Board Thread:Off-Topic/@comment-29512888-20190703184536

Welcome back to my monthly series! Yeah, I know I'm SOOOOOOO late to the party, but I had so much to study from May to June that working on this project was almost impossible :(

Anyway, here we go!

Introduction
Remember when I said April 2019 was a massive letdown in the West? Well, the situation was the exact opposite for K-Pop, as we got 14 songs available for my list! Not only that, but many of them reach outstanding levels of quality and are among my favorites this year. We'll see right now what this great month brought on offer!

Honorable Mentions (the first one has no lyrics)
Definitely not the best trot song this month - we'll delve into that later - but, for what it is, it's still pretty catchy and fun. She also gets some mad points for releasing eight singles since September 2018, now that's determination for fame! Both Stars Over Me and that other single from this month were nice and cozy acoustic guitar tunes, but I prefer this one thanks to the chorus, whcih feels more earnest and melodic. Probably one of the best attempt at mixing K-Pop with Latin pop, and it's all thanks to that infectious drop. This is also quite cool. I didn't expect the electro keybaord to mesh so well with the Latin flavor, yet it does somehow.

10. AB6IX - Hollywood
2019 has been pretty underwhelming in terms of debuts so far. I mean, we had.. Oneus... and VERIVERY... and The Pink Lady... and uh... Hot Place's TMI, which is a HUGE guilty pleasure but definitely not "Best of 2019" material... and NO NO THIS WHAT THE F ARE YOU DOING AAAAAAAAHHHHFHYIBGVFVUBGFHIBNKBGJBN *I am sorry to announce you there has been a server malfunction. We hope to go back to our regularly scheduled program as soon as possible* *a few minutes later* Whew... that was TRASH. Anyway, AB6IX decided to add their positive quota with Hollywood, an EDM song rooted in heavy synthwork. I usually don't love this kind of music, but this one works because it has lots of grit combined with a catchy melody. The result falls somewhere between Skrillex and Marshmello, but without being ear-piercing or generic, and that's the point of K-Pop: taking Western songs and improving them. I definitely wish the best of luck to these guys!

9. Blackpink - Don't Know What To Do
Yeah yeah, I know they also released another song and you all want to know what I think of it but, honestly, this B-side that's being promoted at music shows also deserves some attention, so stop for 3 minutes and take your time to give it a good listen. You will discover an amazing electro-pop tune in the style of Golden Age K-Pop (2009-2012) that manages to be punchy yet also soft and endearing with its synths, as well as flawless performances. Seriously, who knew these girls could emote so well? If you don't like it, that's fine - I found it a bit milquetoast, too - but at least I'm happy you didn't ignore it as if it was nothing, and I kindly thank you for that.

8. Twice - Fancy
And now we go back at adding 2 cents to a typical A-list group talk. This time around, Twice deliver another amazing bop with Fancy, which deserves a whole lot of points for accomplishing the impossible: adding a slight change to their image without messing up their trademark bubbly sound. The clearest evidence is the music itself, which is based off urban house with a whole explosion of synths and a catchy refrain that's bound to make you smile even hours after each listen! With this song, I can easily say JYP and Twice's producers are absolute geniuses for always inventing something new for them while not straying too far away from their typical formula, and let's hope they continue their hot streak!

7. Pentagon - Spring Snow
If there's a type of K-Pop related questions I cannot answer, that's the one about K-Pop albums, which I rarely listen and even more rarely enjoy. The problem I have with them is that, in 99.9% of the cases, the only worthwhile song is the feature track and everything else is rejected stuff. However, there are cases where the B-side track rises in quality to almost the same level as the feature (see above) and, sometimes, it can even be better. Take, for example, Pentagon's Spring Snow, released in the same album as Sha La La from March. I really wanted to enjoy Sha La La, especially with those cool retro sounds, but it's way emptier than it should be, it sounds like it's missing something. Thankfully, Spring Snow, which was promoted in music shows one month later, made up for that with an amazing blast of smashing rock guitars, which get their calibrated time to shine and accompany the voices flawlessly as the guys remember a long-gone relationship. An amazing song overall, and I really wish it received a music video.

6. High Tension - Ready For
If you followed K-Pop closely enough last year, you might remember an electro-rock duo called High Tension. They debuted with Cray, which had potential but wound up being irritating due to the music not taking any pause. Fortunately, the two guys made up for that with another single called Infectious and an even better rendition called Ready For. This time, I'm not really wasting my keyboard buttons over a description of the music because it's pretty much the same thing done over and over, but it's the good king of same thing over and over so that's not a complaint at all. Now that I think about it, it would fit perfectly in a workout playlist, so maybe it's a subliminal message about me needing to go to the gym and stop eating like a walrus... who knows? In the meanwhile, I'll continue looking like a deformed Sim and dancing clumsily, much to the embarrassment of the Internet.

5. Jo Jung Min - Ready Q
OK, so now it's time to delve more into trot as promised. As much as I like this genre, I must admit most songs sound very similar to each other, leading to a decrease in interest as time goes. However, that doesn't mean innovation can't exist, and this completely unknown genius called Jo Jung Min brings some new spices with Ready Q. It starts as a tango beat full of stomps, guitar strums, horns and handclaps, accompanied by a slightly sad vibe due to a relationship gone down to the drain, and that's already a good idea because it revolutions the Latin sound that permeates K-Pop so much this year. But then Jo realises that she must stop being sad and taking control of her life is the best thing to overcome the depression... and then the music grows and grows and grows and THEN THAT BEAT DROP HAPPENS AND TìS ALLSKKIGRN NABABDJJANNSMJN FHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGHGHHGGHHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGHHG BODOBOBMBIOMBOBNMBNNBNBOMBM,BKKMOBNMBBGNMGGFOBNMBOB

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4. Blackpink - Kill This Love
Ahhhh... now we talk about what you guys were all expecting. Make no mistake, Kill This Love is still impressive as hell. Everything about this production is amazingly confident, as the marching rhythm is supported by some imposing brass tones and oddly-fitting trap elements. All this confidence is carried onto the members themselves, who talk about a toxic relationship they need to get out of, while reflecting the typical dilemma of how to value properly the positive and negative memories: sometimes, they wish they could stay a little more because they get along with the guy at the end of the day, but they must also keep in mind that the situation has gotten out of hand and it's better to put and end before it's too late. All of this is emphasized by a gorgeous climax in the pre-chorus, which leads to one of the best hooks in K-Pop this year. I do wish there were some more details in the lyrics and the ending wasn't so abrupt, but for what it is, I can still appreciate it!

3. High School - Baby You're Mine
A type of genre that I'd definitely love to see again in K-POp is EDM, the kind of electronic pop that was around between 2010 and 2011 and moved every rear back onto the dancefloor without control. I mean, is there anyone who would live without a remake of Sorry Sorry, I Am The Best or Number Nine? I definitely wouldn't, and neither does High School's label, who had the wise idea to bring this old trend back to life with Baby You're Mine, which has literally everything an EDM song of the era would have had: fast rhythm, catchy chorus, great synthwork that does not make the listener's ears bleed... Pity for the awful trap breakdown, but then everything else is so amazing that it almost goes unnoticed. If only that was the case with every trap breakdown in music...

2. Eyedi - & New
When it comes to 80's throwbacks, K-Pop brings two sub-genres: synthpop and new wave (I would also mentions Sweetune's brand of retro pop, but that's literally a separated niche because it's too great to blend into the rest of 80's music). 80's aficionada Eyedi, however, brings her new flavor with & New, which clearly lifts elements off 80's indie rock with a slight scent of new wave, and the result rises above every level of transcendence. Hell, even the heavily distorted guitar is pleasant, because it's meshed with the rest of the production very professionally and doesn't stick out too much. It's an epic song overall and, believe me, it would have undoubtedly been the #1 choice for this month if it had not been for...

1. Target - Beautiful
Wow. Just... wow. I have no words to express how much I love this. Ladies and gentleman, we have a special case. Now I seriously ask you to keep quiet for 3 minutes and admire the beauty of this production. It starts with gentle piano touches, and then a sweet harmony is carried by the vocals as the music arises with percussion and even more keys... and then it explodes into a truly amazing chorus that has some of the sweetest harmony ever composed in the history of music. Seriously, it even gives me shivers because of how great it is, and that does not happen everyday, and it almost makes me cry with all of its raw emotion and subtle power. So yeah, here we have it: not only the best K-Pop song of the month, but also the best K-Pop song of the entire year. Target, JSL Company and... SWEETUNE??? OH MY GOD THAT'S SWEETUNE AAAAHHHHHHH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU KISS KISS KIS MWAH Z3 Z<3 < 3 3NJHUFLKOPKIPJUIYB H

dammit way too many breakdowns this month f**k this s**t ugh

Recommendations
If you got sick of my schmaltzy stuff and you prefer to party hard, then I got you covered! A very cool reggae tune, and I wish this was chosen as the single instead of the generic Loca. Surf guitars in K-Pop is another thing we need more. Not sure why this was not chosen as the single over Good Luck but oh well, at least it was still promoted at music shows (unlike Fancy). This one was also promoted at music shows but barely anyone gave a seed about it. But hey, at least the music video has some great muscles! 