The 44 Best Kpop Girl Group Debut Songs
Girl group debut songs! If it’s not on the list, I just don’t have strong feelings on it or didn’t like it, but I’m not here to be negative. I’m also including the Loona subunits separately since they debuted before the full group, if you think they shouldn’t be counted, that’s fair, just pretend this is a top 41 in that case. Let’s go!
44 Lightsum- Vanilla
This song is interesting, it feels like a very Cube Entertainment girl group song. I think the attempt at contrast is a bit of a failure, but the separate parts are good enough to make me feel positive about it.
43. Loona 1/3- Love & Live
For both 1/3 and OEC I think that their second single is better than their debut, but 1/3 has the bigger gap. This song is good, but it doesn’t do anything more than be good for me. Vivi being a robot is interesting.
42. Le Sserafim- Fearless
Not the strongest song of what they put on their debut album, but still a solid debut. This isn’t really my style song, but I do respect it, and Kazuha has a really cool and interesting voice, which is pretty compelling.
41. Red Velvet- Happiness
I think this song gets more hate than it deserves, it’s not my favorite debut but it isn’t a bad song, people just wanted f(x) and were upset they didn’t get it. The pre-chorus is really good and Wendy’s “shine on me” section is amazing.
40. Aespa- Black Mamba
I love Aespa, I think Karina is one of the best talents in 4th gen, and that isn’t even to discount how great Winter, Ningning, and Giselle are, I just want to provide that context before saying that this song just isn’t my style. I do appreciate it, I think it’s good, but the musical style of the song loses me.
39. Cignature- Nun Nu Na Na
It’s cute, it’s fun, the styling is good, which can be a miss on debut songs with surprising frequency. There’s not too much to this other than that, solid debut.
38. Cherry Bullet- Q&A
It’s really weird re-watching this music video because there were so many of them before a number of them left the group. This is also cute and fun, has a good bit of personality to it, and I think the gaming theme is enjoyable.
37. Kep1er- Wa Da Da
I feel similarly about this song as I do to Vanilla. There are a lot of separate parts to this song that I really like, but when it’s all put together it doesn’t feel right. The difference here is that the separate parts are much better here. Also, it’s super catchy, vroom vroom vroom like a supersonic.
36. Redsquare- Colorfull
I don’t super love the chant starting the song, but the rest of it is really good, feels kinda SNSD to me for some reason. The music video was a really weird choice too, never showing the member’s faces. The idea is cool, don’t focus on their looks, focus on their talent… but this is kpop, a super visual genre and these girls are pretty, and that doesn’t distract from their talent at all. Seriously, watch a music show performance, this group deserved more, even if they do get that rumored comeback, it’s far too late. I think ChaeA could have been a top idol specifically.
35. SNSD- Into The New World
People are going to say this is low, but to be frank, while being legendary, this song was never my flavor, even back in 2012 when I first entered kpop. That said, this song is pretty timeless, it’s aged really well and I still love seeing new gen groups cover it. If I was ranking debuts by importance, this would be first.
34. Gfriend- Glass Bead
So this is placed strategically above Into The New World, because to me, the mood of the song actually feels amazingly similar. I think of this as the modernized version of that song, so it’s a little better, but still not my cup of tea specifically. And if you think this comparison is weird, just listen to them back and tell me that the chorus doesn’t evoke the same feeling between both songs.
33. Mamamoo- Mr. Ambiguous
I really loved Mamamoo’s musical direction before Starry Night, it didn’t care about being cool or aggressively artsy, it was jazzy and fun. Mr. Ambiguous does an incredible job of setting the tone for the first half of Mamamoo’s career, showcasing their fantastic vocal talents while having that great musical energy and a solid sense of humor. This is the beginning of songs on this list that I really like to listen to.
32. Bvndit- Hocus Pocus
What a good debut from a group that I had known nothing about before listening to them. I still don’t know much about them, but I know this song bops.
31. Purple Kiss- Ponzona
Purple Kiss are impressive rookies, great charisma, insanely high talents levels, and great songs. That said, Ponzona is my least favorite single from them, and it’s still high on this list. Seriously, don’t sleep on PurKi. At the very least respect the talent these girls have.
30. Hinapia- Drip
The Pristin girls are among my favorites in kpop history, and Hinapia has 4 of them. That said, the song is fire, Rena is still super fun to listen to, and Minkyeung is at her best here, she oozes charisma, performs well, and hits her vocals better than I feel she ever did in Pristin, she steals the show and has no intention of giving it back.
29. (G)-idle- Latata
This is a pretty strong debut, great styling, the performance is good, and the song is really good. The highlights are obviously Soyeon, who is a natural star, and Yuqi’s awesome vocal color coming out immediately instead of being hidden by the company, which happens all too often.
28. Majors- Spit It Out
Prior to listening to this for article research I remember not liking it, so something in my tastes changed in the last year. I actually love the drop in the chorus, even though it’s just the beat through the majority of the song. The rest of the song holds up well too, a good chorus alone wouldn’t carry a song this high.
27. EXiD- Whoz That Girl
Weird music video to watch considering it’s only 50% of the lineup that EXiD is known for, but it doesn’t stop this from being a good listen. I think EXiD is one of the best title track discographies in all of kpop, so it’s no surprise that the debut is still good.
26. Loona- Hi High
I think this song gets credit for just being what it is, the first ever Loona song with all 12 members, it was a pretty climactic moment in what is definitely the most interesting pre-debut path in the history of the industry. I really love the chorus to this one too, the dance is catchy to watch, and it’s pretty easy to sing along.
25. Viviz- Bop Bop
I love what this company is doing with Viviz. I think it’s probably pretty hard to choose what direction to take when re-debuting 50% of one of the most popular girl groups in Korea, and they nailed it. Bop Bop is tons of fun, the stylining is great, and they really unleashed the members. Eunha finally gots to be the main vocal she is, after being stuck behind Yuju for almost 7 years (nothing against Yuju, she’s an insanely multi-talented person), SinB is dancing more completely, feels like she isn’t holding back like she used to, and Umji is getting a much more fair distribution. I think these 3 have a lot of potential to recapture some of that top level popularity, and it feels like they still have a lot of passion to perform and be idols.
24. Miss A- Bad Girl, Good Girl
A lot of fans rate this as Miss A’s best song, and while I disagree, I think it’s a fantastic pick and respect that opinion (for the record, Only You is my first place, Hush is second, this is third). They had so much power for a rookie girl group in 2010, and brought great stage presence to their performances, it’s no wonder they got off to such a hot start with a debut this good.
23. Fanatics- Sunday
This song had me on board the Fanatics train, it’s simple yet charming, peaceful yet energetic, it’s got a great dynamic in that regard. Sica and Doi are really fun performers to watch, and the whole group is good. The choreo is also a major highlight here, it’s fantastic. If this company wasn’t the worst I’d wish for more comebacks, but I mostly want these girls free from their management.
22. Itzy- Dalla Dalla
This song made an elevator ding sound have a positive response in my brain, that’s pretty impressive. Itzy’s brand of pop is a very odd breath of fresh air in an industry that had and still slightly is in a stale state of girl crush. Dalla Dalla was a great stepping off point for Itzy, it defined their image, their message, and their musical structure, and what a great unique one it is.
21. WJSN- MoMoMo
My Ujung heart kept fighting to move this song higher and higher, but trying to be as objective as possible, this seems like the right spot to me. It’s charming and fun, but doesn’t do a great job of setting the stage for the group’s concept that they’d settle on later. But the song works pretty well overall, it’s fun to listen to still today, and it establishes Exy’s great raps, she doesn’t care about the tone of the song, she’ll always make it work and do it well.
20. Fromis_9- To Heart
It’s a charming and sweet school concept with a super cheery energy, and it works really well for the Fromis girls. The only problem here is that they do all same outfits, which I never like for debut songs, as it doesn’t immediately give people clear cut personalities, which I think can be healthy for getting people to know the members better. At the same time, I think it does highlight their unity as a group, they have been through a lot together, and it’s nice to see them as one.
19. Loona yyxy- Love4eva
I love 1/3 as a group of soloists, I love yyxy and OEC as groups with soloists, if that makes sense, and it’s the reason why, despite loving full group Loona, I think they should have kept the solos and subunits more active and had the full group just do a single comeback a year, NCT style. Yyxy works due to the great blend of talents and tones every member is very different from the next, and that set of differences comes together beautifully.
18. Ichillin’- Got’ya
I’ll start by saying something that doesn’t make this sound like it should be my 19th place, the verses are only just okay. That said, the chorus is one of the best in all of kpop in my opinion, it’s super fun and catchy, and I can listen to it endlessly. If every chorus was this good, catchy, with actual vocals, and a top tier energy, the industry would be better for it.
17. Oh My Girl- Cupid
I have written so many articles recently that make me listen to this song, and I keep ranking it higher and higher on every subsequent article. That actually says a lot that I keep listening to it and moving it up after having heard it for the last 7 years. The song is great, the marching drums work super well as proven by After School earlier, the vocals and rap are great, there’s nothing not to love here, we’re getting to some top tier debuts now.
16. Rocket Punch- Bim Bam Bum
This song benefits hugely from the double chorus, chorus A is good, chorus B is magic. The structure here is pretty perfect, and I love the musical direction that they took. It's fun, but it’s got a tenacity to it that really fits the Rocket Punch name. I like Rocket Punch a lot, one of my favorite groups in recent years, but I feel that their comebacks never quite hit the spot that Bim Bam Bum does.
15. Apink- I Don’t Know
Apink was signature Apink from day 1, charming and fun, with strong playful energy, all backed by some pretty strong talent, especially from Eunji in the vocal department. This song feels like it has a very specific purpose and nails it perfectly, something that Apink’s discography is fantastic at in general.
14. Lunarsolar- Oh Ya Ya Ya
Lunarsolar in their short career managed to approach every concept slightly differently than other groups, this uniqueness lends itself to fun and interesting music, although it may have hurt them in terms of popularity. I like that they debuted a little older than your average rookie group, all members at least 19 on debut, oldest approaching mid 20s. You can feel a certain level of control and maturity, and it works when they have such a weird post chorus. This is one of the more frustrating early disbanding groups, they had all the tools for a strong career.
13. Twice- Like Ooh-ahh
I mentioned earlier that I think dressing a group all the same can hurt the feelings of individuality that drive engagement. This is why you diversify looks, you get a set of 9 distinct personalities to engage with and the song is fantastic on top. Vocals are pleasant to listen to across the board, the rap is pretty fire, and the choreo is among the best debut choroes, Momo’s dance break is the stuff of legend.
12. Rainbow- A
The girl group that managed to have a dance move from their debut song banned from live performances because their shirt lift was too sexy. While amazing because that would absolutely fly today just 11 years later, the most amazing part is that the song is just wicked good anyways. Of legacy groups, I think Rainbow gets the least respect relative to how good their music was, A is great, super catchy chorus, solid rap break, especially given the time period where rap breaks could feel really silly.
11. ANS- Boom Boom
All of ANS’s 2 songs are probably in my current top 100 kpop songs of all time, this group just had the perfect sound. Boom Boom is so much fun, the energy is so absurdly high, it just takes you on its ride and you throw your hands up and enjoy it from front to back. If somebody told me they didn’t like this song, I’d be genuinely shocked, it’s so well rounded and engaging.
10. Iz*one- La Vie En Rose
One of Iz*one’s greatest songs and it came right at the start. La Vie En Rose really established the modern elegant pop style, which we have seen a few other groups try since, with songs like Lightsum’s Vivace, which was great. This song is a mix of a fantastic chorus, very strong verses for a kpop song, one of my favorite rappers in vocalist Yena (T-Pain would be proud of her singer turned rapper trajectory, especially since she’s back singing again), and Eunbi always bringing the intensity. Oh, and great choreography that really stands out and stays in your head. Speaking of Eunbi, as somebody who doesn’t watch Produce, I didn’t know who she was until this song and now she’s my favorite idol in the industry.
9. Brave Girls (2016)- Deepend
I consider there to be two Brave Girls, the original, and the current 2016-debuted one, as it was a relaunch of the group after years of inactivity with an entirely new lineup featuring no returning members whatsoever. I had Deepend in my top 10 songs of 2016 (Rollin was 12th in my 2017 list as well, was so happy to see it blow up half a decade later), and I think it still deserves to be that high. It is chill to listen to but still engaging, which is a pretty rough line to ride on, most songs that attempt it are either boring, or way too exciting. The big highlight is Hyeran’s rap which is crazy good. Also the styling was really solid, this kind of led the wave of realization that exercise clothing is totally valid and flattering.
8. Everglow- Bon Bon Chocolat
The song that prompted this list, I had guessed in my Everglow title track rankings that this would be in my top 5 debuts of all time. I was wrong, but not by much. The thing that keeps this from moving higher is the fact that Bon Bon Chocolat is not my style song at all, and yet it’s so incredibly good at what it does that it still sits at 9th place. The quality is quite literally undeniable.
7. Dreamcatcher- Chase Me
What a way to establish a unique concept with a super talented group. Styling is beautiful, the vocals Fly High, the choreo is great, and the video draws you in like no other debut does. It’s hard to watch Chase Me and not want more, Dreamcatcher’s concept and talent are so insanely compelling, what a group.
6. Stayc- So Bad
This list honestly got super hard to rank starting with Rainbow, these songs are all very very close to each other for me, bordering on overlapping. So Bad is a masterwork in straightforward pop music, it’s not here to reinvent the wheel, it’s here to perfect it. I think this group benefits hugely from having very distinct vocal color across all the members, from J’s low tones, to Sumin’s raspier middle low tones, Sieun’s smooth power, and so on. The crazy thing to me is that Stayc has maintained this quality across their 3 comebacks, it’s why they are one of the most popular girl groups right now.
5. Pristin- Weewoo
The song that gave Pristin undisputed Rookie of the Year status… the year before a tragic early disbandment. Pristin had it all, Rena as a great idol rapper, a strong group of vocalists, good choreo that is easy for fans to pick up, and an absurdly catchy song driven by a group of very likable idols. I think if they weren’t so horribly mismanaged we’d be talking about Pristin in top girl groups of all time discussions, top 25 for sure.
4. Loona Odd Eye Circle- Girl Front
If treated as its own group, Odd Eye Circle is one of my favorite girl groups of all time, and Girl Front is the weaker of their two singles to me while still being my 5th favorite debut of all time. Girl Front has some really cool beats going on throughout, and all the changes feel natural and connected which is pretty rare. On top of that this is a fantastic group vocally, and they’d be even stronger today with Choerry’s rise in vocal tone quality. I think one of the best qualities of Girl Front is the way that it doesn’t let up, once it goes it only stops when the song does, it’s very easy to lose three and a half minutes to it without feeling the time pass at all.
3. Ive- Eleven
What happens when you take Iz*one’s two super rookies, give them a strong set of young true rookies to round out their talent, and then Starship’s ability to find the perfect hit songs for their groups? You get one of the strongest debuts in the history of kpop, picking up crazy amounts of physical sales, streams, and music show wins, Ive went from not existing to one of the most hyped girl groups overnight. I don’t even know how to describe Eleven in words, it has power, but a royal grace and it feels familiar while being not quite like any other song in the industry, it’s hard to put my finger on why it works so well, it just clicks.
2. Weeekly- Tag Me
Tag Me feels like the girl group version of early Seventeen in the best way possible, it has that fun energy, musical sensibility and great choreography to boot. I love the use of the desks as props, it adds such a boost of fun and unapologetic youthful energy that works perfectly for a rookie kpop girl group. But youthful in this case doesn’t mean they are sloppy or uncontrolled, the talent shines through, consistent vocals and dancing with crisp movements, and great synchronization show that they worked really hard to get to their debut. The results are evident, because to me this is easily one of the best debuts ever.
1. GWSN- Puzzle Moon
Musically GWSN just works for me all the time, and I love listening to basically every song in their discography. So I’m going to not talk about the music right away and bring up the choreography, it’s beautiful and so smooth, with some really great formations. I highly recommend watching the music video which is gorgeous, then going to the dance practice to appreciate just how good it really is. The song is incredible too though, their vocals are used so well, the beat is fantastic throughout, the rap is fire too. To me, this doesn’t feel like debuting rookies, they feel like pros, it’s really impressive, and well deserving of my top spot.
