I know, I know. Most of you guys aren’t invested in K-pop at all, some probably have a perception that K-pop is cringe and weird (which is completely fair by the way). K-pop in recent years has pretty much watered down to trend-chasing and westernization, some songs pretty much made for the sole purpose of going viral on tiktok (hint, they didn’t end up going viral on tiktok.) Because of this, the Korean Entertainment Industry has seen a sharp decline in international and domestic revenue and growth. But, with bad comes good, and K-pop isn’t just cringy english lyrics and colorful hair. It’s simply just Korean pop, and you can’t generalize everything over a few songs that just didn’t hit the mark. You might not be Korean, you might not understand the lyrics, and you might not even like the song, but hopefully you’ll find the time to take a listen to a few of these recommendations. K-pop might not be your cup of tea, and it might still not be after listening to these, but I hope you can at least appreciate these artists’ craft and effort.
Bye Bye My Blue – Yerin Baek
Peak café music. Yerin knew what she was doing with this one for sure. A gentle, calming song. It feels very raw, with light instrumental accompanying the smooth, tender vocals. I genuinely cannot believe I found this gem through tiktok. The MV really was low budget done right. If you like Laufey, or just R&B in general, theoretically you should like this.
WE GO – fromis_9
Four words. Song. Of. The. Summer. I can’t believe there was a time when I didn’t know about these 9 (now 8, we miss u Gyuri) talented girls. Their discography is life changing, and their agency seriously needs to promote them better and let them out of HYBE jail. I seriously don’t know how they pulled off a “pandemic” concept and did it so well??? But hats off to my girls. They’re coming back with a new mini album soon, so please stay tuned and support them!
Attention – NewJeans
NewJeans saved 2023 summer with “Super Shy”, and saved 2022 summer with “Attention”. Attention went viral for a reason, and a good one at that. This song single handedly defined NewJeans’ sound as a group, with their signature y2k concept. They might’ve not invented it, but they definitely know how to do it well. I might’ve discovered this song a year late, but it doesn’t change how good the song is. They’ve kept growing and growing since their debut, and I know NewJeans’ is really popular internationally, so hopefully you guys will like them as well!
S.O.S – Izykite, NSW yoon
SOUNDS LIKE A WIU WIU!!!! I have no idea how she’s still stuck at 40k monthly listeners after releasing this, because this song’s already completely taken over my spotify. The fact that it’s only two minutes-ish long pains me a little (jo yuri YOU DID THIS.) Doesn’t change the fact that it’s an absolute earworm. The rap isn’t even half bad??? Which is surprising because I don’t like most K-pop raps. No cringe english lyrics or anything, which is usually a green flag. Okay, I’m done with my little rant, moving on!!!!
Lucid Dream – aespa
Of course it wouldn’t be a list without THE aespa. Aespa’s B-sides are truly something exceptional… This one being a much needed ear cleansing after “Savage” (the title track) had this really weird instrumental that sounds like bashing metal pots against each other. This song made up for the whole album. Aespa knew what they were doing, and dare I say they delivered almost perfectly. Stan aespa, stream “Supernova”, and that’s all!
That’s all I have for you guys, if you liked it, yayyy! If you didn’t like it, too bad >:3
On a serious note though, I hope you guys will take some time to listen to these talented artists. They’re very devoted to their craft and their art, and they truly deserve all the support and love that they can get. xoxo
The Blue and White 