2023 Kpop Rookie Girl Group Of The Year (ManelyKpop Awards)

It’s time for our annual panel based awards, and this year I’m starting with our rookie girl groups. This was a surprisingly sparse category for us despite two of our panelists being girl group fans and one of them being fairly oriented towards finding interesting new artists. Remember that our year is December-November and rookie groups get 2 years to be nominated and can’t be nominated in their second year if they were nominated in their first. So, let’s get to it!

4. Queenz Eye

I actually think this group has a lot of potential, Un-Normal is a pretty good track, I like the R&B energy, and I think it shows that the group has some talent, and they even have good visuals. But they haven’t quite had a hit song to really get off the ground running yet being stuck at a respectable 2 million views on all their most watched videos with a peak of 5 million on debut. I will add that I like This Is Love as well, it has the Neon Punch approach to a retro sound that I really like.

3. Fifty-Fifty

If this list was just raw success, Fifty-Fifty are the clear winners, and I actually had them in first because Lovin’ Me was one of the best songs to come out last year, and Cupid one of the best this year, with Higher also being a fantastic song. The group had a ton of talent, a ton of upside, and a good direction. After all the drama the group went through this year, they are left with one woman standing and are actively recruiting to rebuild the numbers. What the future holds now is truly up in the air. Also my other panelists weren’t into their music, so they ended up in third, that’s why I like a panel system. How many lists of this sort would have Fifty-Fifty anywhere but first?

2. H1-Key

Another rookie group with some line-up troubles, they had some change since their initial releases, which nobody on the panel really cared for, evidenced by them missing this category last year. But, this year went better, and Hwiseo being added to the lineup was honestly a huge win, she’s a top tier rookie idol and showed huge on Queendom Puzzle where she absolutely deserved her first place. While Rose Blossom was their viral hit this year, I think the panel’s overall favorite song was Seoul (Such a Beautiful City), it was definitely mine at least.

1. Kiss of Life

Fun fact, all three panelists had a different number one from among the top 3. So it actually came down to second and third places to determine the top group. Kiss of Life just has a great amount of depth in their short time as a group. Every member had a pretty good pre-debut solo song, the debut Shh was good, Bad News had some internet momentum, and Nobody Knows is a solid b-side, and probably my favorite song of their discography so far. Also, it’s a group without children able to pull off a more mature sound, and that is really refreshing to see.