This year, Met Radio is taking part in the time-honoured tradition of the year-end top ten list. Throughout the month of December, Met Radio staff and volunteers will be sharing their personal pop culture favourites from the year gone by. Visit the website every Monday, Wednesday and Friday to check out our best of 2023!
2023 marked an incredible year for the Korean pop music industry with new music being released and many groups making their comebacks. Throughout the year, I had the chance to explore the K-pop industry a little further and undoubtedly, spent most of my time listening to this genre of music. So, for this year’s annual top ten, I wanted to do something different and highlight some of my favourite K-pop tracks of 2023.
Released back in late April, Super is the title track from Seventeen’s 10th mini album FML. This song is unique in its style as it has a special rhythm that highlights various drum beats and kicks. From the pre-chorus to chorus to bridge, this song will make you want to dance along to the group’s choreography.
Fun fact: FML was the first physical album that I’ve ever purchased, and Super was by far my most-played song of 2023
Another Seventeen track but this time from their most recent mini album Seventeenth Heaven. The title track from this album is called “God of Music” and was released back in October. This song gives off a more cheerful and brighter vibe compared to “Super”. The song emphasizes the power of music to overcome differences and its ability to transcend language barriers, uniting people worldwide through music.
In case you didn’t know, V is actually a member of one of the biggest K-pop boy groups in the world, BTS! Slow Dancing is the title track from his debut solo album, Layover. It is an R&B and romantic soul track with a nice downtempo tune and catchy jazz rhythm. Definitely a ballad that will make you want to dance.
The popularity of Jungkook’s solo debut track is undeniable as it became the fastest song to 1 billion streams on Spotify in just 108 days! Released back in July, he officially became the last member of BTS to make his solo debut. This song is meant to reflect Jungkook’s coming of age as a person and is easy to listen to with a catchy and memorable chorus that’ll be stuck in your head all day.
Fighting – BSS (feat. Lee Young Ji):
BooSeokSoon (BSS) is a special subunit of Seventeen. Formed in 2018, the group is composed of members DK, Hoshi, and Seungkwan. They finally made their comeback in February after five years with their 1st single album Second Wind. Fighting is a fun title track to listen to, especially with its upbeat rhythm and catchy chorus and post-chorus. Lee Young Ji’s rap towards the middle-end compliments the song really well and definitely makes you want to rap along to her lines.
Super Shy is the one of three title tracks for their 2nd EP Get Up that was released back in July. It is an upbeat, energetic, and engaging track with a catchy rhythm and memorable lyrics. Once you see their choreography for this track, you’ll want to dance along with them!
Probably one of the most popular K-pop tracks this year that swept social media by storm. Released back in February, this was officially their first comeback since their debut EP THE FIFTY. Cupid is a soft, adorable pop track that has a catchy melody and conveys a relatable message to listeners. The track does a great job of bringing out each individual members’ unique and heartwarming vocals. The choreography is also simple but fun, which allowed for the dance to become a massive TikTok trend.
Bite Me captures Enhypen’s new, dark, and alluring concept as it centers around vampires. Each member shined in this song, and the unique choreography is something that fans have never seen before from this group. Despite the controversial sensual choreo, fans praise the group for taking the challenge and conveying a song that brings back boy group vibes from the 2nd generation of K-pop.
In Bloom is the highly anticipated debut from the group that was in the survival planet Boys Planet. This song took the rookie boy group landscape by storm as it offers a fresh, spring vibe that we rarely see from other boy groups.
7PM – BSS (feat. Peder Elias):
7PM featuring Peder Elias, BSS’ first English track, has a soft and chill melody that anyone can enjoy listening to. In contrast to their title track Fighting, this song captures everyone’s experience of unravelling and resting after a tiring day, making it a relatable and easy to listen to song.
