K-pop

The 50 Best Korean Songs of 2018

The 50 Best Korean Songs of 2018

How will I remember 2018 in terms of K-pop? Well, I’ll remember it for all the records that BTS broke. I’ll remember it for the ubiquity of survival show-formed groups. I’ll remember it for all the singles that found groups collaborating with notable Western artists — BTS with Nicki Minaj, Blackpink with Dua Lipa, Super Junior with Leslie Grace and REIK, LOONA with Grimes. But more than anything, 2018 will be the year that I distinctly felt less excited about K-pop than ever before. In my many years of following the genre, 2018 marked the first year in which I felt that K-pop was not the most exciting thing happening in South Korea.

While it may not be obvious from looking at this list (a decent chunk of it is still K-pop), I spent more time listening to non-idols than those firmly in the industry. But while the rap, R&B, indie, and dance music coming out of the country are more interesting than ever before, there’s a clear sense that it’s still growing. There are obvious limitations for these independent artists that leads to their music often sounding like replications of things happening elsewhere. Even still, I found constant excitement from what I heard. Rappers making music that was relatively abrasive? Or that sounded like Playboi Carti? The country’s dance music scene becoming more robust? Women who made fun pop rock and rock that popped off? A slew of great R&B singers and producers who mostly found their audience on Soundcloud? More and more experimental music? There was a lot to take in.

To be sure, it was refreshing to actively spend more time with these smaller artists. Some of them are likely to see little success for their art given the nature of the country’s music industry. And while several didn’t impress me as much as I’d wanted, they still instilled a sense of hope for the country’s independent music scene. The following list contains the fifty songs that I consider to be the best of the year. Naturally, it’s still beholden to my particular tastes, but it is a list I feel reflects the best of what South Korea currently has to offer. Some of that is K-pop, some of it is not.

The 50 Best K-Pop Songs of 2017

The 50 Best K-Pop Songs of 2017

Music coming out of Korea is better than it's ever been. From K-pop to the country's burgeoning hip-hop and dance music scenes to niche experimental music, there's a lot to take in. This list focuses specifically on pop music, including those outside of the massive K-pop industry.

As you'll see, there are far more than fifty songs represented on this list. On a handful of slots, you'll see numerous songs mentioned, and this is for various reasons. One such reason is that I felt it was necessary to include more than one song if I valued what an artist or scene was doing throughout the entirety of 2017. I also chose multiple tracks for a single entry because I simply couldn't decide on my favorite single from a given artist (aside from those cases, there is a strict "one song per artist" rule that I followed). But more than anything else, I felt compelled to give credit to as many deserving artists, songwriters, producers, and music video directors as possible.

You'll notice that each entry also includes other songs I recommend. These songs didn't make the cut, but I think they're all worth checking out. And as a note, some of the blurbs here were previously written for The Singles Jukebox. Thanks for reading.