Katherine’s Top K-Pop Releases of 2017, Part One: #51-100

About a year ago, I kicked off this blog with my 50 favorite K-pop songs of 2016 listed by season.  This time, I decided it would be fun to do an “official” ranking. So, I grabbed a set of index cards and wrote down all the songs I wanted to talk about… only to end up with 100 tracks instead of the planned 50.  I change my favorites constantly, so I probably should have known how it would go. After all, this is what happens when you’re unapologetically multifandom. I eventually narrowed my choices down to a Top 50, but I decided to make the extra effort and do a “bonus” post. I wanted to share the other songs I liked, and it’s always important to promote good music!

Table of Contents

Songs #91 – 100
Songs #81 – 90
Songs #71 – 80
Songs #61 – 70
Songs #51 – 60

Before I start, I want to emphasize that everything in my rankings posts is based on my own personal opinion.  I like and listen to a ton of different groups, so I’m not trying to start fan wars or say that X is better than Y. The factors I considered in making this list were highly specific and tailored to my tastes in music, dance, and aesthetic (among other things).  It’s not a list of the “best” K-pop releases based on any professional standards; I’m just sharing what I liked and listened to the most throughout 2017!

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SONGS #91 – 100

100. April, “Mayday”
99. AOA, “Excuse Me”
98. WJSN (Cosmic Girls), “I Wish”
97. Weki Meki, “I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend”
96. Apink, “Five”
95. DIA, “Good Night”
94. Stellar, “Archangels of the Sephiroth”
93. Kim Chungha, “Why Don’t You Know”
92. KNK, “Rain”
91. Victon, “Unbelievable”

This is pretty much the “special mention” category, because it’s basically groups I’m trying to get into more.  While I follow most of them casually, they haven’t had a single or promotion cycle that makes me want to devote hours of my time to stanning yet them. But while I might not be sold on them just yet, I put them here because I think they have a lot of potential. Also, a couple of them just debuted – and it’s hard for me to pass judgment on one or two songs. I’m mostly just waiting for a release that I really click with! The two exceptions here are Apink and AOA; I wanted to include both because I like them a lot, but I just wasn’t as wild about their 2017 songs compared to their previous hits.

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 Songs #81 – 90

90. Wanna One, “Burn it Up”
89. Triple H, “365 Fresh”
88. Jeong Sewoon, “Just U”
87. Lovelyz, “WoW!”
86. K.A.R.D, “Hola Hola”
85. SONAMOO, “Friday Night”
84. iKON, “Bling Bling”
83. Block B, “Shall We Dance”
82. Jeon Soyeon, “Jelly”
81. VIXX LR, “Whisper”

This section is comprised of music that I listen to pretty casually. Basically, I liked the track enough to buy it, but only really listen to it sporadically. Yes, I’m old-fashioned and buy my music on iTunes instead of downloading illegally or using streaming services.  Though I might put these songs on a playlist or look them up when I’m in a certain mood, I’m probably not going to be listening to them for hours on end on repeat.  However, they’re good songs from artists whom I really like, and I would highly recommend them.

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Songs #71 – 80

80. Taeyeon, “Make Me Love You”
79. Suzy, “Yes No Maybe”
78. Dreamcatcher, “Fly High”
77. SF9, “Easy Love”
76. GFriend, “Summer Rain”
75. Teen Top, “Love Is”
74. B.A.P, “Honeymoon”
73. NCT Dream, “We Young”
72. Pristin, “We Like”
71. K.A.R.D, “Don’t Recall”

This year, I made a rule for myself that an artist could only have two singles in my Top 50. I also really tried to limit the amount of groups I did that for because last year I included everything EXO released.  So people who read my posts regularly might be a little surprised, because I really enjoyed these songs and probably hyped them up a bunch when they came out. Truthfully, I still like them a lot and listen to them quite often; it’s just that lot of these groups have songs much higher up on my list. Although it pains me to put them here, you’ll see these groups pop up again in my following posts.

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Songs #61 – 70

70. G-Dragon, “Untitled 2014”
69. Taemin, “Move”
68. Girls’ Generation (SNSD), “All Night”
67. MAMAMOO, “Yes I Am”
66. TWICE, “Knock Knock”
65. IU, “Palette”
64. Wanna One, “Energetic”
63. BTS, “Spring Day”
62. BTOB, “Missing You”
61. WINNER, “Really Really”

I know what you might be thinking: “What are some of these doing here so low on the list, Katherine?  You’re totally crazy because they should definitely be in your Top 50!  [Insert song name here] was the song of 2017!” It’s true that most of the songs in this section charted well, because they were popular with both fans and the general Korean public. Objectively, I do think they’re incredibly good.  However, they’re not on my list because they just didn’t match my personal tastes. Either I got tired of the track eventually, or I preferred another single the group released by year’s end – I just couldn’t bring myself to remove a song I personally really enjoyed in favor of one that was the most streamed or downloaded. So this section basically admits I’m going against popular opinion, but it also acknowledges the fact that these are undeniably great songs.

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Songs #51 – 60

60. Brave Girls, “Rollin'”
59. Hyuna, “Lip & Hip”
58. GOT7, “Never Ever”
57. B.A.P, “Hands Up”
56. LABOUM, “Only U”
55. Pentagon, “Like This”
54. ASTRO, “Crazy Sexy Cool”
53. SEVENTEEN, “Clap”
52. K.A.R.D, “Rumor”
51. TWICE, “Heart Shaker”

This was probably the hardest section, because these are all the ones that just missed the Top 50. I shuffled things around approximately a dozen times before committing, because I think they’re all really quality songs. (I know I’ve been saying that this whole post, but it’s true!) Half of them were released in November or December – so they’re actually what I’m listening to on repeat at the moment – but I’m not sure how my fickle heart will go after that period of initial infatuation is over. Also, a lot of times I didn’t feel ready to replace a song I’ve been listening to for months on end.  But even if they didn’t make the final cut, I certainly spent a lot of time debating where I would place them.

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It’s kind of interesting that each section of songs developed its own theme, because I certainly didn’t plan it that way. I’m still laughing at myself for writing down 100 songs instead of 50. (It was actually probably something like 92, but you get the point) But I’m grateful that I decided to do the extra work for this “bonus post,” because I got to remember how much great music there was in K-pop this year. The Top 50 will be broken down into smaller more descriptive posts, so stay tuned!

NOTE: All music videos / images belong to the artists and their agencies I’ve listed above.