The Top English Kpop Songs of 2022 (Summer Update)
Alright, so the ManelyKpop crew always separates out non-Korean songs for our lists. There’s a few reasons behind this, but the biggest is that the musical style absolutely shifts with language, whether that be English, Japanes, Spanish, or Chinese. For 2022, I’ve decided to actively rank these songs, which happen to all be in English right now for me. I will add the caveat that if all of the lyrics are in another language with a dip back into Korean, it’s still the other language, which matters for some of these.
5. Seventeen- Darl+ing
Super chill and upbeat little song, love the beat with the guitar and the drumming that sounds almost like tapping the guitar’s body. This feels really simplified to just be nice to listen to, but the bridge between chorus 1 and 2 gets a little character and fire and it adds just enough for the song to have a memorable stand out moment.
4. AleXa- Wonderland
AleXa goes hard for the American Song Contest with this song, and she won, so that says a ton about the quality of the song. I like that the name of the song isn’t just some randomness, but instead she has a bunch of allusions to Alice in Wonderland in the song, which is good for storytelling purposes. I feel like AleXa has done a great job of keeping herself diverse and interesting with her music, but this was almost a nice throwback to her earlier work to me.
3. Jackson Wang- Blow
Jackson has put out a ton of English music since Got7 left JYP, and it’s all been okay, but nothing rose above the other music being put out in English. Then we got Blow, and wow, it’s got this Panic! At The Disco chaotic theatrical energy and music video and it works so well for him it’s crazy. I really hope to get more of this kind of music from Jackson, he shines here.
2. AleXa- Tattoo
I love AleXa. I've been a fan since she first started as a soloist, but man, her English stuff hits better than her Korean stuff does for some reason. Tattoo is an absolute chill jam, super catchy, a fairly unusual sounding chorus, her little rap sections and her vocals are both on point too, she lets loose more here and it’s great to hear.
1. Dreamcatcher (Yoohyeon Solo)- For
HOLY SMOKES IS JAZZ BAR SINGER YOOHYEON NOT THE BEST NEW THING IN 2022? This song is absolutely incredible, it is a top 3 song this year for me, it’s romantic, wistful, and sung beautifully. If Dreamcatcher announced a Yoohyeon solo album that was all like this and it had 10 versions, I would pre-order all of them. What I love is how much Yoohyeon uses her range and her volume and really controls the mood with her tone. Her scatting at the end is lovely too, she’s just got a natural knack for this genre and I truly hope we get more in the future.
