Let me preface this decade list with a few quick notes about myself. First, this list is entirely subjective and I gave myself no constraints, that means a group could theoretically have 50 songs on it, thankfully, nothing happened to such an extreme degree. Second, I got more into kpop as the decade went on, and only really started getting in during late 2012, so, naturally, there is going to be a heavy recency bias. Third, I’m rating these based off of a bunch of different factors, and were I to do the same list next year it would be completely different, music taste is extremely fluid, this list only represents my feelings at the point in time that I made it. Last, but not least, I am extremely girl group biased, and while a few boy groups and male solo artists sneak onto the list, they will not be a frequent occurrence. (One last warning: As I’m writing this I have remembered that I’m not a professional writer, so there will be repeated phrases and expressions, writing 100 blurbs is a lot of work, so forgive me if I am lacking in this regard. I’ll do my best regardless, hwaiting!) Without further ado, let’s be on to the list.
100. Gain- Bloom (2012)
To be completely honest, I’m not sure this song is truly this low, it’s a great song with a positive message. The reason it lands here is that message is all about discovery, so it seems like the perfect place to start discovering my top 100.
99. Miss A- Only You (2015)
Miss A’s final song before disbanding. It was the perfect way for the group to go in my opinion, as the song and video really felt like a culmination of all their previous work, maintaining the very feminine and generally upbeat feelings that their music brings.
98. EXO- Growl (2013)
What a cool video, the way it’s shot to appear as one take really lends to the stylish dance and eye-catching formations. It helps that the song is pretty good too, but I think Growl would have been on this list regardless due to the video quality.
97. Mamamoo- Um Ah Oh Yeh (2015)
Mamamoo is a group that I can never quite commit to really liking or just casually listening to. They have songs that I think are great and songs that I never care to listen to a second time. Um Ah Oh Yeh falls into the first of those groups, it’s a good time, and although it’s the only Mamamoo song on the list, a few others came pretty close.
96. San E- Body Language (2014)
I can almost guarantee you that despite this song and video having a sense of humor, that San E didn’t expect me to love it because it reminded me of a Weird Al style original work, but here we are. Body Language never fails to make me laugh, in fact every time I hear it I feel like a start laughing faster. That’s not true, but I had to highlight the funniest part of any K-pop song.
95. T-ara- Sugar Free (2014)
T-ara suffered a cruel fate, almost being ruined by lies and completely losing their trajectory to being a top girl group. Like Mamamoo, a number of T-ara songs almost made the list, and I ultimately decided to let Sugar Free stand as their lone representative.
94. Lovelyz- Like U (2018)
Lovelyz makes good music at a consistent rate, not something most artists can really say, many of the groups I consider personal favorites will have a dud every now and then. I feel like that consistency makes people not notice that they are still dynamic and interesting, and Like U shows that wonderfully, and is my favorite song from their discography.
93. Rocket Punch- Bim Bam Bum (2019)
No better place for Rocket Punch than next to their Woolim sisters Lovelyz. They bring that same bright energy as Lovelyz, but with a fresh, well, punch. Bim Bam Bum is a great debut, especially Chorus B, which really ties the somewhat chaotic song together.
92. Rainbow- Tell Me Tell Me (2013)
A disbanded group that has come back together just this year to put out a new song for fans because of the power of friendship, or something like that. Rainbow is one of the first groups I started to like when I got into kpop, and despite “A” being iconic, I think Tell Me Tell Me is their best song.
91. Seventeen- Don’t Wanna Cry (2017)
Seventeen has been on a constant rise since debut, a really resounding success story in all honesty, especially considering a lot of their music and dancing is generated within the group. Although choreography is usually what stands out for me in Seventeen’s songs, Don’t Wanna Cry broke the mold, and despite having incredible choreography, it’s the music itself that truly shines in this release.
90. G-Dragon- Crayon (2012)
This is another song I discovered early in my exploration of kpop, and like Body Language, had the, I think, unexpected result of making me laugh. The explosive fun of the song and chaotic weirdness of the video come together very nicely to give you the truly entertaining almost theatrical nature that exemplifies the genre.
89. Girl’s Day- Don’t Forget Me (2012)
After starting to dive into K-pop, Girl’s Day was the first group that I declared my favorite. This song represents a middle point in their concepts, not quite the super cutesy stuff of their first years, but not the sexy mature concepts that came after. I also want to take a moment to thank Yura for having the greatest laugh of all time which made her my first bias.
88. Fanatics- Sunday (2019)
I am fairly certain that the days are numbered on this group, last I saw I was one of 1200 people or so to buy their physical album. This song is great, extremely warm and catchy, it’s an absolute ear worm. Their album also has an extremely high quality photo book, so if you were looking to make any album purchases, I’d recommend that one, as well as a few others that sit on the top tier of quality physicals, but this one needs all the help it can get.
87. EXID- Ah Yeah (2015)
EXID is one of my favorite groups of all time, they have a diverse but consistent discography. Ah Yeah is a great track, and the video reflecting the musical back-and-forth in the verses is super cool. Probably one of the best executed segments of a music video in the history of K-pop.
86. Sistar- Give It To Me (2013)
This was the first Sistar song I heard, and it’s a bit more of a mature sexy vibe than what I had been exposed to in the genre, which made it unique and cool at the time. My wife and I love the hand flop while walking forward dance move too, iconic.
85. Oh My Girl- Coloring Book (2017)
If I were ranking my favorite K-pop groups of all time, Oh My Girl would be in the top 5, that said, I think they are the best group in terms of just pumping out amazing songs. I like every single song this group has made, without fail. Coloring Book is a cute and fun song, not really stand out in any particular way, but extremely easy to just listen to and have a good time.
84. Loona YYXY- Love4eva (2018)
Loona is my favorite group, period, there are going to be a number of their songs on this list, so this is just the beginning. YYXY is my second favorite subunit, and this song is so much fun, super bouncy and upbeat, and is an interesting addition to the Loonaverse lore. This is also the second best period of Loona TV, so that helps too.
83. Dreamcatcher- Wake Up (2017)
This one may be a product of recency bias as I just saw dreamcatcher live a week before writing this, it’s my wife’s favorite girl group and we weren’t going to miss that show. Even though this won’t be their highest song on the list, but it was my favorite song they did in a live setting, high energy, the audience screaming “WAKE UP” along with the group, and everybody just jumping around and having a good time, it was like watching a concert for a lighthearted punk band, which I’m always a fan of.
82. Pentagon- Shine (2018)
This dance man, it’s just so good. The song is fine, it’s catchy and makes you want to move along, but really makes you want to move along is the dance. I really have nothing more to note, jump up and hammer dance to this, it’s fun.
81. Sunmi- Heroine (2018)
I think many people would consider Gashina to be one of the most iconic K-pop songs over the last few years, and yet, despite that, I think Heroine is Sunmi’s best song. It’s easy to listen to, and makes you want to bounce along with it, I also think it is much more enjoyable across many listens, whereas Gashina wears out a bit more.
80. G-reyish- Kkili Kkili (2019)
This song is great for working to, assuming the work is decently active. It has a very good driving beat, as well as a fun and exciting energy to it. Whenever I want to pick up the pace on a task that I’m working on, this is the first song I go to.
79. Twice- Melting (2017)
This is the slowest song on the list, easily. I have a tendency towards high energy and fast-paced music, as it keeps my mood up and my helps keep my energy high as well, plus I come from listening to screamo, so that’s what I’m used to. That said Nayeon’s falsetto is beautiful here, some of my favorite falsetto ever.
78. IU- Twenty-Three (2015)
IU is an artist that always wants you to know how old she is in her music, but this is her age identifying peak, putting it as the title instead of just a song lyric. The song is really well crafted and although I don’t think it shows off just how talented IU is, it is my favorite of her fun tracks.
77. ANS- Boom Boom (2019)
This falls under the Kkili Kkili category of songs that really keep you pumped, fast paced, and focused on whatever task you’re working on. And if you want to relax just keep chillin, chillin, chillin... like a villain.
76. ONF- Why (2019)
This year has had a trend of beats being amplified by brass instruments, whether real or digital I can never tell. Why is part of that group with some sweet trumpet usage really tying the song together. I also think this song has a bit of drama and theatricality in how it builds into and plays through the chorus, and that drama is executed wonderfully.
75. Twice- Likey (2017)
Me likey.
74. Girl’s Day- Oh My God (2012)
This song is goofy fun, it doesn’t take itself seriously in the best way possible. The video goes so far as to add ridiculous sound effects to the actions of the members over the music. This is one of the best looks for pure fun music in K-pop, and shows of Girl’s Day’s absurd flexibility well, they own it and could have done it better than other groups that thrive on it.
73. (G)I-dle- Senorita (2019)
I pretty actively dislike the end of this song, it’s fairly annoying, but the rest of the song is extremely good. The highlight here is Soyeon’s rap, it exists in a different time signature to the rest of the song, giving it a stand out, almost jarring effect the first time you hear it, but it’s so easy to enjoy it’s technicality the next time through.
72. Ateez- Wave (2019)
Ateez are my favorite boy group, like Dreamcatcher, I saw them live and loved the show they put on, high energy and much more fluid and natural than other groups. These guys are performers, and this song had a great vibe with the audience, it’s a ton of fun having a bunch of people screaming “HAKUNA MATATA” without a sign of Timon and Pumba.
71. After School- First Love (2013)
Let’s just give a shout out to fitness on this one, pole dancing is extremely difficult and technical, and After School nailed it. This group didn’t deserve to fade away the way they did, but at least they were able to go out with such a stylish final comeback.
70. EXID- Cream (2016)
I’m almost positive LE intended this to be a pretty strong innuendo, but regardless, it’s a great song. This is maybe the most traditional K-pop song I have from EXID on this list, but they do traditionally styled kpop extremely well, so it still beats out hundreds of others.
69. Stellar- Sting (2016)
Another group that I once had as my favorite that has since disbanded (only one of my previous favorites is still around), they were fairly mired in controversy with their extremely sexy concepts. The video for this song really plays on that controversy, and marked a bit of a turn away from the extremity of Vibrato, Marionette, and even Mask, which is nice, because they always had great songs from a musical perspective, and the music was often overshadowed by the content of the videos.
68. Orange Caramel- My Copycat (2014)
This song is a blast to listen to, like it’s dance it is very bouncy and fun. I do want to talk primarily about the video on this one though, Orange Caramel was always doing interesting things, and were amazing for it, and a Where’s Waldo style video is my favorite of the experiments, and brilliant marketing, forcing you to listen to the song a few times as you play the game, and then having the song stuck in your head by the end.
67. Sistar19- Gone Not Around Any Longer (2013)
In spite of Dasom being my favorite Sistar member, I think Sistar19 is better than the group as a whole, Hyolyn and Bora works extremely well as a duo, and I wish they had gotten a few more releases together. EatYorkKimchi also had a great time joking about the idea of a sexy dance for this song is rubbing your booty across a table, and I love watching other people be happy and enjoying something I enjoy too in their own unique way.
66. Loona’s Gowon- One and Only (2018)
I didn't really take notice of this song or Gowon as lined up into Orbit, but eventually both clicked for me and this became one of my favorite songs, and Gowon one of my favorite members. I think that her describing her clothing in sound effects is what made it click.
65. f(x)- 4 Walls (2015)
f(x) is one of the most popular groups in the western audience, but never quite clicked with me. Airplane and 4 Walls are the two exceptions to that statement. And 4 Walls was one of my favorite songs of 2015, and still holds up really well today.
64. EXID- How Why (2017)
The beat in this song is so good. Once the dududus start the head starts bobbing along with them. This is an involuntary response, I can’t help but groove with it, one of the few beats that just has that aspect to it. I’m listening to it right now and that just happened even as I’m being conscious of it.
63. Hyuna- Ice Cream (2012)
I just discovered this song came out 3 days before my birthday, so that’s cool. Anyways, it’s fun and silly, and really did a good job of capitalizing on the attention she had gotten from her Gangnam Style feature earlier in the year, including a Psy cameo in the video. I also love the kind of old school underground rap beat that’s going on in the verses.
62. Miss A- Hush (2013)
One of the songs I picked up on as a really started getting into kpop, rotating it in with my Silverstein, Alesana, and Taking Back Sunday heavy playlists. It fit really well oddly enough, and is catchy with a darkness inside that really grabbed my attention right away.
61. Gary- Shower Later (2014)
Gary was my favorite member of Running Man during his tenure, and this song and video represents him pretty well. It’s cool and has a swag to it, and he’s clearly talented, but it’s also just a little too silly to be truly swaggy, it’s absurdly gratuitous to the point where you lose touch with it. The video has some elements that seem to parody Satisfaction by Benny Benassi, which is fun.
60. Twice- Knock Knock (2017)
A catchy song, a fun video, JYP being JYP, this really shows why Twice has become such an untouchable powerhouse for girl groups in K-pop, to the point where the next closest group’s sales don’t even come close. The personalities are charming even in a music video, the song is repetitive and catchy without becoming boring, their stylists do a great job as always, and the video is fun, with interesting little split shots keeping it fresh. Quintessential Twice.
59. Itzy- Dalla Dalla (2019)
I didn’t like this song on first listen. I didn’t like this song on the second or third listen either. I had given up on liking this song at all, and then suddenly I had heard it watching a music show and I liked it. Itzy is a perfect follow up to Twice, learning from all their successful aspects while being very unique in their own way. JYP girl groups are becoming the benchmark that other groups have to hope they can measure up to.
58. NCT Dream- We Go Up (2018)
This song is pretty high up, and despite Dream being my least favorite of the NCT units, got here over any NCT 127 songs. We Go Up has a 90s flair to it and a lion’s roar is sampled, which is absolutely crucial to it landing so high up, always support lions, they are the kings.
57. Hello Venus- Wiggle Wiggle (2015)
Like After School, let’s talk about the fitness implications of this dance, there is so much low popping, you need to have a solid fitness routine for it. Also Lime comes out rapping about apple hips and laser beams and it’s amazing, one of my favorite rap breaks in K-pop.
56. KARD- Oh NaNa (2016)
The best totally not a debut but actually a debut in everything but name in all of K-pop. Kard manages to do co-ed in a way that is otherwise completely missing in the genre. Every member of the group holds their own and works wonderfully together. BM is also a super positive force and is always supporting and encouraging fans on Instagram, one of my favorite idols for this alone #BigTiddieCommittee.
55. Loona- Butterfly (2019)
Loona is my favorite group, and I love everything about the song, the music is great, the dance is top tier, and the message is uplifting. That may make it’s placement surprising, but I like some unit and solo work from Loona more, and Loona is a personality group for me, good music is just the icing on the cake to things like Loona TV. Other songs will get the musical nod for me, but Butterfly is top tier for me regardless.
54. Saturday- Bbyong (2019)
I was paying no attention to this group, clicked on this video because it showed up in my recommendations on Youtube one day, and it shot up into my favorite releases of the year. Like Why by ONF, it makes great use of brass instrumentation, instead of adding drama this time however, it contributes to the fun of the song. The wing wing wing into spin dance move is great too.
53. NCT U- Boss (2018)
I had initially dismissed this song after listening to just the chorus, but it kept showing up fairly high on Kville rankings and eventually I decided to revisit the song and I liked it a lot more as a full song. I have two highlights here, the rap after the second chorus being absolute fire, and the dance move where they all jump into a line and just wave their arms, it looks like something I would do to annoy my wife, so I respect them doing that groundwork for me.
52. GWSN- Tok Tok (2019)
The first of a few appearances that GWSN will have on this list, if Loona is my favorite group overall and based on personality, GWSN is my favorite group on a pure music level with Oh My Girl. My wife and I took our first ever trip abroad to Korea in April, a few weeks after GWSN’s second album released, and I had really started to enjoy it. While there we picked up an irresponsible amount of physical albums because it was so much cheaper and there was no shipping, and this album was among them. It was super high quality, on par with Fanatics’ The Six. This made me listen to the album, and the group more, so now despite not ever seeing their variety, I listen to their music more than any other group, and Tok Tok was a big part of that.
51. Tiny-G- Ice Baby (2014)
I wish Tiny-G had put out more music as a trio, this song is really good, relaxing and pleasant to listen to, and their music as a quartet was pretty fun too. This group just never got the momentum to go on, another one lost in the sea of kpop competition but great nonetheless.
50. Red Velvet- Russian Roulette (2016)
I like Red Velvet, I’ve seen them live, but they exist in this strange realm for me where they are always good but never stand out. That said they deserve their place carrying on the torch of SNSD and f(x), and Russian Roulette is my favorite track they have, even with the intense competition from Bad Boy, Dumb Dumb, Automatic, Rookie, and Ice Cream Cake. I think this group still has their best years ahead, and I’m looking forward to them releasing a song that is worthy of being higher on the next decade’s list.
49. AoA- Heart Attack (2015)
Previously I had mentioned that I had one group that had been my favorite that still exists, and that group is AoA. Sure, they lost two members, but I have always been a Yuna bias, so we’re still good. Heart attack I feel like was the last song that was on their upward trajectory to the top following up Mini Skirt, Short Hair, and Like A Cat. Despite stumbling a bit and not truly reaching the top afterwards though, this song is still among their best and still gets regular plays from me.
48. Fiestar- You’re Pitiful (2015)
I learned about this group on the League of Legends subreddit after they had released a silly video about the game. It took me a few years to listen to them, around the end of Stellar, and they were a group I really picked up on two of their songs, this and one that will appear later in the list. This also is the second highest chair dance in the top 100, so there’s a cool fact. This song is also beautiful and feminine in a way that most of kpop misses the mark on.
47. Ateez- Say My Name (2019)
My wife and I always do the walking the dog dance in the chorus without fail when this song pops up in the car. If I were going to introduce somebody to Ateez this is probably the song I’d choose, it’s like their version of Knock Knock, quintessential Ateez.
46. Big Bang- Fantastic Baby (2012)
One of the songs I heard before truly getting into kpop, I love the fun energy that the quartet bring here. I think this is maybe the most iconic song of the decade to me, even over Gangnam style.
45. Everglow- Bon Bon Chocolat (2019)
This song is really easy to just listen to a bunch. It has more nanana’s than the Batman theme song, but it takes a long time to get old in spite of this. I wish I had liked Adios as much, but hopefully their next release comes back to this quality.
44. Loona’s Olivia Hye ft. Jinsoul- Egoist (2018)
Olivia is an incredible performer, and at a pretty young age, she has a ton of room to grow, and Loona has proven to be good at developing on an individual basis already. What I like about Olivia is she brings a fearlessness and intensity to her performance that a lot of idols, particularly in girl groups lack. Loona in general has this, it’s why they cover boy group dances so well, but Olivia is at the front of that attitude. Jinsoul also is at her best in this song.
43. Hyuna- Bubble Pop (2011)
My first exposure to K-pop as a 17 year old nerdy high school student watching eSports tournaments. I wouldn’t have ever dived deeper than this if not for my wife, but I still love this song, it’s fun, the break is awesome, and Hyuna is a really kind and genuine idol by all reports, so I’m happy to have this mark my first look at this world.
42. Dreamcatcher- July 7th (2018)
I think this slow and sultry kind of music suits Dreamcatcher so well, I actually prefer their b-sides to their title tracks because that’s where they use this style. That said, keep the title tracks rock based, somebody needs to represent that in the scene, as long as songs like this are in the album, I’ve got a happy face regardless, pun intended.
41. Stellar- Insomnia (2016)
My top song of 2016. This song really shines in the chorus for me, the verses are a little more forgettable to be honest. Two notes on the dance practice as well, first, wing flapping dance, second, this is where I ultimately decided Minhee was my Stellar bias.
40. TOP- Doom Dada (2013)
I’ve mentioned a few songs that are really good to listen to while working on a project. This is my number one song for working out, any running playlist I make features this song, it’s super weird and funky, and TOP’s rapping is at his best here.
39. Oh My Girl- Windy Day (2016)
I think most people found this song fairly odd on first listen. It feels very disjointed and random, not in an I Got A Boy kind of way, but something else entirely. That said, this song really grew on me and most days I’d probably tell you it’s one of the best Oh My Girl songs, and some days I think it is their best, if I made this list again in a month it could end up in the top 10.
38. IU feat. G-Dragon- Palette (2017)
How do you know this is a good IU song? Simple answer, she says her age in it. Jokes aside, this is my favorite IU song, it’s one of those super relaxing listens, her voice is just so pleasant to listen to at all times, but especially here, and I’m always happy when this song comes on. The G-Dragon feature has his more mature sound, which was welcome.
37. Pristin- Aloha (2017)
My favorite group between Stellar and Loona. I loved their variety, I had the spreadsheet of all the videos subbed by Channel Lightbeam, the best subbing team any group has ever had in my opinion. Rena, Nayoung, Siyeon, Yuha, Roa, and Yehana grew to be some of my favorite idols during this period and I was sad to see them disband so early. Their music was never their highlight for me, so they land here, but Aloha was a cute and fun song, but really this spot is holding all their songs for me.
36. Girl’s Day- Expectation (2013)
When I was getting into kpop, this was the second song I latched onto and the beginning of me deciding to really dive in, and the song that made me notice Yura as my first bias. This song has good verses and a cool transition into the extremely catchy chorus. The suspender dance is super memorable, and my mom’s “they’re just rubbing their boobs” when she first saw the video was pretty fantastic too.
35. Apink- I’m So Sick (2018)
Naeun’s styling in Psy’s new face almost feels like it was a teaser of what was coming for Apink in 2018. Their transformation from their samey bubbly pop sound, which was always good in the first place, to this mature concept was surprising, but the most surprising part was that it actually worked. So many concept changes flop, but this is just Apink now to me, and it shifting me to accepting that so easy is a huge success. A top song for 2018, and the decade.
34. Brave Girls- Rollin’ (2017)
The top chair based dance of the decade. I actually really liked this quintet version of Brave Girls, despite losing great members to get to this point, it worked really well. This song is a fun and catchy tune. The dance practice also has the really satisfying ASMR aspect of hearing footsteps. I also like that it can’t quite decide if it’s sexy or cutesy at times, the indecisiveness actually works here.
33. EXID- Boy (2017)
If How Why had a great EXID beat, Boy has an impeccable one. The sad thoughtful tone of the singing into a dope beat consisting of a drum and a pitched up and repeated “boy” is so shockingly good that it caught me off guard. I feel like when EXID were down to 4 members they had some of their most unique and interesting music, with a great lean into EDM, and it worked.
32. KARD- You in Me (2017)
Darker tones suit KARD really well, as great as they are at bright sounds, and party songs, I really love how they work in this environment. This whole album actually is just their best overall sound to me personally, it shows of the singing and rapping abilities of all the members as well, and I think that sometimes gets caught up in just how fun their music is a lot of the time.
31. Fiestar- Mirror (2016)
Another song with a darker mood, Fiestar knocks it out of the park with this one. Structurally this song is actually one of the most repetitive, verses 1 and 2 are almost clones of each other on a musical level, but you don’t really notice that right away, and by the time you do, you already love the song. The video is also well shot and has some beautiful moments, I think the director and editor actually did a really good job here.
30. AKMU- 200% (2014)
I love AKMU, they are extremely talented, and really flexible on top of that. Even YG couldn’t find a way to mess this one up, thankfully. This song is so cute and light, it’s so easy to enjoy it every moment. If this list was a top 200 AKMU would have shown up many more times. I honestly hope they keep going as a duo even if they switch companies, they are a gem.
29. Itzy- Icy (2019)
I really think Itzy are going to need to be in every top girl group discussion next year, they already have insane popularity and a good trajectory. This song is much more approachable than Dalla Dalla in my opinion, I was able to like it much more readily.I think as these kids get more relaxed and given the chance to show more flexibility they will run with it, I could keep talkin, but they’ll just keep walkin, so onto the next one.
28. Loona’s Choerry- Love Cherry Motion (2017)
First of all, Loonaverse note, this video may be the most important one, Choerry is the link between everything, even if nobody really understands what’s going on in the story. Eighty percent of this is a pretty normal bubblegum pop song, the other twenty percent is a really cool and slightly random darker break, and that works for me.
27. Twice- Headphone (2016)
I don’t like any Twice b-sides besides the two on this list, which makes it fairly notable that this one is so high up. This is a fairly silly song, but I love the beat and the composition overall fits together really well, every piece is doing its own thing, but blends perfectly.
26. Laboum- Between Us (2018)
I almost never listened to this song, every week on Kville’s chart I heard it’s clip and thought that it sounded pretty good. It’s final week on the chart I decided to actually go listen to it, and low and behold, it was my 3rd highest song when I did end of year rankings last year, and it clawed up to 26 here today. This song was actually written by Soyeon, a member of the group, and it’s their best song in my opinion, which is awesome. It leans into that sultry styling that I think K-pop is a great platform for, and clearly, does it better than almost anybody else.
25. (G)I-dle- Hann (2018)
I wasn’t on the (G)I-dle hype train right away, Latata was good but I was still apprehensive, Hann was the station I ended up boarding the train from. This is the first time Soyeon and Soojin really stood out to me, and Soyeon is a top idol these days by my estimation. The chorus is cool, the verses sexy, the dance is interesting, and Soojin has maybe the cutest dress I’ve ever seen in the video.
24. 9muses- Drama (2015)
9muses had a lot of lineup shifts, and a lot of great songs regardless. What I like about Drama more than the others is that it just comes out right away at its highest energy point. I also know it’s a little redundant to say as this was a group more or less consisting entirely of models, but the styling was some of the best in all of kpop and they all looked so beautiful in this video. Listening to it as I write this, the song structure is also kind of odd, it ends as abruptly as it begins, and that’s pretty cool, and I kind of like the sexy group gone cute vibe. I also just have good memories of driving around with my wife (then girlfriend/fiance) and singing along to this in the car in our college town, despite not speaking Korean at all.
23. AoA- Miniskirt (2014)
I mentioned it during Heart Attack, but this song was really a marker of the rise of AoA. Following up on Girl’s Day really opening up the sexy format to kpop, AoA ditched their band concept and dialed the raunchiness up to 11, getting a move banned from their dance because it showed just a little too much leg. The sensuality they came out firing with definitely got attention for the group, but what really sold it was the genuinely good music behind it, mini skirt is a great song, catchy and interesting and showcasing their superstars of Choa and Jimin super well.
22. Loona Odd Eye Circle- Girl Front (2017)
I don’t think Odd Eye Circle has a song that I’d describe as anything less than amazing, I could have easily filled this list with their songs, but I feel that would be heavy handed and unnecessary. Girl Front is fun, it’s catchy, it’s the best period of Loona TV, and it represents my favorite sub-unit of K-pop. I would highly recommend listening to all of OEC’s songs though, they are all top tier.
21. IZ*ONE- La Vie En Rose (2018)
I never watched much Produce, and IZ*ONE is the only produce made group I like as a whole (a lot of I.O.I. and Wanna One members I like outside of their respective produce groups). La Vie En Rose is one of the best debut songs in the history of K-pop, maybe even the best in my opinion. I particularly love Yena’s rap section and Eunbi, just generally Eunbi. I hope against hope that the group can somehow come out of the vote rigging controversy as 12 and still make music and be in variety, because Eunbi, Yena, Sakura, Nako, and Yujin are some of my favorite idols, and IZ*ONE Chu and Mafia Game in Prison were some of my favorite variety shows in the last few years along with Busted.
20. Twice- Cheer Up (2016)
As much as I hype up Twice as the undisputed top girl group, this will be their highest song on the list, it’s an objective fact, but this is a subjective list. I love Cheer Up, it’s a great workout song, it’s telling you to Cheer Up, and exercising can and should be a challenge. I’ve also mentioned that I listened to screamo, I always wanted to be in the emo/hipster scene, wore beanies all the time, long swept hair, all that jazz, and despite really just being a nerd I got called a hipster a lot. This seems tangential, and it is, but it’s just to say I love Mina’s beanie wearing hipster styling here.
19. GWSN- Pinky Star (RUN) (2019)
I mentioned falling in love with GWSN’s music just before I visited Korea, this is the song that got me into them. The pre-chorus is bouncy and fun and the instrumental is almost non-existent during it and it just gets me hyped whenever I hear it. It just gets me every single time, I love it. I wish I had more words to describe this song, or a story to go with it, but just plain and simple, it gets me THAT HYPED that I’m putting it this high on the list.
18. Oh My Girl- Liar Liar (2016)
It’s been a while since we heard from Oh My Girl on this list, but they’re back again. I love this song, it’s catchy, even I can sing along with the chorus, and it evolves and builds as it goes. Closer isn’t on the list, but that song and this one made me a Mimi fan, and she’s still my favorite member. This also is another song I have good memories of singing with my wife in the car and doing the “Liar Liar Liar” double L hand dance. As we’re getting higher up a lot more songs are going to be ones that make me truly excited and I can listen to infinitely, or that I have an emotional connection to, usually regarding my wife, so she’ll come up a few more times, as she’s extremely important to my kpop journey, she is the one who got me into it, and we’ve been in it together ever since 2012.
17. Kara- Pandora (2012)
Speaking of emotional connections, this is that song that really got me loving kpop, my wife showed it to me after it came out, think it might appeal to my rock music loving self. It did, I bought it on iTunes and had it in my playlists with my screamo and rock, this was what eventually bridged to Expectation and Girl’s Day, this list probably wouldn’t be happening without the song, and I almost put it at number one for that reason alone. I still love this song, but listening to it again is so much harder this year.
I couldn’t decide if I should keep this next paragraph, it’s much more serious than the tone I had otherwise intended for this list, but sometimes I think it’s important to have serious discussions, if you don’t want me to get real and emotional skip ahead to the next page. But, I encourage you to read what I have written.
Hara was my favorite member of Kara, as I think she was for many of us K-pop fans that have been around for a while, I loved her on Invincible Youth and Running Man, and I was rooting for her to bounce back after she had been abused and after she survived her first suicide attempt. She was an awesome person and in all her turmoil I hope she is able to find peace now. Remember to love those around you, and support each other, nobody should have to feel how Hara did, don’t let her death be meaningless, work together to make the world a place that everybody wants to live in. Please take a break here before reading forward to mourn those we’ve lost the last few years.
“How senseless death, how precious life.” -La Dispute “King Park”
Suicide Hotline- 1-800-273-8255. You are not alone, try to get help. If you think nobody cares, I do, come talk to me, I promise I’ll miss you if you’re gone. Suicide is not a laughing matter, and depression is a lifetime of pain, but you don’t have to bear it alone.
16. Girl’s Day- Hug Me Once (2011)
This ended up being my favorite Girl’s Day song across my years of listening to them. Despite being one of the top groups driving the rise of the sexy concept, I think as a quintet they were at their best cutesy. The song is just a fun happy time. And the video concept although not being particularly creative is fun and playful, and that’s all it takes to tie the experience together. Girl’s Day are still one of my favorite groups, and their flexibility is one of the reasons they’ve been able to stay at the top.
15. Brave Girls- Deepened (2016)
Earlier I mentioned how Brave Girls lost some great members to end up at the quintet they had at Rollin’ and I was specifically thinking of Hyeran in that moment. Hyeran’s rap verse in this song is absolutely bonkers, in a fairly chill song it brings blue hot fire. I also think Brave was the first company to realize that sports bras and leggings is a viable choice for styling in a world that was still dominated by sexy styling and just starting to shift towards cutesy and girl crush.
14. Gfriend- Love Whisper (2017)
You can’t be a girl group fan in this decade and leave out Gfriend. They are the queens of synchronized dancing, and at the forefront of the innocent concept along with Lovelyz. There’s a couple reasons Love Whisper stands out. First, it is just the best song that Gfriend has put out to me, I can listen to it all the time, it’s always fun, and instead of a repetitive hook and just has a nice fully formed chorus, usually true of Gfriend. Additionally, the styling is top notch, some of their best. Third the double about face spin they do is super cool looking, I love that move. Lastly, dancing in water always looks amazing, every video that does it always gets bonus points for that reason. I’ll note here that Gfriend’s Glogs are some of the group-specific pieces of video content that I make sure to always watch.
13. Fromis_9- Love Bomb (2018)
Ignoring Fun, which just wasn’t for me, I think Fromis has improved every single song, culminating in Love Bomb. The song is so extremely catchy, styling is really good, with basically every outfit being cute, I could see most of them being worn by normal people, their singing is great especially the “oo-oo-oo-ooo”s, the dance has a super easy to copy chorus, all the makings of a hit. The video is also pretty colorful and chaotic, which I dig, I love that explosion of energy, it suits the song super well. Basically, Love Bomb simply does everything right, a perfect K-pop song.
12. Ateez- Hala Hala (2019)
I love Hala Hala, and what really draws me to this song is the video. The whole thing is kinda creepy and weird, with some strange cult-ish vibes going on. The styling adds a ton to this, covered head to toe in black besides their hands and eyes, which are shadowed by the rims of their hats, and the strange movements of their dance that remind me of darker jazz dancing and then the triangle formation marching forward with hats down. It just is creepy looking in a super good way. Ateez are wonderful performers and pull it off super well too. I will add that musically the song is good and the rapping is great, as much as I praise the atmosphere, Hala Hala wouldn’t be this high without the song being great as well.
11. Loona- Satellite (2019)
This is my favorite full group song from Loona, and I believe it absolutely deserves this spot even if I’m trying to be as unbiased as possible, which is hard to do. The song is interesting, it has a number of little different parts that come together super nicely. There are nice vocal moments, faster fun moments, and the choreography is really good throughout the song. This is another one with some great ASMR in the dance practice as well, the synchronized clapping sounds great every time.
10. Dreamcatcher- Wonderland (2018)
Starting the top 10 we have another Dreamcatcher B-Side I only discovered a week ago. Obviously this is a bold and volatile placement given how fresh the song is to me, but I’m feeling pretty confident about it regardless. I mentioned that Dreamcatcher is at their best with the more sensual style, and this song represents that well. The vocals are great here, they really draw you into the song, and the “hush hush hush hush hush hush hush” is surprisingly non-repetitive feeling across multiple listens. I also really like the simple associated dance move with the hushing of the chorus, simple but effective. The effects over the lines before the hushes also sound really cool, and I’m not typically huge on obviously vocal effects.
9. GWSN- Total Eclipse (Blackout) (2019)
Honestly, it seems broken record on these GWSN song blurbs, but I just like the music, it makes you move, keeps you interested and energetic, has fun little parts that stand out. Again, the pre-chorus in particular is what I’m looking at when I make that statement, I don’t know why but GWSN pre-choruses are always really bouncy and fun. I also think this is one of the better displays of how pleasant the voices of the vocalists in this group are, where usually their rapper, Anne, is the member that I think stands out the most.
8. Loona’s Kim Lip- Eclipse (2017)
I’ve mentioned my Odd Eye Circle bias, and one of the biggest reasons for that is my Kim Lip bias. Lip is one of the best all-rounders in K-pop, and I personally think she stands out as an all-rounder in a group of them, with Heejin, Haseul, Yves, Choerry, and Olivia all fitting into that mold. It helps that Loona is a group that we’re seeing a lot of noticeable growth from the members as well. That said, this is the song that got my attention onto Loona, it’s not your average K-pop song, doesn’t quite fit that mold. The setting of the video is great, and it is shot super well despite being a fairly simple and straightforward music video. The chorus is the highlight musically, and Lip’s vocals are great during it, and across the song generally. The dance is also obviously good, it caught a lot of people’s attention.
7. NCT U- Baby Don’t Stop (2018)
This was my top song of 2018, which came as a surprise to me because I’m biased towards girl groups and hadn’t really listened to NCT when I first listened to it. Just like with Laboum I heard this week in and out on Kville and eventually decided to give it a try. This song is awesome, the members are so cool, the rapping is top tier, the singing is good and the dance is just filled with swag. Basically when I think what cool looks like, I think of this song. This is my favorite NCT line-up and would love to see them get another song together, because I think it would be another hit.
6. Hyuna- Babe (2017)
My top song of 2017. I mentioned previously that Hyuna was literally my first exposure to kpop, well, it turns out, she’s still one of my favorite parts of it. Babe is her top song in my book, first, it has an IU-esque mentioning of her age, always a good sign. Musically it shines, besides being just generally catchy, as all great pop songs are, it shows of Hyuna’s mix of rapping and singing talents, which I think are often overlooked, no, she’s not the best at either but she’s good at both while being a great idol dancer and fantastic performer. Additionally, the message of the song and video is pretty interesting as well, the mix of sexualization and infantilization in the K-pop world is certainly freaky, and worth discussing. If I made a list with this decade and the next decade’s music, I think this song would stand the test of time and maintain its top spot.
5. Apink- Mr. Chu (2014)
I mentioned earlier that Apink had one of the best concept transitions in K-pop, but even so, for me, their most iconic song comes from the innocent era. So I got into K-pop late 2012, picked up steam in 2013, and would say I was truly a fan in 2014. Mr. Chu is the song I associate with becoming a fully fledged K-pop fan, I had it on repeat and started looking at the K-pop subreddit for news, started watching Running Man every week, went back to watch Invincible Youth, was watching EatYourKimchi videos with my wife. It was also a bright song in a hard time where I almost failed out of college. Is this the most outstanding song that really forces your attention? I don’t think so, but it’s great front to back and I enjoyed listening to it while writing this despite having heard it a hundred times before, and that’s saying something.
4. Gain feat. Jay Park- Apple (2015)
Considering I’m putting this song in fourth place, I really don’t have much to say about this two minute jam. It’s playful, Gain sounds great, Jay Park’s rap fits the song well, and I don’t like Jay Park. Generally it’s just a song that makes me happy when I listen to it, the slight jazzy vibes, the excited tempo from the out, even the fun mix of cute and sexy that still managed to get the video a 15+ rating despite not really being bad. It’s just a good song, and sometimes, that’s enough.
3. AoA Black- Moya (2013)
I mentioned that for a few years AoA was my favorite group, but the true secret behind that was AoA Black, which I honestly think was their best form they ever had, and also the reason why I’m a Yuna fan. It was a fun little band concept, and Moya was the song that I just couldn’t get out of my head. Choa and Yuna’s singing are both fantastic, and Jimin’s rap is great even though it is short. The relaxed musical styling is pleasant and song feels like it comes in little wave-like sections which makes it a really pleasant soothing listen. It’s sad that Black got abandoned, and that three of its members are no longer in AoA, but I’m happy to put Moya at this spot.
2. EXID- L.I.E (2016)
Although they have never been my number 1 group, EXID have always sat in a top 5 slot since Up & Down, and of all their many songs I love, L.I.E stands above the rest. This has all the best aspects of EXID, great vocals from the singers, an extended and absolutely top notch rap from LE, who is my favorite girl group rapper, a spot (G)I-dle Soyeon only now possesses due to EXID’s disbandment, and a sweet EDM break post chorus. Even Junghwa gets to shine with her dancing during said EDM break, getting to be front and center for the fairly iconic hair pulling dance move.
1. Oh My Girl- One Step, Two Steps (2016)
Like EXID, Oh My Girl has never been my number 1 group, but has always sat in the top 5, top 3 even, since they released Closer. This is my favorite song they’ve released, my favorite of the decade, and as I really only know K-pop from this decade, I just realized that means I’m ranking it as my personal top K-pop song of all time. Thinking of it that way made me nervous about committing to that statement, even though I stated previously that this list is extremely fluid. I stand by it though, so here we go. Oh My Girl, as I said, is incredibly consistent, every song they have is amazing, every single one. One Step, Two Steps is just the most amazing, it's so sweet and gentle while still having a strong voice, and a light headbanger of a chorus. The vocals are lovely, and although it is one of a million songs about love, it just has a purity of tone that so many others lack. Whenever I’m building a playlist and I don’t want just recent songs, the first song I put on it when looking at songs from previous years is this one. The only thing it lacks is a Mimi rap, that said, I love this song, it is the best K-pop song of the decade to me, and my favorite K-pop song of all time, at least this week.
