We back with an eighth attempt at summing up the year in K-Pop, as I bring you my fifteen personal favourite songs deemed worthy of music videos. As always, that’s the distinction: These aren’t my favourite music videos per se; I hadn’t even seen most of these MVs before starting to write the list. I rank these songs based mostly on the songs themselves.

A massive shout-out has to go to the community of the recently-reborn This Week in K-Pop podcast, which is now a Twitch call-in show airing weekly on Sundays at either 3pm or 8pm CST depending on the week. Those lovely people are responsible for just over a third of the list, as I once again spent about two thirds of the year not listening to a lot of Korean music. They know how to recommend the good stuff.

And for what it’s worth, this might be my favourite list of honorable mentions ever. There wasn’t much separating them all in the end. It was a good year for K-Pop, particularly for pop-adjacent rock bands and emerging solo artists. Let’s dig in!

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VR BEST OF 2019 DISCLAIMER

This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. To agree with me 100% is rarer than an EA game without microtransactions. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.

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15. Umpah Umpah – Red Velvet

We begin with yet another Real Summer Jam from what is now my most featured K-Pop act ever. Red Velvet brings those unchallenged layers of harmony and that quirky bass sampling as brightly as ever, but now featuring late stage vocal ad-libs and references to their own half-decade career (Wasn’t it just yesterday they debuted?) By RV standards Umpah Umpah is actually rather straightforwardly produced – I guess after going B-side-level weird with earlier 2019 single Zimzalabim they needed a palette cleanser – but it’s still got that wonderful flavour you expect from the group’s upbeat output.

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14. Birthday – Somi

I really do not get along with the harsh echoed-bubble backing track of the first two choruses, but everything else about Somi’s Birthday is magnetic. The teasing low-register intro, the Twice-alike pre-chorus, the not-terrible rap part, the chanty bridge, and of course that flippant English “you’re not invited” after the ear-piercing bubble sound starts to calm down; It’s all great stuff. If only all the choruses were like the final one – all brassy rather than electronic – this song would’ve burrowed deep into the top ten.
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13. Sweet Chaos – Day6

Day6 has been one of the hardest-working boy bands in K-Pop over the last couple years. In fact amongst their limited actual band contemporaries, they’re almost certainly THE hardest-working. Their 2017 output of one MV track per month pretty much ensured that. But I’ve just not latched onto any of their previous promoted songs in the way I have to Sweet Chaos, with its magnificent bouncy drum beat that makes me want to pick up the old battery-melted Guitar Hero controller again; with its capable harmonies, soaring whoah-whoah chorus and sing-talking tail. It is just so good to be able to get into one of these Day6 songs at long last.
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12. Piri – Dreamcatcher

From one rock song to another. Dreamcatcher has been doing their distinctly Japanese take on instrument-driven K-Pop for a little while now, but the opening guitar growl of Piri heralds a new era for the anime theme song artists in waiting. 2019’s Dreamcatcher output (see also: Deja Vu) is catchier, with more unique hooks layered on top of the standard wall-of-sound shredding. The ever-reliable modern pop whistle serves as Piri‘s anchor, while alto vocals strain against their limits before and after the magic onomatopoeia phrase ushers in that drop. With a bit of luck, this group is finally going places.
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11. Face – Woosung

Woosung, lead singer of rock band The Rose, may have a vocal style roughly equivalent to a limp handshake; but that super-vibrato at the end of major notes is a style wholly unique to him and it keeps his work sounding fresh. Turns out when you put him alone in a room with a deliciously sparse guitar on a few high-strung verses and an even more stripped-back bass guitar on a pseudo-falsetto chorus, the results are magical. Face is a simple song about simple human desires and Woosung sells it hard, particularly at the beginning of the final chorus when his standard purr turns into a growl and that extra layer of instrumentation slides underneath the track.
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10. Venus – Rainbow Note

There’s a clear musical sub-genre in my head that I often find it difficult to describe to people. I used to call it the Korean Karaoke sound, which on reflection is far too vague, but while researching for this list I’ve learned it’s called City Pop and this song sits right in the middle of it. Rainbow Note’s Venus is not only a definitive example, it’s also a fantastic song that transcends the limitations often attached to songs like it. With just the right amount of not-quite-cheesy sound effects punctuating the shifts between lines, a wonderful balance of electric drums, sparkly guitar and definitive bass, and all-around clean production, the platform is set for an assured vocal performance that reaches the nostalgia bones of some and the happy place of others. Venus is a jam.
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9. Boy With Luv – BTS feat. Halsey

Or: “How I learned to stop worrying about BTS bringing back the hip-hop sound and love Jimin.” Turns out all you need to do is get famous enough to attract a confident female American pop star to pair with the man’s uniquely androgynous vocals. Then grab a sticky backing track built on old distorted arcade sounds and a gentle guitar riff, give your rap boys some decent spotlight stanzas, and you’ve got a damn good pop song. Boy With Luv isn’t as much outright fun as most of BTS’ recent MV releases, but it’s sure as hell catchier than all of them.
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8. Fancy – Twice

What more needs to be said about this song beyond “It’s Twice, and they have a good song again”? Not much, my friends. Not much.
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7. Fame – MC Mong feat. Song Ga In & Chancellor

Ready for a spicy return to the days of cavernous 1990s production and booming anthemic choruses that build beyond all sense of sensible moderation? How about a melding of said throwback with a dash of loud, warbling Korean trot vocals? Well K-Pop veteran MC Mong and his friends Song Ga In and Chancellor have you well and truly covered. In fact, while the star of this production is that rumbling electric guitar undercurrent, it’s Chancellor’s smoothness and Song Ga In’s full-tilt commitment that balance Mong’s rough style and elevate everything to memorable ear worm status. That’s even without going into whatever famous colleagues Mong is or isn’t calling out.
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6. Snapping – ChungHa

Idol K-Pop’s entire appeal was initially predicated on nostalgia for the slickly-produced pop groups of the 80s and 90s, and the Koreans have been doing it better than their Western predecessors for years now. But there was always the potential, the personnel, the expertise to tackle other more recent trends in pop, if only Korea would let one or two soloists break away from the idol group structure and do the pop thing alone. And not just the controversial ones, like Hyuna, or the survivors, like Lee Hyori or BoA. Enter ChungHa, ex-IOI charisma bomb and deliverer of Snapping. After a couple of years of decent songs and prominent featuring slots, this is the song that hit Korea big with strong early-2000s Blu Cantrell/Christina Aguilera vibes (with a hint of modern Dua Lipa), topping charts and, with help from former bandmate Somi (see above), potentially opening the nation’s eyes to more of this forgotten style of bop. She absolutely kills it.
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5. Good Bam – N.Flying

Here’s a challenge: Go crank this song while driving on the open road and tell me your mood isn’t lifted at least a bit. This is surely one of the best driving songs in K-Pop, built on a funky tenacious lick and a crunchy chorus reinforced with gentle harmonies. You wouldn’t know it from the video, but these guys are actually playing those instruments. Whether that matters much when the vocals are this gosh-darn perfect is up for debate, but it’s worth a mention because N.Flying has been around for a lot longer than you might realise, plugging away at the label responsible for giving us K-Pop-rock bands CNBlue and FT Island. 2019 was N.Flying’s long-overdue moment in the sun, and Good Bam is easily the pick of their output this year for me.
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4. Workaholic – Bol4

I continuously forget about the reasonably prolific Bol4 until I’ve already published this list each year. Then I hate myself. But not in 2019. Oh no. That assured, bassy, teasing riff at the start of Workaholic draws your attention in, blooming into a Shoji Meguro acid jazz dream and then resetting with just enough punch to uplift one of the most reliably stunning voices in K-Pop for one ear worm of a chorus. Ahn Ji-Young barely needs the assistance, of course, but when she has a groove like this to play around in, tracks tend to ignite. Workaholic never quite leaves the effortless-cool Bol4 wheelhouse – This ain’t no workout song – but it’s pretty near the ideal example of a stylish mid-tempo composition with staying power. So, in other words, it’s a Bol4 song, but a little bit better.
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3. I’m So Hot – Momoland

A relatively early 2019 drop that stayed on my rotation throughout the year without getting stale, thanks mostly to one of the most novel Korean backing tracks of the decade. K-Pop’s first notable foray into electroswing (of which I’m aware) does what electroswing does best – hits hard and stays in your head for ages. Since this kind of approach is already Momoland’s specialty – alongside simple point dances and relentless repetition – I’m So Hot is a winning mix I’ll probably be unable to skip for a while yet. I should probably stop calling Momoland the new T-Ara, because at this point they’re pretty much the better T-Ara.
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2. Wonderland – ATEEZ

ATEEZ’s extremely busy 2019 peaked with easily my favourite (vaguely) Halloween-themed K-Pop release in half a decade. An unabashed addition to the extensive list of tempo-changing Korean pop songs, Wonderland is one of the rare ones that works for me. It achieves this thanks in no small part to a loose trap beat that smooths out the transitions, an inexplicably infectious opening salvo, as well as near-perfect use of Ateez’s greatest weapon: That booming stage voice coming from the group’s pinch hitter Min-gi. Constantly counterbalancing all-too-familiar generic boy band bravado with marching band percussion and sumptuous harmonising (especially at the very end), Wonderland is an epic theatrical treat and my personal pick for K-Pop surprise of the year.
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1. Bee – Rothy

In a year where Billboard put IU’s 2010 breakout Good Day at the apex of their top 100 K-Pop songs of the decade, my favourite song of the year turned out to be one by an artist whose look and sound bear notable similarities to the solo superstar. Coincidence? Probably. Definitely. But it’s a damn good song. Built on a buzzing zipper-hook adorned with New York jazz-pop piano and layered on top of punchy percussion, synth samples expand and cut off with regularity in the background as Rothy’s laconic vocals melt into the cracks. They fuse with every newly-arriving flourish and form a mesh of sound so successful at digging into your subconscious you just might be humming it for days. Which makes sense, because it’s produced by one of the people responsible for ChungHa’s Snapping, alongside a company so devoted to getting the talented 20-year-old moving up the charts it’s literally called Dorothy Entertainment. I sure hope they find some success in that endeavour if it means we get more tunes like this.

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As always, you can get this countdown as a playlist on Apple Music right here. Yes, I remain a Spotify scrub. My apologies.

And now for…

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Honorable Mentions

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—Home – Seventeen
Watch: HERE

Few audio snippets from 2019 are more euphoric than the precious few seconds at the start of this chorus. When Home drops all the loud production and focuses on harmonic vocals, it’s excellent. When it brings them back, it’s a bit messy.

—Twit – Hwa Sa
Watch: HERE

Mamamoo influence breaches this list once again as Hwa Sa uses a sticky flute hook and matching vocals to make a nest in your brain. A powerful bellow caps each chorus with typically overwhelming vocal power.

—Out of My Mind – 3YE
Watch: HERE

One of the most creative entries in the overpopulated “girl crush” subgenre for some time, 3YE drops the beat out entirely here for a second pre-chorus pairing breathy whispered vocals with growling bass before bringing out a killer drop.

—BlockBuster – Dongkiz
Watch: HERE

As far as unexplored concepts in K-Pop go, never in a million years would it occur to me that a Ghostbusters tribute would make for such a high-quality, relentlessly fun time. I hope these guys keep up the irreverent energy going into next year.

—Sunrise – Gfriend
Watch: HERE

The wistfulness that flows so naturally through Gfriend’s best songs is often spoiled by misguided attempts to mix things up, but Sunrise is just a quality dollop of that vanilla Gfriend sweeping string sound paired with neat choreography.

—BOOM – NCT Dream
Watch: HERE

So apparently NCT Dream is just doing the exact same type of deep bassy song as NCT U and NCT 127 now, but when it’s this good of an imitation, my conceptual issues with that situation will just have to wait a minute.

—Fever – JYP feat. Superbee & Bibi
Watch: HERE

Papa JYP drops yet another buoyant throwback bop without a care in the world for how old he is. A simple jazz beat and two fully committed cameos from Superbee and Bibi seal the deal.

—Red – The Rose
Watch: HERE

Here’s a second serving of that Woosung vocal goodness, now with a full band behind him and an extra level of mild EDM assistance. That mid-2000s Coldplay chorus line is a winner.

—Dumb Litty – KARD
Watch: HERE

Sing it with me now – It’s dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb how much I hate that I like this basic, loud song made of colliding nonsense. But I do.

—Human – Zico
Watch: HERE

Zico did not have the most comfortable year professionally, standing on the periphery of the Seungri scandal in his first full year outside of former group Block B. But he did remind us of his writing and layered performance talent with this slow jam.