kpop 2019

Just watched this from June, have people seen this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5uE7KDkDFE

I'm sad about Sulli.

There's a photo that circulated a while back, of f(x) on the set of variety show A Song for You on their press junket for.... I can't remember? The one before 4walls.

Anyway the episode was edited to make it look like Sulli was not there, only the other four were. And they laugh and joke like everything's fine. But in the photo Sulli is sitting right next to them on set, basically catatonic/too depressed to function.

I think about this often because it shows the gap between image and reality. And Sulli more than others really suffered from this gap, I think.

Hmm I found the clip - they were promoting Rum Pum Pum Pum just before Sulli's break from the group in 2014. Anyway out of respect I don't really want to link to the video but you can find it on omonatheydidn't by searching "f(x) a song for you".

Anyway the heartless capitalist logic... the social media logic... the entertainment industry logic of always needing to pretend that you are fine. And if you are not fine, well then, you simply won't appear at all.

RIP Sulli.

p basic but i really like ladies code 'set me free'

http:/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gif0f4_1z2w

also i was only so so on 'bon bon chocolat' so ended up being a couple of months late on everglow's follow up but i really like 'Adios' even though i get the urge to sing a speeded up 'god rest ye merry gentlemen' over the chorus break

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gX_p1VkgA4

didn't see it mention on this thread but one of my favourites from early in the year is mamamoo 'gogobebe'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp56JdkmE9s

1 billion views (in 18 months) for BLACKPINK's "The Ddu-Du Song"

"Blackpink are the first K-pop band to join YouTube's 'billion views club'"
- https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-50405408

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHNzOHi8sJs

Looks like everyone has been hit with that ddu-du.

So, tell me... Have they hit you with that ddu-du?

I am far from a scholar but this strikes me as a C+ jam at best

Rene bae has taken over my ig, don’t even know why

iirc the favourite blackpink tracks here are "whistle" and "if its your last" which are both fantastic. "ddu-du ddu-du" is still as mediocre as it was on release

i like 'kill this love' a lot as well as 'ddu-du' and 'whistle'.

from earlier in the year i like hwash's solo 'twit'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScSn235gQx0

also oneus 'twilight'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Njp-J2s5uw

*hwasa not hwash

ddu du ddu du is a perfect storm of easily replicable song-specific dance, killer video (fennec fox! disco ball tank!) and a good jam, all of which travels well. not surprised it hit hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvRnW-4P8dw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3Fwdnij49o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1PvIWdJ8xo

i like "unstable" but wish there were more to it than that

can't believe i completely forgot to post the Lim Kim single from last month:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5S3sPpkd8w

i need to get around to her EP, this reinvention has been pretty wild

sadly I can't get into her new stuff at all, though I'm happy she seems happy doing what she loves.

Nice quick interview explaining her new direction: https://www.vice.com/en_in/article/xwe7kz/lim-kim-is-forging-an-independent-k-pop-revolution

more awful news:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/nov/24/goo-hara-k-pop-singer-found-dead-aged-28

absolutely tragic that it came to this, KARA were fantastic and Hara had really been through a lot lately

Jesus, I was out the whole day and just saw this. Don’t know what to say anymore, this is so awful. Her asshole ex needs to be in jail.

The last photo she posted on IG is heartbreaking. Also, all her photos with Sulli. :(

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/list/8544710/best-k-pop-songs-2010s-top-100

this is a surprisingly good list, apart from a few things like "good day" at #1 being both strange and boring

Agreed - I’ve actually made my own top 100 list (which I’ll post when I have more time this week) and yeah there’s a lot of overlap with that one. I have a different IU track at no. 1, lol.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5SIbaglGzP

Always looks like she’s going to jail

As promised, my top 100 Kpop songs of the 2010s.

Embarrassment of riches tbh - I stuck with a one track per artist rule (subunits and solo tracks allowed) and only songs that were actual singles/had proper MVs (no deep cuts), and still couldn't find space for every thing I loved.

Seo Taiji x IU - "Sogyeokdong"
Infinite - "The Chaser"
2NE1 - "I Am The Best"
Orange Caramel - "Catallena"
Hyuna - "Bubble Pop!"
NCT U - "Baby Don’t Stop"
f(x) - "Rum Pum Pum Pum"
miss A - "Bad Girl Good Girl"
EXO - "Growl"
4Minute - "Volume Up"

Girls Generation - "I Got A Boy"
BOA - "Only One"
Oh My Girl - "Closer"
SHINee - "View"
Big Bang - "Bad Boy"
Red Velvet - "Bad Boy"
Blackpink - "As If It’s Your Last"
2PM - "A.D.T.O.Y"
LOONA/Yves - "new"
MBLAQ - "Smoky Girl"

SISTAR19 - "Gone Not Around Any Longer"
KARA - "Pandora"
T.O.P - "Doom Dada"
B1A4 - "What's Happening?"
After School - "Flashback"
Luna - "Free Somebody"
Brown Eyed Girls - "Sixth Sense"
PSY - "Gangnam Style"
T-ara - "Roly-Poly"
Wonder Girls - "I Feel You"

TWICE - "T.T."
Nine Muses - "Figaro"
Block B - "HER"
Lim Kim - "Awoo"
Taeyang - "Eyes Nose Lips"
EXID - "Up & Down"
VIXX - "Chained Up"
Wings - "Hair Short"
Ga-In - "Bloom"
Troublemaker - "Now"

K.Will - "Please Don’t"
GD&TOP - "Knock Out"
Ailee - "I Will Show You"
Dal Shabet - "B.B.B. (Big Baby Baby)"
SUNMI - "Siren"
Evol - "Get Up"
Lee Hi - "Breathe"
Ladies' Code - "The Rain"
BTOB - "WOW"
Lip Service - "Yum Yum Yum"

(G)I-DLE - "HANN (Alone)"
Kim Sungkyu - "Kontrol"
Rania - "Dr. Feelgood"
HyoLyn - "SEE SEA"
PENTAGON - "Shine"
Park Ji Yoon - "Beep"
Taemin - "Drip Drop"
Crayon Pop - "Bar Bar Bar"
Lovelyz - "Ah-Choo"
Yubin - "Lady"

GLAM - "I Like That"
SNUPER - "Platonic Love"
MOMOLAND - "BBoom BBoom"
The Boyz - "Giddy Up"
SEVENTEEN - "Don't Wanna Cry"
Chung Ha - "Roller Coaster"
Fiestar - "Mirror"
HISTORY - "Psycho"
BOYFRIEND - "Janus"
April - "Oh! My Mistake"

AOA - "Miniskirt"
JYJ - "Back Seat"
Mr.Mr. - "Highway"
Girl's Day - "Expectation"
Seulgi, SinB, Chung Ha, So Yeon - "Wow Thing"
Park Bom - "You and I"
G-Dragon - "One of a Kind"
Jonghyun - "SHE IS"
CL - "Hello Bitches"
BTS - "Dope"

SF9 - "Now or Never"
Teen Top - "ah-ah"
ITZY - "DALLA DALLA"
I.O.I - "Very Very Very"
WINNER - "Really Really"
SISTAR - "Touch My Body"
Secret - "Madonna"
A Pink - "I'm So Sick"
Infinite H. and Zion T. - "Without U"

GFriend - "Rough"
Rainbow - "Black Swan"
Beast - "Good Luck"
ToppDogg - "Annie"
DAY6 - "I Wait"
Cross Gene - "La-di Da-di"
Tiny-G - "Miss You"
Lee Hyori - "Bad Girls"
U-Kiss - "Stop Girl"
SunnyHill - "The Grasshopper Song"
fromis9 - "Love Bomb"

Honourable mentions:
iKON - "Killing Me"
Crush, Zico - "Cereal"
SPICA - "Russian Roulette"
gugudan - "Chococo"
Stray Kids - "Miroh"
AKMU - "200%"
Stellar - "Sting" / "Vibrato"
WJSN - "Secret"
MINO - "Fiance"
Younha - "The Real Reason We Broke Up"
Bestie - "Love Options"
NCT Dream - "We Young"

Youtube playlist: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLP-ajiMFDEG4CC17dHl2qrmT2s3D6bV0P
Spotify (missing a few): https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Z9csNSzcZnHBxMwdNWICf?si=f8kEFBE_TvigzDSoKHb2dw

that's a great list, it's really been a fantastic decade for kpop (this year excepted). looking forward to digging into the picks i'm not familiar with

thanks, had a lot of fun compiling it and rediscovering songs I hadn't listened to in years...

Yeah I struggled to find any tracks from 2019 I liked enough to include - thank god for "Dalla Dalla"! Big contrast with 2018, the strongest year since Kpop's 2011-2014 peak and well represented in my list.

great list that, thanks!

Roz you are like reading my mind. My list would be pretty similar. There might be a couple things on there from artists we've never heard from again, like "Musiche" by Crazyno though.

Would love to see your list if you did one! Some of the songs on mine I would never have heard if you hadn’t told me to check them out (eg HISTORY, U-Kiss).

Checking out some stuff I've missed and I actually really like Dawn's "Money" - kpop needs more songs dissecting life under late-stage capitalism imo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr8-EFdl6gg&feature=emb_title  

I liked the line where he's going through an existential crisis but he can't talk about it cause his parents are asleep lol... relatable. Dude was always meant to be a solo star, getting kicked out of Cube just sped things up for him. 

And speaking of idols who've left their previous labels, I'm so happy CL is out of YG! She's released more songs in the past two weeks than she has in the previous four years: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuX8lXIexG8dRXFx54CVm2Q

It's funny how every track so far could be read as shade on YG, and she clearly wants everyone to know how pissed she is - all the videos have subtitles in 16 languages.

Most of the songs sound (understandably) unfinished, but you could see how some could have been worked into something better if YG had been serious about releasing them. But I can also see why he didn't - CL had clearly grown past the "tough female rapper" identity and YG doesn't like growth in his female stars. 

These are my faves so far: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=outk3lqsFHc&feature=emb_title  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4Q-DulyShA  

Ah dammit, messed up the embeds again.

Dawn's "Money":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr8-EFdl6gg  

CL's "+ONE AND ONLY180228+":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=outk3lqsFHc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oA6sS1ndTM4

SAAY- ZGZG

thankful to TSJ's reader's week for introducing me to this which is surely one of the year's highlights

this is a fantastic playlist, thanks Roz!

Red Velvet wrapping up the year (and decade) on a high - this rules:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR8Mrt1IpXg

i like "psycho" a lot but it's still only their second or third best single of the year

I couldn't get into any of their other singles this year, sadly. Really like "Psycho", but I would - "Bad Boy" is my favourite track of theirs and this is fairly close to it.

Meanwhile, horrifying details about Wendy's onstage accident at SBS' Gayo Daejun: https://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/25230978.html#comments#comments

She fractured her right pelvis and wrist and cracked her right cheekbone. She also suffered multiple bruises all over her body. It is expected that it will take months to recover. She's currently in a hospital in Seoul undergoing a thorough inspection. The swelling is so severe that it's impossible to give an accurate diagnosis.

Music aside, 2019 really feels like all of the worst aspects of k-pop coming to the fore. :(

"sappy" is one of my absolute favourites of theirs and "umpah umpah" was solid. "zimzalabim" was a total mess though.

i hope wendy recovers well and that this incident can lead to some of the necessary changes in the industry so that actually caring about the safety of idols, and everyone else, can become important. seems unlikely though :/

rolling kpop 2020

made a new thread at last