Your top 10 favorite songs of the year (kpop and non kpop)

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    and what do you think about mine:


    1. It's just us , Kali Uchis

    2. How it's gotta be , Nectar Woode

    3. Seoul City / Damn Right, Jennie

    4. Perfect Stranger , FKA Twigs

    5. Vanish into you , Lady Gaga

    6. Free , Rujinu

    7. Mr Media , Tyla

    8. Plot twist, Atheart

    9. Shape of love, NMIXX

    10. Praying , Seulgi


    * one song per artist


    special mention: dandelion (ariana), the fate of ophelia (taylor), killer (gaga), headphones on (addison), zen (jennie)


    this is my SOTY:


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    this is the most underated kpop song of the year:


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    the playlist (+ more mentions):


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    so? what about you :whatb:

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    pit stooop! :pepe-magnify:

    aoukayyy siir :meme-taken-aback:

    great choice :excited-bee:


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    I wrote a mini-essay. No one needs to read it, I just had fun typing it out. If you do read it, kamsa haeyo 🙏🏻


    2025 for me was all about getting back into Japanese music in a big way, and getting into the genres hyperpop, digicore, and lesser known/underground pop from Korea and Japan.


    (A quick shout out to StanGIDLE who introduced me to tons of artists through this forum)


    So my list this year is 100% Korean/Japanese which is actually very surprising for me.


    My top songs/albums from previous years have been much more international, with previous AOTYs being Bladee - Cold Visions (Sweden, 2024) and Yeule - Softscars (Singapore, 2023), and previous SOTYs being NewJeans - Supernatural (Korea, 2024) and Skrillex - Ceremony (feat. Bladee and Yung Lean) (USA, 2023).


    So here we go:


    1. Hanhee - 902+1 (🇰🇷 South Korea, bedroom-pop/minimal D'n'B)

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    I just love this song. All 1:58 seconds of it lol. I think it really opened my eyes to how far Korea's underground pop-scene has come in the last few years.


    It's easy to take this sort of thing for granted, but as Korea's youth music industry is so young (traced back to Seo Taiji in the 90s), their underground music scenes outside of hip-hop are still very nascent, and up until a few years ago I don't think anything exciting was really coming out from them, (there is no exciting Korean rock music for example).


    But that's been turned on its head over the past few years with some really cutting edge and ground-breaking stuff coming from Korea's underground scenes and Hanhee is an example of this, she is a straight up an underground kpop idol, combining the cutesy visuals and aesthetics of mainstream kpop with sounds closer to PinkPantheress.


    2. Ano - Bone Baki Twilight (🇯🇵 Japan, pop/metal)

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    (live video, because the actual music video is AI slop and I hate it).


    It feels so weird to put Ano in a playlist because she is so different to anything else I usually listen to. Usually I am into ~*V I B E S*~ but Ano is instead totally unhinged. This is a cutesy pop song with metal riffs and vocal growls. It is my favourite track from the album which Spotify Wrapped claims is my AOTY, so I have to include her on here even if she stands out from the rest. She is an acquired taste, but I love her.


    3. Effie - Moar Hyper (🇰🇷 Korea, hyperpop/digicore)

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    This was a personality changing song for me lol. I got all excited when it released because I found a Korean artist that took influence from Draingang/SADBOYS who I absolutely love. It has since morphed into me exploring all these scenes from South Korea and Japan over the year, and this was the domino that set it all off.


    4. Jennie - Damn Right (🇰🇷 Korea, r&b)

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    Ruby is my kpop AOTY, and this is my favourite song. Not much else to say, so if you want a spicy take, I don't actually like 'Like Jennie' all that much lol. When I listen to this album I usually click play on Start a War, run down with no skips to Damn Right, and then listen to Seoul City at the end.


    5. e5 - BUTTOBASHIT (🇯🇵 Japan, hip-hop/digicore)

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    e5 (pronounced "eh-go") is just one of the many amazing artists from the Japanese underground. She had loads of great releases this year, but this surprise drop towards the end of the year where she delivers a much more aggressive flow has been a daily listen for me.


    6. Illit - Not Cute Anymore (🇰🇷 Korea, kpop/reggae)

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    Everytime I make one of these lists, this song gets higher and higher... if this was a kpop exclusive list it would be fighting for the top spot. I love it so much.


    7. Rescene - Deja Vu (🇰🇷 Korea, kpop)

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    This song makes me feel so nostalgic. I love Rescene and this is my fav song by them ever.


    8. Manaka Crow (feat. 7) (🇯🇵 Japan, hip-hop/r&b)

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    This is just a straight-up sexy bop. Nothing more to add really. YouTube told me it was my most watched music video of the year...


    9. System Seoul - SS (🇰🇷 Korea, hyperpop/digicore)

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    So if Effie is my big find of the year, System Seoul are the other. I constantly flip between which one I like the most as. This is a collective of 4 rappers/singers from Seoul who are setting the underground scene on fire right now. Every song is a random mix of the members, but I like this song especially because they each take a turn on the mic (so it's a great song to get to know the group with).


    10. iiso - Bloody Hell (🇰🇷 Korea, post-punk)

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    Let's finish with something raw and emotional. iiso, one of the most underrated singers in all of Korea (I think she even underrates herself too, spending time uploading make-up vlogs when she is releasing such amazing and ground breaking music that she seemingly does nothing to promote).


    Honorable Mentions:


    This list was so hard to make, 10 songs across all genres... stress inducing.


    ifeye - Nerdy (🇰🇷 Korea, kpop)

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    My fav debut of the year. I had ranked this number 1 on a previous list, but I think Not Cute Anymore and Deja Vu have won out. It gets squeezed out of the top ten when trying to accommodate for all the other genres.


    Xamiya - RON (🇯🇵 Japan, pop/disco)

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    Another of my favourite new artists from Japan this year. I love all their songs, I'm just waiting for them to release an album (so far nothing but singles). Hopefully their feature on Kesha's song will be their big break.


    Bladee - One In a Million (🇸🇪 Sweden, hyperpop)

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    My boy Bladee. I feel like he's been resting this year after releasing his magnum opus last year (Cold Visions, what an album). This was my fav song by him this year.


    Sion - avoid2 (🇰🇷 Korea, hyperpop)

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    Hyperpop songs aren't usually known for their "drops", but this song somehow song has the best hyperpop drop of all time (listen to 1:13). This is a standout track on an otherwise ambitious but lacklustre album (I always feel the need to shade Sion idk why).


    Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

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    blue flame by aoen

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    thanks your for your efforts, ever so explorative and indie bottle keep it up :thumbs-up: .

    also personally, like jennie isn't even in my top 5 fav songs of ruby :eyes: ...


    in order:


    seoul city

    damn right

    zen

    handlebars

    extral


    (+ filter)


    for 24 my fav kpop releases was Whiplash / Cosmic / Supernatural ... and you're so goated to have Supernatural as your top song :pepelove2: .

    (fave non kpop was probably l'amour de ma vie or blue by billie + girl so confusing with charlie and lorde and lastly supernatural by ari :love: )


    anyway, the first and last songs on your list are very nice btw :pepe-grooving: .

    thanks for the discovery :finger-heart:


    also care to share your top 10 Orrsome28¬‿¬

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    btw have you seen this performance Bottles ?


    i LOVE it soo much :wilds:


    also this is such a BANGER from this year:

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    Why you do me like this, Tatty?


    You know that picking favourites is my eternal struggle. However, since you inquired, I'll attempt it once I am at my PC.

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    Thanks for checking out some of the song, really glad you like those! iiso by the way has loads of different genres, she has NewJeans style d'n'b and UK garage as well as things like that post punk track. She has no fixed style so it's always a wild ride listening to her.

    I really like the FKA Twigs song. I am not massively into her, but she appears as a feature in lots of songs I like (my SOTY 2022 was her song with Yung Lean - Bliss), so I would appreciate a few more recs if you have them!

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