The top of the yr 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 yr! Every day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the yr’s finest, till primary is revealed on Friday.
To be eligible for this high 50 record, songs will need to have had a Korean launch as a title monitor, follow-up or promotional video between Dec. 1st, 2023 and Nov. thirtieth, 2024.
Interested by previous countdowns? Try the masterpost right here!
Honorable Mentions
Songs 50-41
Songs 40-31
Songs 30-21
Songs 20-11
10. Good day Gloom – Mamacita
Home tracks are a dime a dozen as of late, 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 yr’s most memorable. The music is over earlier than you understand it, however its concentrated depth calls for fast replay. (full assessment)
9. BOYNEXTDOOR – Earth, Wind & Fireplace
There’s a music like this in my high ten nearly yearly: one thing that’s initially unwieldy however slowly and deliberately unveils its charms over time. Earth, Wind & Fireplace isn’t a lot a music as it’s a supply methodology for character. From its rapid-fire post-chorus to the second verse rap that solely grew extra ridiculous with every passing efficiency, there’s nearly an excessive amount of vitality to include. It’s additionally a kind of tracks that’s completely welded to its artist. Nobody may carry out this in fairly the identical manner as BOYNEXTDOOR. (full assessment)
8. Nayeon – ABCD
In a world of two minute TikTok songs, it may be troublesome 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 music’s a number of peaks as a lot pressure as doable. If most artists have been serving snacks this yr, 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 season of 2024. (full assessment)
7. RIIZE – Increase Increase Bass
RIIZE established themselves as an instruments-obsessed group with final yr’s Get A Guitar, and Increase Increase Bass doubles down on the vanity. The music 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 blokes have whipped the vitality right into a frenzy. Nonetheless, it’s the precise touches (particularly that sticky dance break) that safe Bass‘s place within the pantheon of SM Leisure funk-pop classics. (full assessment)
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 finest singles, dOpamine flirts with present tendencies however exists on the sides of the mainstream. Its drum and bass percussion provides technique to an exhilarating hook that comes with jagged synth and icy funk riffs. Nevertheless, it’s the dynamic bridge that really elevates this above the pack. Junji’s energy word main into the ultimate refrain is among the mot thrilling moments Ok-pop delivered all yr. (full assessment)
5. TWS – If I’m S, Can You Be My N?
First encounters are arduous, but it surely’s the follow-up that actually issues. TWS’s debut yr has been all about specificity in sound and message, and If I’m S, Can You Be My N? tells you all the pieces it’s essential to know from its extremely distinctive title alone. The music is a seize bag of musical concepts, tied collectively by melodies so potent they lower by way of the noise in celebratory bursts of confetti. The singing is impassioned and joyful, but it surely’s Shinyu’s personality-rich rap that completely steals the present. (full assessment)
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 title of a legendary hitmaker hooked up to a music’s credit. Trendz scored a significant coup by touchdown producer Courageous Brothers for Go Up. The music 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 music 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 ft. (full assessment)
3. TWS – Plot Twist
An amazing pop music 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, but it surely manages to encapsulate a complete youth drama within the area of two and a half minutes. The flexibility to stuff so many musical goodies into such a small body is kind of spectacular, but it surely wouldn’t work with out the members’ participating personalities. Having watched Plot Twist carried out thrice in a single weekend, I can testify to its place because the yr’s finest 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 conversant in the monitor or not. The truth that the music went on to grow to be a Korean megahit is essentially the most deserved, thrilling plot twist of the yr. (full assessment)
2. RIIZE – Unattainable
Is there a greater mixture than SM Leisure and home music? 9 years after SHINee’s View perpetually tied the style to the summer season season, Unattainable follows in these mighty footsteps with a refreshing sound of its personal. From the primary “Gimme that beat!” to the thrilling outro, the music by no means relinquishes its grip. Its percolating synth rhythm bubbles with intricate funk exclamations as the blokes supply ultra-smooth vocals excessive.
As thrillingly taut as Unattainable 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 music’s glories with added ceremony. This transformation feels nearly cinematic, pummeling the listener with one final sonic whirlwind earlier than they eagerly rush to replay the monitor. (full assessment)
1. TWS – hey! hey!
It’s grow to be cliche to say “music is my drug,” however there’s really no higher technique to mainline an emotion than with a 3 minute blast of pop music. In the case of hey! hey!, the feelings in query are optimism, pleasure and affection. Regardless of the place you’re or what you’re doing, these emotions are at all times welcome, and with the push of a button they grow to be 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 yr 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 music knocked me off-balance in the identical manner. Its construction and supply have a timeless attraction, borrowing tropes from a long time 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 music makes me really feel one thing. It affirms core parts of the human expertise: friendship, risk, tenacity. These are easy but advanced beliefs, most potently expressed by way of the sneaky simplicity of a pop music.
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 achieve this with such apparent ardour. You’ll be able to really feel that zeal coursing by way of each word of hey! hey! and it’s an energizing emotion to return to any second you could want it. Dohoon places it finest on the music’s exclamatory climax: “Run until we attain the very finish.” This music makes me need to dash. (full assessment)