Nine's Top Kpop Songs of 2019 (Part 1)

Hello all!

Welcome to the first part of my 2019 list. If you've been paying attention to my twitter, you'll know that there have been some issues with posting threads with YouTube links. This is apparently a bug in an algorithm but it doesn't seem to be fixed. As soon as I can make a video thread I will do so. Until then, please enjoy the blog posts only.

How the list is going to work is I'm going to post my honourable mentions (rank 60-51) with no explanation here on part one alongside ranks 50-41. Each post will also contain a bonus song which is not list eligible, or a song that didn't crack the top 60.

Without further ado, let's begin.

Honourable Mentions

60. Flower Shower - HyunA

59. Don't Need Your Love - NCT Dream and HRVY

58. Hit - Seventeen

57. Red Sun (021) - GWSN

56. I'm Not Over You - Ryeowook (Super Junior) 

55. 365 - LOONA

54. Goblin  - Sulli  

53. Cantabile - WJSN 

52. U Got It - Produce X 101

51. I'm So Pretty - Nature

50. Room Shaker - Ailee

This song is an absolute treat. While it definitely sounds like it could be a BlackPink song if anyone in BlackPink had Ailee's vocal skills (that's not a diss; that's just the truth), Ailee truly owns this song. 

The bridge is a real winner here. It drops enough musical layers in order to make the rise back to the much more effective. The only layer added to the final chorus that isn't present in the previous two iterations of it are Ailee's ad libs, so an effective bridge is absolutely necessary here. 

This song also has an incredibly awesome sounding electronic bass. It's especially prevalent in the break-down potion of the chorus, where the instrumental is broken down. Normally, I would have gripes about this sort off breakdown, but it adds dimension to what would have been an otherwise monotonous song. 

Overall, this song is one I've listened to many times despite a few gripes (some weird editing on Ailee's vocals and some very strange English language choices). I always enjoy when Ailee releases tracks like these instead of her usual ballads because I think they showcase a whole different aspect of her ability. She's undoubtedly talented, and these heavy club tracks showcase the robustness of her voice, since she's blessedly allowed to sing in the lower part of her range. 

49. Airplane - IZ*ONE

So if you gave me a stage and a microphone I would tell you all about how IZ*ONE and X1 being barred from activities is completely unfair. I'm very well known as a mega fan of the Produce series, so it may seem biased to you, but these kids did nothing wrong. It's Mnet who deserves the guillotine right now. Mnet and CJ&EM. I am very passionate about this. IZ*ONE's third Korean comeback has been postponed due to this mess and I am very bitter about it. 

Back to the music. 

Airplane is a side track to Violeta (which, despite me thoroughly enjoying, clocked in at 76 on the list), and showcases a very different mood than the title. Airplane is light and airy and puts a smile on your face when you listen to it. Adding to the airy mood is the use of the member's higher vocal range. 

This song has something that long time readers will remember that I love: a frantic, unrelenting percussion line. This song utilizes an electric snare and it's very consistent throughout the track. I absolutely adore that shit. 

Truthfully, there's nothing here that screams IZ*ONE, and it's a track that probably any girl group with a cute streak could release and have it be enjoyable. But I love this song, I love how happy the girls look while performing it, and god damn it I just want IZ*ONE to comeback. 

48. Sorry - AOA

Queendom was a shiny gem in a shit filled year. Seriously, this show was fantastic. All the contestants came out looking better than they ever did, and it was a true revival for AOA. Having lost two members, many people thought it was the end for the group, but AOA gamed the system and used Queendom as a way to show that they are still strong as five. 

Before I get into the music, I want to say that this is AOA looking their best. They've always gone the ultra sexy route and honestly it was starting too feel like a bit of a gimmick (and feeling a little creepy when you remember Chanmi was still in high school when Miniskirt was dropped). This is a very natural sexiness for them, and it shows. They look great, sound great, look confident and comfortable, and are oozing far more sex appeal than many of their contemporaries. AOA truly are powerful. 

Sorry has a western vibe to it in styling, but thankfully that doesn't transfer over to the actual song. Sorry is a smooth pop song in a minor key that's gorgeously in a lower range. It has a standard sounding format, with verses that have minimal instrumentals in order to create a more standout chorus. It's also saved from not having a huge, belted high note at the end. That sort of thing has never been Yuna's thing, and starting to do so now would draw unnecessary comparisons to Choa. As well, it would have ruined the vibe of the song if a belted note were to appear. Part of the charm of Sorry is that it's smooth and polished and clean and belt would have felt veery jarring. 

A downside to the song is that Top Madame Jimin has very little to do. Jimin is one of the strongest idol rappers in the game right now, and has the most distinctive voice in the group. While the lack of Jimin does more to showcase the rest of the group since the remaining members (bar Seolhyun and Jimin) aways lacked the fandom and public recognition their other members had, the song doesn't quite feel like an AOA track. But since this is the new direction the group is going on, it'll be something to look into. 

The Queendom version of the song linked above is extended and has a fantastic dance break, and if you haven't watched it I highly suggest you do so. It showcases why Chanmi has been my AOA bias since I discovered the group in 2014. 

47. Drip - Hinapia 

I'm going to be very honest and say that I would never have given this song a second listen if this wasn't a group full of ex-Pristin members. It's truthfully nothing special and if I didn't have the attachment to the members I wouldn't have played it as often as I did. 

Nostalgia and fan-love really can mean a lot. This song is in the top 50 purely because I played it so many times due to just feeling so happy that I could hear the four member's voices again. I loved Pristin with all my heart and was incredibly sad (though not super surprised) that they disbanded. I hope Hinapia can have better, more memorable songs in the future so I can feel like they earned their place here musically. 

Also, I don't need a reason to put a song anywhere in the listen, fuck you. 

46. Love Rum Pum Pum - fromis_9

Here's another song that's vastly superior to the title track it's a side track for. Fun! was a mess of a track (coming in at a sad 108 on the list), but Love Rum Pum Pum is cheerful and vibrant and everything the producers wanted Fun! to be. 

What's interesting is that, on the album, this song is originally sung without Hayoung and Jiwon, who instead have a duet called Fly High. This track was meant for the non-main vocals to shine, and Gyuri especially soars on the track. This makes it especially jarring when Hayoung sings the high note in the live, OT9 versions of the song instead of Gyuri. It's a bit of a shame since Gyuri is the most popular member and doesn't get to have the lead on her on song. It's quite weird. 

On a brief aside, veery interesting how Jisun, who theoretically, I guess? won Idol School is now shafted to the side with Nagyung taking centre stage a lot of the time. If more survival show groups were permanent I wonder if we would see similar results. 

This song is, again, standard girl group fare, and I wouldn't have bat an eye if fromis_9 got Airplane and IZ*ONE had Love Rum Pum Pum. This song gets a pass for having a delightful, though  quiet, guitar line in the instrumental. Bonus points for the faux time break down in the second half of the bridge, though it's not as impactful as the producers thought it would be. 

Overall, it's a nice, inoffensive song that's pleasant to listen to and easy to repeat. 

45. youknowbetter  - Hyolyn 

Unlike the rest of the kpop community, I haven't been thrilled with Hyolyn's releases post Sistar. But this song was absolutely wonderful, and showcases just has vocally talented Hyolyn is. 

First of all, one of the most impressive things about this song was the level in which Hyolyn herself was involved in the making of it. She's credited with production, composition, and lyrics on this track. Granted, she didn't do it all herself, but to be this involved in the creation of such a pleasant song is nothing to sneeze at. I wasn't heavily invested in Sistar so I'm not sure if she was ever involved with these aspects when under Starship, but I'm very pleased she is now. 

This song was intended for Hyolyn's (obviously stellar) vocals to shine, but that doesn't mean that there isn't merit to the instrumental. Underneath everything is a really satisfying percussion line. I can't quite make out what kind of percussion instrument it is though. My first instinct was bongoes but it is very clearly not bongoes. Whatever it is, it has a very pleasant syncopated rhythm that runs counter to everything else in the instrumental, which is comparatively quite smooth and fluid. There's a snare in the chorus but it's not nearly as impressive. The most obvious section in the instrumental is the piano line during the verses and the bridge. It's very satisfying to listen to, but it's by far the least bombastic and fun element of the instrumental. 

Naturally, Hyolyn's vocals shine. I really enjoy when fuller and deeper voiced female idols get to actually sing in a way that shows their true tonality, and that's what this song is. The ad libs at the end add another layer to everything in a way that makes the song complete. 

The true winner in the composition here are the moments where the instrumental is completely taken away and only Hyolyn's voice remains. This can be utilized quite poorly in many pop tracks, but I find that it's quite effective here. 

Overall, this is easy listening and I am happier for it. It's a track that doesn't challenge me, but satisfies me nonetheless. 

44. Midnight  - Ailee

I'm actually not one to listen to side tracks if it's not by an artist that I'm super invested in, so the fact that I even heard this song is miraculous. In many ways it's an antithesis to Room Shaker, which this song is a side to. But it's spectacular in a way that I think it would have been impressive as a title track, and probably would have done better with the Korean public. 

This song has the percussion line right up at the front, and it's obviously one of the loudest parts of the instrumentals; even someone who doesn't have an ear for composition and/or music mixing would be able to hear that. Midnight has a very satisfying electronic snare for the vast majority of the track. In the verses there's a simulated finger snap, which acts as the heartbeat for the track. The percussion is pulled away during the bridge, leaving only an electronic bass drum (not like, a big band bass drum but a drum kit one), which echoes the finger snaps from the verses. 

Since the instrumental relies heavily on the percussion, the rest of the track relies on Ailee's vocals to make the melody, since there's nothing really and truly melodic in the verses. Her vocals sound full and expressive and perfect, as is the norm with Ailee. The chorus is especially full and broad, and it just sounds complete. This would be a very effective track to hear live, which is the kind of song that artists like Ailee thrive on. 

43. Lion  - (G)I-DLE

When I said above that Queendom worked wonders for all the contestants, I meant it. While 

(G)I-DLE didn't quite get the restorative treatment of AOA, Oh My Girl, and Lovelyz, what it did do for them was cement down the foundation that the group had made for themselves. Even if it gave us the "ethnic hip" controversy, Queendom doubled down on (G)I-IDLE's strong performance skills and put them back in the mind's of viewers as true monster rookies. It was a lacklustre year for the group, with both Señorita and Uh-Oh falling short on expectations. Lion was a welcome return to form in light of this, and would have worked as an actual comeback. 

This is another percussion-heavy song, with the verses and bridge having nearly no other instrumentation. This is used for mood making, and works to give the song a more mysterious vibe. It also acts as a tool to give the lower pitched vocals of the verses more impact, as the vocals there are more percussive in comparison to the chorus. 

The chorus is probably the worst part of the track. It's standard fare for (G)I-DLE, though Miyeon and Yuqi do their best with it. For some reason, on the chorus, the instrumental is made to be nearly the same volume as the vocals, which only goes to hide the vocals more than necessary. 

As usual, Soyeon is the brightest star on the track. Her rap doesn't feel out of place and ending it with "I'm a Queen!" is strong and punctuated and fit the mood of the competition perfectly. Minnie and Shuhua are also not to be ignored on this track.  Minnie received a lot of praise on Queendom, and Lion gives her the attention she deserves. Her voice is appropriately raspy. Shuhua deserves praise for doing the most with her chance to prove she's more than just present in the group. You can feel that here confidence is starting to blossom. 

Ending the song with a callback to the opening line was smart and properly bookends the song to make sure it ends as mysteriously as it began. 

The Queendom performance version is worth a watch as well. 

42. TicToc - NeonPunch

This song starts off with a tribute to their name: it really punches you in the face. 

This song is incredibly frustrating because if a B-tier girl group had released it it would have been their shot to fame. This song's biggest downfall is, therefore, that it had the misfortune of being given to NeonPunch. The two official music videos combined barely give it half a million views. 

The instrumental is full and bombastic for the entire track. It literally never quits. Even in the most quiet moments it's still very much in your face. It gets extra bonus points for the fucking guitar riff at the end thats more reminiscent of early Gfriend than anything else. Seriously, whoever recorded that was having the time of their lives because I'm pretty sure that's a real guitar. Fucking fantastic. 

The vocals are nothing to write home about, but they're mixed to be incredibly full. They're layered with some higher pitched levels, which is something I usually find to be obnoxious and overused. On this track, however, the instrumental is already kinda obnoxious (and the aesthetic of the music video is also obnoxious) so it strangely works. 

Great song. I wished it wasn't buried by the fact that NeonPunch is too low tiered in the music industry. 

41. Super Clap - Super Junior 

Speaking of obnoxious, Super Junior released a track that's not stupidly Latin inspired. It worked for Lo Siento but never again after that. I like to think that Kyuhyun came back and said he wasn't going to do that shit. For those not in the know about Super Junior, that would be very per the course for Kyuhyun. 

This song thrives on the super smooth SM mixing style; every layer is absolutely perfect. During the chorus, there's really strong instances of vocal layering using octaves that's very satisfying. Though sometimes you can hear that it's Ryeowook's naturally higher pitched voice layered on top of another member's. That's fine, that's what he's there for. 

As the title suggests, there's a lot of percussive elements in the song, specifically clapping. There's even simulated clapping noises on the off beat in several portions of the song, notably in the section after the last chorus. It helps increase the danceability of the song, way more than the forced SM dance break. Seriously, SM, I know your ways. I know your marketing strategies. You ain't slick doing this with every non-Latin Super Junior track. The dance break here sounds like it belongs with Swing, and not in a good way. 

The saving grace of this song is the Ryeowook-only bridge. The instrumental drops to the wayside so Ryeowook's beautiful voice can bless us all. It saves every misgiving I had with the song. If I ever go to Korea I'm fighting Yuqi to prove that I'm Ryeowook's biggest fan. 

Fuck you; in this house we stan Ryeowook and Ryeowook only (and Sungmin, and occasionally Kyuhyun). 

Bonus Song

Magnetic Moon - Tiffany Young

Since leaving SM, Tiffany has done the most with her creative freedom. None of her tracks have sounded the same and I'm incredibly grateful for that. Tiffany sometimes was grating on SNSD tracks, but her English tracks have her at her most pleasant sounding. 

Magnetic Moon showcases exactly how different American pop is from K-pop. This song would have been highlighted as "experimental" had it been released in Korean for a Korean public. But this is very much American, and I can put it on my playlist of music my friends will actually let me play at parties and they wouldn't realize it's from a k-pop star. 

It's pure pop perfection, and the best place to leave this list off at. 

Thank you all for reading! I'll see you back here tomorrow with part 2!

XOXO

Nine