Top 17 Kpop Songs of 2021 Quarter 1

I’m going to be doing an article every 3 months with the best songs of the year, this way you can see which rise and fall over time, it should be a fun project for the year. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by the amount of male artists this time around if you don’t like my almost entirely girl group biased lists, this is for you boy-group fans (it’s still mostly girl groups though). Also, I’m working on controlling my article length a little, so it’ll be a little different this time around. Let’s get to it!


17. G-reyish- Blood Moon

I was a really big fan of Kkili Kkili, so I went into this concept swap a little doubtful, because it’s very different comparatively. That said they did the Dreamcatcher-esque concept fairly well, and I don’t love it completely, but it’s a good listen.

16. WJSN- New Me

This kind of feels like a slow jam variation on the more traditional WJSN song, and that actually works really well for me. I especially love Yeoreum’s section in the first verse, she kills it.

15. Ateez- Fireworks

This song leans really heavy into the autotune, but sometimes that intentional autotune usage can be fun, as T-pain taught us almost 2 decades ago. While this isn’t my favorite Ateez output by any means, especially so with the clearly missing Mingi in performances, it’s still a good song.

14. MCND- Not Over

MCND just pump out fun songs, and this is no exception, it’s got a good upbeat and fun energy with their typical hip-hop vibes. That said, it doesn’t feel like it has the same depth and uniqueness that some of their other songs do, so that’s a bit of a mark against it.

13. Purple Kiss- Ponzona

This song is a rare case of me liking the chorus less than the rest of the song, but it’s still really good, I just want a little more oomph when the chorus hits. I do really like the opening move in the chorus’s choreo though, just really satisfying visually.

12. Pink Fantasy- Lemon Candy

This song has a feeling of kpop past to me a little bit, there were a lot more songs that had this style back in the day, but it still works in the current day for me. The chorus for me really clicks with the rest of the song, and really brings everything together in a satisfying way.

11. IU- Lilac

This song is a weird case of I’m not totally sure how much I love the song itself, but I just love listening to the way IU uses her voice in it. IU is maybe the most pleasant vocalist in all of kpop to me, and she shows that off here.

10. Dreamcatcher- 4 Memory

I’ll be open and say this will be the only Dreamcatcher song on the list this time around, I was not a huge fan of Odd Eye and it’s b-sides, beside this one of course. I like this chill EDM mood, it is super relaxing to listen to.

9. MCND- Crush

This is more of the unique fun that I expect from MCND, the song is just a little odd without being completely unlistenable, that’s the line I want them to ride. The rapping is also some of their best in this song, which is also a big plus.

8. Woodz- Feel Like

I didn’t know what to think of this song as I listened to the first verse, then the chorus hit, and I knew that this was amazing. The super chill electric guitar just floating through the chorus and the lackadaisical drum beat just work so well together, really cool instrumentation for a kpop song.

7. Cherry Bullet- Love So Sweet

This song is as sugary sweet as advertised, a bubblegum bop indeed. This is great from start to finish, and has some really fun choreography to boot.

6. WJSN- Super Moon

Wow, the chorus of this song just hits right, the rest of the song is good, the chorus is incredible. I could honestly loop the chorus and listen to it for 20 minutes straight and still enjoy it, and the pre-chorus is odd, but good too.

5. IU- Celebrity

Although this isn’t my favorite flex of IU’s voice this year, since that’s Lilac, this is a better song overall to me, just a really fun EDM style track, which is fairly unique for IU. I also think that the choreo that she’s been adding in more is fun, she doesn’t do anything crazy, but it all comes together to feel very IU.

4. Woodz- Touche

This is the best slow song of the year by far, great collaboration and song writing across the board. I think that every section just clicks with each other, and the ears so well, this is some of the best R&B I’ve ever heard in kpop, almost gives me Childish Gambino vibes.

3. Weeekly- After School

Weeekly are such consistent rookies, fun high energy music with great creative choreography that never fails to have some interesting prop work. The rap section is really funny too, they reference both of their previous title tracks then talk about downloading phone games. The first thing I said after hearing the chorus was that I felt a little Gwen Stefani in it, and in the best way possible.

2. Azer- Elegante

I think this is an absurd hidden gem of a song, so much so that I’m thinking of doing a review article for it. This has the slow sexy vibes that have been fairly scarce in modern kpop with only a few great variations, such as Gfriend’s Apple, and it totally rocks it. Give this song a chance, no regrets shall be had.

1. WJSN- Unnatural

I may be being biased as a Ujung and have recency bias since the song is brand new, but Unnatural is here at number 1, although I’ll say the top 3 or 4 are extremely close for me. This song has such a catchy chorus, an incredible pre-chorus, and a fantastic pre-pre-chorus, which is the only way for me to describe that section of the song. I also love the break with the “hey, come on” from Exy, it’s kinda goofy, but in a way that somehow actually gets me hyped for the rest of the song. This song may move a bit, but expect it in the top 10 throughout the rest of the year, let’s just hope we can get a second WJSN comeback this year to really make this list even more exciting in the coming months.