#even if i do end up liking Pirate more overall later..... it just doesnt represent this year as well. not even close.

[wickymicky]

wickymicky’s Top Ten Kpop Songs of 2021: Honorable Mentions

These five songs did not end up making my Top Ten list, but they’re definitely worth mentioning here. They’re listed in alphabetical order by group, so this is not necessarily 11-15 on my list. I could order them, but honestly ordering my Top Ten list was hard enough haha. I love all of these songs, so don’t take this list the wrong way. Likewise, anything that you don’t see here could be on my Top Ten list... you’ll see ;)

Aespa - Next Level

This was a big year for Aespa! Next Level was a hit, and got a lot more people into them than Black Mamba did, I think. Though, just like Black Mamba, it’s sitting here in my honorable mentions, just outside of my top 10. Black Mamba was probably 11th place for me last year, but looking back, it definitely should have been top 10, and if I was making a list of my top 10 2020 singles now, it would be on the list for sure. But, at the time I made the list, that’s how I felt. 

Next Level is here in that same spot, though I’m more sure that this one isn’t top 10, unfortunately. While I really enjoy it and listened to it a lot, it did take a while to get to the point where I was considering it for top 10. The “beat drop - naevis calling” section, the beat switch, really threw me off a lot at first. I often love experimental things in songs, but you know, I don’t love everything just cause it’s experimental haha. I think it threw off the momentum of the song too much, which is a shame because Next Level’s biggest strength is its momentum. I got used to that part though and it doesn’t bother me at all anymore, but I don’t think it adds much either. 

While I like a lot of what I hear in Next Level quite a bit, I can’t in all honesty put it in my top 10 unless I like everything in hear in the song from start to finish. That’s just how I am lol, idk. But yeah, seriously, it is a good song. I probably don’t need to list the reasons why though, because you either already love it or you already hate it haha. It’s a polarizing song, for sure. 

Fromis_9 - We Go

This one hurts a bit. I love Fromis 9. They’ve been one of my favorite groups basically since right after I got into kpop, since they were one of the first kpop groups I found. Feel Good was around this same spot for me last year too, though I like We Go more than Feel Good. I think the thing that is keeping it out of my top 10 the most is... well... there isn’t really anything pushing it into the top 10. That might sound a bit confusing, but basically what I mean is that, while I think it’s solid and I like it, it doesn’t grab ahold of me and make me obsess over it, I guess. It’s nice! It’s a very nice song. It’s a sweet song with a really likable concept. It really represents the feel that a lot of this year had, with the pandemic still keeping people apart, but at the same time things are starting to return as more and more people get vaccinated and things like that. It’s a weird time to live in. There’s something about this song and this music video that capture that energy perfectly. While it didn’t blow my mind, I will always love it and it’ll always remind me of this point in my life when I hear it. But like, in a good way

Itzy - Mafia (in the Morning)

I liked this song a lot more than I thought I was going to, given the weird title and lyrics, haha. I think the thing that keeps it from my top 10 is just... I don’t feel like I have a lot to say about it. It’s really solid, I love the vibe, I think it’s a cool song and listening to it makes me feel cool lol. It’s definitely one of the better kpop bangers of the year. If it didn’t have that choreo, that music video, those live stages, and those five performers though, I’m not sure I would be considering it here. And honestly, I think the fact that I love every bside on this album a lot really helped push Mafia forward for me. Seriously, if I end up doing a favorite bsides list, I’m gonna be talking about more than one from this album, for sure haha. Yeah, idk, I like this song a lot, but I don’t think I have a lot to say about it. It is what it is. If you like what it is, then you like it. And I do.

STAYC - Stereotype

I feel like this one could be a bit of a surprise, haha. Stereotype is great, though not as good as ASAP in my opinion. I don’t think that’s a particularly controversial opinion, though not having Stereotype in my top 10 anyway might be controversial. There’s so much to like about this song, and so much to like about Stayc in general. One of the first things that stood out to me about this song is just how solid they are as a group. I knew that already haha, but it really shows here. The first lines that each member says in the song all are so distinctive, they all have really unique and recognizable voices and singing styles. 

When I first heard Sumin’s first line in the song, my first thought was “yeah, that was definitely a Sumin line”. When I heard Yoon, I thought “yup, that definitely sounds like Yoon”. J, Isa, Seeun, and Sieun as well, in that order. I know this sounds kind of obvious but... think about it for a sec... this group wasn’t even a year old at the time, and yet already they’re at the point where all of them have such instantly recognizable voices. And not just that, but recognizable singing styles too. Like, it’s not just Yoon’s voice, it’s the way she sings, the way she speaks her lines. That’s a mark of a group with a really great lineup. Anyway, this song is great lol. Why is it here in my honorable mentions? idk lol. The thing about a top 10 is that only 10 songs can fit in it. So if I love 11, 12, 13, 14, or 15 songs... well... mathematically speaking, some of them won’t fit in the top 10, unfortunately :(

Everglow - Pirate

When this song came out less than a month ago, I was floored immediately by it. Everglow has been on such a high streak, in my opinion. I loved Bon Bon Chocolat, but Adios and Dun Dun weren’t quite *it* for me. I liked them, but I didn’t love them, and I was a bit concerned that they’d never do something that I liked as much as Bon Bon Chocolat again. Then La Di Da came out though, and reignited my love of Everglow lol, and it ended up in my top 5 for 2020, at 4th place. I didn’t know how they would follow that up, because La Di Da is amazing and I wasn’t sure if it was just a fluke or not, especially since it has a retro concept and style, which I thought they were unlikely to do again. But then First came out this year, and uh... I’m not gonna say anything else about First haha, because you’ll read my thoughts about that song much later on this list lmao. So then I wondered how they would follow that up! Thankfully, Pirate is fantastic too haha. It makes me wonder why I was worried about it at all. I should have trusted them more.

So, why is it an honorable mention? And why is this song listed here, when I said at the beginning that this honorable mentions list would be alphabetical by group? Well... originally, Pirate was gonna be my 10th place song, and I had a different song here in the honorable mentions. You’ll see what that song is later, cause it’s number 10 now, and I think this arrangement is way better. I literally had this post done and queued and scheduled and all that, and I’m editing it before it posts right now, writing this bit for Pirate after deleting the bit I had for that other song lmao. I’ll talk about why that other song went up in its review, but as for why this song went down... the primary reason is that it’s just so new, still. It’s not even a month old yet. My opinion on this song is far from fully formed, and it won’t be for a while. Though, I will say that I think this song is one I’ll get tired of a little faster than one like First. 

I love the instrumental and this song’s weird structure, but some parts feel a little incongruous to me upon 150th listen lmao. I love that this song is pretty much all chorus. The first verse is just a little bit of Mia and then Aisha comes in with the “I’m a pirate” part, which is basically part of the chorus. It’s the drop. Then there’s a prechorus, then the chorus, then the drop again. Then a really short rap part, then the drop but with a totally different vocal/rap part over it (the instrumental is the same though). Then prechorus, then chorus. And so on, and so on, and so on. I actually like this lol, this is a positive for me. For the most part, anyway. They knew how sick that drop is, and they give it to you as much as they possibly can without it feeling like it’s too much. To be honest, it’s the non-drop parts that are getting a bit stale for me. 

That first verse, Mia... does she really have like four different parts with four different voices? She has her fast paced rap right at the very beginning, the first lines of the song, then she sings a bit before Aisha’s part, then she’s back later lol before the prechorus. idk lol. That’s cool I guess, she’s good at what she does, but I will say that I don’t really understand what that first rap bit is doing there. The first prechorus is a bit odd too. I’ve been using “Girls all over the world” as my blog title lol, but I actually think that’s not one of the best parts of the song. The switch from the drop part to the prechorus is a bit abrupt, I think. In general, the chorus isn’t really one of the high points of this song for me, it’s mostly the instrumental and general feel and energy of the song that keep me coming back. I think listening to the song too much, as I have done haha, exposes some of the things that it lacks though, definitely. 

I don’t mean to be overly negative lol, cause trust me... TRUST ME... I fucking love this song. It’s rare for me to have no minor complaints whatsoever about a song. Perfect 10/10s are suuuuper rare. Almost impossible. I just had to get some of this off my chest, even though I didn’t get into too much detail for the other honorable mentions. With all that said though, yeah, I really do fucking love this song, and I love where Everglow is right now musically. I’m so impressed. I’m putting this as an honorable mention, but yeah, I had this as my 10th place song until like a bit before this post that you’re currently reading was posted.