I cannot believe that we are already through the first half of 2018! There has been so much good K-Pop so far this year that I don’t even know where to begin when choosing my top KPop albums from this year so far. All of these albums you will have see posts for already, as I would have either reviewed the album itself (you can see all of those posts here) or or an unboxing of the album (those are here). You may also see posts for both for many of these albums.
As mentioned in the title, this post is just going to be a list of my top KPop Albums in 2018 thus far (minus ones that may have just been released this week). As all of these already have posts on them, I will make sure to link directly to those posts so that you can read even more about the music. They are not in order any particular order besides the order that I thought of all of them in.
Top 8 KPop Albums of 2018 thus far:
iKON Return, The Second Album
This album stole my heart when it was released at the end of January. The title track was amazing, and there are a number of other really good songs that made it into my playlist in this album. This album is so good that I even listen to the whole thing on repeat sometimes. I think that this album 100% set the tone for what we should expect in the music industry in 2018, and every other album has had to just race to catch up. It’s a no-brainer to be one of the top KPop albums of the year thus far. You can read my review of the album here, and my unboxing here. Side note: I did also talk about this album in my post on Best Budget Albums to Start a K-Pop collection post.
BoA One Shot |Two Shot Mini Album
Coming out shortly after iKON, this album is another one that has made 2018 absolutely amazing. I think that BoA is truly an amazing artist who is sexy, yet also relatable, and this album just 100% exemplifies that. This is a big thing for me to say about a female artist, as I am usually more critical of them than the males. Most of this album made it into my playlist, and I also listen to it straight through quite frequently. You can read my review of the album here, and my unboxing here. This album is also featured in my post of Best Budget albums to start a K-Pop Collection.
HEIZE Wish & Wind EP
This EP just swept me away. Although I didn’t initially think to initially pre-order, or even listen to, and I listened to it just as I was walking around one day, and oh my goodness gracious… Girl knows how to rock the jazz vibes. I was honestly extremely impressed and in my happy zone when I heard it, especially because getting jazz right is hard. It requires a lot of emotion, and stylization, and girl gets it hands down. So of course, I immediately bought a copy of it, and when I got it in the mail, IT HAD FIRCKIN JENGA IN IT! Bonus points for clever packaging! After seeing her live at KCON NY last weekend. She is just as good in person, and you can really see how much she loves what she does. You can read my review of the album here and see my unboxing here.
NCT 2018 Empathy
This is one of the releases in March that I was so freaking hyped for that it was ridiculous. I was not disappointed in the slightest with the album’s release. Every single track on this album is absolutely phenomenal, and they even have music videos for almost every single track. I just love it. Also, now that I understand NCT’s concept, I really like that they are split up into units that feature different members for different track. This is gets even better when the tracks include Taeyong. He is the bias. I will not lie though, when I saw them at KCON NY, I fell in love with all of them, not just Taeyong. They’re all adorably weird. You can read my review of the album here and my unboxing here.
Jonghyun Poet/Artist
I know for a lot of you this is one that we don’t want to talk about. I agree, but this album is still one of the best that I have heard this year. Every single track is just phenomenal. If it didn’t stir up so many emotions all the time, I would actually be able to listen to this album on repeat for days. I think this album just showcases how truly talented Jonghyun was as an artist and a composer. We truly lost someone with amazing potential. You can read my review of the album here and my unboxing here.
BTS Love Yourself: Tear
After the first part of the series, Love Yourself: Her, I was really anticipating this comeback. I was also wondering how BTS was going to manage to top themselves. Well, when Love Yourself: Tear came out in May, it was everything that I wanted from BTS and more. The album builds on and moves the story that was created with the first part. It also manages to maintain the message of accepting yourself for who you are. When you listen to both albums back to back, they are cohesive and really sound as though they are to be consumed together. If you want to read more about this album, you can read my review here and my unboxing here.
Mamamoo Yellow Flower
This album really increased my love for Mamamoo and made them one of my favorite girl groups. I love their energy and their ability to hold tight harmonies. That’s hard. One person can easily slide into a wrong note, and all four of them manage to do it with what looks like minimal effort. On top of that, every single song on this album is as good as their outfits. If you want to read my unboxing of the album, you can do so here.
Super Junior Replay
This is the repackage of Super Junior’s Play which came out last fall. For me, as an E.L.F, it was highly anticipated. There is no disappointment here. Repackages have the potential to ruin the integrity of the original album. In this situation, the new songs just added onto the original feel of the work. The album bleeds masculine energy, and the 4 new songs enhance that feel. On top of that Super Duper plays in my head quite frequently. When I was at KCON NY this past week, Super Duper was in my head for half of the weekend. If you want to read my review of the new songs that were added to the original album, you can do that here. You can also read my unboxing here.
Top KPop Albums: Final Thoughts
This was originally going to be a top 10 list, but I was feeling extremely picky while writing it. I want to make sure that I am only recommending the best albums for all of you to listen to. That’s why it ended up being a top 8. I didn’t feel that it was fair for me to add in albums that just came out in the past 2 or 3 weeks, as they haven’t had a chance yet to withstand the test of time. The last thing I want to do is recommend an album that I will be tired of in 3 weeks.
All of the above albums have managed to not just stay in my playlist since they came out, but have also managed to avoid the “next song crisis”. When any songs from these albums come on, I do not skip past them. Instead, I listen to them the whole way through every time.
Do you have any albums that you are loving so far this year, K-Nuggets? Let me know in the comments below!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
