#KS✿TY2024: The K-Pop Song of the Year 2024 Rate | #15: "Idk how viable her solo career is but I'm rooting for ha"

Oleander

Oleander

He/Him
Slice of Life said:
The Deep made quite the splash last year as her breakout single, BAPPI, ranked 32nd, beating a lot of artists with bigger budgets. A true Popjustice moment for nugus! This year though, she's not as lucky as NPC only managed to reach 69th place. To be honest, I did expect this to do better than this. Like, I was so sure it was a lock for top 50. Alas, that wasn't the case.​
Click to expand...
So the big pattern this year is that everyone who did well last year (or in previous years in some cases) is flopping this year? Especially those that I gave a high score to? Well, that's just lovely, isn't it?

Yg4FuN1.gif


Serg. said:
Between this and Big Pop Girls it looks like @eliminathan is just scared when a song doesn't only have a piano or an acoustic guitar
Click to expand...
Someone's got to stream all the acoustic coffee shop ballads the K-pop girlies release I guess.

uCIYHhW.gif
 
Slice of Life

Slice of Life

Staff member
Thank you all, my dear darlings, for heeding my call for more comments!! Keep em coming!! Hehe~


But shall we continue with the soloists cull? Kii!!




























































Another plane hits the K-Indiejustice tower...




















































68.png


68-if-u.png


7.55102

SUPERBLOOM: @askew
HIGH: (11) @askew (10) @boom bazooka joe, @clowezra, @leedlelee..., @Sanctuary (9.5) @Cotton Park (9) @Macsun, @soratami
LOW: (4) @mika, @Rhodanthe, @Trinu 3.0, @Wills (5) @Conan
MY SCORE: 8.5

LEADERBOARD JOURNEY:
10 voters: 82
20 voters: 88
30 voters: 85
40 voters: 75
49 voters: 68
​
The K-Indiejustice girlies continue getting attacked, oh my god. Who even is left in the competition at this point? But yes, tonight, we say goodbye to JUE's If U...

If U.. is the lone single released by soloist JUE in 2024. It was composed by JUE and and Kimdida, with JUE writing the lyrics. Let's talk a little about Miss JUE because this is her #KSOTY debut! Congrats, unnie! Her real name is Yoon Joo-ae and she debuted way back in 2018 with the single, Call Me Back. So far, she has released two mini albums, one collaborative album (with Hookuo) and a bunch of one-off singles and collaborations.

JUE is one of two artists competing in this year's #KSOTY Rate that I know nothing about (the other one is YonYon). And wow, look at her leaving quite the strong first impression with If U... On If U.., JUE is not just inspired by 90s R&B; the song literally sounds like it's from the 90s! I had to research a bit if this was a cover or something but nope, it's definitely an original song.

My favourite part of the song is that chorus because hello? Are you hearing that? The smoothness? The flavour? She got me grooving. However, I couldn't give this a higher score because I feel like outside of the first verse and the chorus, the song kinda feels... unfinished? The second verse already sounds inferior to the first but it's the lack of a proper middle 8 and final chorus that's really bothering me. I don't know; I feel like the song has a lot of room for improvement. In it's current form, it sounds a little draft-y to me.

But I'm definitely #seated for more JUE music from now on all thanks to If U... I'm listening right now to her current single, On The Rock, which is another collaboration with Hookuo and whew, the grooving continues! Sorry to my girl Lee Hi but if you don't have plans to release new R&B music, I'm afraid I'll have to jump ship to these new gen K-R&B divas like Miss JUE!!​

THE JURY'S THOUGHTS:
​
@mika (4): "Feels like 1993 Toni Braxton" [Slicey: FFFFFFF now why is Miss Braxton getting dragged?? Bye!!]

@Salami (7): "The top comment on youtube said something about KRNB so I expected to hate this, but it's pretty good? Like old school Janet."

@savilizabeths (7): "I love how soft and lush this sounds."

@Serg. (7): "We will unplug your nose queenie!" [Slicey: You are soooooooo,,,,]

@Vixen (7.5): "Groovy but kind of ever so slightly missing the mark for me a little to rank this higher than a 7,5. She sounds great though. She pulls off this type of sultry rnb perfectly." [Slicey: Right, it's almost great, just needs a little something.]

@Crisp X (8): "Who is this DIVA"

@love choerry motion (8): "Brought me back to the 90's for a minute wait..."

@Macsun (9): "Ooop! Who dis?"

@soratami (9): "Another one of my favourite discoveries here, what an excellent jam."

@Cotton Park (9.5): "Jue and b!ni and DIDI HANN and other "underground kpop" artists really got me back into not only listening to more mainstream kpop, but also including a lot of it in my live and streamed DJ sets."

@boom bazooka joe (10): "Oh she wanted Brandy and Janet's nachos SO BAD. And you know what? They gave her some! Because this is EXCELLENCE. Who submitted this?!" [Slicey: You can trust Mx. @askew to ALWAYS deliver the goods!]

@clowezra (10): "One of my favourite rate discoveries I think in any of our rates?? Instant fave and right up my street."

@askew (11): "When I first heard that knock at the door, something shifted. It wasn't the world around me, and it wasn't just my wig sitting crooked on its axis—no, reader, I shifted. Less did I feel like the perpetual hostage of this life, and more did I remember that I am its keeper and it is my charge. No longer was I a silhouette of the invisible hand that shapes reality, but flesh and blood, bone and sinew. I felt the Earth churning beneath my feet, the Sky grazing against my brow, the Fire swelling in my loins. I am not a cup to be filled, I am the reservoir overfloweth. I am not time's observer, I am its navigator. I am the one who pulls the yoke that turns the wheel of Saṃsāra. My body is a vessel of love. My mind? The wellspring of joy. My spirit, a cradle of light. Can you hold me? Let me inside your arms." [Slicey: Have I ever told you you're my favourite poet? I'll be stanning forever!!]​


​
 
Slice of Life

Slice of Life

Staff member
Slice of Life said:
JANUARY
Dash - NMIXX
No More (Ma Boy) - Sistar19
Super Lady - (G)I-DLE
Untouchable - ITZY
Wife - (G)I-DLE
Click to expand...


January is losing its first song tonight.





















































The fact that the first 20 voters deemed this the 25th best song of the rate... gag!



















































































67.png


67-untouchable.png


7.55612

HIGH: (10) @Conan, @Rhodanthe, @soratami, @ultraviolet, @YRSHKD (9.5) @enjoy, @ohnostalgia, @Slice of Life, @Vixen, @Wills (9) @boom bazooka joe, @leedlelee..., @roblognick, @TéléDex
LOW: (1) @clowezra, @eliminathan (3.5) @Serg. (4.75) @askew (5) @Trinu 3.0
MY SCORE: 9.5

LEADERBOARD JOURNEY:
10 voters: 39
20 voters: 25
30 voters: 56
40 voters: 67
49 voters: 67
​
Two songs down, one more to go. ITZY is in danger! Tonight, we say goodbye to Untouchable.

Untouchable is the lead single of ITZY's eighth mini album, Born To Be. It was written by Bang Hye-hyun and Lee Seu-ran and composed by Maria Marcus, Zarah Christenson, and Toblas Näslund. Unfortunately, Untouchable couldn't match the number 22 peak of its predecessor Cake as it only managed to reach number 93 on the Circle Digital Chart. Still, it would go on and win one music show trophy so not all is lost.

I personally think Untouchable is ITZY's best Korean single in quite some time. Like, the last ITZY Korean single that I remember liking is 2021's Loco. Okay, maybe I enjoyed Sneakers too but it's more of a guilty pleasure, you know? But Cheshire and Cake? Both ugly chops! But Untouchable... this is the more mature, more evolved ITZY signature sound that I was craving for for years. And I'm so, so glad to finally receive it!

Untouchable, to me, still sounds like a classique ITZY single but a lot less bratty teenager and more... strong independent woman. It's still very fun, the hooks are as sharp as ever, and the girls' vocals sound super stable too... which is a gag considering their main vocalist Lia did not take part in this song. I really would've loved if ITZY continued exploring this more EDM sound for at least one more comeback but alas, they gave us fuckass Gold. Sigh, at least they also gave us Imaginary Friend, I guess.

It's so hard being an ITZY enjoyer these days but I trust that they'll return with better music next time around. For now, let's enjoy Yeji's solo debut single, Air, which is just gorgeous. We need this level of cunt for ITZY's next comeback single, @JYP!​

THE JURY'S THOUGHTS:
​
@clowezra (1): "Like…shockingly bad. Production and overall sound is dated as hell, chorus lands like a wet fart, it’s everything that’s wrong about their decline over the years summed up into one. So dumb." [Slicey: Hmmm it does sound kinda dated... but I kinda like that about it FFFFFFF!!]

@eliminathan (1): "My expectations were low and they were shattered, not to mention my eardrums! They were really struggling without Lia huh."

@Serg. (3.5): "At what point do they just give up and try something completely different? Just super, duper bad. JYP Ent. really let this group go completely off the rails past 2-3 years." [Slicey: It's still not too late to give the miss A demos to ITZY!!]

@eccentricsimply (6): "Mr. Vampire had me expecting something more interesting from them, but I think that was on me."

@mika (6): "The guitars are not it but the chorus is"

@Joli Chat (7): "the way you don’t even notice Lia was not there yet lmao." [Slicey: Don't speak about my mother like that!!]

@Salami (7): "So much better than anything they've released in years."

@savilizabeths (8): "ITZY have actually had very few misses for me. I even consider myself a Sneakers and to a lesser extent CAKE enjoyer. This continues my positive feelings. It's full of fun melodies and is very catchy and singable. It also went off live when I saw ITZY this year!" [Slicey: At least we can agree Cheshire is diabolical, unnie?]

@boom bazooka joe (9): "The video does elevate this, but it's still a great anthemic track for them. The bridge into the final verse is legendary."

@Vixen (9.5): "Fun, and definitely one of their strongest singles in a while after quite a few duds, especially at the time (we've gotten 'Imaginary Friend' since then, whew, another bop)."

@ultraviolet (10): "Oh Mariah Chaery don’t end me like that!!!!!!" [Slicey: Right????? I know Lia was threatened when she heard Chaeryeong was hitting those notes!!]​


​
 
aux

aux

he/him
Slice of Life said:
@Serg. (3.5): "At what point do they just give up and try something completely different? Just super, duper bad. JYP Ent. really let this group go completely off the rails past 2-3 years."
Click to expand...
This pretty much sums up where I’m at with ITZY.

It’s so weird because I felt they were on such a winning streak in 2021 only for it to all collapse ever since. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve listened to any of their recent title tracks more than once.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Top