and the absolute conviction with which he delivers his solo dance moment. it's impossible to frown while listening to shine. (while i'm here, shout out to shine's younger brother, naughty boy, which combines that same mischief with a touch of nostalgia.)

kara - step (2011): sweetune is one of the best production teams in all of kpop. rainbow's a, lovelyz's that day, most of nine muses' best singles, 100%'s better day, kara's mister, pandora, etc. and most importantly: step. this is a song that starts full of energy and never lets up. the delightful 80s synth loop, the great prechorus with seungyeon and gyuri already belting, all leading to one of the best kpop choruses. the chorus is full and lively and fun. this is a song meant to be danced to (i have to actively suppress my urge to shake my hips when i hear lalalala~) and meant to be played at maximum volume so you can feel its full power.

ikon - love scenario (2018): as an ikonic™, i can testify that ikon returned in 2018 with low expectations after a long absence in 2016 and two mediocre comebacks in bling bling/b-day. they promptly defied all those expectations, going on to break records and surpass (and then some) their early success. to think yang hyunsuk initially rejected this song bc he's a fucking FOOL. this run of singles was so fucking good—rubber band (some of my favorite hanbin lyrics), killing me (SICK-ASS INSTRUMENTAL), goodbye road (a digestible slow song), and i'm ok (the jaded grown-up version of apology)—making b.i's departure even more upsetting. love scenario is another simple song, largely just some piano and cowbell, but with some nice touches to keep it interesting. this song shows off how well b.i knows his group, with everyone getting a part perfectly suited for them (except chanwoo, who gets his usual "uhh just throw him in at the end" bit but you know it works, okay), like how lovely is donghyuk's prechorus part? even junhoe, who is always thiiiiis close to sounding unpleasant when he belts it out, mostly stays in this more casual place. it's some of ikon's best choreo, some of b.i's best lyrics, and completely worth all of the accolades no matter how many /r/unpopularkpopopinions posts i see like "DAE THINK LOVE SCENARIO IS OVERRATED?" it's not, you're just wrong. it's also chills-inducing in concert... fuck now i'm sad.

block b - nillili mambo (2012): i'm no zico fan, and barely a kyung fan (his solo music has my number but i don't trust that dude!!), but as far as a kpop rapline, you can't top block b. zico's knockout rap in very good, zico and kyung alternating lines in be the light, p.o's ending lines in jackpot, kyung's nasally delivery of yesterday's hook—they each bring something different to the table. nillili mambo opens with this cinematic note and follows with some of zico's most iconic lines: bye guys, hi ladies *muah*. with the combination of the strings and incredibly groovy beat, they fully embrace the concept of it all without sacrificing any listenability. you also get memorable point choreography and a rewatchable mv (-100 for zico's dreads, +100 for ahn jaehyo's everything), 10/10 comeback.

oh my girl - secret garden (2018): for most of my stint as a miracle, if you asked me what my favorite oh my girl song was, i would've said closer. there's a good reason it's loved by the masses. even my partner said to me that he wishes he understood music so he could articulate why closer is so good. but secret garden is an important omg song, one that gave them their first music show win and, as we only learned recently, helped them avoid disbanding. it's a song that's improved if you understand the lyrics, which describe a girl preparing to grow up and realize her dreams (if you wait a little more, you'll see / something great and amazing is planted inside), but even if you don't, hyojun and seunghee especially pack this tender strength into their lines. this, combined with the cinematic instrumental, means you don't need to understand to know that something special is happening.

teen top - love is (2017): i say this as someone who sincerely loves teen top and who has independently consumed much of their variety content: teen top is a testament to earlier generation kpop, in that a group can be formed with a single visual and 1.5 talented members. and they still put out some of the year's best songs in 2013 (miss right), 2015 (ah-ah), and 2017 (love is), proving that they could aggressively shuffle alongside up and coming third gen groups. the chorus, driven by niel's vocals and his best styling to date, is the highlight of this song. when you're sad/mad about your breakup but you're also at the club, you know. i could do without most token high notes in songs, but here, chunji's high note packs an additional punch that adds to the emotion of the song. also- THE GROWL.

apink - eung eung (2019): god bless the combination of black eyed pilseung and apink for giving us i’m so sick, eung eung, and dumhdurum. these are all smooth-ass songs that work well with apink's quiet confidence. i love eung eung's long boppy intro and every time that instrumental shows up throughout the song, it's always delightful. especially in the prechorus, where chorong and hayoung's first lines (with their repeated words) mimic that syncopation. look at me pretending like i know what i'm talking about. the song never really goes too far, just keeps everything in this slinky, moody atmosphere. it conveys the mood of the lyrics—they are too beautiful for us, and they're bored by our attempts to woo them. yes queens look down on me more.

lovelyz - ah-choo (2015): ah-choo is lovelyz's legendary song, hence why they performed it for queendom's opening. unfortunately for them, you cannot really sex up a joyfully innocent song like ah-choo, which describes your love for a person bursting out like a sneeze when you see them. the team that made this song, onepiece, was largely responsible for developing lovelyz's signature sound—girly synth pop with a bit of a retro feel—and to be honest, it didn't really jibe with me at first. then ah-choo came out and i finally got them. there's an incessant energy to the song, driven by a strong and addictive kei/jin chorus. plus, they finally figured out what to do with jiae, giving her a weirdly haunting bridge instead of... whatever that was in hi~. i also want to give the ah-choo styling props for giving the girls matching straight skirts under the circle skirts so that nothing was exposed during all the twirling in the choreography. i don't know if i've seen other groups do that.

txt - run away (2019): me going back and forth between crown and run away like i'm being asked to choose between my two children. maybe my favorite kpop songs are literally just "txt's entire discography". they excel at youthfulness, from the cheerful growing pains of crown to the dreamy childlike nap of a star. what slightly edges out run away for me is that it speaks to my own youth as a preteen who devoured pop punk. i'm sorry i love songs about the unbearable pain of being a teenager. the magical elements in here (the recurring twinkly bell... uh thing, the bibbidi bobbidi) are cheesy, but they're fun. and the chorus is catchy and it's powerful, especially when you start layering on the adlibs the second and third time around. the whole song carries a sense of urgency to match its theme. let's run away together, we have to do it now.

girl's day - expectation (2013): everyone credits expectation as the shift in musical style for girl’s day from infectious, almost meme-y pop to a more mature sound but TRUE DAISYS know that it was don’t forget me and its blend of peppy synths and sophisticated vocals that really marked the beginning. but if don’t forget me was a hint of what was to come, then expectation kicked down the door. when you have a group where only 2 out of 4 can sing, it's easy to end up with a sistar line distribution, but expectation is able to use yura/hyeri well. i think it feels like a pretty standard dance pop track, albeit a good one, until the bridge. you have hyeri and yura trading lines while minah and sojin harmonize underneath them and the song builds and builds to this thrilling key change. it's the only time i've been grateful for a minah high note. (i'm just kidding i love you minah).

iu - through the night (2017) / eight (feat. suga) (2020): the theme is that these are both songs that make emotion well up in my throat whenever i listen to them. through the night is a soft, sentimental ballad, describing missing someone through the night while they're sleeping. it's love expressed through quiet thoughtfulness; i don't want to wake you, sleep well. for me, though, this song appeals to something wistful inside me, the feeling of wanting to tell someone you miss them but being unable to. instead of the grief of, say, bts's spring day, through the night expresses this with fondness- "i hope it's a good dream". eight hits at the same feeling for me. it's a pop rock song, full of soaring optimism on the surface, but you can hear the underlying heartache in iu's voice. i am speaking purely from feeling here because i don't know shit about singing technique, but she sounds so strong during the first part of the chorus, only to let herself go softer and more vulnerable when she sings let's meet in these beautiful memories. this song it reminds me of the immense gratitude at the heart of grief—i'm glad i loved you while i could, let's meet again. it's a song that feels like wiping the tears from your face, looking up to the sky, and knowing that you will be okay.