Miscellaneous K-pop Highlights of 2022

    

    Ok I know I said my first set of posts would be my top 20 lists, but while making my lists, I realized there were several songs that didn't make my lists but still deserved a shout out. Also note, there are many more really good songs that didn't make my lists. After all, my 2022 Korean music playlist on Spotify ended up with over 450 songs!

Most Unique K-pop Choreography of 2022

"Villain" - Trendz 

(Fun fact: Jinjin from ASTRO co-composed, co-wrote, and co-arranged this song)

    I'm not sure if few people know about this choreo or if people forgot about this choreo because it was released in January 2022, but this song has been talked about very little. To be honest, I'm a bit upset about that. The amount of work that probably went into developing and executing this choreo must have been massive, yet its hardly gotten any love.

    I, like many people, love a good choreo involving props, and this one happens to feature what I believe is coban, a stretchy bandage material that adheres to itself well (see below). Not sure if it was intentional (it probably was), but there's a lyric in the song "I'll be your wound healer" and the prop in the choreo is a bandage! Many k-pop choreos with props only use them for parts of the song, but the coban is utilized in most of "Villain". 

Coban (for reference)

    The thing about working with props is they're hard to master and can lead to a lot of mistakes if you don't practice enough. It was pretty insane for TRENDZ to take on a unique choreo heavily featuring a prop during their DEBUT era. And this was in addition to their title track and other promoted b-side, "Trauma". Yeah, they learned and performed 3 different choreos in the same album promotion period. Interpark, TRENDZ's company, surely wanted to declare to the world that this is a very strong performance group. 

    TRENDZ performed Villain on music shows for about 2 weeks, which was a lot more than I expected for a promoted b-side. Despite performing the song quite a few times, TRENDZ executed this choreo really well. I believe I noticed a mistake in only 2 of the performances, and they handled them very professionally. 

    This choreo was made by the amazing Kim Beom and Park Haeri of MOTF. If you follow me on twitter or ig, you probably already know I've been a huge fan of MOTF's work since the beginning of 2021. What I really love about this choreo is all the unique ways the coban is utilized (see screenshots below). Even the few parts not utilizing the coban are good. I cannot think of another choreo quite like Villain's, so I just had to do a write up on it!

It's really cool when they tie it around their ankles

Full fancam (to appreciate the details better)

Favorite Remixes/Rearrangements of 2022

I felt like these versions of k-pop songs didn't fit in any of my official lists, but they definitely still deserve a mention!

"Sober (remix)" - DKB

    I've been a fan of DKB since 2021 for their R&B hip hop fusion sound and their strong performances (they self-choreograph quite often too). The original version of Sober is solid, but definitely didn't appeal to me as much as 2021's "All In" and "Rollercoaster". This remix really amps up the energy and matches my taste really well. It leans more on the alternative rock/emo side, but still manages to be really high energy. This was one of my top 5 most listened to tracks on Spotify in 2022. The algorithm did feed it to me a lot, but I truly was, and still am, obsessed with this remix!

"DARARI (remix)" - Treasure

    The original version of this b-side went viral pretty quickly after its release. While I did understand why it was popular, it wasn't the type of song I'd go out of my way to listen to. This remix changed everything though! I, once again, wasn't expecting a rock remix and a really good one at that! The rock sound is present throughout, and it's just so fun and energetic! I'm not really into Treasure, but whenever they do rock, it's always good. YG Entertainment needs to hurry up and put this version on streaming services!

"Same Scent" (Traditional version) - ONEUS

    Sadly, ONEUS will not be appearing on any of my top 20 lists this year. Don't get me wrong, they released some good stuff this year, but the competition was crazy in 2022. While I did like "Same Scent", it just didn't appeal to me like a number of their previous title tracks. At times, it reminds me a little too much of their 2020 title track "A Song Written Easily."

    Luckily for me, ONEUS released this version just before the end of 2022! It was created for the annual year-end show, KBS Song Festival. This re-arrangement breathes a whole new life and identity into the song! The formations, the traditional Korean instrumental, the usage of traditional props, and the additional choreography are all amazing! The dancers deserve a major shout out for really making the performance impressive. ONEUS has incorporated traditional Korean music multiple times now (e.g. "Lit", "Luna"), and I hope they never stop because they always do an amazing job!

KBS Song Festival performance

Favorite Nugu* K-pop Group Release of 2022

*Nugu means "who" in Korean, and the term refers to artists with very small followings where the average person doesn't know who they are. 

"Love Taker" - Pritti-G

    I really wanted to include this in my title tracks list, but this song is a little too unpolished to compete with the cleaner production work of the groups in my top 20. Even though "Love Taker" clearly has the production quality of a group with a very small budget, the song packs a strong rock/metal punch. Rock was a popular trend in k-pop for the second year in a row, with a number of groups taking a swing at the sound. Surprisingly, I feel like Pritti-G managed to incorporate it better than many other groups. And "Love Taker" was their first time trying a stronger concept/sound!

    The producers clearly took a lot of inspiration from my loves, Dreamcatcher, as well as j-rock in general. The song has enough of its own sound and identity to the point where I'm not mad about the borrowing. The choreo is also pretty enjoyable, which makes the entire performance experience fun to watch! 

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    Well, I hope this list was interesting! If you look into these songs, please let me know what you think of them! Otherwise, I'll see you all in the next post which really will be the beginning of my top 20 lists.