The top of the 12 months countdowns are lastly right here! As at all times, we’ll kick off with the large one: The Bias Listing’s high 50 songs of the 12 months! Every day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the 12 months’s greatest, till primary is revealed on Friday.
To be eligible for this high 50 listing, songs should have had a Korean launch as a title monitor, follow-up or promotional video between Dec. 1st, 2023 and Nov. thirtieth, 2024.
Interested in previous countdowns? Try the masterpost right here!
Honorable Mentions
Songs 50-41
Songs 40-31
Songs 30-21
Songs 20-11
10. Hey Gloom – Mamacita
Home tracks are a dime a dozen today, however many stake their declare on an instrumental centerpiece or – even worse – a repetitive anti-drop appropriate for background music at an elegant division retailer. Mamacita is having none of that nonsense, bursting right into a galvanizing, singalong refrain that stands as one of many 12 months’s most memorable. The tune is over earlier than you understand it, however its concentrated depth calls for speedy replay. (full evaluation)
9. BOYNEXTDOOR – Earth, Wind & Fireplace
There’s a tune like this in my high ten virtually yearly: one thing that’s initially unwieldy however slowly and deliberately unveils its charms over time. Earth, Wind & Fireplace isn’t a lot a tune as it’s a supply methodology for persona. From its rapid-fire post-chorus to the second verse rap that solely grew extra ridiculous with every passing efficiency, there’s virtually an excessive amount of vitality to comprise. It’s additionally a kind of tracks that’s completely welded to its artist. Nobody might carry out this in fairly the identical means as BOYNEXTDOOR. (full evaluation)
8. Nayeon – ABCD
In a world of two minute TikTok songs, it may be tough to ship the total popstar package deal. Nayeon did this after which some on her bombastic ABCD. The monitor weaves between segments and rhythms – various vitality and depth to lend the tune’s a number of peaks as a lot pressure as attainable. If most artists had been serving snacks this 12 months, ABCD rolled out the total course, full with electrifying dance break and anchored by the facility of pure charisma. This deserved to personal the summer time of 2024. (full evaluation)
7. RIIZE – Increase Increase Bass
RIIZE established themselves as an instruments-obsessed group with final 12 months’s Get A Guitar, and Increase Increase Bass doubles down on the vanity. The tune does precisely as its title guarantees, providing a jolt of groovy rhythm that hits proper from the beginning and by no means lets up. By the point we’ve reached its effusive finale, the fellows have whipped the vitality right into a frenzy. Nonetheless, it’s the particular touches (particularly that sticky dance break) that safe Bass‘s place within the pantheon of SM Leisure funk-pop classics. (full evaluation)
6. OnlyOneOf – dOpamine
OnlyOneOf appear intent to ship high quality over amount. They return as soon as in a blue moon, however typically with music too potent to disregard. Like their greatest singles, dOpamine flirts with present traits however exists on the sides of the mainstream. Its drum and bass percussion offers option to an exhilarating hook that includes jagged synth and icy funk riffs. Nonetheless, it’s the dynamic bridge that actually elevates this above the pack. Junji’s energy word main into the ultimate refrain is likely one of the mot thrilling moments Ok-pop delivered all 12 months. (full evaluation)
5. TWS – If I’m S, Can You Be My N?
First encounters are laborious, nevertheless it’s the follow-up that basically issues. TWS’s debut 12 months has been all about specificity in sound and message, and If I’m S, Can You Be My N? tells you every part that you must know from its extremely distinctive title alone. The tune is a seize bag of musical concepts, tied collectively by melodies so potent they minimize by way of the noise in celebratory bursts of confetti. The singing is impassioned and joyful, nevertheless it’s Shinyu’s personality-rich rap that completely steals the present. (full evaluation)
4. Trendz – Go Up
Veteran producers have gotten extra of a rarity in Ok-pop, so it’s at all times thrilling to see the identify of a legendary hitmaker connected to a tune’s credit. Trendz scored a significant coup by touchdown producer Courageous Brothers for Go Up. The tune sees him absolutely harnessing his upbeat mix of tropical synths, buzzsaw guitar and anthemic hooks. Most significantly, Go Up by no means forgets the facility of a killer pop hook, lacing each second with a dynamic vary of melodies that give the tune actual heft. That is no extra evident than through the refrain, which forgoes gimmicks in favor of a megawatt chorus that sweeps you off your toes. (full evaluation)
3. TWS – Plot Twist
An excellent pop tune is sort of a three-act play: set-up, rising stakes, payoff. And like a play, Plot Twist unfolds as a narrative. Not solely does it set the scene for TWS’s idiosyncratic worldview, nevertheless it manages to encapsulate a whole youth drama within the house of two and a half minutes. The flexibility to stuff so many musical goodies into such a small body is sort of spectacular, nevertheless it wouldn’t work with out the members’ partaking personalities. Having watched Plot Twist carried out 3 times in a single weekend, I can testify to its place because the 12 months’s greatest efficiency anthem, climaxing in an impossibly addictive “Na-na-na, na-na” chorus that will get everybody out of their seat whether or not they’re aware of the monitor or not. The truth that the tune went on to turn into a Korean megahit is probably the most deserved, thrilling plot twist of the 12 months. (full evaluation)
2. RIIZE – Unimaginable
Is there a greater mixture than SM Leisure and home music? 9 years after SHINee’s View perpetually tied the style to the summer time season, Unimaginable follows in these mighty footsteps with a refreshing sound of its personal. From the primary “Gimme that beat!” to the thrilling outro, the tune by no means relinquishes its grip. Its percolating synth rhythm bubbles with intricate funk exclamations as the fellows supply ultra-smooth vocals excessive.
As thrillingly taut as Unimaginable is, the monitor really explodes when it defies expectations. Many 2024 singles would conclude after their second refrain, however RIIZE amp issues up from right here as a fist-pumping dance break collides with a synth-laced finale that retraces the tune’s glories with added ceremony. This transformation feels virtually cinematic, pummeling the listener with one final sonic whirlwind earlier than they eagerly rush to replay the monitor. (full evaluation)
1. TWS – hey! hey!
It’s turn into cliche to say “music is my drug,” however there may be really no higher option to mainline an emotion than with a 3 minute blast of pop music. Relating to hey! hey!, the feelings in query are optimism, pleasure and affection. Regardless of the place you might be or what you’re doing, these emotions are at all times welcome, and with the push of a button they turn into accessible for 3 minutes and 13 seconds. The skin world fades to the background, changed with TWS’s vibrant imaginative and prescient of youth and alternative.
TWS had a banner 12 months and launched music extra technically daring than this, however from hey! hey!‘s opening guitar riff to the barreling vitality of its bridge, no different 2024 tune knocked me off-balance in the identical means. Its construction and supply have a timeless attraction, borrowing tropes from many years of rock and pop, however every time I hear the monitor my thoughts goes again to the identical ineffable high quality: it’s actually about feeling. The tune makes me really feel one thing. It affirms core components of the human expertise: friendship, chance, tenacity. These are easy but advanced beliefs, most potently expressed by way of the sneaky simplicity of a pop tune.
Sure, I’m sentimental. The sound and vitality of a rookie group striving to perform their goals will at all times have an effect on me, particularly once they accomplish that with such apparent ardour. You’ll be able to really feel that keenness coursing by way of each word of hey! hey! and it’s an energizing emotion to return to any second it’s possible you’ll want it. Dohoon places it greatest on the tune’s exclamatory climax: “Run until we attain the very finish.” This tune makes me need to dash. (full evaluation)
