I wanted to start off with my nugu faves, since there were some great releases that just missed making it into my lists. Not to mention, I love spotlighting underrated artists. As a refresher, nugu means "who" in korean and is a western term used to refer to korean artists that are unknown to most listeners.
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As far as I can tell, ABLUE weren't able to promote this song for very long. I didn't follow music shows much in 2023, so this is just going off of what I can find on youtube. However, they sang live for all the performances, so they definitely get kudos for that, especially since singing live on music shows/award shows is becoming increasingly rarer. I hope ABLUE can continue this momentum in 2024!
"DUBI DUBI" - ARTBEAT v
ARTBEAT is actually a well known dance cover group in South Korea with over 4 million youtube subscribers, and in 2022 some of the members came together to form their own k-pop group. While the cover group may not be nugu, the k-pop group definitely is, so they still qualify in my book. They've released a couple good songs, but "DUBI DUBI" is definitely their best song yet!
The 80s trend in k-pop continued into 2023, though it definitely started losing a bit of steam. While 2020-2022 were mainly full of synth pop and synthwave, the new jack swing genre re-emerged this past year. Previously, I never considered myself a huge fan of new jack swing, but I found myself enjoying the fun, bouncy energy of these songs in the k-pop soundscape. This is my way of hinting that this will not be the only time new jack swing appears on my posts for 2023 haha.
"DUBI DUBI" is a straightforward new jack swing song that's just pure throwback fun. The pre-chorus is the only part that strays away from the new jack swing sound, but I think it's a nice little breather that sets up the chorus and refrain well. The refrain is quite repetitive, but I absolutely love it and haven't tired of it. As expected of a dance group, the choreo is good, and they perform it with great energy! It's a rather active choreo, so I'm sure it's quite tiring as well. And there's even a proper dance break before the final refrain!
"SENTIMOTION" - JT&MARCUS
I just learned of this duo in 2023 despite the fact that they debuted in 2021. They are both former members of the now disbanded group TREI, and Marcus (real name: Lee Jaejun) is currently a member of boy group TAN, one of my favorite debuts of 2022. Note that only JT sings on "SENTIMOTION", but Marcus helped co-compose and co-write the song.
Honestly, I liked this single so much that it could have made it into one of my official top 20 lists, but I didn't know where to put them. It's unfair to put them in the soloist category since they're technically a duo (just not on this particular song), and two people is not a group, so I'm placing them here because it's the most relevant category for them.
"SENTIMOTION" is a beautiful rock ballad that focuses on JT's stunning and emotive vocals. My guess is that sentimotion is sentiment(al) and emotion combined. There's no official translation, but looking at the rough translation, it's a classic breakup song. The instrumental is moving and melancholic, yet it does build quite nicely, reaching a peak during the bridge. The outro is also a highlight and features only piano and JT's vocals. This is the only ballad that made it into this post, so that tells you just how much I loved this track.
"On my way" - VI'ENX
"On my way" is actuallly a pre-debut song, but it's definitely good enough to have been VI'ENX's debut single, in my opinion. 2 of the members are re-debuts, and 1 of them has been in 2 groups prior to VI'ENX. Speaking of 80s trends, "On my way" is a synth pop song with rock influence. Without the rock aspect, this song probably wouldn't have made it into this post, since it would've been like the many other 80s inspired songs released in the last 3 years.
The rock sound takes over during the pre-chorus and chorus, bringing more pace and energy to the song. The outro also features a nice guitar solo. I really appreciate the nice outro considering k-pop songs are generally continuing to get shorter, and many songs just end abruptly these days. I think the vocalists sound good on this song, even though the production and mixing work are a little rough around the edges. The choreo is also pretty good!
"INDEPENDENT WOMAN" - eite
eite is a Korean-Japanese girl group that I didn't know about until they announced this debut single album, but wow did they end up impressing me! While girl groups and female artists still ruled the charts in 2023, I honestly preferred the boy group debuts to the girl group debuts overall last year. eite was definitely an exception though!
"For You (Go! Go!)" - MAKA'MAKA
This girl group debuted in 2020, but they only have 4 single albums so far. I do recall their debut single being pleasant, but otherwise this group didn't really make an impression on me until this single.
"For You" is a cute, cheerful, upbeat pop song driven by electric guitar. Honestly, this sounds closer to a j-pop song because of the guitar and cutesy high energy. In 2023, k-pop has somewhat shied away from high energy songs like this, especially for girl group singles. Due to this trend, I found myself gravitating toward energetic songs like "For You" even more in 2023.
The single is only 2:16 in length, but I don't mind it in this case since it's upbeat throughout and stays in the same musical pocket the entire time. Part of me thinks it would be nice if there was a proper intro rather than just hitting you with the chorus though. I just find the guitar on this song charming, and their vocals sound pretty good as well, even though the production team clearly didn't have much of a budget.
This song cheers me up and gives me energy, so I felt it deserved a shout out! Unfortunately, I don't think they promoted the song in any way, so the music video is the only content related to the song that's available.
"For You (Go! Go!)" English translation (only one I could find)
"MAD" - ABLUE
I enjoyed this group's debut in 2022, and this first comeback was also quite good! "MAD" is a pop rock style track with electric guitar driving the instrumental. I'm pretty confident the main guitar riff is a basic sample available to everyone, but I think it works in this song, especially during the chorus. And does this title track have an earworm of a chorus. Seriously, the chorus topline always gets stuck in my head! At times, the song takes on a funk rock vibe, especially during the bridge, which is a fun surprise. Also, I have to admit the rap on this track is actually solid and fits the vibe well.
Music video
This girl group debuted in 2020, but they only have 4 single albums so far. I do recall their debut single being pleasant, but otherwise this group didn't really make an impression on me until this single.
"For You" is a cute, cheerful, upbeat pop song driven by electric guitar. Honestly, this sounds closer to a j-pop song because of the guitar and cutesy high energy. In 2023, k-pop has somewhat shied away from high energy songs like this, especially for girl group singles. Due to this trend, I found myself gravitating toward energetic songs like "For You" even more in 2023.
The single is only 2:16 in length, but I don't mind it in this case since it's upbeat throughout and stays in the same musical pocket the entire time. Part of me thinks it would be nice if there was a proper intro rather than just hitting you with the chorus though. I just find the guitar on this song charming, and their vocals sound pretty good as well, even though the production team clearly didn't have much of a budget.
This song cheers me up and gives me energy, so I felt it deserved a shout out! Unfortunately, I don't think they promoted the song in any way, so the music video is the only content related to the song that's available.
"For You (Go! Go!)" English translation (only one I could find)
"MAD" - ABLUE
Music video
Music show performance
English translation (only one I could find)
I enjoyed this group's debut in 2022, and this first comeback was also quite good! "MAD" is a pop rock style track with electric guitar driving the instrumental. I'm pretty confident the main guitar riff is a basic sample available to everyone, but I think it works in this song, especially during the chorus. And does this title track have an earworm of a chorus. Seriously, the chorus topline always gets stuck in my head! At times, the song takes on a funk rock vibe, especially during the bridge, which is a fun surprise. Also, I have to admit the rap on this track is actually solid and fits the vibe well.
As far as I can tell, ABLUE weren't able to promote this song for very long. I didn't follow music shows much in 2023, so this is just going off of what I can find on youtube. However, they sang live for all the performances, so they definitely get kudos for that, especially since singing live on music shows/award shows is becoming increasingly rarer. I hope ABLUE can continue this momentum in 2024!
"DUBI DUBI" - ARTBEAT v
Music video (rough English translation available)
Music show performance
Full cam view of music show performance
ARTBEAT is actually a well known dance cover group in South Korea with over 4 million youtube subscribers, and in 2022 some of the members came together to form their own k-pop group. While the cover group may not be nugu, the k-pop group definitely is, so they still qualify in my book. They've released a couple good songs, but "DUBI DUBI" is definitely their best song yet!
The 80s trend in k-pop continued into 2023, though it definitely started losing a bit of steam. While 2020-2022 were mainly full of synth pop and synthwave, the new jack swing genre re-emerged this past year. Previously, I never considered myself a huge fan of new jack swing, but I found myself enjoying the fun, bouncy energy of these songs in the k-pop soundscape. This is my way of hinting that this will not be the only time new jack swing appears on my posts for 2023 haha.
"DUBI DUBI" is a straightforward new jack swing song that's just pure throwback fun. The pre-chorus is the only part that strays away from the new jack swing sound, but I think it's a nice little breather that sets up the chorus and refrain well. The refrain is quite repetitive, but I absolutely love it and haven't tired of it. As expected of a dance group, the choreo is good, and they perform it with great energy! It's a rather active choreo, so I'm sure it's quite tiring as well. And there's even a proper dance break before the final refrain!
"SENTIMOTION" - JT&MARCUS
Music video
Live clip
I just learned of this duo in 2023 despite the fact that they debuted in 2021. They are both former members of the now disbanded group TREI, and Marcus (real name: Lee Jaejun) is currently a member of boy group TAN, one of my favorite debuts of 2022. Note that only JT sings on "SENTIMOTION", but Marcus helped co-compose and co-write the song.
Honestly, I liked this single so much that it could have made it into one of my official top 20 lists, but I didn't know where to put them. It's unfair to put them in the soloist category since they're technically a duo (just not on this particular song), and two people is not a group, so I'm placing them here because it's the most relevant category for them.
"SENTIMOTION" is a beautiful rock ballad that focuses on JT's stunning and emotive vocals. My guess is that sentimotion is sentiment(al) and emotion combined. There's no official translation, but looking at the rough translation, it's a classic breakup song. The instrumental is moving and melancholic, yet it does build quite nicely, reaching a peak during the bridge. The outro is also a highlight and features only piano and JT's vocals. This is the only ballad that made it into this post, so that tells you just how much I loved this track.
"On my way" - VI'ENX
Music video
Music show performance
"On my way" is actuallly a pre-debut song, but it's definitely good enough to have been VI'ENX's debut single, in my opinion. 2 of the members are re-debuts, and 1 of them has been in 2 groups prior to VI'ENX. Speaking of 80s trends, "On my way" is a synth pop song with rock influence. Without the rock aspect, this song probably wouldn't have made it into this post, since it would've been like the many other 80s inspired songs released in the last 3 years.
The rock sound takes over during the pre-chorus and chorus, bringing more pace and energy to the song. The outro also features a nice guitar solo. I really appreciate the nice outro considering k-pop songs are generally continuing to get shorter, and many songs just end abruptly these days. I think the vocalists sound good on this song, even though the production and mixing work are a little rough around the edges. The choreo is also pretty good!
"INDEPENDENT WOMAN" - eite
Music video (rough English translation available)
Music show performance
Full cam view of music show performance
eite is a Korean-Japanese girl group that I didn't know about until they announced this debut single album, but wow did they end up impressing me! While girl groups and female artists still ruled the charts in 2023, I honestly preferred the boy group debuts to the girl group debuts overall last year. eite was definitely an exception though!
I also want to add that all the members are adults, which is always refreshing considering how most entertainment companies put at least one minor into their groups. It also means the song title is accurate since they are all adult women haha. Three of the members are also re-debuts!
"INDEPENDENT WOMAN" is an electro pop song that fits perfectly in the "new-tro" category. While the topline is a bit odd during the pre-chorus, it is absolutely addicting otherwise, especially during the chorus and post-chorus. Speaking of the chorus, this single has one of my favorite choruses of 2023. The beginning of the chorus is so satisfying, with the first syllable piercing through with minimal instrumental behind it. The minor pause after is a cool detail as well. The vocals are good on this track, and the members are quite stable live as well.
I'm not very familiar with the Japanese dance studio, NEXTinDANCE, but one of their instructors, Rina Horie, choreographed "INDEPENDENT WOMAN", and she did a good job! There are some really interesting moves, and the formations and transitions are also cool. eite execute the choreo well, and they have great energy while performing.
I'm not very familiar with the Japanese dance studio, NEXTinDANCE, but one of their instructors, Rina Horie, choreographed "INDEPENDENT WOMAN", and she did a good job! There are some really interesting moves, and the formations and transitions are also cool. eite execute the choreo well, and they have great energy while performing.
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