Nine's Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2017 (January - June): 20-11

And now it's time for the fourth and penultimate instalment in this series that no one wanted but I made anyways. Looking at these songs, I can see that these are the songs that I listen to an obscene amount. I mean, this is a top songs list so I should hope I listen to these songs, but y'know.

Okay, let's go!

20. Hwi Hwi - Laboum

I'm going to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Laboum's releases. Before this song came out, I really only liked 'What About You' and 'Shooting Love', so their releases are really hit or miss for me. But this song is genuinely enjoyable. I'm a sucker for whistle sounds in instrumentals, and the "I miss this kiss" part is super catchy and fun to listen to. The call and response sections are super effective as well. There's also not a gratuitous rap section, so 'Hwi Hwi' was designed to win.

19. Super Hot - Produce 101

This is so freaking funky; you can't help but groove when listening to it. This song works incredibly well because all of their voices match the song, which I can't really say of 'Hands on Me'. Youngmin's rap and Sungwoon's vocals are standouts here. This song also gives me hope for Wanna One's future releases, because Guanlin does very well here as well. I love how this song goes exactly how you think it's going to go, which is rare for k-pop these days.

18. Mayday - April

Upon first listen the instrumental for this is just super weird. Like there's a moaning child in the background the entire time which is a little unsettling. After a career of cute singing, April found their happy medium with this song and January's 'April Story', and it works really well for this track. The quasi-raps also work in this song, where in other tracks it would cause the song to flounder. This is just peppy and upbeat and just plain weird, which makes it interesting.

17. Open Up - Knock (Produce 101)

This song is a little disjointed, but effective nonetheless. Like the rap parts almost feel like they shouldn't be there, yet it still works? I've stopped trying to understand k-pop producers and their disjointed ways. The chorus is probably the weakest part of the song, though Dongho and Daniel sing it really well. Probably the main reason I like this song is because I can't get the image of Daniel stroking his inner thigh out of my mind, so that's probably just as well. We won't talk about the studio version though, which was ruined by unnecessary autotune.

16. Downpour - IOI

The tears, they won't stop flowing. There isn't anything special about this ballad besides the fact that it was IOI's last song, but it's very effective for relaying feelings. Yeonjung and Sejeong effortlessly sing over a beautiful instrumental, and even Sohye and Chaeyeon's whisper singing fits in. The best part of the song is Chaeyeon saying "urin ije annyeong" before the final chorus; I literally cried the first 3 months after this song was released because of that line. We'll go over how Hyunbin ruined that line in an upcoming Produce 101 Season 2 review though. 'Downpour' is just an effective, emotional ballad with a killer piano instrumental.

15. Spring Day

Another slow song that's absolutely impactful. While I'm generally a fan of all things BTS, their album didn't do it so much for me this year except for this title track. Their other music video release song, 'Not Today', managed to make an impressive 61st out of 66 on my list. I'm always impressed by how easily Rap Monster and Suga (and on any other BTS track, J-Hope) insert rap into their slower songs; it's always tasteful and easy to listen to. V's voice especially shines on this track and I probably wouldn't have liked it so much if he wasn't singing. The post chorus is a little weak, but overall it's not a huge deal. There's not much more to say than that. This is just a pleasant song.

14. Running - Pristin

Now this is the best song on Pristin's debut mini. It's got a simple yet interesting instrumental and a killer chorus. Pristin's light voices hover over the instrumentals yet they're surprisingly impactful. I also love the syncopations in the vocals. Also this song is amazing because every time Kyla says "where's my pixie" I think she's saying "where's my pussy" and no matter how often I listen to this song I hear it and I hate myself every time.

13. Archangels of the Sephiroth - Stellar

This was not the song I was expecting Stellar to comeback with, but I'm glad this is what they went with. I love the chanting elements in the vocals; it's incredibly effective. There's also a low drone in the instrumentals that makes the listener feel uneasy, but mixed with the middle eastern inspired melody it really sets the mood. This is one of those songs, like Gain's 'Paradise Lost', that sounds more like an art piece than a piece of pop music. Also I need Minhee singing "love me 'til the end' playing at my funeral please.

12. Never - Nation's Sons (Produce 101)

If you're keeping track you know exactly what Produce 101 song hasn't been mentioned yet, so you already hate my top 10. Anyways, 'Never' is a very smooth, easy listen track. Minhyun's voice absolutely shines on this track, being incredibly light over a stronger instrumental in the chorus. Jaehwan's voice needs no words, of course. I'm a little divided on the rap, however. Woojin's growly, deep rap is perfect, but I might have switched Guanlin and Jonghyun. I find Guanlin's rap ineffective where it is; he just doesn't suit it and isn't a strong enough rapper yet for it.

11. A Girl Like Me - Gugudan

Gugudan raised the bar high for girl group releases this year. This song doesn't waste a single second; it's not even 3 minutes long. Jellyfish finally figured out how to utilize Nayoung's huskier vocals, and Mina and Sally's rap part actually fits the flow of the song. The instrumental is also incredibly super interesting, with more robotic, artificial sounds gracing it. This song would have actually sounded inauthentic with real instrumentals, so I'm glad they went this route.

Please join me again tomorrow for the final part of this series. My top 10 is going to include some songs that everyone is going to have in their top 10 thus far, and some that you may be surprised by.