Hello and welcome back to HallyuTones – always focused on sound, stage and substance.
Speaking with and interviewing artists in the Korean music sphere is always deeply insightful, interesting and exciting. As a K-Pop fan for around 15 years, it is impossible to overstate the impact this genre has had on my friendships, relationships, and in the creation of this platform. I wanted to use this opportunity to take a step back and truly focus on what brought me to this position in the first place – a love for K-Pop as a genre.
Below is a list of just a few of the songs that have resonated most strongly with me over the years, whether due to theming, lyricism, energy, or personal life events.
2NE1 – Come Back Home (Unplugged Version)
Like many 2nd Generation K-Pop fans, 2NE1 were one of my biggest gateways into K-Pop. With their blend of electropop, hip-hop and power ballads, their songs reached the hearts of many pop music fans around the world. While this era was not my introduction to the group, ‘Come Back Home’ remains my favourite song by them. As the title track of the ‘Crush’ album, the track blends 2NE1’s typical pop, hip-hop and electronic instrumentation to great effect. However, in my personal view, the acoustic version of this track far exceeds the original.
Simple acoustic guitar accompaniments allow the members’ vocals to truly shine, allowing the raw emotions of the track to reach the listener more effectively. When this song released, my K-Pop consumption primarily consisted of high-energy title tracks and colourful stages. This song created in me an appetite for slower K-Pop releases that really gave a spotlight to vocal techniques. To this day, this is a song I still ‘Come Back Home’ to when I need a quiet space to reflect and process emotions, and for that I am forever grateful.
BTOB – Missing You
BTOB are a group that truly deserve recognition as some of the greatest vocalists in K-Pop. Most of my K-Pop listening traditionally has revolved around girl groups, but this song holds a special place for me.
‘Missing You’ is a song that truly has it all. Lyrically, the song explores the themes of longing and missing a partner. The use of time as a framing device for the song is what makes it so effective: ‘While I’ve been missing you, a whole day has passed. While I’ve been missing you, a year has gone by”. This repeated refrain echoes throughout the song to drive home the emotional beats and make you really internalise the sentiments of the track.
Furthermore, this song has my favourite stages in all of K-Pop. It is at once mature and vulnerable, carried by the members’ stellar vocal performances, soft spoken rap sections, and fan chants that further enhance the soundscape. To cap it off, the chorus features sign language, with their famous Dingo Music collaboration stage involving a collaboration with a deaf fan that had a lasting legacy. This is a song that truly brings everyone together – an experience we can all feel, relate to and appreciate.
H1-KEY – Rose Blossom
H1-KEY remain one of K-Pop’s most underrated acts. While the group have found significant success in Korea with their live performances and stages, I have always wished that they attracted more attention from international K-Pop fans. In fact, my first piece for this site was an analysis and breakdown of the lyrics of all of the tracks that they had released up to that point. This explored the strong themes of inner and outer-health present in their work, their inspirational lyrics, and the ways in which their songs resonated with me.
‘Rose Blossom’ is a song that came into my life at just the right time. The lyrics of this song talk about a rose blossoming through concrete as a symbolism for human endurance. Through processing and dealing with life’s hardships we grow back stronger and share our colours with the world. When I first heard this song I was navigating not just a job change but a complete career pathway change, with no idea where it would lead. I have lost count of how many times I have turned to this song when I need inspiration and a reminder to persevere and stick to the path.
Aptly, this song helped secure more attention for H1-KEY, rising in Korean music charts and gaining them increased media exposure and performance opportunities. To this day, it is still a major set highlight for the group. The Young K penned lyrics and the girls’ legendary vocal skills make this song an instant standout that belong on any K-Pop fan’s playlists.
NMIXX – Blue Valentine
I could easily fill multiple lists with just NMIXX songs. I truly believe that they have the strongest discography of any K-Pop group, and so narrowing down just one track took a long time. LOUD, Run for Roses, Love is Lonely, Dice, Beat Beat, High Horse, Heavy Serenade, and many others could easily have been in this slot.
However, I have never been as instantly floored by a song as I was when I first heard ‘Blue Valentine’. The track features masterful production, creating a refined sound that is simultaneously soothing and exciting. Exploring the juxtaposing nature of cold blue reality and warm passion, the track brings the reader through an emotional rollercoaster. With one of the strongest choruses in modern K-Pop, Jiwoo’s now iconic slow-motion section, and the group’s trademark power vocals and harmonies, it was a hit for a reason.
Outside of K-Pop, I’ve also always been drawn to A Capella and ad-libs in performances. The live stages for this track elevate it even further, with members regularly switching up notes, incorporating new harmonies and musical elements to keep the track fresh. ‘This love’ may be ‘over’, but I don’t think I’ll ever be ‘over’ this track.
Joy – Hello
It is no understatement to say that Red Velvet are one of the pillars of K-Pop music. So it stands to reason that their solo projects are also consistently interesting, while also offering an opportunity to show new sides to the members.
‘Hello’ served as member Joy’s debut solo release, and is a remake of Park Hye-Kyung’s song of the same name. The track is both hopeful and reflective. The music video for the track features Joy exploring her birthplace of Jeju Island and interacting with the residents. It also features authentic Haenyeo (traditional female divers), showcasing Jeju’s traditional culture. Throughout the video, she journeys from a messy and stressful environment to explore the free and open roads. Along the way she reconnects with her inner child and finds the path she seeks.
Joy’s distinctive warm vocals uplift the listener as the journey progresses, saying ‘Goodbye’ to all the ‘long and lonely days’ and ‘Hello’ to ‘the morning that woke me from a long slumber’. One of my favourite pieces of wordplay in the track comes from the duality of the Korean word ‘안녕’ which can mean both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’. Much in the way the night gives way to a new day, at some point we can say goodbye to negative thoughts and prepare ourselves for a brighter future ahead.
WJSN – Secret
WJSN (Cosmic Girls) were my favourite K-Pop group for many years. Debuting with a 12-member line up in 2016, they instantly stood out on stage. It was their 2nd EP that truly grabbed my interest, with the title track ‘Secret’.
‘Secret’ starts with the sound of a wind up music box before bringing in synths and percussive elements. The effect of this is almost otherworldly and magical and remains one of the most iconic intro sequences in K-Pop. The lyrics focus on the members discussing a secret, holding onto their feelings as they wait to confess their love.
The music video itself is perhaps even more iconic. Following her success with I.O.I. , Yeonjung was added to the line up for this release, and it is during this MV that she quite literally arrives from the stars. Perhaps fittingly, she propels the chorus to new heights with her vocal delivery. With so much prominent sci-fi and fantasy imagery, surreal colour grading and expert cinematography, this stands as one of the genre’s greatest video releases.
I’ve always loved how K-Pop can act as an effective form of escapist art, and this song and music video are a perfect example of that, setting the tone for a discography that secured them a loyal and passionate fanbase.
Stray Kids – Miroh
Many of the picks on this list were chosen for lyrical complexity, theming and emotional connection. This pick is quite honestly just there for the vibes.
Stray Kids are well-known for their ‘loud’ tracks that are designed as stadium-fillers. Many of their tracks fit this description, but for me, ‘Miroh’ was the song where this formula first hit for me and to this day resonates the hardest. This song’s strength lies in it’s simplicity. The chorus hits hard before the post-chorus chanting elevates the song to new heights.
The rap sections in this track are also similarly fast paced and frenetic. This is even mentioning the incredible instrumental which blends EDM, Future Bounce, Hip-Hop and Trap to fill out the mix. What truly sets this song so high in my rankings is the live performances. Having been fortunate enough to see the group live at BST Hyde Park, this track truly brought the crowd to life with relentless energy. This is K-Pop at it’s most energetic, and is a perfect showcase for the high octane performances that the genre is famed for.
ITZY – WANNABE
ITZY‘s songs are just pure fun, with the group being consistently praised for having some of the strongest stage presence and dance skills in K-Pop. However they are also underappreciated for both the variety in their B-side tracks, and the lyricism within their songs.
Nowhere is this more evident than in their title track ‘WANNABE’. On the surface it is a song that slots well within the rest of their discography, being instantly danceable and with a catchy chorus. However, the song’s strengths lie in it’s messages of self-empowerment, self-assurance and confidence. “I don’t wanna be somebody, just wanna be me”, is a simple yet relatable message. It’s easy to be dragged down by comparisons, or taking people’s negative comments to heart. However, what really matters is to be truly, unapologetically yourself.
This song lands so strongly for me due to the confidence in which this message is distributed. It’s far from the first song to ever inspire me, but the way in which it manages to stick in my head while also acting as the perfect pep talk never fail. Sometimes we all need a pick-me-up song, and this fulfils that niche, perfectly wrapped up in a K-Pop package.
IU– Modern Times
My tastes in K-Pop have changed a lot over time, but my favourite K-Pop song (and album) have never wavered. ‘Modern Times‘ is the title track from IU‘s album of the same name, and is in my opinion one of the strongest examples of how much variety this genre can contain.
But first – a little context. When I was a child I played many instruments including piano, cello and trumpet. This love for musical instruments led to me becoming the lead trumpet for my school’s blues and jazz band. Consequently, much of my teenage years were spent exploring this genre, live instrumentation, and songs from the 1920s-1940s.
Later, as I discovered K-Pop, I was immediately enthralled by IU‘s vocals and the variety of genres present within her songs. I felt at this point that I had a solid grasp on what K-Pop was as a genre. However, this song and album changed everything for me. ‘Modern Times’ is a bouncy, swing-jazz track that pays tribute to the Roaring Twenties. IU’s vocals expertly shift between crisp falsetto’s and powerful chest voice, creating an utterly enchanting track that slots in perfectly with other tracks from the era.
‘Modern Times’ is a tribute to the legacy of music itself, and the perfect argument when anyone tells you ‘all K-Pop music sounds the same’. Strong vocal performance mixed with perfect theming and well-mixed instrumentation create a song that is truly unique in all of the best ways. I strongly implore anyone reading this to listen to the album in full and lose yourself in this genre-bending retro-inspired masterpiece.
Dreamcatcher – Fly High
Lastly, I end this list with the song that has had the biggest impact on my entire life. When Dreamcatcher debuted in 2017, they shook up the industry with their unique concept. Bringing in inspirations from symphonic rock and metal they carved their own confident niche in the genre, which instantly drew me in.
When their song ‘Fly High’ released that same year, I distinctly remember the vibes of the music video. Set in and around a haunted house, the video set the narrative story for their ‘Prequel’ era, exploring how the girls originally became cursed within their lore. Interestingly, the MV director used a low-key aesthetic to create an unsettling atmosphere within the music video. The song itself had some lighter vocal moments compared to their previous two title tracks but still featured their typical rock instrumentation and distinctive choreography.
However, it is the tour that spawned from this track that impacted my life the most. In February of 2018 I found out that Dreamcatcher would be embarking on their first European tour, including a stop in London. At the time, I had listened to all of their songs, but was not yet familiar with the members. Wanting to discover more about them before the tour, I followed fans of each of the individual members. However, at that time I only found one international fan account dedicated to the member Gahyeon (now Gahyun). After following each other, we quickly became friends and connected through our mutual interest in the group and shared experiences.
At the time of this tour, I was at one of the lowest points in my life. Entering into my third year of university, I was struggling to balance deadlines while maintaining my mental health and processing severe personal issues. My dissertation supervisor even approved my leave to attend the concert in light of all of these factors. This was my first K-Pop concert, my first solo concert and the perfect break away from everything. In the aftermath of the concert, I kept in contact with this fan and eventually we ended up dating.
8 years on from this concert, and we are married. Two people from two different continents meeting each other and eventually falling in love, spurred on by our shared love of one group and their song. I’ve always said that music crosses boundaries of language and borders. K-Pop fandom creates community, and community brings us together. I hope that one day I can share this story with the members, and let them know how their music guided me through dark times and changed my life forever.
Thank you for reading this far and joining me on this journey through the many ways in which K-Pop has changed and shaped my life over the past 15 years. I’d love to hear more of your experiences, views, and your favourite K-Pop tracks in the replies!
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