K-pop's broad influence continued to expand in , as the juggernaut industry fastened its commercial and cultural grip on a global scale. It was also a year where beloved artists pursued creative freedom. As usual, a new generation of promising boy groups and girl groups emerged, with the latter dominating the spotlight β ILLIT, Artms, Izna, Babymonster, Meovv, and Rescene are just some of the names to watch in To celebrate this busy year, check out the list below with 10 of the coolest, most innovative K-pop songs of β listed by order of release.
True to their name, the group soar with a vivid discography that brings the best out of old and new sounds. Propelled by a house beat straight from the early s, the track revs up and never lets go.
Hopeful, wistful, and soaked in the "impossible" eagerness of youth, its fizzy enthusiasm will quench your thirst. Girl group aespa prefaced their first studio album and its title track, "Armageddon," with the stupefying "Supernova.
As a sweet goodbye to their original lineup, Kep1er released the most compelling single of their careers so far. Taemin is all about the push-and-pull of sin and redemption, of being seen and wanting to hide, of seasoning every pleasure with a pinch of Christian guilt. Here, he captures the tempting moments before a physical encounter and heightens them into a dark, stealthy, and irresistible voyage. One of the most arresting debuts of , RESCENE have been nailing track after track with gorgeous vocal colors and magical, airy melodies.
From name dropping Pikachu and Galileo, to proclaiming "Act like an angel and dress like crazy" in the chorus, to an odd choreography that includes Sakura duckwalking, this is the kind of performative folly and buoyant panache that we need to see more of in When hip-hop and boy groups are nearly synonymous in K-pop, BND have found a way to stand out simply by being themselves.
