Board Thread:Off-Topic/@comment-29512888-20190503214433

Hello everyone! Sorry for being so late, but real life is a b, you know :( I should also work on the two April episodes, but the last week of that month fell between April and May so there might still be some potential candidates from the former month.

Introduction
I was afraid this month would have not been decent enough, but I actually found a few more bops I initially overlooked, and now my list is saved! Maybe the huge hiatus between the February episode and this one was useful, after all.

Honorable Mentions (none of them have lyrics except Hakuna Matata)
Not counting it as an actual song but it's still cool, so why don't you check it out? Not really rock, more like 80's new wave and synthpop. It's a real shame that I can't find any English lyrics to this because it's amazing, it really could have been my #1 choice. I swear, I searched everywhere, but nothing was useful. Pretty similar to their debut song, but not quite as good due to a pretty awkward cheerleader-like intro. Thankfully, the world is saved as soon as that chorus strikes.

10. Mamamoo - gogobebe
My lovely queens have just come back and, although it's definitely not their best song ever, they still managed to keep me satisfied with this Latin-influenced party jam. The acoustic guitar in the intro leaves the listener immediately hooked, and the mood-lifting chorus works wonders. Also, this is MUCH better than Friends, please stop reminding me about the existence of that disaster ugh.

9. PinkFantasy SHY - 12 O'Clock
We start the list courtesy of nugu girl group PinkFantasy, who decided to debut a sub-unit with a fusion between a Broadway tribute and Disney's early signature sound. It's something that I haven't seen in K-Pop since Yeojin's Kiss Later and, while 12 O'Clock is nowhere near as great, it still deserves some attention thanks to the funky production filled with brass, tip tap and fast rhythms. Pity that nobody will care about it just because it's not made by a popular group but oh well... If you want to join the club, you're welcome!

8. Sunmi - Noir
And now we get to the other side of the spectrum - a song that is held in high regard by everyone while only being at #8 in my list. Please don't kill me D:! After all, the position is not the only thing that matters - maybe it's here just because it's great but slightly less great than the 7 other songs above! Anyway, let me talk about how much Sunmi has improved over the years because holy sheep, she's come a long way! When Gashina came out, I was quite weirded out to see everyone praising and idolizing what seemed to be a fairly average tropical house song of its times, but then Heroine came and proved Sunmi did have potential, and now she's only flying like a rocket. Noir is a perfect proof of that, and it's not only the unusually insightful lyrics about addiction to social media that drew me in (a true rarity in K-Pop, where 95% of the commercial pop songs are about falling in love or having a party), but it's also the production that plays a huge role in my liking. The reverb effect creates an awesome, sinister atmosphere, which is enhanced by the subtle guitars buried a bit back in the mix and the replayed background vocals, which create an entrancing echo. Oh, and don't forget to watch the music video!

7. Shafla - You've Changed
And now we go back to promoting underrated stuff with Shafla, who have politely removed that ridiculous hashtag out of their name (seriously, it looked like a cat walked on the keyboard lol). Like Noir, You've Changed stood out for being a quite uncommon song - a K-Pop ballad that is actually good! The reason why is because, contrary to most turgid ballads, it doesn't use the typical set of strings and piano in a boring way, but rather to convey strong emotion, which is a thing that almost nobody does nowadays because they only care about showing off their vocal skills and high notes and blah blah blah. You've Changed also differs in that, thanks to a carefully-written vocal melody that immediately gains attention while keeping the subtle, emotional feel of the production. The lyrics about a relationship going downhill are easily the cherry on the top, making it one of the best ballads South Korea has to offer so far.

6. VAV - Thrilla Killa
Yet another underrated group in the list, VAV decided to satisfy my craving for retro concepts with Thrilla Killa, which draws inspiration from Prince and reworks his songwriting smarts into an electronic adaptation that flows like water. Seriously, I didn't expect those 80's melodies to work so well on synths and electronic keyboards, the one in charge of the songwriting and producing must be a genius. Another surprise was the heavily Autotuned background vocals, which I usually hate because very few K-Pop song nowadays use robotic vocals à la 2009, but those from this song fit because they create a cool call-and-response effect. Not much to say about this one, it's just a bop.

5. RM - Intro: Persona
Remember when BigHit released a solo track by V last year before the full-group comeback? They decided to replicate the success because why not, and the results are actually much better than the previous ones. What we have on offer is a hard-hitting rap song about finding an identity in the music industry (a recurring topic in BTS' latest songs, such as Idol), except that it vastly improves on Idol thanks to the significantly sharper songwriting. While Idol can be pretty much summed up in "Some people say we're a K-Pop group and some say we aren't", Intro: Persona dives into that topic by giving an idea of RM's past and his reputation in the K-Pop community. At the end of the song, we don't really get an answer because it's all subjective, what matters to RM is making music that he and his fans will enjoy, so it works much better as a response to critiques than Idol because it explicitly says "Stop caring so much about it, the real question is whether you like me as an artist or not" rather than shrugging it off carelessly like Idol did. "Shaking it off" (to put in Taylor's words) might work once or twice, but then a proper answer is needed because it's a proof of maturity. Oh, and the beat is also cool, definitely better than that frustrating slog from 2015 called Awakening.

4. Momoland - I'm So Hot
Shinsadong Tiger is so decided to cash in on BBoom BBoom's fame that he made not one but two soundalikes, one for DIA and one for Momoland. As you can see, the latter wins thanks to a catchy electro-swing sax riff that is bound to put a smile on your face at first listen (contrary to Woowa, whose abrasive synthline after the chorus only left me perplexed). It's another short review so... enjoy the music, I guess lol.

3. GFriend - Flower
Another group of "Chibi King stannees", GFriend make their way into another list of mine with their Japanese single Flower, which carefully reworks the ongoing Latin trend into their typical sound thanks to an acoustic guitar intro that climaxes until exploding in an epic chorus. It's not very different from their previous material, but it's GFriend, what did you expect? Their only pony trick works really well, and I'm really glad they dropped this song, since I was quite disappointed by Sunrise and I needed something else to make up for that.

2. Lee Gikwang ft. Kid Milli - Don't Close Your Eyes
A song that was considered a solid contender for this list was JUS2's Focus On Me, an 80's-influenced synthpop tune. That was until Lee Gikwang dropped his own version of it, which is better by a HUGE margin. It's definitely thanks to the production, which follows a similar style while having more presence AND more sexiness. Of course you can't fully enjoy this tune without watching the music video and its never-ending amount of abs, dirty looks and sighs - I mean, if you want to promote a sexy comeback, you might as well go all the way, right? Just don't let your label treat you like Pascal treated Stellar (those poor girls... :.

1. Hong Jin Young - Love Tonight
And of course we top the list off with another 80's song about sex, just like last month! Contrary to Taemin, Hong Jin Young isn't very popular outside South Korea, but I strongly recommend you to check her out because trot is a cool music genre and no one does it as well as her. This time, she decided to bless us with a fusion between trot and disco, where the keyboards and the shiny synths take up most of the production while keeping a traditional trot feel that gives the song even more retro vibes, especially thanks to Hong Jin Young's trademark trot-like vocals. There aren't all that many trot songs in K-Pop because they sound quite similar to each other, but they still work when promoted once in a while, and this one definitely deserves Lots of Love - just like the omonymous album, which is one of the few good K-Pop albums because it collects her best singles to date instead of a bunch of throwaways you're bound to forget after a couple minutes. Yeah, that was a pretty lame pun, but I'm willing to do anything to promote underrated music and let people know there's more than BTS and Blackpink :P

Recommendations
This should have been last year's single instead of the forgettable Tell Me. Speaking of Infinite, here's another song inspired from them. In the meanwhile, a member of the group drops a mid-paced R&B jam that is much better than 99% of the attempts at the same genre. There are so many people that should learn from this song and You've Changed, don't you think so? Accurate song title of the month. 9Muses have officially disbanded last month, so I decided to drop a cool song of theirs to remember them (although it's not her best - Wild is, in case you didn't know). Similar to True Love, it belongs to an overdone genre in K-Pop (tropical house), but it's better than almost all of it thanks to an incredibly anthemic chorus with delaying effects and sweeping synths, as well as a slick breakup message. 