(x)pop singles 2013.
it's christmas eve! which means it's almost christmas which means it's almost new year's which means it's nearly 2014! this will mark the first full year i spent in kpop (i got into kpop mid-november last year and was around for about zero comebacks and no debuts and so my list from last year is kind of laughable, looking back on it now), as well as me getting into jpop. a lot of shit got released this year - but a lot of good stuff got released too! so, in no particular order, here are my 20 favourite singles of 2013. please be aware there are embedded videos in this post, and a fair few, so tread lightly if your browser is a little slower. also, this post is compressed into only kpop singles, so anything that wasn't officially released with a music video/promo/ etc, won't be featured on this list. other than that, enjoy!
INFINITE - DESTINY.
infinite are first because. well. their first in my hearts. if this list was a ranked list they'd easily take the number one spot. if you don't count the infinite h debut in january 2013, man in love was my first infinite comeback. and it isn't to say that i disliked man in love, just that i thoroughly whelmed by all of it. the chaser was easily my favourite kpop song of 2012, of all time, and i wanted something more of that calibre. which man in love wasn't. and then this came out. i love this song. like. a lot. the way this beginning makes myungsoo's vocals almost haunting? that might be the word for it. i love that. and the song is so solid and works so well from start from finish. the chorus is so great, with the melodic 'ooh'-ing. god. my favourite part of this song, honestly, might be dongwoo's rap around the the two minute mark. i honestly look forward to it more than anything else in this song.
SUPER JUNIOR M - BREAK DOWN.
i was so obsessed with this song when it first got released. sjm basically combines all the good members of suju into a sub-group, minus a few flops who someone slipped in, and, probably most importantly, includes our saviour zhou mi (who is sadly misused in this song, smh). and this song kind of blew me away from the very first listen. my friend katy described the sound to me once as "soft dubstep" and i can't really say it any better myself. it's dubstep that kind of flies under the radar, the right amount of dubstep, and it works really well with the vocal abilities of this group. the break down (heh) at 2:05 is easily the best part of the song but the chorus is also way solid. the only mistake sm entertainment made with this song is that flop korean version they decided to record.
TEEN TOP - MISS RIGHT.
this year i became an angel. i don't regret it at all. this is basically my favourite thing teen top has ever done because it's amazing. and as much as i loved rocking (teen top we goin rock it drop it top it hey don't stop it pop it) it lacks the little bit of ~cuteness~ i do enjoy seeing from teen top that this video has plenty of. this song is just lots of fun! chunji and niel's vocals are so so so on point, not to mention the chorus is catchy as fuck. i also, uh, love this choreo? it's fun! like, this is arguably the best thing teen top has ever given us, so i gotta recognize greatness like this, right?
D-UNIT - THANK YOU.
sighs. i miss these girls. the beginning of this year was so good for them! they released some really solid singles, that i really loved and i found myself ranking them one of my favourite girl groups. i got so attached. and then they went through some member changes and subsequently dropped right off the radar, which is sad. especially since the last thing they did was this song, and it was so amazing. i'd probably describe it as something with the makings of a ballad, without boring me to tears like a ballad would? they throw something interesting in there that really rounds off the song. the vocals are also solid, all the way through, especially near the end. this song was my jam for awhile. it helps that the video is ridiculously adorable and their cute black outfits might be iconic.
15& - SOMEBODY.
jyp needs to let these girls out of his basement. i'm thirsty for a comeback. jimin and yerin are so cute and this debut was fantastic. as much as i love this video for parodying kpop star, as hilarious as jimin is portraying jyp and yg, what really sells this song is the vocals. it's hard to believe these girls are fifteen because i generally feel like they have very mature voices? while still having that underlining unlocked potential, jimin especially. the song itself reminds me of some older 90's girl group music, almost like destiny's child? if i had to make an actual comparison? it's a unique beat, a unique sound. like i said, though. i need a comeback. like. yesterday.
2PM - A.D.T.O.Y
i ain't no hottest but. song of 2013 right here. 2pm kind of went for the sexy slow jam thing with this, which was executed ten times better than whatever come back when you hear this song was (a snooze). they nailed slow jam, though, with this song. if nothing else, adtoy's got ridiculous replay power. every once and a while you gotta bust it out for a good couple of listens. while the vocals aren't anything special (*coughs* nichkhun's falsetto *cough*), this song has some cool embellishments. that deep, robotic voice that busts off one liner's through out the entire song being one of them. we won't pretend like the chorus isn't the best part of this song. and also that it isn't super catchy. ppuniya (ppuniya).
NINE MUSES - GLUE.
at the beginning of the last half of this year, i thought wild was gonna be the nine muses song on this list. they had four comebacks this year, and i honestly saw them improve with each one. they steadily rose to the top of my group list and are easily my second favourite girl group. dolls was catchy, but was lacking a lot and wasn't particularly impressive musically. wild was a veritable jam and i still love it. gun, while i ended up liking it less than wild because i didn't find it had the same replay power, was still a song that was musically interesting. and then they released glue at the tail end of this year and i. loved it. so much. it admittedly took some time to grow on me and i didn't click with it from the very first listen but after a few i was definitely hooked. i think it combines the jam potential of wild and the sort of ~classic~ sound they went for with gun and it works really well. again, the robotic voice peppered between really adds the cherry on top to this song. and eunji's rapping has improved so much! u go girls~
LC9 - MAMABEAT.
ROOKIE GROUP OF THE YEAR! BTS WHO? HISTORY WHO? YR NUGUS COULD NEVER! everyone was drawn to this video because it was violent, because it was shocking and something different from what we normally see in kpop. and they were a rookie group who's video got a 19+ rating, which doesn't happen. but if you actually listen to this song, you'll realize it's a tried and true mega jam. this was a solid fucking debut. their whole DEBUT MINI was solid as fuck. they killed it tbh. king's vocals are on point and the chorus is. goddamn. i don't wanna talk about it. okay, i do. because i love this song. but it's a little tough to put into words why this song just works from start to finish. it's very very vaguely dubstep-y, but leans more on the side of some classic techno beats and it's just. LC9 FIGHTING! COMEBACK MARCH 2014!
BROWN EYED GIRLS - KILL BILL.
nega killed it with their mv's this year lbr. when the teasers revealed the name of the song was "kill bill" i honestly wondered if the song or video would include references to the tarantino film of the same time. do you know how happy i was when it did? this is easily my favourite music video of 2013. it's so good. we waited two years for a beg comeback, but it was so worth it. that whistling tune throughout the song is such a nice touch and as always miryo fucking slays. her raps make the song. i would like the song regardless, if miryo raps weren't apart of it, but it would have flown under my radar much more. they are the number one thing to look forward to while listening to this song.
B.A.P - RAIN SOUND.
*puts the hip hop groups ballad on my kpop end of the year list*. i loved bap a lot this year, more than i generally like to admit. and, honestly, a lot of their stuff this year was sort of over the top, and though i might have enjoyed stuff like hurricane, badman, etc, they kind of got old pretty fast. rain sound is kind of a masterpiece, though. yongguk's and zelo's ~soft rapping~ are great and blend really well with the vocals in the song. everything about this song sort of flows? jongup gets lines! and he does a good with them! and i honestly believe daehyun might be one of the best vocalists in kpop, and he sort of ties the whole song together nicely. over all, it's a unique ballad that won't bore you to tears. which are kind of hard to come by.
NU'EST - SLEEP TALKING.
i love nu'est. i love this song. while nothing they've done up to this point has been particularly note worthy (action may have been pretty good, but it was nothing special) i feel like this song was a very good fit for them. the slow pace of the verses versus the fast pace of the chorus works really well. and a lot of them have improved vocally. which makes me a proud little nu'est fan. their's no overdone dubstep breakdown! the breakdown actually works well with the song and is fun and catchy! it doesn't disrupt the song! and it's also not the snoozefest hello was. it took like four tries but nu'est did it. claps for them.
MISS A - HUSH.
this is a song that had to grow on me. when i first listened to it i was underwhelmed. i expected something more from the concept and the teasers and almost found the song kind of boring at first. but i listened to it more and more and it grew on me, a lot. it's safe to say it's all i've really listened to these past months since it came out. the slow building beat really brings something interesting to the song. and i really enjoy the beginning when the song is mostly their voices. the chorus is the highlight of the song, no doubt. ~kiss kiss kiss baby hush hush hush baby~.
BTOB - THRILLER.
i loved btob before this song was released, but they hadn't honestly done anything really mind blowing back then. i was so excited when the teasers leaned toward and little bit more of a dark concept. and it's suffice to say this comeback impressed me soooooo much. thriller is just all around and awesome song. ilhoon (who i will admit isn't . . . the best rapper, c'mon, we all know it) really shines in this song. sungjae as well. the dark concept really works for btob. and so does this song. i never wanted promotions for it to end. i'm hoping btob leans more in this direction with upcoming comebacks as well, and not the backstreet boys noise that was previous singles like wow.
NMB48 - KAMONEGIX.
tosses some jpop yr way! this song had me hooked from first listen. it's poppy and catchy and fun and combines a lot of classic pop music elements but still manages to remain original and interesting. it's simple, but sometimes simple isn't bad. it means their is replay power and it honestly doesn't take away from the quality of this single. this was honestly one of the very first jpop singles i ever listened to and i was pleasantly surprised by how i enjoyed it. it was very different from what i was expecting but in a good way.
BLOCK B - VERY GOOD.
i'm not a bbc by any means but i'll be the first to admit block b constantly put out killer singles. they have this innate ability of combining catchiness with quality music and a distinct rapping ability. not to say their vocalists don't do their own share. a lot of kpop singles this year (see: i got a boy, what's happening) tried to mish mash what seemed like eight different songs into one, with beat changes and pitch changes, and a lot of it was choppy and a hot mess. but i feel like block b accomplished this with very good. we see lots of different styles in this song, but they all flow nicely into each other and work well together. and even with the conflicting styles, it doesn't feel like i'm trying to listen to ten songs at once and getting a head ache. this is was probably the funnest single of 2013, as well.
EXO - GROWL.
`
this is the mandarin version because well. it's the better version. for nothing if just yixing's angelic lines at 0:38. in the biggest twist of 2013, exo actually released a decent song. mama was a mess, so was wolf, and it was safe to say i wasn't particularly excited for growl. it flew under my radar. but then i started hearing it was actually a good song and i was surprised when i listened and had to agree with them. i hate to make that comparison that everyone made, with old hip hop artists, but i honestly don't have a better explanation for what this is. i'm still rooting for that layhankaisoo sub group, but i guess this will tide me over until then.
TINY G - MISS YOU.
`
i think tiny g actually making a song that i could listen to without my teeth rotting out of my face was the biggest image change of 2013, lmao. though they still maintained some of their adorable charm with the kitty cat concept (which will go down in history, tbh, it's fricking iconic) this song is actually good and trying too-hard to be too-cute. this song was a little more mature than the tiny g we're all used to. and it worked out for them. it was plenty cute just on it's own, but it was also catchy and much better in regards to the quality of music. it was just a good old fashioned pop song, and i appreciate that.
JUNG JOONYOUNG - SPOTLESS MIND.
i'm so mad they won't let him promote this properly. instead they went with his other single, which is a total zzzz. while this song is quite frankly amazing and can sometimes, if i'm in the right frame of mind, make me bawl like a baby. i once saw someone say joonyoung sounds like a "j-rock vocalist" and i'd have to agree. his voice is deep, rough but he still has really great control over it. i think it really enhances the emotions in his music. i can't believe i've got two ballads on here but i've connected so much with this song since i discovered joonyoung just recently to not include it. i love the whole song but everything after the 2:50 mark really gets me right in the kokoro.
EVERYBODY - SHINEE.
i can't believe of the singles shinee released this year, i picked this dubstep trash. but alas, the heart wants what it wants. while i loved dream girl so much and, contrary to many other people, didn't mind why so serious at all, everybody gets to be on this list. i'm not sure why it's the shinee song that stuck with me - i don't think it's the best musically, i don't think the vocals are more impressive than they usually are. or at least, this song does nothing to highlight them particularly. but it's got something that makes it my favourite. something about being solid start to finish, something about the chorus, something about it being the song i'd want to walk to it i was a boxer. something about the dj wub wub move. SOMETHING ABOUT JJONG'S MAKEUP.
INFINITE - DESTINY.
Click to viewinfinite are first because. well. their first in my hearts. if this list was a ranked list they'd easily take the number one spot. if you don't count the infinite h debut in january 2013, man in love was my first infinite comeback. and it isn't to say that i disliked man in love, just that i thoroughly whelmed by all of it. the chaser was easily my favourite kpop song of 2012, of all time, and i wanted something more of that calibre. which man in love wasn't. and then this came out. i love this song. like. a lot. the way this beginning makes myungsoo's vocals almost haunting? that might be the word for it. i love that. and the song is so solid and works so well from start from finish. the chorus is so great, with the melodic 'ooh'-ing. god. my favourite part of this song, honestly, might be dongwoo's rap around the the two minute mark. i honestly look forward to it more than anything else in this song.
SUPER JUNIOR M - BREAK DOWN.
i was so obsessed with this song when it first got released. sjm basically combines all the good members of suju into a sub-group, minus a few flops who someone slipped in, and, probably most importantly, includes our saviour zhou mi (who is sadly misused in this song, smh). and this song kind of blew me away from the very first listen. my friend katy described the sound to me once as "soft dubstep" and i can't really say it any better myself. it's dubstep that kind of flies under the radar, the right amount of dubstep, and it works really well with the vocal abilities of this group. the break down (heh) at 2:05 is easily the best part of the song but the chorus is also way solid. the only mistake sm entertainment made with this song is that flop korean version they decided to record.
TEEN TOP - MISS RIGHT.
this year i became an angel. i don't regret it at all. this is basically my favourite thing teen top has ever done because it's amazing. and as much as i loved rocking (teen top we goin rock it drop it top it hey don't stop it pop it) it lacks the little bit of ~cuteness~ i do enjoy seeing from teen top that this video has plenty of. this song is just lots of fun! chunji and niel's vocals are so so so on point, not to mention the chorus is catchy as fuck. i also, uh, love this choreo? it's fun! like, this is arguably the best thing teen top has ever given us, so i gotta recognize greatness like this, right?
D-UNIT - THANK YOU.
sighs. i miss these girls. the beginning of this year was so good for them! they released some really solid singles, that i really loved and i found myself ranking them one of my favourite girl groups. i got so attached. and then they went through some member changes and subsequently dropped right off the radar, which is sad. especially since the last thing they did was this song, and it was so amazing. i'd probably describe it as something with the makings of a ballad, without boring me to tears like a ballad would? they throw something interesting in there that really rounds off the song. the vocals are also solid, all the way through, especially near the end. this song was my jam for awhile. it helps that the video is ridiculously adorable and their cute black outfits might be iconic.
15& - SOMEBODY.
jyp needs to let these girls out of his basement. i'm thirsty for a comeback. jimin and yerin are so cute and this debut was fantastic. as much as i love this video for parodying kpop star, as hilarious as jimin is portraying jyp and yg, what really sells this song is the vocals. it's hard to believe these girls are fifteen because i generally feel like they have very mature voices? while still having that underlining unlocked potential, jimin especially. the song itself reminds me of some older 90's girl group music, almost like destiny's child? if i had to make an actual comparison? it's a unique beat, a unique sound. like i said, though. i need a comeback. like. yesterday.
2PM - A.D.T.O.Y
i ain't no hottest but. song of 2013 right here. 2pm kind of went for the sexy slow jam thing with this, which was executed ten times better than whatever come back when you hear this song was (a snooze). they nailed slow jam, though, with this song. if nothing else, adtoy's got ridiculous replay power. every once and a while you gotta bust it out for a good couple of listens. while the vocals aren't anything special (*coughs* nichkhun's falsetto *cough*), this song has some cool embellishments. that deep, robotic voice that busts off one liner's through out the entire song being one of them. we won't pretend like the chorus isn't the best part of this song. and also that it isn't super catchy. ppuniya (ppuniya).
NINE MUSES - GLUE.
at the beginning of the last half of this year, i thought wild was gonna be the nine muses song on this list. they had four comebacks this year, and i honestly saw them improve with each one. they steadily rose to the top of my group list and are easily my second favourite girl group. dolls was catchy, but was lacking a lot and wasn't particularly impressive musically. wild was a veritable jam and i still love it. gun, while i ended up liking it less than wild because i didn't find it had the same replay power, was still a song that was musically interesting. and then they released glue at the tail end of this year and i. loved it. so much. it admittedly took some time to grow on me and i didn't click with it from the very first listen but after a few i was definitely hooked. i think it combines the jam potential of wild and the sort of ~classic~ sound they went for with gun and it works really well. again, the robotic voice peppered between really adds the cherry on top to this song. and eunji's rapping has improved so much! u go girls~
LC9 - MAMABEAT.
ROOKIE GROUP OF THE YEAR! BTS WHO? HISTORY WHO? YR NUGUS COULD NEVER! everyone was drawn to this video because it was violent, because it was shocking and something different from what we normally see in kpop. and they were a rookie group who's video got a 19+ rating, which doesn't happen. but if you actually listen to this song, you'll realize it's a tried and true mega jam. this was a solid fucking debut. their whole DEBUT MINI was solid as fuck. they killed it tbh. king's vocals are on point and the chorus is. goddamn. i don't wanna talk about it. okay, i do. because i love this song. but it's a little tough to put into words why this song just works from start to finish. it's very very vaguely dubstep-y, but leans more on the side of some classic techno beats and it's just. LC9 FIGHTING! COMEBACK MARCH 2014!
BROWN EYED GIRLS - KILL BILL.
nega killed it with their mv's this year lbr. when the teasers revealed the name of the song was "kill bill" i honestly wondered if the song or video would include references to the tarantino film of the same time. do you know how happy i was when it did? this is easily my favourite music video of 2013. it's so good. we waited two years for a beg comeback, but it was so worth it. that whistling tune throughout the song is such a nice touch and as always miryo fucking slays. her raps make the song. i would like the song regardless, if miryo raps weren't apart of it, but it would have flown under my radar much more. they are the number one thing to look forward to while listening to this song.
B.A.P - RAIN SOUND.
*puts the hip hop groups ballad on my kpop end of the year list*. i loved bap a lot this year, more than i generally like to admit. and, honestly, a lot of their stuff this year was sort of over the top, and though i might have enjoyed stuff like hurricane, badman, etc, they kind of got old pretty fast. rain sound is kind of a masterpiece, though. yongguk's and zelo's ~soft rapping~ are great and blend really well with the vocals in the song. everything about this song sort of flows? jongup gets lines! and he does a good with them! and i honestly believe daehyun might be one of the best vocalists in kpop, and he sort of ties the whole song together nicely. over all, it's a unique ballad that won't bore you to tears. which are kind of hard to come by.
NU'EST - SLEEP TALKING.
i love nu'est. i love this song. while nothing they've done up to this point has been particularly note worthy (action may have been pretty good, but it was nothing special) i feel like this song was a very good fit for them. the slow pace of the verses versus the fast pace of the chorus works really well. and a lot of them have improved vocally. which makes me a proud little nu'est fan. their's no overdone dubstep breakdown! the breakdown actually works well with the song and is fun and catchy! it doesn't disrupt the song! and it's also not the snoozefest hello was. it took like four tries but nu'est did it. claps for them.
MISS A - HUSH.
this is a song that had to grow on me. when i first listened to it i was underwhelmed. i expected something more from the concept and the teasers and almost found the song kind of boring at first. but i listened to it more and more and it grew on me, a lot. it's safe to say it's all i've really listened to these past months since it came out. the slow building beat really brings something interesting to the song. and i really enjoy the beginning when the song is mostly their voices. the chorus is the highlight of the song, no doubt. ~kiss kiss kiss baby hush hush hush baby~.
BTOB - THRILLER.
i loved btob before this song was released, but they hadn't honestly done anything really mind blowing back then. i was so excited when the teasers leaned toward and little bit more of a dark concept. and it's suffice to say this comeback impressed me soooooo much. thriller is just all around and awesome song. ilhoon (who i will admit isn't . . . the best rapper, c'mon, we all know it) really shines in this song. sungjae as well. the dark concept really works for btob. and so does this song. i never wanted promotions for it to end. i'm hoping btob leans more in this direction with upcoming comebacks as well, and not the backstreet boys noise that was previous singles like wow.
NMB48 - KAMONEGIX.
tosses some jpop yr way! this song had me hooked from first listen. it's poppy and catchy and fun and combines a lot of classic pop music elements but still manages to remain original and interesting. it's simple, but sometimes simple isn't bad. it means their is replay power and it honestly doesn't take away from the quality of this single. this was honestly one of the very first jpop singles i ever listened to and i was pleasantly surprised by how i enjoyed it. it was very different from what i was expecting but in a good way.
BLOCK B - VERY GOOD.
i'm not a bbc by any means but i'll be the first to admit block b constantly put out killer singles. they have this innate ability of combining catchiness with quality music and a distinct rapping ability. not to say their vocalists don't do their own share. a lot of kpop singles this year (see: i got a boy, what's happening) tried to mish mash what seemed like eight different songs into one, with beat changes and pitch changes, and a lot of it was choppy and a hot mess. but i feel like block b accomplished this with very good. we see lots of different styles in this song, but they all flow nicely into each other and work well together. and even with the conflicting styles, it doesn't feel like i'm trying to listen to ten songs at once and getting a head ache. this is was probably the funnest single of 2013, as well.
EXO - GROWL.
`
this is the mandarin version because well. it's the better version. for nothing if just yixing's angelic lines at 0:38. in the biggest twist of 2013, exo actually released a decent song. mama was a mess, so was wolf, and it was safe to say i wasn't particularly excited for growl. it flew under my radar. but then i started hearing it was actually a good song and i was surprised when i listened and had to agree with them. i hate to make that comparison that everyone made, with old hip hop artists, but i honestly don't have a better explanation for what this is. i'm still rooting for that layhankaisoo sub group, but i guess this will tide me over until then.
TINY G - MISS YOU.
`
i think tiny g actually making a song that i could listen to without my teeth rotting out of my face was the biggest image change of 2013, lmao. though they still maintained some of their adorable charm with the kitty cat concept (which will go down in history, tbh, it's fricking iconic) this song is actually good and trying too-hard to be too-cute. this song was a little more mature than the tiny g we're all used to. and it worked out for them. it was plenty cute just on it's own, but it was also catchy and much better in regards to the quality of music. it was just a good old fashioned pop song, and i appreciate that.
JUNG JOONYOUNG - SPOTLESS MIND.
i'm so mad they won't let him promote this properly. instead they went with his other single, which is a total zzzz. while this song is quite frankly amazing and can sometimes, if i'm in the right frame of mind, make me bawl like a baby. i once saw someone say joonyoung sounds like a "j-rock vocalist" and i'd have to agree. his voice is deep, rough but he still has really great control over it. i think it really enhances the emotions in his music. i can't believe i've got two ballads on here but i've connected so much with this song since i discovered joonyoung just recently to not include it. i love the whole song but everything after the 2:50 mark really gets me right in the kokoro.
EVERYBODY - SHINEE.
i can't believe of the singles shinee released this year, i picked this dubstep trash. but alas, the heart wants what it wants. while i loved dream girl so much and, contrary to many other people, didn't mind why so serious at all, everybody gets to be on this list. i'm not sure why it's the shinee song that stuck with me - i don't think it's the best musically, i don't think the vocals are more impressive than they usually are. or at least, this song does nothing to highlight them particularly. but it's got something that makes it my favourite. something about being solid start to finish, something about the chorus, something about it being the song i'd want to walk to it i was a boxer. something about the dj wub wub move. SOMETHING ABOUT JJONG'S MAKEUP.