Kpopular's Top 40 K-pop Songs of 2016 (Part 1: Best Singles)

Happy New Year everyone! 2016 is over, and that means it's time for me to do what every other K-pop blogger and their mum (well, okay, not their mum—she probably hates K-pop and wishes her child would just accept that they will never marry that "Jikook" guy) did three weeks ago: list their favourite songs of the year in numerical order, because K-pop fans love ranking things just for the sake of it. This was a pretty awful year for K-pop, with many groups disbanding and others simply absent from the promotional circuit, but there was still a small number of great songs which were a cut above the rest. Note that this post only lists favourite singles; a similar post for album tracks will come soon. (Also this is a fairly long listicle with many embedded videos and as such it may be slow to load for some readers)

Album Review: BTS Grow "Wings", But Struggle To Fly

BTS are one of those groups I've never been able to fully enjoy — from the horrendous "Boy In Luv" to the passable but mostly unremarkable "Save Me", to me their songs have rarely warranted multiple listens (with only one real exception). Ever the masochist saint I am though, I give them a chance with each release, and let's just say that seven doesn't seem to be so lucky a number after all.

Album Review: Lovelyz Take The Helm With 'A New Trilogy'

I made it pretty clear in my review of The Velvet last month that I think Red Velvet are the best rookie group in K-pop, but Lovelyz definitely aren't far behind: cute but not cloying, breezy but not shallow, bright but with a melancholic twist — the group have established a charming sound that lets them stand out from other girl groups musically, and despite its title suggesting otherwise A New Trilogy continues with the sound that Lovelyz have built-up so far.

The 100% Flawless 2016 K-pop Girl Group Tier List

It's spring, and every spring since 2013 Sports Chosun has released a ranking of K-pop girl groups based on overall popularity, composed by industry insiders. They're fun, they're interesting, and they get people talking, but there are always parts of it that make you question whether these "industry insiders" are just kids that joined OneHallyu three months ago: groups appear in the list one year and then disappear the next, some are placed far too high or far too low, and often little or no reasoning is given for each group's placement (if there is any it's usually vague and seemingly unsourced). Despite the amount of clicks it probably gets them they've yet to make a list year, and so I've taken it upon myself to make my own list and shove my worthless opinion in people's faces.

Album Review: Red Velvet's "The Velvet" Shows Consistency Despite Its Flaws

I absolutely adore Red Velvet: "Happiness" was a fun debut song, Ice Cream Cake showed a lot of potential for the group's future, and The Red is probably the strongest first studio album by any K-pop group so far. And this all made me slightly anxious for their next release: would they be able to live up to potential they've shown so far? Will the high benchmarks they've set so early in their career prove impossible to surpass?

GOT7's Latest Single "Fly" Is SHAMELESS Plagiarism #BoycottGOT7

Enjoying GOT7's new music video? Well you shouldn't be, because I've discovered that "Fly" actually SHAMELESSLY ripped off the song "Rocketeer" by Far East Movement featuring Ryan Tedder:

EXACTLY the same, right?? What's that, you're not hearing it? Listen closer:

• The word "fly" is repeated in the hooks of both songs
• The verses consist of raps whilst shaky falsettos are used for the chorus
• Both songs belong to the electronic genre
• Both Far East Movement and GOT7 have Asian-American members

The above is iron-clad evidence that earattack, the producer of the song, has obviously committed the unforgivable crime of plagiarism, and for this they should be sued. Admittedly I'm not sure who produced "Rocketeer" so it might actually have been the same person but that takes effort and that's also not the point here!! The point is this shouldn't be buried by obnoxious iGOT7s 

All I can say is I'm so, so disappointed in GOT7; I know that they didn't write or produce the song but just like SlyU they should be held accountable anyway. And no, I'm not accepting any excuses this time — none of this "parody" shit like with MAMAMOO!! My oppars have betrayed me and I'm disgusted; to think that Youngjae was one of my favourite idols! Not anymore, I'm never supporting that sly bastard again...

I hope, dear readers, you all recognise the injustice present here and join in boycotting everything GOT7: any and all products related to the group and their members, not just their FLIGHT LOG EP. This may seem harsh but these arrogant thugs need to learn a lesson, and it's up to us to teach them it. #BoycottGOT7 #FlopLog

Dal Shabet Save K-Pop With "Someone Like U"

K-pop's been in a sorry state recently: after a December stuffed with horrid winter-themed songs and snoozefest ballads, Dal Shabet, clearly horrified by the absolute slop that's sitting atop of Melon currently, have dropped the best song of 2016 five days into the year. Bless their hearts.