Katherine’s Top K-pop Songs of 2019: A (Somewhat) Brief Summary

I like all of Dreamcatcher’s songs, but “Deja Vu” especially made me take note. I really like how the verses are very simple and stripped down, but then the chorus dials it up to 100 and brings in that intense rock sound Dreamcatcher is so good at. You’d think that would be jarring, but the clear emotion in their voices smooths out the transition and makes it flow easily. Also, I was totally captivated by that music video. I think this was done as promotion for a video game – which is why it probably looks so high-budget – but I was so intrigued by the story! I wanted to know all about the fantasy world, what was happening, and why two of the members trying to kill each other. Maybe I should start playing the game.

“Enough” is an excellent example of a well-done sexy and sophisticated concept. I don’t really like sexy concepts that are in-your-face (for boy or girl groups), and I much prefer the ones that are more subtle and smooth. Though I remember I wasn’t quite prepared for this level of sexy from SF9 – I was really taken by all those body rolls. While their choreography was as excellent and polished as ever, they toned the dancing down this time so their vocals could have more of the spotlight – which I think was an excellent choice because SF9 has so many good vocalists. Though I personally preferred their other release “RPM,” “Enough” is a really enjoyable song that still gets stuck in my head to this day.

Thanks to the Produce vote manipulation scandal, we only got one IZ*ONE comeback in 2019. Luckily, it was a fantastic one. I wasn’t into “Violeta” as much as IZ*ONE’s debut “La Vie en Rose,” but I think it was a fun and bright comeback that was perfect for spring. The pastel color palette was a total mood, and the music video was aesthetic perfection. Plus I was really impressed by the choreography, which looks very hard to pull off with the precision and synchronization that they do. Girl crush concepts started taking over in 2019, but IZ*ONE proved there’s still room for music with a more feminine side.

“Fever” was one of my songs of the summer. While the tropical fun vibes are a little subtle for your average K-pop summer song, they still provided a nice overall undertone. I especially liked the dance – I feel like a lot of GFriend’s choreographies were just made to look hard and impressive once they became known for their high level dance skills, but this one really matched well with the music and rhythm. I tend to run hot and cold on GFriend’s music, but “Fever” was one of the ones that I definitely liked. It was just such a great song with an addictive melody, and while it wasn’t outright sexy, it was definitely filled with some romantic young-adult tension. I find that GFriend has really had a hard time changing up their wholesome image (at least through 2019), so “Fever” helped them look slightly more grown up and matured.

Oh my god, this song was EVERYWHERE in South Korea last year (and it still is). Every time I went out, I heard it in a store or restaurant. Normally, so much exposure to a song would annoy me – we’ll see this in later examples. But I was never bothered hearing “gogobebe” all the time because it it’s so darn catchy! I think its laidback and chill feel makes it easier to hear often without getting too grating. MAMAMOO has a very chic and cool image in South Korea, and “gogobebe” is a really good example of why. This is such a cool girl song, complete with a cool girl dance and cool girl clothes. I still miss the early days of MAMAMOO, but “gogobebe” brought back the quirky fun that had been missing from their music of previous years.

This song is actually kind of an anomaly on my list. Since I knew next to nothing about TXT in 2019 (and still kind of don’t), “Run Away” is basically here based on the song alone. I saw them perform it at some end of year shows and was intrigued, and then I listened to it a bunch of times right before the end of the year. If I had actually checked TXT out earlier, I probably would have ranked it much higher. But in any case, I think that “Run Away” is objectively one of the best songs of 2019. It’s just pure pop perfection. The choreography is excellent, as well. While I don’t know much about TXT, this comeback indicated that they definitely have a lot of potential.

I enjoy K-pop and Western pop separately, so it doesn’t really matter to me if one sounds like the other. But at the same time, I think that “Bon Bon Chocolat” sounds very close to a Western pop song. I truly believe that if an American pop singer or group had released it, it would have become really popular. Perhaps that’s why international/Western fans welcomed EVERGLOW so readily. In any case “Bon Bon Chocolat” is SUPER catchy. It has just enough of both sweetness and sass that it can appeal to a variety of different audiences. And I LOVE the choreography – the key points are so unique. I remember being really impressed by EVERGLOW’s debut. It was definitely a strong start, and I think they’ve only gotten better since.

2019 was the year where BTS starting pursuing a different musical style, which is also sadly when I stopped vibing with them so much. As objectively good as “Boy With Luv” is – and it’s pretty much perfect as far as pop songs go – it just wasn’t my thing. I often find fun and upbeat pop songs to be over the top, and this one was just a bit too much for me. And I think those feelings were magnified because “Boy With Luv” isn’t the type of music I go to BTS for. (For reference, my favorite BTS songs are ones like “Blood Sweat & Tears” and “I Need U.”) On top of that, it was so popular that I basically heard it at least once a day for most of the year… and that effectively killed my enjoyment of it. BUT for the purposes of my list, I’m going to try and remember how fun and fresh it was the first month or so it was released.

This is almost certainly an unpopular opinion, but I wasn’t as enamored with “Fancy” as most people were – at least, when it first came out. I think it was because JYP really pushed this idea that TWICE was going to have a less cutesy, more mature concept… and then just put them in short black dresses and gave us another upbeat bop. I’d been waiting for TWICE to change it up for a while, so I was a little disappointed. Sure, it wasn’t their regular bubblegum pop, but it wasn’t *that* different. And much like “Boy With Luv,” constant exposure majorly dampened my enthusiasm. But even though “Fancy” isn’t my favorite TWICE song, I came around by the end of the year. And now, I appreciate it for its quirky melody and borderline peculiar dance moves. That’s the thing about TWICE; they always win me over in the end.

Ugh, brings back some painful memories. We only got to enjoy this comeback for like three days before all of the Wonho stuff happened. I tried really hard to not let all that color my feelings about the comeback itself, but I guess I like Monsta X too much to be effectively detached. (It’s been over a year and I still lowkey complain about how Wonho had to leave.) So although I really liked “Follow,” I sadly couldn’t bring myself to listen to it much. That being said, I still thought it was a really good song. I can always relay on Monsta X for head banging club jams, and “Follow” is no exception. It’s so powerful, especially with stellar rapping from both Jooheon and I.M. The timing was just such a shame.