Nine's Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2017 (January - June): 10-1

Here it is, the final instalment of this series. This is my top 10, which are my favourite songs released so far this year. There are some that I think everyone will have on their list, and others that I think you'll side eye me for liking so much.

Okay, here we go!

10. Always - Produce 101

I fucking love ballads, okay. I fucking love them. I love sentimental shit, and after all the crap Produce 101 put me through, this is the sentimental shit I deserve. It's just very melodic and soft and beautiful. I especially love the bridge sung by Daehwi and Sungwoon, as well as the soft repetition of the chorus by Jaehwan and Dongho. The rap parts are alright; they're unfortunately necessary when you have a group with a few dedicated rappers. I'm also pretty sure this is the first time I've ever heard Daniel rap.

9. Lonely - Sistar

Remember what I just said about sentimental shit? It applies here as well. As a goodbye song, 'Lonely' executes it so much better than the aforementioned 'Always' or 2NE1's 'Goodbye'. Whereas 'Always' has a more optimistic feelings, and 'Goodbye' is just sad, 'Lonely' has a melancholic feeling of "it's goodbye but not farewell", which I love. Of course, Hyorin and Soyou's vocals need to words, and even Bora's rap is appropriately melancholy. Dasom's ending speaking line just ties it up with a sad bow and gives a sense of finality to both the song and to Sistar as a group.

8. I'll Be Yours - Girl's Day

And now for something completely different. As someone who did jazz and jazz choir for many years, this makes me happy, even if it's not really jazz. Minah and Soijn's voices are appropriate brassy, and Minah attempts to hit notes that are more showy than vocally recommended. The piano in the instrumental is stellar and there's a bass guitar in the chorus that's just so fucking groovy and wonderful. Yura's rap and Hyeri's speed talk in the bridge are the weakest parts, but they still work with the rest of the song to form a cohesive unit.

7. April Story - April

I knew this was going to be in my top 10 from the moment I first heard this song when it came out back in January. It's such a stark difference from the group's last release, 'Tinkerbell', that it came as a huge shock. 'April Story' reminds me more of a carol in a musical than a piece of pop music. The melody in the vocals is incredibly smooth - like legato smooth - and there's impressive harmony work in the choruses. This is another song that also utilizes an awesome drum sample. Also there's an electric guitar part that keeps this song from sounding too much like a piece of classical music. All in all I can't believe April came out with this gem of a song, and it really puts them on track as one of the strongest rookie girl groups out there.

6. As If It's Your Last - BlackPink

If you told me that a BlackPink song would have made my top 10 list 6 months ago, I would have laughed at you. I really disliked their previous 4 releases when everyone else was foaming at the mouth over them. And now, when everyone is calling this their weakest song so far, I think it's their best. Maybe because this is so clearly a 2NE1 remake, but there's something familiar about it that makes it super listenable. While the English lyrics in Lisa's rap are questionable at best, the rap itself works well in the song. I also love that it's not as weird and unpredictable as their other songs (minus 'Stay'). This is just a great effort overall and I've been playing this non-stop.

5. Can't Sleep - AOA

Everything about this much forgotten B-side is amazing. From the vocals, to the instrumental, to the droning chant of the pre-chorus; it's just a fantastic listen. This is just so something that teenaged me would have loved that I can't help but love it at age 23 as well. It's just so simple and clean and just plain fun. This is another song with great syncopation in the vocals. Also another reminder of how much we're losing with ChoA having left AOA.

4. Yesterday - Block B

Leave it to Block B to release a song that's all fun and nothing else. I'm not really a fan of Block B as individual artists, but as a group everything they release is fun and catchy and musically cool. 'Yesterday' incorporates a cool clapping sample in the instrumental, and the raps are integrated so nicely. I love how dancey the guitar is, and how groovy the drums are. Also the breakdown in the bridge is incredibly effective. This is just good, fun pop music at it's finest. It's not as hard hitting like 'Very Good' or 'Jackpot', but it doesn't need to be.

3. Don't Recall - K.A.R.D

K.A.R.D might as well have invented tropical house music at this point. I love how equally bouncy and haunting the instrumental is. Another thing I love is how hard their voices are. It would be easy with a song with these lyrics and this instrumental to make the voices softer to compensate, but K.A.R.D just goes all out. The most interesting thing about this song is that there's not really a final chorus or anything. It goes to the bridge (which has amazing vocal overlays, BTW) and then ends with the final two lines of the chorus. The song should feel incomplete because it really doesn't follow a common pop set up (it goes ABABC instead of the far more well known ABABCB set up of pop songs), but it still does. They are the rookies of the year and no one can tell me otherwise.

2. Good Night - Dreamcatcher

I always low-key wanted a rock song that I could legitimately dance to, and Dreamcatcher graced us this year with what I have always wanted. This is the epitome of the kind of music 18 year old Nine listened to before discovering Girls' Generation that year. 'Good Night' has one of the hardest hitting guitar instrumentals I have ever heard in a k-pop song. Hell, this song goes harder than some of the rock music I listen to. The vocals are amazing, and they don't hold back to make it sound inappropriately pretty. They know what kind of music they're creating and they stick to it. They found their niche in k-pop after releasing 'Chase Me' and then following up with this.

1. Chase Me - Dreamcatcher

Speaking of 'Chase Me', it just so happens to be my number 1 song thus far. It starts off with a haunting piano instrumental with softer vocals before hitting you in the face with guitars and drums and goddamn this is such a great song. Everything that they did in 'Good Night' was basically the same as what they do here, except not quite as good. The rap break is effortlessly incorporated into the second verse. I also love the softer breakdown of the third chorus; it's such a nice comparison. Dreamcatcher know how to release music that fills me both with dread and excitement.

And that's it folks. With the competition of this post, my top 50 k-pop songs of 2017 thus far have been flushed out. I hope you enjoyed reading this.

I'll be MIA for the next ten days or so as I'm travelling to the UK. I'll have my review of Produce 101 Season 2 Episode 5 posted after that. I'm also planning on reviewing Idol School, once english subs have been added and I know what the hell is going on.

See you all next time!