rolling kpop 2024

late pass on this thread

it's been a really busy start of the year work-wise for me, plus let's face it, other than NewJeans, aespa and a couple of other tracks, you could pretty much write off the entirety of kpop in 2023.

but I'm happy to report that January seems to have had more enjoyable singles in one month than I heard most of last year - and surprisingly, all from boy groups! still nothing ~really fresh or risk-taking so far but it's nice to see they're all starting to dial back a bit on the shouty, sing-talk style.

SF9 - "BIBORA": After spending a couple of comebacks trend-chasing, SF9 is back to doing what they do best: house-inflected dance pop. My favourite single from them in ages
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gft8YBmNsjA

OnlyOneOf - "dOpamine": I still find their whole concept a little skeevy but this is the best song I've heard from them so far, good take on the current love for UK drum and bass/garage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQBR0iCryVU

CIX - "Lovers or Enemies": Like SF9, here's a group playing to their strengths. CIX are really good in this more laidback mode, which reminds me of "Cinema" - their single from a few years back that I really liked. The chorus reminds me of something 80s that I know very well but can't place rn - anyone?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMhOMyV2WFY

TRENDZ - "Go Up": A classic Brave Brothers joint and therefore a lot of fun, even if it is too early to bring back trop house (complete with those stupid bird flute sounds lol)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_RIS7jBXTs

"other than NewJeans, aespa and a couple of other tracks, you could pretty much write off the entirety of kpop in 2023."

Disagree, great year for kpop, but you could definitely write off of kpop boybands* in 2023, so some promising releases in January is a good sign.

*I did like that one Seventeen single and 'fighting' was also fun as a live moodmaker.

"Dash" is one of the best singles from NMIXX' inconsistent discography so far

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UecFm_bSTU

IU is back to dominating charts after 2 years off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JleoAppaxi0

This is a nice ballad as pre-release single but hopefully her lead singles reach the heights of Twenty Three, Palette, Knees etc again.

I voted for "Fighting" in the ILM poll, it really grew on me over the year.

agree on IU

"Dash" is good, but the chorus is very much in the repetitive sing-talk mode I hate

2023 was a rather weak year i have to agree, though newjeans being so good mostly made up for that

ICHILLIN' - "Demigod"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOsDkqm52t8

saw someone referring to this as "Goddess' Menu" which is not entirely inaccurate lol

Lots of girl groups firing on all sylinders last year, from the mega popular to lots of weird and interesting mid and small-sized experiments.

Some GG ruminations for 2024:

Looking at ICHILLIN's fried chicken thing, how far will the novelty adjacent hiphop from Mac n Cheese-prodded Young Posse go? Their following seems pretty energized if not super big yet. Getting Verbal Jint to join on this new album track remix suggests producers who want to stick to their genre guns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaGsVrnH-5k

QWER was a late year surprise hit - they're still hovering around the top 20 with their debut single. There aren't many mainstream 'girl bands' in kpop, compared to jpop - this group is made up of streamers (plus a former NMB48 member!) and was put together by a youtuber, but the success may give them a full life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ieb8IOiFfhk

'Perfect Night' was on the bland side of ripping off trends, this new Sserafim single has the right vibes, imo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNKXxwOQYB8

This might sound generic to some, but sometimes a song is so earwormy it takes over my entire day from the get go and this is one of those:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nrGKn3epXM

NOT EVERY MOMENT BUT EVERY DAY

I really like that actually, the way they switch up the melodies in the verses feels very old school kpop. And yeah really catchy.

IU’s latest is very emotions era CRJ - “Shopper”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHW-UVXOcLU

Utterly horrible news, he was responsible for so many classics:

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/International/wireStory/prominent-pop-composer-shinsadong-tiger-found-dead-south-107475507

Top 5 Shinsadong Tiger productions off the top of my head:

4Minute - “Volume Up” (bring back cheesy sax riffs to kpop imo)
Hyuna - “Bubble Pop”
T-ara - “Roly-Poly”
BEAST - “Fiction”
Dal Shabet - “BBB”

Oh no! Just heard. He was a big part of the soundtrack to my most intense and exhilarating years listening to K-pop.

Another 5:

T-ara - "Lovey-Dovey"
4Minute - "Hot Issue"
Trouble Maker - "Trouble Maker"
T-ara "Bo Peep Bo Peep"
Jewelry "One More Time"

Good picks that illustrate how much his sound defined that era. Of course he also produced the last youtube I posted in this thread. He's been writing the Tri.be songs with LE of EXID, hopefully she and others close to him are cared for.

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

beastie boys mode

^^i like that, even though i still really hate their group name lol

ILLIT - "Magnetic" - HYBE's new girl group that's very much in the same sonic zone as NewJeans (EP is quite good as well though too short at points - whole thing is under 10 mins):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vk5-c_v4gMU

Liking this new Chungha track too - "I'm Ready":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf0_fwHYAbE

Magnetic is good but their pitch feels a little less solid than NJ - or they haven't carved out their own space.

speaking of not being able to carve out their own space... spare a thought for Babymonster, doomed to be a Blackpink clone because YG has run out of ideas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wA_b6YHjqQ

That's a little embarassing yeah. At least Blackpink didn't totally sound like 2NE1, even though their sound never developed. This is just throwaway BP.

The reliably good and underrated ONF

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOR8CUeTJpc

This is solid if not going to set the world on fire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ey53EQhkLY8

yeah that's fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9nP3qXQA4o

pretty catchy & endearingly weird vocal effects!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phsDrsw-tzc

a more hyperactive version of that one soaring girl group sound

Loving the last few posts, and that QWER track is fantastic. christian horse girl hyperpop!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft70sAYrFyY

this isn't exciting in the way that newjeans have been at their best but it's still lovely, i love the little flute touches

It's a very sweet song. There's a ton of mess and power struggle between HYBE and ADOR now so NJ's promotions this year are now quite uncertain.

i think there's another single next month and two japanese singles planned for june still, but yeah i hope all the corporate drama doesn't get in the way of the album that's planned for later in the year.

this isn't all that great but I like it, a throwback to a time when idols could sell a mediocre song on sheer charisma and personality alone. zico still knows his way around a good hook.

also nice to see/hear Jennie clearly having fun outside of YG/Blackpink - probably the most enthusiastic performance I've seen from her in ages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfqBQ2XhBCg

For those who miss the big girl groups

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

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

"supernova" is pretty good but lol at the "trans europe express" interpolation that gets dropped in there for just a moment?

that's probably the best aespa single

They've had a good streak