Posting Hole

pokecapn's top 30+ kpop of 2021

(the rules)

  1. all tracks are fair game, i listened to.. a lot
  2. i like my kpop like my GoldenEye 64—Slappers Only
  3. "unbiased". i somehow avoided seeing any year end lists
  4. there's a bonus at the end!
  5. actually it's Remote Mines

previous years: 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

2023 edit: I have tried to preserve as much of the original tweet thread as possible. Dead links have been fixed, formatting tweaked to work with cohost the blogosphere, but otherwise the order and descriptions are straight from July 23 2022, whatever that entails.

awards

The This Should Have Been In 2020's List And Probably Like Number One Or Two Award: IZ*ONE - Daydream

The Pryda Snare Award: Skyle - Fly Up High

The Literally Just "Take On Me" Award: Rocket Punch - Ring Ring

Best Intro Track Award: Chungha - Side C (Unknown)

Most Improved By Replacing The Entire Song Award: Shinee - Don't Call Me (Fox Stevenson Remix)

The "I don't get it, is that good" Award: (tie) Billlie - Ring x Ring, Purple Kiss - Ponzona

the list

30) PinkFantasy - Poison

Dreamcatcher's Piri gets more of a J-feel to it and picks up a guitar solo and some cool eurotrance synths in the chorus

29) Bébe Yana - Strawberry Kisses

it's pronounced "garridge"

28) Everglow - Pirate

we got us a map, to lead us to a big room track, that's choreoed for tiktok, and buried deep away. we'll dig up the track, we know it's full of precious brass stabs. tik open the toks, and then we'll say "now let me introduce myself

27) Red Velvet - Pose

i don't even remember what the title track on this album was, because it so obviously should have been Pose. the synths in the verses unnerve you just enough to release all that tension during the chorus

26) Do Han Se - Take Over

sure, it's filthy, but absolutely nothing will prepare you for what happens at 2:44 in the video no matter how many times you watch it

25) Hot Issue - Gratata

this song tries so hard it triggers quality underflow and wraps around to kicking ass. it's got like 40 or 50 heys. sometimes i wonder if all famous snipers know how to bang-ah bang-ah bang-ah. please let me have this

24) Everglow - Nighty Night

one day, hoovers will grace kpop more frequently than once every 2 or 3 years, and i will finally be able to have this list write itself

23) aespa - Next Level

SM has a history of buying existing tracks and making them more memorable than the originals. i kinda hope aespa's concept never changes and the heartfelt ballad sections of their concerts are total fucking nonsense about nft snakes

22) SHINee - Atlantis

it's by-the-numbers kpop, but the chorus synth goes hard as shit

21) Dreamcatcher - Whistle

gonna tell my kids this was blackpink's lovesick girls

20) N.O.M - Mega Punch

there is nothing wrong with helping a buddy out

19) Lightsum - You, jam

smashing like 3 decades together and hoping it all works out. when more songs "sample" cybotron, i will finally be able to have this list write itself. there is some monster sub-bass that kicks in from 2:25-2:35

18) Brave Girls feat. E-Chan - Pool Party

one cool thing about 2021's kpop output is that i could have kept this whole list firmly planted in the 80s and it wouldn't even have been wrong

17) Ha:tfelt feat. Keem Hyoeun - Summertime

heavy ethereal plodding

16) AKMU with IU - Nakka

heavier ethereal plodding. death disco

15) Tomorrow X Together - No Rules

a great feature of the microblog is that i can say this song's the freaky lovechild of uptown funk and boom boom dollar and my followers will reply with "what's uptown funk?" not much man what's uptown funk with you

14) Yukika - Secret

that little tinkly synth lets you know exactly what you're getting into. it turns out the composer for this track, dr. jo, also wrote my 2017 no.1, gugudan's a girl like me. i'm sure this won't come up later

13) Mondo Grosso feat. BoA - Everything Needs Love (Re-New JP)

before you complain about how this doesn't count or whatever, did you hear that ｂａｓｓｌｉｎｅ？？？？

12) Cherry Bullet - Keep Your Head Up

i described this song as "buck wild" when i first heard it and i stand by that. putting a bangin donk on a car crash with the orinoco flow

11) Chancellor feat. Gaeko - Midnight

looks at notes this just says "out-chromeo" and there's a circle around it

10) Mirae - Killa

it's all killa no filla lol lmao! but seriously this track tears shit up

9) Purple Kiss - Zombie

kpop proves once again that you can just repeat the same syllable over and over as a hook, and somehow it works flawlessly

8) Yuqi - Bonnie & Clyde

is it kpop if a chinese woman is singing in english over a track made by a bunch of swedes? yes, absolutely, and it whips

7) Oh My Girl - Dun Dun Dance

Check out Oh My Girl's new single "Dun Dun Dance" if you get the chance. Sound of the summer.

6) IU - Lilac

it came up later, here's another song written by dr. jo, and just that much better. let the synths wash over you and enjoy the ride

5) Lightsum - Vanilla

if you were waiting for the slow burner that drills directly into your brain, this is it. i can't even walk down the ice cream aisle without thinking "oh my gossshhh"

4) Dreamcatcher - Because

when more songs are best described as "yandere drum and bass", this list will finally be able to write itself

3) Enhypen - Drunk-Dazed

the last time song titles described what they sounded like this accurately, they were called shit like "afternoon waltz in g minor". relentlessly pounding pounding techno music that sounds exactly like 5 am

2) Rocket Punch - Ride

synthwave polished to a mirror finish. love the crashes during the final chorus. this kept me alive through 2021. the only way you could improve this is slow it down 50 bpm, add some nu disco and italo elements, and crank up the melancholy

1) Key - Bad Love

oh hey would you look at that!! key singing like he's kinda yelling or shouting every lyric actually totally sells the vibe of the track, which brings retro synths, supercharged vocals, and modern production into a delicious mix

Thank You For Playing

BONUS PLAYLIST:

including these, here are 100 kpops from 2021 that either i enjoyed, had interesting ideas, or were otherwise totally ridiculous and worth a listen