The 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of All Time: 20-11

Readers, over the past two months, I have worked to create a list of my favorite K-Pop Songs of All Time. For over ten years, I have enjoyed K-Pop, seeing it blossom into a global genre with millions and millions of adoring fans. I have found K-Pop songs I love, made friends over the genre, and seen legacies built over the years. Some of the songs that have made me feel the most are from K-Pop. Given all I have felt and seen, I thought it was finally time to create a ranking of my favorite K-Pop songs of all time.

I don't claim this ranking is perfect, no ranking of this can be perfect. I can only claim that I did my best to provide my personal opinion, with my personal biases, from my years of enjoying Korean music. There are many more boy band songs than girl group (I just prefer their general soundscape), and many songs come from the second generation (2005-2013).

In a way, K-Pop is a bit of a misnomer here. I have included Korean songs outside of the idol sphere, and songs released nearly a century ago. The end result is a list full of songs that left their mark on me. I hope you, the reader, enjoy this list. You may (and almost certainly won't) agree with my ranking, but that is what makes a personal list like this so wonderful.

With that said, let us enter the rules and regulations for what has been qualified as K-Pop for this list.

• Any musical piece released in South Korea, or any of its direct predecessor states, AND/OR is predominantly in the Korean language, Jejuan, or any of their dialects.
• The musical piece must be lyrical in nature.
• Any song, single, or b-side, is eligible.
• This list is MY personal opinion.
• Song rankings may have changed since previous lists and/or reviews.
• The criterion for "the greatest" is a mix of my personal experience, the overall songwriting (lyrically, compositionally, and performance-wise), and the influence of the track in question.
• A song refers to a particular recording of the track and not the basic composition.
• Only one entry per composition.

With all this said. The list will begin tomorrow. For songs 100-11, they will be grouped into daily posts of 10 (100-91, 90-81, etc.). For the top 10, however, each song would get a post of its own.

I hope all of you enjoy this list over the days! Please give your thoughts in the comments, and I will gladly reply when free.

Support 10/10 - Music and Purchase Your K-Pop Albums Right Here

Previously:

Honorable Mentions

100-91

90-81

80-71

70-61

60-51

50-41

40-31

30-21

20. Gfriend - Rough (2016)

Rough may look like a wistful and nostalgic look at a childhood past none of us can ever return to, but Youngbae and Iggy's composition grits its teeth surprisingly hard behind its emotions, making Rough as close to heavy metal as it was to orchestral J-Pop. Rough tackled youthful love with a maturity rarely seen in youth-oriented art, with its theming being both intricate and expansive, while never losing its beating emotional core. From Yerin's pleading end of the pre-chorus to Yuju's high note, Rough is a song that captured lightning-in-a-bottle, launching a successful career for Gfriend. (Full Review)

19. Boyfriend - Janus (2012)

Perhaps due to their cheeky and rather inaccurate name, or perhaps due to their agency's promotional tactics, Boyfriend (now BF) never garnered the acclaim and popularity they deserved. Janus is their magnum opus, pushing songwriter-producer team Sweetune to their very limits. Telling a tale of letting your love go so she can love (old school romance being a Sweetune specialty), the ornamental performance by Boyfriend proves an excellent assist to the stately and majestic melody, letting cracks of emotions fall through a sturdy exterior.

18. TVXQ - Athena (2010)

Almost as great as Athena is the fact that it exists at all. After a messy lawsuit and break-up reduced TVXQ from five to two, producer Hwang Hyun was put in charge for the first tease of their return with an OST for the drama Athena: Goddess of War. There is a sense of measurable rage in Athena, with Yunho and Changmin tackling every single line as if their livelihood depended on it, and indeed it likely did. Athena's stirring strings and thundering rock-adjacent melody needed a guiding voice for it to rise and fight like the goddess of war it was named after, and TVXQ provided that. Changmin's measurable angst rocks the chorus, turning the OST into a full-on screamo-rock song.

17. Infinite - The Chaser (2012)

The Chaser was always a beloved hit, but over the years, via appreciation from blogs and channels, it grew to be one of those eternal cult classics that have fandoms of their own. It is not hard to see why, with Sweetune's propulsive and hard-hitting synthwave production crashing over Infinite's wonderful vocal harmonies to create a song so intense and jam-packed with highlight moments. From the thundering synth-Haegeum introduction to the lyrics (written in old Korean prose), The Chaser was already destined for this list when Woohyun's stunning recitation of the key-changed chorus hit, but nevertheless, Sweetune and Infinite didn't stop until they created a song for the ages.

16. SHINee - Everybody (2013)

2013 was SHINee's year. They released three full-length albums, a compilation album, and a seven-track EP to close out the year, many of which included tracks featured on this very list. It was within their closing EP, however, that they provided their artistic peak. Everybody tackled the hitherto unheard-of genre of Complextro, creating a genre highlight. The breakneck electronic instrumental sped through at a chaotic rate, with many flourishes that would make legendary EDM DJs blush. There is never, however, any risk of Everybody collapsing, with Jonghyun, Onew, and co.'s vocals providing a lush anchor for the literal blitzkrieg of hooks and flourishes that make Everybody so invigorating.

15. IU - To The Sea (2009)

Over a year before she would become Korea's beloved little sister, a young IU brought to life a little OST for the legendary K-Drama, Queen Seondeok. While it only improves when heard alongside its correlated storytelling, To The Sea is magical on its own. The song merges orchestral influences, funky bass, a children's choir, and traditional Pansori singing into a magical song of yearning hope. To The Sea's expansive influences are held together by an incredible children's choir-driven chorus, assisted by IU's most hopeful and dreamy performance ever. To The Sea's vast ambition rips from its every fiber, creating a melodic composition that still sounds as fresh and vital as it did over fourteen years ago.

14. TVXQ - O-Jung.Ban.Hap (2006)

By 2006, TVXQ and Yoo Young-Jin collaborations had resulted in absolute masterpieces and O-Jung.Ban.Hap stands nonetheless as one of the most essential distillations of what made their songs so incredible. O-Jung.Ban.Hap's lyrics tackled the Hegelian dialect and somehow managed to condense one of the most controversial philosophies of the past five hundred years into four minutes. Holding the track together is one of the most expressive SMP songs ever, with nearly every refrain pairing off another, with mightily-performed hooks and dramatic production, each element comes together into a catchy blend of hip-hop and rock. From Yoochun's iconic opening delivery to the thundering rock riff that closes the track, O-Jung.Ban.Hap is impeccable with its endless build.

13. H.O.T. - Hope (1998)

Much of H.O.T.'s discography laid the groundwork for what K-Pop could be, and Hope, while initially being ranked in the middle of their impressive singles discography, has slowly gone on to become one of the group's most beloved songs. Its merger of sentimental lyrics and a melodramatic hip-hop ballad compositional style has become omnipresent in the industry it spawned, but none of the songs captured Hope's dynamite composition. Composer Yoo Young-Jin merged the hip-hop melody with the eternal Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony, capturing the optimistic message at Hope's heart. Released at the heart of a brutal Korean recession, Hope's message became an instant hit. It remains so to this day, bearing Korea through each hurdle with hope.

12. ZE:A - The Ghost of Wind (2013)

The Ghost of Wind is a track that pairs towering Gregorian chants, entire string sections, heavy hooks, and an explosive dance beat. A weaker song would drag the listener through a hefty dose of each element; overwhelming the listener. But The Ghost of Wind is not that song, with production team Duble Sidekick creating a nimble and funky track, with hardly any fat on its bones. While filled to the brim with drama, The Ghost of Wind never loses its emotive heart, performed incredibly by ZE:A's members for a stellar chorus. While many of the members of ZE:A would go on to individually garner much acclaim, their discography remains supremely underrated, with The Ghost of Wind standing as their undisputed masterpiece.

11. Xia Junsu - Flower Ft. Tablo (2015)

Kim Junsu, also known as Xia, has always been an artist to take exceptional risks, blurring the line between art and the artist. His music always had an avant-garde expression to his storytelling, and Flower is the culmination of every single effort of his before. At a surface level, it is a cry for help from a desperate artist. On another level, a story of his bitter contract dispute with his former agency SM. At its highest, it is an ode to art as the salvation for the artist. Assisting him is Tablo with the most explosive verse of his career. All these themes are expressed through a track that blends genres with ease, creating a ballad paired with aggressive rap, gothic choirs, explosive strings, and a driven ambition that was never seen before, nor ever seen since.

Next: Number 10

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