#like at this point its fair to say any kpop fan from anywhere around the world can be a fucking weirdo asshole 🫶 everyone be better 🫶

[faunandfloraas]

Criticising korean fans when they do something actually dodgy is all fine and good, should go for anyone who does invasive or weird, shit but also the amount of times now I see (usually western) fans just being like. Blatantly xenophobic and racist. Pretty much being like Yuck korean fans.... ?????? You're obsessed with a KOREAN POP ACT? why are you saying Korea like it's a slur you weirdo

[wickymicky]

Since it’s the end of June (which means it’s the end of the first half of 2019… where did time go…), I made a list of what I thought the 10 best kpop girl group title tracks of 2019 were, so far. I made that post a couple days ago, but I’m not sure I stand by it all the way. If we’re talking about what the 10 best songs have been so far, there’s a lot more than 10 that I really like a lot. But I feel like… some of them… even though I like them, I’m not sure they’re really “top 10″ worthy, you know? I feel like the group or artist in question will put out something better later in the year, or maybe like that song is good in the context of right now, but as more things come out it’ll fall in the rankings. 

So I’m changing my approach. Rather than a list of 10 songs… here are a handful of songs that I feel really stand out. Not just the best of the first 6 months… but the ones that have the most potential to remain in the top 10 by the end of the year. These are the songs that will stand as some of the crowning achievements of the year.

Weki Meki - Picky Picky

This is the best song of the year so far, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up in the top 3 of the year overall, or even still number 1. It’s catchy as hell, it’s got a lot of attitude, it’s got trademark Weki Meki weirdness… especially in that strange hollow-sounding synth at the beginning of the song and throughout. The hook of “like it, don’t like it, love it, don’t want it, weki, meki, i’m so, picky” will be stuck in your head for weeks. I don’t have a ton more to say about it, because in my opinion, everything good about it is so self explanatory lol. One listen should tell you exactly why it’s so good. If you aren’t into it, that’s fine, but god… I sure as hell am.

Loona - Butterfly

What can I say about Butterfly that hasn’t already been said? It’s beautiful, it’s powerful, it’s ethereal, it’s artistic and artful and totally unique. I don’t think many Loona fans consider it their best song, but that’s only because Loona has some amazing songs haha. By any metric though, this is a huge achievement for them. The aesthetic of the song and especially of the video and choreography is so… it’s hard to even find the right words to describe it. Important? Legendary? Awe-inspiring? Again, I don’t have a ton to say about this song here, because like… most of my followers are orbits so you already know and feel similarly to me, and also like… god I feel like I’ve already made tons of posts about all of Loona’s songs before haha. So yeah, like, if you haven’t heard this song, what the hell are you doing lol

Dreamcatcher - Piri

This group has such a unique style for Kpop that I’m sure even if you don’t listen to them, you’ve probably at least heard of the group that incorporates rock music into their sound. If you’ve heard a little more about them, you might have heard that they have some of the most intense choreographies of any girl group, and this song is certainly no different. I’m not sure which Dreamcatcher choreo really is my favorite… but my gut is saying that it might be this one. As for the song though, it’s not the most “rock/metal” they’ve ever done, that would be last fall’s “What”. But this marks the end of an era for them, and possibly the beginning of a new one. It’s hard to say for sure yet, all they’ve said is that the “nightmare series” is over, and they’re going to embark on something new next. We don’t know what that entails lol. But looking at this song as a transition point, it’s really kind of amazing. It’s got that rock flavor for sure, but it also has some electronic elements, like even a little bit of trap inspired elements. It goes hard as hell too, and the motif with the flute (a piri is a traditional Korean flute instrument btw) really makes this song feel iconic.

Eyedi - & New

Not many people have heard of Eyedi, and that’s such a huge shame. She’s not exactly an “idol”, in fact she says she prefers to be known as a musician or artist instead of as an idol, so she doesn’t really partake in all the same Kpop promotions as other soloists… so I understand why she doesn’t have the same notoriety. She was however a contestant on Mixnine under her real name (Nam Yujin), where she got 5th place for the female trainees, and would have made the debuting group if the female trainees debuted (to be fair, the male trainees didn’t get to debut either, because fuck YG). She’s friends with Heejin and Hyunjin from Loona, Siyeon from Dreamcatcher, and probably lots of other people from that show. So… it’s a shame that she isn’t as popular as she should be. Because...... to talk about her music and this song now, she’s just something really special for Kpop. 

Her style is inspired by modern electronic music styles that have a retro flavor, like synthwave. This song, & New, feels like a whole dreamscape, you could get lost in this song and just drift away forever. She sings most of her songs in falsetto (or just a really high voice… idk much about singing lol) but she always picks really satisfying melodies. Just when you think a part is gonna resolve in a really standard way for Kpop, she finishes the line with a melody that just feels really satisfying and comfortable. This isn’t the most groundbreaking song on this list, but I’ve fallen so deeply in love with it in just a matter of days… this wasn’t even on my initial top 10 list a couple days ago because I didn’t know it existed until later that night. That’s how quickly it’s taken over my life. Please listen to Eyedi, you won’t regret it.

CLC - No

I’m not sure where to begin with this song, lol. I’m so intimidated by its aura, in the best possible way. For a song that goes “hard as fuck” and is a “bad bitch anthem”, it’s really minimalist lol. It’s not fast like Hobgoblin was, instead it’s actually rather slow. Its slowness gives it a huge amount of force though, it’s one of the heaviest kpop songs I’ve heard haha. It’s not metal, not even close haha, but this song is proof that dance music can be just as hulking and beefy. At first the song can be kind of underwhelming, because rather than having a drop, it actually does the exact opposite…. in the spot where it would normally have a drop or dance break, it removes basically everything but the lowest bit of the bass, the choreo leaves a wide space where Yeeun stands and looks you square in the face, she slowly walks towards you, repeating the theme of “something? No”. It gives me goosebumps every time lol. It really fits the song better than a drop or dance break would, I think, because it’s the kind of denial that the song is built around lol. It’s like they’re saying “oh, you want something from us? fuck you”. Which is, of course, what the song is basically about in the first place lol. This song leaves such an impression on you. 

I do wanna say though, this song was written by (g)i-dle’s Soyeon, and I’ve listened to some of their songs and my biggest criticism is that they don’t seem to go anywhere sometimes, they never really build to much, though they’re cool vibes sometimes. I’m choosing to interpret her work on this song as good instead of interpreting it as another song that doesn’t have a climax lol… maybe it’s just that the CLC members are an enormous part of why this song works haha, they sell it really well.

honorable mentions: HERE

songs i’m looking forward to in the second half of the year: HERE