see also:
β top songs 2023β
β top k-pop songs 2022β getting a headache thinking about all the media reflections i want to make for 2023 so i'm starting with something a bit more niche for my own sake, aka focusing on k-music specifically! also because if i try to organize my k-pop rankings/ratings any more for this year i'll go insane so i have to just finalize the post and get on with my life.
in the past i've always made two spotify playlists: songs 202x and k-pop songs 202x, with any "k-indie" offerings going into the first general playlist. this is because i usually think k-pop albums as a whole aren't very impressive and i tend to solely latch onto 1-2 tracks per album, and because i do think that while "k-pop" isn't a singular genre it does encompass its own common influences & musical standards and so i prefer grouping those releases together. anyway i'm still going to separate the songs out on the spotify side, but this year i decided i wanted to reflect on my favorite k-music albums overall and create one little aggregate list so i could also reflect on genre spread! feel free to skip to the 2nd part of this post for just k-pop songs.
πΏ
top k-music albums 2023
#1 5/5
parannoul:
after the night (live)
shoegaze
standout track: into the endless night
#2 4.75/5
parannoul:
after the magic
shoegaze
standout track: insomnia
#3 4.5/5
cacophony:
dipuc
art pop
standout track: end
#4 4.25/5
khc/moribet:
free to air
folktronica
standout track: stray ft. minhwi lee
#5 4.25/5
newjeans:
get up
k-pop
standout track: super shy
#6 4/5
μ¬μ μ μ€λΉ:
ν¬κ·Ή
folk
standout track: self-portrait
#7 4/5
μ μ°:
ν΄λΌμ°λ μΏ μΏ λλ
indie rock
standout track: μΆ©λ 1λΆ
#8 4/5
youra:
κ½€ λ§μ μμ μ΄μ λκΈ°
indie pop
standout track: λ°κ°κ³ λΆλλ¬μμ§λ κ² (faded)
#9 4/5
brokenteeth:
μΆλ½μ μ²μ²ν
shoegaze
standout track: 138
#10 4/5
the deep:
messy room
dance pop
standout track: bappi
#11 4/5
μ€μ§μ:
λμ μ μμμ
indie pop
standout track: city seoul
#12 3.75/5
minhwi lee:
hometown to come
chamber folk
standout track: lost land
#13 3.75/5
jerd:
bomm
alt r&b
standout track: bridal shower
#14 3.75/5
silica gel:
power andre 99
indie rock
standout track: tik tak tok ft. soyoon
#15 3.75/5
aespa:
my world
k-pop
standout track: welcome to my world
#16 3.5/5
so!yoon!:
episode1: love
art pop
standout track: bad
i picked 16 albums because i had a repeated artist (you already know), and plus after the night is a live album so... i feel like i kind of dropped the ball with keeping up with releases this year but i think this is a decent genre spread and i'm glad i've come to appreciate a few new artists better this year!!! for example cacophony does folk music under the moniker moonsomoon and i used to prefer her folk stuff to her art/glitch pop, but upon revisiting dipuc it is honestly suuuch a massive and impressive album. khc/moribet is also fantastic for fellow enlightened mid-air thief amazingchillfolktronica luvrs, and ν¬κ·Ή is just really solid, lovely, timeless folk that i like a lot of tracks off of... it's kind of like what skullcrusher's quiet the room was to me last year but with a little less of an ethereal note c__c
also no one is doing dance pop/2-step influences like the deep is, Except for bΓ©be yana but she only releases SINGLES and hasn't dropped an ep or album this year so what is a girl to do! (answer: simply pepper her all over the upcoming k-pop list coming later in this post...) save me bΓ©be yana bΓ©be yana save me.....
honorable mentions
- luli lee: phoenix, indie rock (3.5)
- triples: assemble, k-pop (3.5)
- μ΄μ€μ: μμ λ§μ, singer-songwriter (3.5)
- balming tiger: january never dies, hip hop (3.5)
- μ΄μ§μ: λμμ μλ§μ, jazz pop (3.25)
- μ€λ―ΈμΌκ³±: swimming machine, i wish you happiness, shoegaze (3.25)
- 87dance: color paper hotel, indie rock (3.25)
- xooos: made in heart, k-pop (3.25)
- κΆμ§μ: the flag, singer-songwriter (3.25)
- mirani: the drift, pop rap (3.25)
πΏ back to k-pop! here's my
100 k-pop songs 2022 for reference. this list is also hosted on
rateyourmusic for easy off-site scrolling with full album images. this year i didn't manage to quite hit 100, but i'll post the top 60 (with runner-up tracks from the same release in gray when applicable) and do some usual fun facts + stats β i wrote a script to scrape all of the ratings i'd already inputted on rym to save myself some spreadsheet time so that should help LOL.
πΊ / πΉ = female / male artist
βοΈ / πΏ = title track / b-side
top k-pop songs 2023
- πΊ βοΈ newjeans β super shy (9.2) / cool with you, new jeans
- πΊ βοΈ nmixx β roller coaster (8.9)
- πΊ πΏ fromis_9 β prom night (8.7) / in the mirror, attitude
- πΊ βοΈ suzy β μ μλ ₯μΌλ‘ (8.5)
- πΊ πΏ lee chaeyeon β i don't wanna know (8.5)
- πΊ βοΈ aespa β hold on tight (8.4)
- πΊ βοΈ odd eye circle β air force one (8.4) / je ne sais quoi
- πΊ βοΈ newjeans β omg (8.4)
- πΊ βοΈ aespa β welcome to my world (8.3) / i'm unhappy
- πΊ βοΈ bΓ©be yana β vision getting blurred (side a) (8.2)
- πΊ πΏ twice β wallflower (8) / moonlight sunrise
- πΉ πΏ zerobaseone β back to zerobase (8) / in bloom
- πΊ βοΈ the deep β bappi (7.9) / 20's
- πΊ βοΈ juju secret β lonely night (7.8)
- πΊ πΏ triples β colorful (7.8) / new look
- πΉ πΏ shinee β the feeling / identity (7.8)
- πΊ βοΈ bΓ©be yana β chemistry (7.8)
- πΊ βοΈ ccola β love2000 (7.8)
- πΊ πΏ xg β left right (7.8)
- πΊ πΏ triples β speed love (7.8)
- πΊ βοΈ the deep β sensitive cat (7.7)
- πΉ βοΈ tnx β kick it 4 now (7.7) / 1000 miles
- πΊ πΏ purple kiss β autopilot (7.7) / sweet juice
- πΊ πΏ xooos β lavender (7.7)
- πΉ πΏ cravity β a to z (7.7)
[see 26-60]
- πΊ βοΈ bΓ©be yana β 64 (7.7)
- πΊ βοΈ becky β illusion (7.7)
- πΊ βοΈ iiso β salad days (7.7)
- πΊ βοΈ haseul β plastic candy (7.6)
- πΊ βοΈ ryu sera β last dance (7.6)
- πΊ βοΈ kiss of life β sugarcoat (7.6)
- πΊ βοΈ dalsooobin β tanaka san (7.6)
- πΉ πΏ key β coolas (7.5) / live without you
- πΊ πΏ red velvet β underwater / will i ever see you again? (7.5)
- πΊ πΏ triples β deja-vu (7.5)
- πΊ βοΈ billlie β eunoia (7.5) / nevertheless, extra-ordinary
- πΊ πΏ loossemble β newtopia / strawberry soda (7.4)
- πΊ πΏ lesserafim β eve, psyche, & the bluebeard's wife (7.4)
- πΊ βοΈ song heejin β drown (7.3)
- πΊ πΏ itzy β kill shot (7.3)
- πΊ πΏ soojin β tyty (7.2)
- πΊ πΏ heejin β κ°ν (7.2)
- πΉ πΏ woodz β busted (7.2)
- πΊ βοΈ raon β β‘like likeβ‘ (7.1)
- πΊ βοΈ fifty fifty β cupid (7.1)
- πΊ βοΈ kiss of life β nobody knows (7)
- πΊ βοΈ kwon eun bi β the flash (7)
- πΉ βοΈ woodz β amnesia (7)
- πΊ πΏ pixy β falling (6.9)
- πΊ βοΈ mijoo β movie star (6.8)
- πΊ πΏ ive β blue blood (6.8)
- πΉ πΏ ateez β wake up (6.8)
- πΉ πΏ park jinyoung β our miracle (6.8)
- πΊ βοΈ bibi β i am shampoo (6.8)
- πΊ βοΈ dreamnote β blue (6.7) / lemonade
- πΊ πΏ blackswan β cat & mouse (6.7)
- πΉ πΏ the boyz β fire eyes / fantasize (6.7)
- πΉ πΏ infinite β time difference (6.7)
- πΊ πΏ el7z up β die for you (6.6)
- πΊ πΏ kep1er β happy ending (6.6) / lvly
title songs won out by just a bit this year! i think all the bΓ©be yana singles + groups doing an increasing amount of pre-release singles these days maybe contributed to that. i also continue to skew horrendously toward female artists, with a 11-point jump in ggshares from 71% in 2022 π i feel like i've already talked about all the releases i have up at the top of the list so i don't really have to go into it again, but i think nwjns and aespa have had the most ~holistically~ impressive discographies this year; i didn't love spicy and some other aespa releases but they more than make up for it with other singles and b-sides. and i also liked the rv album a lot more than i expected to!
lastly here's the genre breakdown taken from each song's rym album page, which means the genres don't relate explicitly to the songs themselves but i thought it'd be fun to aggregate them anyway just to see the consensus on how things are tagged. obviously everything was also tagged as "k-pop" so i cleared that one out and ended up with:
- dance-pop (33)
- contemporary r&b (21)
- electropop (5)
- alternative r&b (4)
- trap (3)
- liquid drum and bass (2)
- atmospheric drum and bass (2)
- pop rap (2)
- deep house (1)
- synthpop (1)
- baltimore club (1)
- uk bass (1)
- sophisti-pop (1)
- synth funk (1)
- nu-disco (1)
- future house (1)
ok i think that's all i've got for this post... i could do more stats & analysis but i don't really have the energy or desire to! i'll save the rest of my music rambling for when i've completed my actual 2023 songs playlist (which i still need to cut down from the 300+ songs it's at rn... it was at 600 at one point x__x) anyway here's the spotify playlist :D as always i love to hear what everyone's favorite songs/releases of the year were so pls feel free to comment if you'd like. happy 2024!!!
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