Welcome to the end of the 2014 charts. This chart has every single song that was released from the 1st of January 2014 to the 1st of December. I left the nitty gritty stuff out (aka. the numbers I used for the ranking) and made sure that everything was fair. So that means for songs that were released towards the end of the year would have received some extra increment to make sure that they were levelled out with the songs released in January. Other numbers used included whether songs were on the YouTube Playlist of The Month and each song was re-reviewed in categories of “song, music video and dance”. Below are just some interesting facts that you may enjoy in regards to this chart.
The very first song released to be included on the charts are Rain’s 30 Sexy and La Song. The last song released before the cut off date was Infinite F’s Heartbeat.
T-Ara’s Sugar Free (2) was the only song throughout the whole chart to score the maximum of 40 for the song re-review.
VIXX is the first boy group to appear in the charts at 14th place with Eternity.
As touched on above, this year the charts are dominated by the girl groups, with 13 boy groups versus 37 girl groups (repeated groups not excluded).
Heavily promoted songs tend to rank higher than songs that were released as a single and not promoted.
The following artists achieved the next few positions after 50th place: SPEED, Crayon Pop, Z:EA, Zhou Mi (Super Junior), BTOB, Infinite, UKISS, AOA and Gain (Brown Eyed Girls)
1
Something
Girl’s Day
2
Sugar Free
T-Ara
3
Up & Down
EXID
4
Monday Blues
Sunny Hill
5
Piano Man
Mamamoo
6
Darling
Girl’s Day
7
I’m In Love
Secret
8
Mr. Chu
A Pink
9
Yasisi
NS Yoon G
10
Red Light
F(x)
11
One More
Fiestar
12
Good Night Kiss
Hyosung (Secret)
13
Ain’t Nobody
HA:TFELT (Yenny – Wonder Girls)
14
Eternity
VIXX
15
You Don’t Love Me
Spica
16
So Wonderful
Ladies Code
17
This Is Love
Super Junior
18
Luv
APINK
19
Like A Cat
AOA
20
B.B.B (Big Baby Baby)
Dal Shabet
21
Good Luck
Beast
22
Cha Cha
Rainbow BLAXX
23
Full Moon
Sunmi ft. Lena
24
Error
VIXX
25
Catallena
Orange Caramel
26
My Copy Cat
Orange Caramel
27
Don’t Look At Me Like That
Song Ji Eun (Secret)
28
Back
Infinite
29
8Dayz
Megan Lee
30
What About You?
Laboum
31
Dont Touch Me
Ailee
32
I Swear
Sistar
33
Singing Got Better
Ailee
34
1004 (Angel)
B.A.P
35
Danger
BTS
36
12:30
Beast
37
Mr. Ambigious
Mamamoo
38
Lonely
B1A4
39
Beep Beep
BTOB
40
Mamma Mia
Kara
41
I Need You
Bestie
42
Solo Day
B1A4
43
Whatcha Doing Today?
4Minute
44
Pretty Age 25
Song Ji Eun (Secret)
45
1 Minute 1 Second
Jiyeon (T-Ara)
46
Peppermint Chocolate
Mamamoo ft. K.Will & Wheesung
47
FxxK U
Gain (Brown Eyed Girls)
48
Touch My Body
Sistar
49
Evanesce
Super Junior
50
Not Spring, Love, or Cherry Blossoms
HIGH4 ft. IU
THAT’S IT!!! 2014 IS OVER AND 2015 IS APPROACHING. WISHING YOU ALL (IN YOUR RESPECTIVE TIME ZONES) A HAPPY NEW YEAR. I only have 6 hours to go and I am excited. Party hard (but not too hard) and I will see you next year!! aka. in the next few days ^^
Code: RED FONT – WINNERS BLUE FONT – HONOURABLE MENTION
BEST ROOKIE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
2014, like the past few years, have seen so many new KPOP bands debut. So many new bands, so much that I have a really difficult job to select certain artists and also keep up with the old styles. 2014 saw the big 3 companies debut their own groups, but I have to be honest, the stand outs came mostly from the smaller companies. One group in particular stood out from the rest: Mamamoo. Harmony and totally different style from what we are used to. Honourable mentions go to GOT7.
BEST INSTRUMENTAL
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
The one song that is overlooked by everyone on the album is the instrumental. I freaking love instrumentals, and this year, KPOP decided to tease me with so many new instrumentals. That being said, this year the winner of Best Instrumental is Ain’t Nobody by Ye-Eun (Ha:tFelt). Honourable mentions go to Sugar Free by T-Ara.
BEST VOCALS
WINNER
KPOP = Singing. There for it is only right for this year to have an award for Best Vocals, right? Well, the winner goes to Ha:tfelt – Ye Eun (Wonder Girls). I was so amazed by here singing this year that it blew my mind, particularly her title track Ain’t Nobody. Honourable mentions go to IU (yes, I think most of us agree).
BEST RAPPER
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Many KPOP songs have many rapping parts. At the same time, rappers need some recognition. Though, I feel my choice this year could be a little odd, only one person (in my opinion) did a really amazing job. Junhyung from Beast did a wonderful job in Good Luck, 12:30 and the many songs he featured in. Zico from Block B takes Honourable Mentions.
BEST SUBUNIT
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Since 2013, many subunits have been on trend. Even though subunits have been losing trend, many bands this year debuted their own subunits. However, I think we should move away from the new subunits. Cause this year an old subunit wins. Orange Caramel steals Best Subunit with release of three different songs. Honourable mentions goes to Rainbow Blaxx.
BEST COLLABORATION
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
The new trend for 2014. Collaborations between artists have been on the rise. This year though, if you were a KPOP fan for a while, you would know already who the winner is. Soyu & JungGiGo’s Some steals the show, topping the end of year charts conducted in South Korea and winning Best Song as well on the SBS Music Festival. Well of course they would win, considering that they SLAYED the charts. Honourable Mentions go to Sane and Raina’s collaboration, Midsummer Night’s Sweetness.
RISING STAR OF THE YEAR
WINNER
WINNER
This year there has been so many stars that have started to become more popular. The nominees tend to be bands that have debuted in the previous year, and with help of comebacks, started to become well known in the industry. I think for the first time ever, I am going to be honest and put forward two winners to this category. First of all, BTS say a boost in popularity and have become a band that I look forward to listening to. Second of all AOA saw new popularity with release of Miniskirt, Short Air and Like A Cat. Both bands, obviously, rose a lot this year and I found it hard to differentiate them.
BEST JAPANESE SONG
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
If you don’t know (I won’t be surprised) I also review some Japanese song. 2015 will be the year where I start to review more Japanese songs for you all. However, 2014 also had a lot of catchy and cool Japanese songs. The winner for this year is Korean boy band MYNAME’s F.F.Y. Such a catchy song. As for honourable mentions, it goes to AAA’s Showtime.
BEST DANCE
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
KPOP is also known for its dancing. 2014 saw some interesting dances, catchy dances, and some dances that have no words to describe it. And that can be a good thing or a bad thing. This year, T-ara took the position as best dance. It was probably the most addictive dance and it was pretty easy as well. It matched the song and most importantly, I loved it. Honourable mentions to Infinite’s Back.
BEST ALBUM
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
A brand new category for 2014. Every award show or some kind of award giving platform has the “best album” award. And yes, this year, there are so many freaking great albums (like any other year). In my opinion, the best album of the year goes to F(x)’s Red Light. All, if not most, of the songs were amazing to listen to and were so great. Every freaking song was different, and though that maybe risky, F(x) pulled it off as a flowing album. Honourable Mentions goes to AKMU’s Play.
BEST MALE SOLOIST
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Solos don’t tend to be the trend this year. Some bands saw new members branch into a solo career, however it seems like more and more KPOP idols (whether male or female) are branching out to acting or variety shows. However, the winner to this category is a person who started offically his own solo career with a lot of experience in the music industry. Crush is the winner. Damn, this dude’s songs are so good. You should check them out. Honourable mentions: JungGiGo.
BEST FEMALE SOLOIST
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
It seems like more and more females are branching out onto the stage. We saw many KPOP divas making their solo debuts on the stage with new and fresh songs from bands like T-Ara or Secret. We already have divas who have accomplished a start to their solo career and saw comebacks of very big names. This year, one solo stood out and that is Secret’s Song Ji Eun. Releasing her first solo mini album, she did quite well considering the competition she was going through. Honourable Mentions goes to Sunmi.
BEST FEMALE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
Sexy concept by girl groups have been on the rise. If you know me well, then you probably already know my pick. However, so many girls groups made their comeback this year. Some picked up a lot of popularity and saw massive wins for the first time. Girl’s Day hitted big with their amazing single Something. They later went on to release Darling and I Miss You. Being one of the biggest girl groups of the year, they were sure to pick some prize up. APINK steals honourable mentions this year with their massive single Mr Chu and their latest hit Luv, which blew up and swept all the December trophies for 2014.
BEST MALE GROUP
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
There have always been a large influx of boy groups and this year it is no different. I was so impressed I was just going to choose all 10 nominees as winners. However, there can only be one winner (well, technically), so I guess I have to choose one. I am going to put down VIXX. They released Eternity and Error this year and both songs were hits for the band. Not only that, they displayed great dance moves and skills. Beast takes out honourable mentions with Good Luck and 12:30, both being very great songs that also delivered like what VIXX had to show. (Just VIXX nudged a head a little bit).
BEST MUSIC VIDEO
WINNER
HONOURABLE MENTION
This year, most of my Best Music Video Nominees saw the depressing side of KPOP. 8 music videos had this sad or dark storyline to tell. 2 music videos were made in a soft hearted and were really cheerful. G.o.D’s music video for The Story Of Our Lives, told the amazing bond between family and that the outside will never be able to define the inside. Megan Lee features in the song and both band and soloist did an amazing job singing and pouring out their emotions. By the way, SM made a video outside of the box. F(x)’s Red Light, takes honourable mention.
BEST SONG
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
HONOURABLE MENTIONS
25 songs were nominated for Best Song for 2014. All were to an excellent standard. There were clear stands out. Something by Girl’s Day, EXID’s Up and Down and Beast’s Good Luck are this year’s honourable mentions. However, which song took Best Song category for 2014? Check the song and music video down below.
Each year for the past few years, I have released a list of the best artists for under different categories, like in some award ceremonies. These are just for fun and just reflect my views of the best of the best for the year 2014. There 10 nominees for best rookie artist, dance, music video, male soloist, female soloist, female group, male group and rising star. 5 nominees are announced for best vocalist, rapper, collaboration and subunit. There are 25 nominees for best song.
This year there are new categories as well such as best Japanese song, best album and best instrumental (10 nominees each) and best collaboration, subunit, vocalist and rapper (5 nominees each).
Below is a slideshow version of the list of nominees. I thought it should be a little different this year, and thought why not. If you are unable to view the presentation below, you can CLICK HERE to see the list of nominees.
JUST A WORD OF ADVICE: THESE REFLECT THE VIEWS OF THE AUTHOR ONLY. THE AWARDS MAY OR MAY NOT BE AFFILIATED BY THE END OF YEAR CHARTS.
The winners will be announced on the 29thof December at 6:00pm here in Melbourne, Australia. If you are keen to make sure you are the first to know, then find out the time the winners would be announced for you.
Another newly debut band. So many debuts this year. My head hurts counting them. UNIQ is a new group created by Chinese company Yuehua Entertainment and YG Entertainment. UNIQ consist of Yixuan, Sungjoo, Wenhan, Seungyoun and Yibo. Their debut song, Falling In Love, was released in both Chinese, English (at a much later date) and Korean. They later went on to release Born To Fight and Celebrate, both English songs for American movies released recently.
This song is pretty good. Though, the song sounds suspiciously familiar to me, I was rather impressed. It did lack appeal to me though. The dubstep sounds in the back (or actually the electronic sounds) kind of got to me and annoyed me a little bit. They really did not compliment the actual vocals or rapping in the song, sometimes getting a little ahead of the singers. The chorus was moderately catchy, but the way they say “Falling In Love” has some kind of ring to it which made me go back. I don’t know. I am a little weird today. Writing up two reviews in one day is not exactly fun. Hahaha… Overall, despite my little complaints, the song came together quite well. The boys honestly can try a little something different time, as this really holds back their vocals, but still, good song.
The music video was meh. Could have been way better. The sets look amazing, but the plot that the music video had (or what seemed to be a plot) was really boring. Honestly, there is nothing to talk about this video. Flashing lights distracted me again (what is the connection with car parks and flashing lights?) and why perform next to cars? Are you showing off how rich you are? Or is it just for looks?This year there is a lot of use of those fire sticks. They look good, just I am going to find them boring if all boy groups are going to use them in their video. Okay, I am dragging this out. Long story short, boring video.
The dance was not that memorable. It suited the song, just it really did not get into my memory and made me go back to the performance and re-watch it so many times.
An okay song for debut. Music video and dance really was not great for a debut. Okay, this is my final review for the year. I will be reviewing some Christmas KPOP songs, however, this will be the final review of the year that I will be giving a rating. The next review will be released some time in 2015, probably around 2nd or 3rd (if there is a song that is not Christmas themed coming out around that time). 5.25/10
Lovelyz is a 7 member girl group that recently debuted in Korea last month. The band consist of members Baby Soul, Jiae, Jisoo, Mijoo, Kei, Jin, Sejeong and Yein. It was unfortunate that the newly debut band actually faced some issues with rumours of a member even before their official debut, however they made their debut as if nothing had happened. Just the were missing one member. Let’s hope that one member will return to the stage later on!!!
This was a weak song to debut with. There is not other “beating around the bush” way of saying it. It just did not appeal to me. A debut song should be a song that stands out and makes people go wow. This isn’t such a song and I am quite disappointed. Actually, no. It seemed so standard of a normal song that I actually did not even touch it. It seemed generic and boring to listen to. The vocals were not that great to me. Yeah, that really summed up my feelings of the song for me. Did not like the song, despite listening to it a couple of times.
Another boring video. Though this one seems little more bright and colourful than some others. I love the colourful bouncing balls. However, the rest of the video just did not cut it out for me. The school girl concept has been done a little too much in the past few years (and that also goes for school boys concept). The acting seemed a little awkward and some of the scenes were cute, just the facial expressions made me think that they were actually being forced to do it. Talking about faces, I actually don’t get the hype about this rookie group. To be honest, some of the members are not that pretty. Was that last statement rude? I think it was. Sorry 😦
It seems like this group has the potential to be like Infinite. Their dance moves was pretty much in sync, which is pretty cool. Maybe the female Infinite will be coming very soon? Just the name kind of makes it sound weird then…
Overall, not the right way to debut. Most debut that wows us tend to be groups that are popular. Let’s hope that these girls can pick up at the next comeback or change their style (but no sexy concepts please). 3.6/10
Park Hyo Shin, a singer that I personally did not hear about until 2014, has been a success. Earlier in the year, he released his epic single Wild Flower, which got him so much popularity, that literally everyone listens to his music. He debut way back in the day in 2000. He has a few hits, however his song Wild Flower made people around the internet start to pick up his name. Now, he released a single titled as Happy Together.
This is such a happy song. It made me smile when I first heard it. It just sounds so amazing. When I heard Wild Flower, his vocals captivated me so much that I listened to the song continuously. I have never heard such a song like that. Happy Together was a little different. It included his husky voice but sounded a lot more cheerful, especially during the chorus. I also loved the English phrases sprinkled about in the song. It sounds like a song that I would play to my girlfriend. The English phrases added to the overall effect of the song. I believe Lyn was featuring as the back vocals in the song. That added a more cute effect to the song, which to me sounded like little children singing. Still, the song was amazing.
Personally, I have not watched the music video yet. So everything I type now are my first impressions. The English translations of the actual lyrics mention “a young boy who had a dream that resembled the blue sky”. The music video did just that. They took a boy and made the whole story around the sky. Kid was so cute when he got ready to go out. I just loved the bedroom set. It seemed authentic and quite real to my eyes. His so cute acting all mature. The mug attached to his bag reminds me of the silver mug that people would bring with them when they go camping or hiking. Beautiful music video overall and really well filmed.
I have to admit. This was a wonderful comeback song and I will always be listening to this song to remind myself about the happy times. And so should you. 10/10
Sunny Hill is back with a new single for us to hear. Emotional ballads were the past. Now we can move onto songs that are still emotional, however with a twist.
This song was interesting. Though, the music video looked liked it was more of a ballad, I was taken by surprised. I expected a full on slow yet really sad song, something like Pray by Sunny Hill. However instead I got a ballad, mashed up with an electronic and dance song. Though, it may sound a little odd, it is still a pretty neat song to listen to. I just love how the song literally builds up to the chorus. I love how the song just changes, like every minute we just don’t know what is really going to be heard next. The vocals in the song were really well done. That little rap sequence (can we call it that) during the bridge flowed really well with the song. Overall, the song sounded really nice and it was very different, yet it still maintained its emotional style.
The music video was also quite interesting. Basically, at the start we see a couple break up. From that point onwards, we see the girl have a hard time trying to forget about her love. She seeks the help of hypnosis to make her forget the ex boyfriend. Interesting plot. I just love the twist at the end when she wakes up, exactly like the scene earlier in the video and acts as if nothing was happen (ie. she lost that memory of her boyfriend). I also like certain scenes in the music video like the one where she makes two cups of coffee, but turns around to only realize that there was only her. Also the scene with the angels wings, when the dude walked past first and the girl walked past later. Pretty amazing.
Song and music video were superb. I am literally amazed at how Sunny Hill pulls out all these great songs and video ideas for their comeback. I know that there would be a director of some kind doing most of the stuff, but still, Sunny Hill deserves some recognition. 9/10
Another popular song from the year 2014. And another collaboration between a new group and a soloist who has been known for her many great hits such as Good Day, U & I and Red Shoes. IU, the soloist, collaborated with the new boy band HIGH4. HIGH4 consists of 4 members: Alex, Sunggyu, Myunghan & Youngjun. They made their official debut with Headache back in August. They had also collaborated with Lim Kim.
I think it is right to describe this song as a really soft song. IU has strong vocals and since I never heard of this HIGH4 band before, I thought it was going a pop song or something that has really strong vocals. I was not disappointed when I heard the song though. The song still worked really well. I told myself many times to download the song, but I never went through with that. Mainly because I was watching leaves fall down in Autumn, not watching Cherry Blossoms grow in Spring. This song also sounds really sweet and is a song that I would listen in Spring. Their voices sound really nice together and IU’s voice sounds really cute. The guys sound exceptional, especially since they are singing at a higher pitch than what they are usually singing at. I won’t say the rapping made the song awkward like I always used to. I thought the rapping was really good. It complimented the song. Also, I loved the huskiness in their voices, both HIGH4’s and IU’s. They added something extra to the song.
The music video was okay. It looked very simple and nice. I liked how despite it being a very simple video, the end product made it look really sophisticated. To some people, it may look dull and really cheap, but the white sets look really amazing and I find that they were an artistic way of representing the evening sky and night sky. I just love the transitions into certain scenes, like when IU throws the ice cream and the dude (sorry, haven’t learnt names yet) catches it. Also, I loved the car. It seemed a little “flat” to drive around, but it looked really cute. For a song about Cherry Blossoms, there was very little cherry blossoms, I thought. Until the end, where there was all these cherry blossoms.
There was a dance. And even though it suited the song, was a dance necessary? Cause the song and music video worked very well together already.
Another collaboration done and dusted. 2014 is definitely full of collaborations. Good to know that I won’t be reviewing anymore collaborations, so be thankful for that. Hahahaha… 9.6/10
However, as the new year is coming up (don’t forget about Christmas) the 2014 reviews are coming to an end. Just wait, because I have reviews for Park Hyo Shin, Sunny Hill, UNIQ and Lovelyz coming up. Also the Christmas songs review is coming up (on XMAS day). Lastly, the BOBs and End Of Year Charts will be released. End of 2014 is going to busy.
2014 has been a year full of collaborations. One of the most successful collaborations of the year belongs to Soyou and Junggigo for Some. However, being overshadowed, Sane’s collaboration with After School’s Raina, was also quite a success.
This song is pretty nice to listen to. The voices flowed really well. Despite one being a vocalist and the other was rapping, the song came together quite well. There were some equally catchy parts in the song, which got me to listen to the song over and over again. It was a refreshing song to listen to (it was released in the Summer in Korea). The song was quite cute. I found the cute sound effects really added to the loving sound of the song, especially the sighs and the fly buzzing. The “yum” part also sounded really nice. Even though, it was a little random to me, I thought it made the song quite relate-able and once again, quite cute. Overall, excellent song.
Music video was quite boring. Though it did intrigue me for a bit. There are two types of people in this world. The rusher and the easy going person. I think we know who is who. I am going to be straight forward. I am going to be between. I am the rusher when I have to be, but mostly, I take things slowly. I liked the start when they both get ready for the day ahead. Though, the ending on their date kind of seemed rushed. They could have dragged this video out a little more or made it more dramatic. There was one complaint while watching this video. What is this new trend with the terrible hats? Why are we going back to the 90s when the fashion right now is fine? WHY?
Overall, I liked this collaboration. If I was to decide which collaboration I liked more, I think it would be a hard decision. A decision that I will be making very soon. Actually, the end of the next week. *wink* 7.4/10
One of my most favourite solo debuts of the year. Crush is a RnB artist that (and I believe) to have mix in some hip hop influence. He debut back on the 1st of April with Sometimes. He however went on to release Sofa towards the end of the year and the currently being reviewed song, Hug Me. Another stand out is that he is a very famous yet unknown featuring artists, who has worked with singers and rappers like Gary, Zion.T and Supreme Team. Essentially, he has a pretty good resume.
This song sounds so freaking good. I could not stop listening to it. At first, I thought it was a really generic song, however it started to grow on me and I saw a lot of potential in this song. On top of that, Crush’s voice in this song is also pretty good. The instrumental to this song was really good. I particularly love the part of the instrumental just before the “Hug Hug Hug Me” part. Never honestly was a fan of Dynamic Duo. And I really don’t like his featuring in this song. It fits in, just it sounded really boring and lacked the bumping beat sound that I like about hip hop/rap artists and really lacked the overall feeling of the song. Overall, I liked this song.
Music video is really generic. Actually, nowadays I find music videos really boring to watch. There really is nothing to comment about the video. It was niether great or crap. It did it’s job, just I honestly have no feelings towards it. Hahaha… But seriously, I have nothing to say about the video.
The dance was pretty cool. I actually found this dance pretty “sexual”. Maybe it is his face. His face pulls some of the most manliest faces. And considering he is still singing without any faults while dancing to this song is pretty good.
I hope I introduced a new artist to you guys with you guys have no or little idea who he is. Consider that as my job done. Hehehehe… 7.1/10
Popular boy band, Infinite, has finally unveiled their new subunit in South Korea, Infinite F. Composed of members Sungyeol, L and Sungjong, the subunit made their debut recently with Heart Beat.
This is an okay song. They put together the youngest members of Infinite (and coincidently, the ones that are not vocally talented but are visuals of the band). Not that I am complaining, because it is these members that usually get less lines in an actual song sung by the entire group. However Sungyeol, only got 2 lines in the whole song. I am pretty disappointed. This song really does not showcase his vocals and I have heard many songs where his voice was much better than compared to this song. The start sounded like the start of the OST for the drama that Woohyun and Sungyeol are currently in (Yes, I have been watching a little bit of dramas recently. I finished school and refuse to go out). It is a catchy song, but it really does not have me coming back for more. Overall, song is okay. Just it could have been enhanced or a little more better.
A video about a bunch of guys being cute. Yay!! (Heavy sarcasm). But a video about a magic pen… Now that is interesting. It magically rolls out of nowhere and can draw anything that the members need. An old radio, a piano, a fridge fully loaded with food and a hot air balloon. Actually, the hot air balloon was not actually drawn with the magic pen, but magic paper and crayon. Another thing. When Sungjong was cooking and sprinkling sprinkles on top of the cupcakes, I loved how no sprinkles were on the other trays, however when he went to sprinkle that certain cupcake, he completely missed. That was just my observation. Oh lastly, what freaking dark filter was used? This video I am sure when meant to be bright, but it seems like they took the dark filter from some of their previous videos. Okay video overall.
Not that impressive. I did not know what I was expecting. Maybe something I am used to, like a normal Infinite dance rather than dancing around.
Have no idea why I expected a hardcore Infinite style comeback. But overall, it was an okay comeback. 4.7/10
The latest song craze that caught in China has finally departed for Korea. Now, enlisting the help of Tara (or maybe the other way around), Chopstick Brothers entered the KPOP industry with the Korean version of their 2014 hit song – Little Apple.
To decide whether I like the Chinese version more or the Korean version more will be a little hard for me to decide here. I usually like the song in the language it was released in first, however for this particular song, I think the Korean version overtakes the Chinese version a little more. I find that the girls have a nice ring to it, but I just love how these made sure to include the voices of the original artists to make it sound authentic. The song is really fun to listen to and is pretty catchy. Considering since it is Winter, and most of the songs are about love and sadness, this song really changes it up and stands out in the crowd. Overall, I love this song for its catchy and addictive nature, its light-hearted feeling and also its quirkiness.
This music video should have cracked me up, but I was disappointed. Though it was kind of funny, I honestly thought it would be better. I guess the old tick of ketchup blood was utilised a little too much, but it was funny for the old ajummas to also fall victim to the trick as well. The jumpsuits (even though the comments keep on repeating Crayon Pop) reminds me of the Kill Bill jumpsuits that used to be worn (mainly because of the colour), but it looks weird overall. I just love the stalking fan though that appeared at the start and made appearances all throughout the video. She was like the only funny character. Overall, an okay video which could have been funnier to compliment the style of the song.
The dance (for a quirky song) was freaking amazing. Especially, the bridge/dance break part was freaking amazing. They also utilised the original dance for this, which makes sense and makes it epic.
Now, onto my little dilemma, but where is Boram and Soyeon? Beside that mystery, I liked this really short comeback. It was fun and quirky. Though it could have been more fun and quirky, it really did the job pretty well. 8.8/10
After successful promotions of Mr. Chu back in April, APINK has finally made their return with the perfect Autumn song, Luv.
This was a very catchy and addictive song that I have been listening to on the loop at this very moment. The song is like a ballad you would usually expect in the Autumn times, however there is also a dance element to the sound of the song which pretty much sets is aside from other songs. The chorus was by far the most catchiest part of the song for me. The vocals were also really strong. I was weirded out by the dance break that the instrumental/song had. It really did not fit in at first and slowly grew on me. The song flowed really well together overall. The song is something that you should check out.
Damn, this has to be the most boring video ever. Essentially, it seems like the director took the girls, put them into various scenes and told them to act sad. That is basically the whole video in a nutshell. Even on stage, the girls are really sad and also pretty bored from the looks of it. I know the song has these sad and emotional lyrics, just was it necessary to have the whole video full of sadness. The whole video had this glowing effect on it, which really did not annoy me, but caught my attention. The whole video was basically glowing gold. But come to the think of it, the whole video was basically monochrome. Overall, a boring video to watch.
The dance is was really catchy and easy to follow. I love the dance, especially the chorus. Will it be a trend or not, I don’t know, but it was a pretty cool dance. Just another thing on the side. The clothing they are wearing for some stages really have to go. I think you know which ones. They look really bad and quite uncomfortable to dance around in.
Overall, this comeback was moderate. I loved the song and dance, but they should have done something more for the music video. The girls are definitely getting popular and this is just evident through their wins in the past week. 7.1/10
Starship Entertainment, this year, has released various collaboration between their actual company and a smaller company that they own, known as Starship X. Such collaborations include Soyou and JungGiGo’s Some, Hyorin and Mad Clown’s Without You and now the newest member of the entertainment company’s family, Joo Young and Hyorin with Erase.
This song channels the RnB feels that we don’t really find usually in KPOP. Though, Starship X is more focused on the hip hop, I find this style to just be a normal RnB song that I grew up with. Before sex, money and drugs entered the American industry, this was the type of song that I grew up with and this is the type of songs that I am going to miss. Their vocals are really good. Their vocals seem to go hand in hand. I won’t say this song is catchy or addictive, but I enjoyed listening to it. However, there is this thing with the chorus that is making it get stuck in my head. The song talked about getting rid of memories of each other. Overall, I liked the song.
The music video is pretty interesting and actually has a pretty solid plot line to it. So the run down of this is: the two have broken up and have gone their separate ways. They try to erase memories so they can move on to another person and form a new relationship. Such as illustrated by the scene where Hyorin and the bartender flirt (or just share a laugh). However, the actual ex partner turns up and sits on the opposite end, and both end up remembering the past. The second Hyorin comes in to represent the past and past Hyorin sits next to Joo Young. Then the video ends. That by far is really smart and really pulled me in. The darkness of the video also channels the RnB feels, but also the darkness of breaking up.
The dance is okay. Pretty “sexy” in Korean terms. Especially, the part where Hyorin starts to rub Joo Young’s thighs. And where she also rubs his lips.
Overall, this is a pretty good debut/comeback. Of course it was a hit, because all of these collaborations within Starship are becoming widely popular and I guess we just have to wait to see which singers will be coming together for the next Starship collaboration. 8.1/10
YG is known for putting artists together to form collaborations and subunits within the company nowadays. Recently, the company has put together two female artists together. Lee Hi and Suhyun from Akdong Musician joined forces with the help of Bobby from YG’s yet to debut new boy band, IKON. The three later went on to dominate the charts with their new single, I’m Different.
Like the song I last reviewed, this song has a really strong jazzy feel to it. I was reminded of this other song, like a long time ago, just I can’t pinpoint a name to the song. Another thing that sets this song a part from the others is that this song is a lot more cheerful and different rather than sad and depressing. Basically saying, the lyrics and the style the song was presented in falls in the 10% of songs released this year that had a happy side to it, rather than the 90% of song released this year which was about breakup or really dark love. I have to say this song is pretty catchy. I like Bobby’s rap in the song, despite only having like 3 lines in the whole song. His voice complimented the girl’s voices and also the song. Overall, this was a really nice song to listen to.
The music video cracked me up. Not to the extreme side, but it did make me laugh. Here are some observations I made. Bobby reminds me on Himchan a lot in this video. The girls were super cute in this video. And the whole plot line was really funny. The two girls play stalkers in this video and they end up stalking Bobby, who in turn has a girlfriend revealed at the end of the video. They at the end try to get back at the guy for wasting their time by bumping into their dodgem cars. This whole video was really cute, especially their facial expressions which I absolutely love. Particularly, the ending and the scenes were they are stalking him. Overall, nice video.
There is not much of a choreography for this song.
Overall, I liked the song and video. It was much different from the sad or dark comebacks we usually get during winter. Well, Winter for you Northern folks, while down here in the South Hemisphere, we are sweating it out over summer. But still… 7.4/10
For those who don’t know, Nicole is a former member of the band Kara. She, up until early this year, was the rapper and vocalist of the famous and widely popular band Kara. After her contract ended, she signed a brand new one with B2M entertainment, which houses Spica, Eric Nam, Lee Hyori and SS501 members Heo Young Saeng and Kim Kyu Jong. Now she has made her official solo debut with Mama.
The song has this jazzy feel to it, which gives it an unique sound compared to other songs released recently. I happen to not dig this song entirely. I was quite disappointed with the song when I first heard it. Though it sounds different, it lacked the appeal it needed to me to like the song. To me it seems that Nicole support is coming from current and former fans of Kara. After looking at the comments on YouTube to see what some people think of the song, 80% of the comments were regarding ‘being Kamilias (Kara’s fan group name) or the “Yay, Nicole is back” comments, while 20% of the comments were “great song” or “I love this song so much” (the latter comment borderlines the 80% comments). I am disappointed there is no rapping in here. Nicole, to me is a really good singer, but she is also an exceptional rapper. Her voice compliments the style of the song, just there really is not much going on within the song and her voice that makes me go “wow” for this song.
The music video was a good video to watch, just I don’t see myself going back to the video again and again. It too lacked the appeal that makes comebacks memorable. I have to be honest though. This video was beautifully shot. And everything in the scenes (separately) come together quite well, despite the random nature, such as her sneezing on the toilet or letting all the gum balls fall out of the gum ball machine. The lyrics of the song talk about the “rebellious” side of love. “My mum told me … to be careful around men … oh my gosh, I’m already in love.” and She’s watching TV longer than usual today. The bright light isn’t turning off. Did she figure it out? There’s no way” kind of hints at this”. Like those scenes mentioned above being the “rebellious” side, they all string together quite well.
As for the dancing, I am not disappointed. Her dancing in this comeback is pretty good. Some moves remind me of certain other moves when she danced in Kara, but here also they let her flourish a little more rather than be restricted to the one style on stage when she was on Kara.
I personally think it was great that she branched out and become a solo artist. Whether her song made it well for her, is another story and one I probably am going to say is not really that great over all. 6/10
KPOPREVIEWED 