I can’t believe that I haven’t done a post like this yet, but I figured it was time. There has been so much amazing music in 2018 that it is hard to cut through all of it, and decide which songs are your absolute favorites. Although I am technically writing this post for all of you, this is more of a way for me to organize my own thoughts and decide upon some of my favorite Kpop Songs for 2018 thus far.
I did previously write a post about my favorite albums of 2018 Thus Far, as well as a number of other compilation posts, but I figured this was a good one to add to my list. This list will include songs that I previous reviewed as part of an album, as well as a number of others, as some were released as singles. So, let’s get right into it.
Note: These are not in any particular order. They are honestly written in the order that I thought about them, so some will be brand new, and others will be older
Loco and Beakhyun: Young
I’m not going to lie, this song has been one of my recent obsessions. It is constantly stuck in my head, and I play it on repeat. The sound of it is so slick, and cool. It’s slightly dark. I’m also not going to lie, I love Loco and Baekhyun as well. After watching It’s Dangerous Beyond the Blankets (you can watch it on Kocowa), I completely fell in love with how weird and quirky Loco is. For being such a cool rapper guy, he is also extremely relatable. As for Baekhyun, I have loved him for ages. He is incredibly talented and his lack of filter is a magical little nugget. If you have never witnessed it, this clip from Knowing Bros will change that. The episode that this is from is on Netflix. This is definitely one of my favorite songs of the years so far.
Mamamoo: Egoistic
Okay, I know I mentioned this before, but this entire album is AMAZING. If you haven’t heard me talk about it before, well you can read my review here, and see my unboxing here. I love Mamamoo as a whole. I think they are all incredibly talented women. This song is just one of the many flavors that they have done, but man do I love it. They also have phenomenal outfit inspiration, which is enough to make them into the favorite KPop songs of 2018.
iKON: Love Scenario (사랑을 했다)
As a whole, iKON has been killing the KPop game in 2018. Both albums they have released in 2018 have been absolutely wonderful, and man do I love having them. So, why did I pick Love Scenario over Killing Me? Mainly cause this song still manages to get stuck in my head 9 months later, and I run around singing it. I talked about in my review how much I love the album (review here and unboxing here), and I still love it today. On top of that, I am a massive fan of their most recent mini-album, as you can probably tell by my thoughts in my review and unboxing.
Black Pink DDu-Du Ddu-Du (뚜두뚜두)
I would be an idiot if I didn’t include this track in my list. When I first heard this song, I actually wasn’t a massive fan, but man does it get stuck in your head! It even got me to buy their squeaky hammer lightstick! It looked cool when Lisa held it, so I wanted one for myself… because then I can actually hit you with my Ddu-du Ddu-du Duuu. Okay. I’m done with my dumb jokes, but I thought that one was necessary. Still love this track to this day, and yell it at the top of my lungs on occasion while driving, hence why it is in the favorite KPop songs list. It gets you some of the best looks I’ve ever seen in Pittsburgh.
NCT 2018 Black on Black
This song came out in April, and I still happen to listen to it on repeat! I don’t know what I love about it so much, but I think it is fantastic. One day, while on my my way to work, I legit replayed this song over and over again for a full half hour. It has so many interesting little pieces to it that all just fit magically together. On top of that, the album this is off of, Empathy, is also fantastic and very well composed. You can read my review and unboxing. I totally geeked out over it, and I will proudly say I am able to name about 15 of the current 18 members of NCT by just looking at them. #accomplished
Oh!GG: Lil’ Touch (몰랐니)
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this Girls’ Generation sub-unit, but man, this release is fire. I absolutely love this track. It’s extremely catchy, and I have played it on repeat for a few hours just to try and hear every single little piece of the track. I love the sexy, sultry side of it. Also, it is nice to have the queens back in action. Per usual, they are killing it. One final side note before continuing: I absolutely love the height difference between Sunny and the rest of the group. It is adorably funny. It’s like the height difference between my mom and the rest of the Cranes: astronomical. This is an easy choice for my favorite KPop songs this year.;
Super Junior: Lo Siento
No list about songs of 2018 would be complete without talking about the kings of it all: Super Junior. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I heard they were doing a latin flair song, and doing it half in Spanish, but, man, do I love that track! It is sexy, sassy, and let’s be real… Donghae, AKA the man who touched my hand, looks great in basically the whole video. (The rest do too, obviously, but Donghae has an extra special place). You can read my review of my thoughts on Replay here, as well as my unboxing.
Hyolyn: Dally
This music video stole my heart as soon as I saw it. It oozes sexiness! On top of that, the track is phenomenal. I wasn’t sure what to expect from Hyolyn now that she has started her own agency, but man am I in love with it. She was sexy before SISTAR disbanded, but she has truly taken it to a new level now! We love a talented queen, and Hyolyn is definitely that. She knows how to work it, and I still adore this song to this day! That’s why this has made the list of favorite KPop Songs.
Favorite KPop Songs: Final Thoughts
This list of favorite songs is obviously very, very limited at this moment in time, as I really could go on for ages. I really wanted to make sure I wasn’t picking the extremely obvious tracks, such as ones off of BTS Love Yourself (which I do adore). I wanted to make sure that I was providing a few that you may not have heard before, like the Baekhyun and Loco track. Obviously, there are a lot more tracks that I love.
If you would like to hear a bit of the music that I listen to on the daily, I have a couple of Apple Music playlists that you are more than welcome to follow that have tons of music, and are always expanding. The main ones are shown below.
My K-Pop Playlists:
- 금토일 (Fri. Sat.Sun) – These are my happy, upbeat songs that I like to listen to before the weekends. Any tracks that are upbeat and easy to dance to will typically end up in here as I listen through albums
- 발라드들 (Ballads) – This one is newer and is still expanding as I listen through artists and find tracks that are appropriate
- 케이팝믹스 (K-Pop Mix) – This is an all inclusive list of upbeat songs, as well as a number of slower tempo ones when you aren’t sure what in particular you want to listen to. It has a pretty big mix of older and newer K-Pop songs that you can listen to.
What tracks of 2018 are you favorites, K-Nuggets? Let me know in the comments down below! I’m always looking for new stuff!
사랑합니다!
–Rachel
