My good friend Kayla has been kind enough to invite me into an annual tradition: over at her blog, Pop Excellence, she recruits K-pop critics and fans to collectively hash out (and write about) the best songs of the year. I was lucky enough to contribute a whopping six (!!) blurbs to this year’s list, which you can check out below. I’d also encourage you to check out the list over at Pop Excellence, as my colleagues did some incredible writing about all of their choices!
Booseoksoon – Fighting (feat. Lee Young Ji) – #12 on my ballot
Despite the copy machines and charcoal blazers in its music video, “Fighting” is not your typical HR-approved fight song: in fact, its thesis (“You gotta keep going, what else can you do?”) is the kind of statement that can be read as resignation or resolution, depending on the context. 2023 was full of trials: for me, the year was one prolonged quarter-life crisis, including a leap of faith of moving in with a partner for the first time, a belated epiphany about ADHD, a complete re-evaluation of what friendship looked like for me, the hardest year of my teaching career, and worst of all, Leg Day. At my most exhausted, I was half-tempted to quit my job, change my name, and start a new life—but I’ve been through enough bad years to know that sometimes the best way out is through. “Fighting” understands this, and in the tradition of countless work songs, it finds strength in rapport and rhythm. From the stutters and infectious handclaps peppered throughout its verses to the playful call-and-response between BSS’ three members (and Lee Youngji, who tempers the Seventeen boys’ hype man energy with candor and irreverence), every element develops the song’s argument that it’s the encouragement and connections we share with friends that give us the power to push through our everyday struggles. Yes, the world is on fire and the weight of the future is real, but there’s work to be done and we gotta keep going. What else can we do?
XG – Shooting Star – #11 on my ballot
I could praise a lot of things about “Shooting Star”: the gorgeous blend of trap rhythms with dream-pop production, the infectious swagger that carries through from the song’s first line (“Everything I do, I do it A1–flawless!”), or that opening four-note motif (B-G-D-B) that has wormed its way into my head over dozens of listens. But what stands out to me above all is the voices. I love that XG, in an industry where female performers’ voices are often picked apart for being too cute, too loud, too untamed, are unafraid to revel in all their nasally, bratty glory. “Shooting Star” makes masterful use of all seven girls’ vocal idiosyncrasies to create emotional depth: right after you feel the sharp sting of Jurin and Harvey’s vocoded braggadocio in verse one, you get Chisa and Juria gazing at the stars, serving uwu-girl realness as they wonder whether all their hard work will pay off. Though most of XG’s singles, including this one, showcase their desire to squeak their way up the charts, this is a rare moment where they bring their astronomical aspirations back to Earth, down to a more human and vulnerable level. Never have they shined brighter.
(G)-IDLE – Queencard – ranked #4 on my ballot
Instead of repeating the many, many things people have already discussed about “Queencard,” I’ll share a story. Last Monday, my partner and I had to pick-up some online orders from the mall. As soon as I parked, a wave of exhaustion washed over me: I’d only slept 5 hours the night before, and it took every ounce of willpower I had not to recline my seat and take a nap right then and there. Instead, I dragged myself out of my car and pulled up this song on my phone. As soon as that sleazy bassline hit, the spirit of (G)-IDLE possessed me—I whipped my head around, dodging Teslas and electric scooters, and began whispering the opening words of feminist iconoclast Minnie’s 2023 United Nations address: “Hey you / Mweol boni? / Naega jom sexy sexy banaenni?” By the time we crossed the parking lot and strutted through the automatic doors, my boob and booty was hot, all of my clothes were pink for some reason, and I was ready to shop ‘til I dropped. Such is the power of Soyeon and her disregard for the English language—whether I’m singing along, attempting to do the White Chicks dance, or rousing myself out of sleep deprivation, every line of this stupid, silly song is a direct hit of dopamine to my brain.
NewJeans – OMG – ranked #3 on my ballot
I was obsessed with everything NewJeans did this year, from their clever blend of retro aesthetics and forward-thinking production to their trippy universe-building (and, of course, the members’ incredibly charming presence as musicians and performers). The group’s best single of 2023, “OMG,” plays perfectly to all of their strengths, its bouncy production, frenetic sense of pace, and inventive phrasing (“he’stheonethat’slivinginmysystembaby” is a tongue-twister for sure) perfectly capturing the all-consuming giddiness of a crush. More importantly, it reminds us that these feelings of infatuation, even when they drive us up a wall, are best shared with others. Even in the video, where these five members are literally being evaluated for various delusions, they find company in each other’s flights of fancy, turning the walls of their mental ward into a dance hall for the lovesick. “I’m going crazy, right?” asks Hanni on the chorus. “OMG” responds with giddy abandon: Yes, but it’s not just you, so join the club and get this out of your system already!
IVE – I Am – ranked #2 on my ballot
The hardest part of being an It Girl is that everyone’s ready to tell you who you actually are: not graceful enough, not grateful enough, not even that talented anyway, and seriously, who even eats their strawberries like that. Maybe that’s why, more than any IVE song, “I Am” feels like it belongs to Wonyoung. For two full minutes, we get IVE at their most confident, all soaring melodies, stomping electronic beats, and declarations of being “sky-high” and taking up a “big, big stage”—but then there’s the bridge, an oasis in the storm and the song’s emotional core. Wonyoung stares into a starless sky and reflects: “On a deep, dark night / Even if I lose my way,” and her members, Leeseo and Yujin, complete her thought: “Then just fly high / Anywhere you go / Will become the way.” It’s a beautiful message about self-knowledge—trusting that you’re on the right path, even when the noise of critics threatens to drown it out—and I’m glad “I Am” packaged it into one of the year’s most powerful, sparkly bangers.
tripleS LOVElution – Girls’ Capitalism – ranked #1 on my ballot
It’s worth asking, especially after watching the brilliant music video: where is the capitalism in Girls’ Capitalism? Is it in the bathroom mirror, where your classmates are poking and prodding at blemishes? The living room couch, where you lose hours catching glimpses of lives on Instagram that look more fun and glamorous than yours? Or maybe the matching outfits you and your besties spend an entire paycheck on for your last picture day together? In a precarious economy that demands most of us grind and hustle—but, like, in a relatable, down-to-earth way—is even our sense of self-worth safe from being commodified and stripped away, down to the eyes on a teddy bear (or the eyes watching us on a livestream)?
TripleS is in a unique position to answer that question, as an experimental group built around paid consumer participation and interaction: their model, even more than most K-pop groups, depends on the connection cultivated between its members and viewers. (Look no further than the first member, Yoon Seoyeon, literally plucked from high school and thrust into idol life without a single day of training, her entire day-to-day journey broadcast for the world to see.) Yet they’ve also proven themselves to be conceptual chameleons, with comebacks ranging from glitchy electropop and ethereal drum ‘n bass to the best GFriend tribute since, well, GFriend. “Girls’ Capitalism” smartly operates on two levels as both razor-sharp social commentary and a genuinely fantastic pop production, its sunny surf-rock sound (with reverb-soaked guitar chords and “la la la”s everywhere) acting as a Trojan Horse for lyrics that interrogate how much our vision of self-love is colored by social pressure to make that self-love marketable enough to sell. “I’ll love the me in the mirror more,” Seoyeon insists to herself on the chorus; “Call me beauty,” demands the chorus of voices around her. It’s a paradox for our times, and one I haven’t been able to stop listening to or thinking about all year.
Leave a Reply