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

At this point in time, BLACKPINK had pretty much established their brand and persona. “Kill This Love” was the next entry in their series of addictive girl-crush dance jams. I remember calling it “‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ but military style,” because the trumpets and drums make it feel like we’re marching off to battle or something. Though there’s an underlying dark and intense feel to the song (it’s a breakup song and all), it has all of the elements of a BLACKPINK hit: fierce music, iconic moves, eccentric yet luxurious fashion, and a music video that looked crazy expensive but also had some surprisingly thought-provoking messages. (Those scenes of Rosé and Jisoo eliminating the “good” versions themselves were really compelling.) While “Kill This Love” is ultimately not my favorite BLACKPINK song, I really liked how it was such a powerful anthem. It was definitely one of my anthems of the year.

As I get older and debuting idols get younger, I’ve become less and less interested in adding rookie groups to my list. I wish them all the best, but I usually just don’t vibe with music by idols a full decade younger than me. (See: NCT Dream.) But when ITZY debuted, I was immediately hooked. “Dalla Dalla” is just so freaking catchy and addictive. It’s a pure pop delight. While I wouldn’t say it’s full on girl crush, it’s just sassy and confident enough to be inspiring to their young intended audience. And it’s just bubbly enough to capture the attention of the Korean general public (who really does love anything cutesy). Not to mention that the choreography and outfits are ICONIC. ITZY’s amazingly successful debut quickly established themselves as rising K-pop princesses. They’re elegant, fierce, and fabulous – and given their crown-holding ending poses, they totally know it. “Dalla Dalla” made it super clear they were coming to conquer us all.

I’ve always considered NU’EST to be masters of visual storytelling. Even before the Produce 101 days, they had captivating choreographies and aesthetically gorgeous music videos. “Bet Bet” continued that tradition to great effect – they went on full fairy tale with their music video, and it literally looks like a bunch of paintings come to life. But while a lot of NU’EST’s previous music was on the mellower side, “Bet Bet” is forceful and a little bit dramatic. It’s got the strength of Baekho’s power belting and the sweetness of Minhyun’s falsetto – a contrast they’ve always had but used to great effect here. NU’EST were clearly ready to take on a more mature image, and I was actually quite taken by its intense and sexy vibes. I loved both Wanna One and NU’EST W, but I was still anxiously waiting for Minhyun to reunite with his original team members. And when he did, it was perfection.

“Feel Special” was honestly everything for me. I loved the song, I loved the choreography, and I loved the glamorous aesthetic and sparkly outfits.
This is honestly the type of concept I had initially expected from “Fancy,” so “Feel Special” really delivered on that front. But most of all, I loved the story and the message. I said before that I don’t really put much stock into K-pop lyrics, but “Feel Special” is one of my exceptions. Its earnest confession hit me right in the feels, and it really made me wish I could find a person like they were describing. And I appreciated that while the song is obviously meant to be taken in a romantic way, the music video showed that there were other interpretations. Again, I really don’t cry much at K-pop, but I got so emotional at the music video’s theme of the TWICE members being isolated but finding each other – especially given how Mina was struggling with anxiety at the time. I love TWICE’s bright bubblegum music, but this was the first step down a more mature and more serious path – and it was an important one.

Much like their sister group TWICE, GOT7 took the opportunity to get real in 2019. “Eclipse” is a powerful and honest reflection on struggling with dark feelings and insecurities, as well as being strong in your resolve to fight them. While this is something I think we can all relate to, I felt a very intense connection to this song because it directly voiced a lot of thoughts that I’ve had at times in the past. And you probably guessed it: this is the third time I cried over a music video in 2019. For one thing, I think it’s excellent at visualizing insecurity and instability – the broken glass, the tilting room, and the crumbling stairs being just a few of the examples. But it also made me emotional because I know GOT7 really well, and part of me felt like I was seeing their whole career and they were showing us how it came to this moment. I like a lot of GOT7 songs, but “Eclipse” is the one I truly cherish. (And on a less emotional note, I think the choreography is one of the best I’ve seen.)

I really love how NCT 127 goes their own way and makes all kinds of music, because they create some truly unique songs. While I maintain that every single one sounds different, many of them do have a powerful and edgy vibe – so “Superhuman” stands out even more with its bright positivity. NCT 127 normally puts a lot of focus on rapping and dancing, but there’s much more emphasis on the actual singing in “Superhuman.” This allows excellent singers like Taeil and Doyoung to give the song a soaring and hopeful effect, making you feel like you really can do anything and be superhuman. And those smooth vocals and beautiful harmonies are nicely contrasted with some very high-tech and futuristic instrumental effects, which helps the song fit right into NCT’s overall technological aspect. This was the only NCT 127 song we got in 2019, but you can bet that I listened to it all year long.

Red Velvet based a giant part of their 2019 concert La Rouge on a sexy cabaret style show, so I wasn’t surprised when the alluring and mysterious “Psycho” came out shortly after. Fans seem to be more into their “velvet” side these days (at least the international fans), and so they went all in and blessed us with a masterpiece. Everything about “Psycho” is absolutely perfect – the addictive R&B track, the choreography that’s feminine yet filled with attitude, the glamorous yet unsettling music video, and the all-around gothic-lite vibes. “Zimzalabim” was originally the Red Velvet song rounding out my Top 10, but “Psycho” was so freaking good that it skyrocketed up to the top. I honestly would have put it higher if it hadn’t come out in basically the last week of the year. It was the jewel in the crown that was Red Velvet’s excellent 2019 before SBS ruined everything, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled. They truly are my favorite girl group.

My favorite EXO song is “Monster,” so I was absolutely enthralled with “Obsession.” I think that you can tell that I like darker K-pop concepts and music, and “Obsession” is about as dark as it gets. It’s just so dramatic and intense! And the fact that at least half the song is underscored by someone literally saying “I want you” really does add that feeling of frantic obsession. EXO’s music videos are always visual excellence, and I loved the concept of the members vs. their evil doppelgängers. And I really enjoyed how the conflict between them was both physical (Chanyeol’s Dragon Ball style throwdown LOL) and mental (Chen’s chess game). If you look closely, there’s some excellent editing that adds a lot of subtle details. I do think the styling of X-EXO was a *little* extra, but it was a great effect. EXO is a group that’s really not afraid to go big or go home, and I’m happy that they still put out high-concept music even as they advance into their veteran years.

And now we’ve come to the point where my bias fully and completely takes over. For me, 2019 was undeniably the year of Super Junior. I saw them perform three times: once at a D&E concert, once at a full group concert, and once at the Busan One Asia festival. Some of you might have read my post a couple of years ago about how I unexpectedly met Donghae at KCON. Well, I had a couple other exciting fan-celebrity interactions with him at the aforementioned events, and that just made the bias a lot stronger. So, it only stands to reason that Super Junior would be at the top of my list. Putting all of that stanning aside, “Super Clap” is a genuinely catchy and fun song. My preference for powerful edgy pop music is abundantly clear in this post, but there’s just something about “Super Clap” that’s so appealing. It has such joyful and carefree energy, and it’s an instant mood booster. It basically became my end of the year soundtrack.

D&E is known for fun and funky hits like “Oppa Oppa” and “Can You Feel It,” so I never would have expected Donghae to make one of those edgy go-hard club jams I’m so partial to. But when he did, it became my EVERYTHING. There is obviously a lot of bias going on – this is clearly the style of song I favor, the choreography has a lot of my signature dance moves (no seriously – it’s so wild), and of course I can’t resist #badboy Donghae as an aesthetic concept. But more importantly, what puts this song so firmly in first place is the memories it comes with. D&E was my very first K-pop concert in Korea, and I remember just being so excited and nervous the WHOLE weekend and screaming myself silly when they finally appeared onstage and performed “Danger.” That moment was perhaps the highlight of my entire year. So while this whole list is technically my own thoughts and feelings, putting “Danger” at #1 really is my personal choice. There are songs in my Top 10 that I objectively think are better, but this is truly the one that defined my 2019.