TOP 100 KPOP SONGS 2021
by motorp77
taglist (ask in the comments) :
other episodes :
95 - 91
Hot Sauce is the title track of NCT Dream’s 1st studio album “Hot Sauce”. It’s a “typical” NCT song, drawing inspiration from many areas of music, and experimenting a lot. This time, it was latin and hip hop influences, maybe even some afro-beat. The music shines in its production, with SM wizards finding those beautiful melodies, the guitars and those addicting hooks. The members shout a lot but it somehow isn’t that tiring.
What I liked :
I liked the acoustic guitar in the first part of the music. In general the verses were incredible. The low range vocals of the dream members were very well used and a good change from all those very high pitch songs in Kpop. I also like the hooks but I understand if people won’t like them. I also thought about the transition between each member, which was incredible as always with Dream. Overall, a top song from them, though we did see better in the past.
What I would change :
I would change the very very low voices in the chorus, it was really strange I didn’t like it at all. Also the more melodic parts were better so making them longer could have been better. Also the dance break was a little too long imo. Going even more latino could have been even better too, though it would change the song too much. Great song.
94 - Onewe - Star
Star is the title track of Onewe’s 3rd studio (unreleased compilation ?) album “STUDIO WE : Recording #2”. Once again, Onewe produces a dramatic-emo rock track with a lot of emotion. Again the song is quite carried by the solo guitar part and Yonghoon’s adlib at the same time. The song doesn’t try to blow the listeners mind and stay at a quite high intensity consistently. Yonghoon leads quite heavily this song, as Dong Myeong felt much more like a support vocalist. Overall the production was superb and the instruments were well used, especially the drums.
What I liked :
I liked their choice to really make Yonghoon the clear lead. Sometimes they do not commit enough and you can’t follow the music as much as possible. With Yonghoon leading the song in the beginning and ending, you follow a good story all throughout the song, culminating with Kanghyun’s solo part. The song and the voices were not remarquable, but the production managed to top and the song eventually made the top 100.
What I would change :
I would just turn up the intensity a little, especially after the solo guitar part. You would think this was a big build up for the last part when in reality it was the highlight of the final part. Also Onewe stays in their comfort zone with this song, they should really try other things cz some of their other songs are just straight up better than this track.
Queendom is the title track of Red Velvet’s 10th Mini Album “Queendom”. The song tackles a more elegant but also quite fun concept, trying to hit on both “velvet” and “red” concepts of the group. The back music is very tone down as the focus was almost entirely on the voice of the members. Particularly, the track let Seulgi and Wendy handle the most important and most memorable part of the song with Irene handling the main hook. In classic RV fashion, the raps were slow and elegant whereas Joy parts were very bright. The music clearly turns up a notch at half, going for a memorable ending.
What I liked :
I love that SM decided to focus this comeback on the members. In some ways you could even consider this song a demonstration of Red Velvet’s talents. Wendy's high notes at the end were out of this world, finally creating the big moment the music needed to be complete. Irene was especially elegant in this song imo, with her voices being perfect for the hook and her rap parts being nice transitions. Yeri’s voice was less used but came in at the right moment. Overall a solid song, maybe a bit weak compared to their other title tracks but still really good.
What I would change :
I would change the production and instruments used. They were used as a background for the vocals but imo some of the melodies were really good and I think they could have done more with them. They also severely underused Joy’s voice, which imo fitted this song perfectly so she could have more of a bright spot. I think that sometimes when they don’t know what to do they just rely on Wendy’s high notes when in reality it should be more of a complement than the main dish.
92 - Mamamoo - Where Are We Now
Where Are We Now is the title track of Mamamoo’s 11th Mini Album “WAW”. The song is a breathtaking ballad, displaying the extremely impressive vocal capabilities of the members. The vocals are mostly complemented by a piano that then gets supported with more instruments and synth during Moonbyul’s rap. The song doesn’t really try to be too dramatic nor too sentimental, though it clearly wants to convey a lot of emotions to the listeners.
What I liked :
I liked Mamamoo’s incredible vocals, absolutely shattering the song. I also think it was good that they kept it simple, ballads should most of the time be more straightforward and they nailed it. The beginning of the song was amazing, with the piano and Hwasa’s voice fitting together perfectly. Then Wheein’s solo part was angelic. And of course Solar still impresses me in 2021, after years of blowing our minds.
What I would change :
I don’t think that Moonbyul’s solo rap was necessary. I think her singing would have been more coherent with the rest of the song (she already sang some parts in previous songs). I also think keeping it more simple with the instruments during the 2nd verse would have increased the intensity of the ending. Still a solid ballad overall, though not groundbreaking like some others on this list.
91 - Bumkey - The Lady (ft. Moonbyul)
The Lady is a digital single released by Bumkey in 2021 featuring Moonbyul. The song is actually a remake of a song with the same name released by 2Lson in 2012 featuring Bumkey and Dok2. It’s the first collaboration between these 2 artists in 7 years. The song is a RnB sentimental song in the classic 2000s style. The voices of both artists fitted perfectly together to create one of the most memorable RnB/Kpop love track of 2021.
What I liked :
Moonbyul doesn’t sing that much with Mamamoo but when you start to hear her singing voice you become addicted very quickly. She was phenomenal as Bumkey’s counterpart. And of course, Bumkey’s beautiful loving voice kept me on a very comfortable journey like I was watching a drama. The small rap part was also a throwback to the first version of the song which was very cool.
What I would change :
I would add more Moonbyul parts, she had quite a bunch but Making it 50/50 might have been a little better as he was already doing a lot of adlibs during her parts and the rap bridge in the final part. The instruments were very cool but hearing the solo piano parts I think more of it could be even better too. With those kinds of songs, it’s quite hard to find things to replace as they already perfectly reach their goals.
It's a fun surprise whenever it does drop.
