Korean Music

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.

First Quarter Report 2018: Korean Music

First Quarter Report 2018: Korean Music

It was a busy three months for South Korea: steps towards reunification, the PyeongChang Olympics, the continued rise of the #MeToo movement. On top of that, we saw the passing of gayageum legend Hwang Byungki and K-pop star Seo Minwoo, and a posthumous album release from Jonghyun. Further into the world of K-pop: Momoland saved their career with "Bboom Bboom," LOONA finished their 18-month pre-debut cycle, and TVXQ finally returned. None of those artists appear in the following list, however. It's a testament to the amount of great music happening elsewhere in the country.

So why a list focused on Korean music? Scenes outside of K-pop are thriving more than ever (see: Tobias Burgers's coverage on the burgeoning dance music scene for Resident Advisor), and it's as good a time as any to provide a recap of the country's highlights. But even then, such a list begs the question, "What is Korean music?" To keep the definition as broad as possible, this quarterly feature will include artists—Korean or not—who are contributing to the country's various music scenes and Korean artists based elsewhere in the world. All genres are fair game. Everything below is listed in chronological order.