[Best of the Best] Top Songs of 2015

Another year down and so that means it’s time for the one post that’s managed to survive from the very beginning of when we started this blog: songs of the year.  This year, I found myself disappointed with my normal groups and expanding to newer ones.  I seem to take a year off when searching for new groups as the same thing happened in 2013, whereas 2014 was exclusively old biases.  I hope everyone is having a joyous holiday season and best wishes for all in 2016.

10. Goodbye – Eunjung(T-ara)

For the first time since this blog’s inception, T-ara as a group will not be making my top 10 list.  However, this solo by my long time #2 bias at least saves them from being knocked out completely.  I wasn’t a fan of her solo album, but there was something about this song that grabbed me when I first heard it.  Maybe it was because I heard it while watching Eunjung be her ridiculously entertaining self on her Naver broadcast.

9. Ah Yeah – EXID

Talk about a meteoric rise to fame.  Ever since this fancam went viral, EXID’s enjoyed an almost ridiculous amount of popularity.  As of this writing, the view count is over 18 million.  I heard they even invited the guy who took the fancam to dinner and he turned it down.  At any rate, they moved quick to capitalize on this with their second mini album and in my opinion their best song in their entire discography.

8. Cool Night – Sleepy with Song Ji Eun(Secret)

Secret as a whole was oddly quiet this year with Hyosung’s solo release being the only real official album being put out.  As such, it was a pleasant surprise when I heard that my favorite kpop singer was going to be releasing a song.  This genre is right in Ji Eun’s comfort zone so it’s no surprise that she knocks it out of the park.  Not sure when Secret will make a comeback as a group given the reported friction between the members, but as long as Ji Eun keeps putting out music, I’m not going to complain too much.

7. Celepretty – Park Boram

I’m not entirely sure why I listened to this song when it came out, but it was one of the few in the entire year that I liked from the start.  In fact, her entire album is probably top 3 for me for the year.  I won’t spoil the surprise as to what my other two favorite albums are, but I highly recommend anyone reading this to listen to the whole thing as all of the songs on it are above average at worst.

6. Goodbye PMS – Park Myung Soo with Lizzy(After School)

Music video of the year right here folks.  After School may never come back as a group, but the Orange Caramel girls are still going strong.  The MV is over-the-top and ridiculous in all the best ways and Lizzy is the hero we never knew we needed.  Early on in the year, I thought this would rank higher on my year end list, but I couldn’t drop this song any further

5. Mind Your Own Business – Ailee

It’s unfortunate that Ailee was hurt during the entirety of her music show promotions for this song, but fortunately for me, I had the absolute pleasure of seeing this live at her first US solo concert.  I was probably 5-10 seats to the right of the fancam video linked above and it was worth every penny spent to see her live.  I even got a chance to meet her after the concert and it was one of most memorable moments of my life.  Normally, I try not to fanboy, but it’s hard when one of your favorite artists is right in front of you.  I’m just glad I was able to get a picture and tell her how much I liked hearing both this and “Evening Sky”, which if you read this post, you know is my all time favorite song of hers.

4. Ooh Ahh – TWICE

Looks like JYP won’t have to work Suzy so hard anymore.  Even though they’ve just debuted, TWICE has made itself stand out amongst all the rookie groups this year.  Of the members, Nayeon caught my eye almost immediately due to her resemblance to my original bias S.E.S.’ Eugene and Tsuyu’s visuals are off the charts for her age.  If they can keep up making decent music, I can see at least one of them making my visuals list or cracking into the higher rankings of my bias list.

3. Ring My Bell – Girls Day

I’m not gonna lie, this song is probably the sole reason the Minah beat out Seolhyun on my latest visuals list.  All of them were on point for this song visually and vocally, though I do wish Sojin would be able to get more lines since I think she’s very underrated in that regard.  Girls Day is probably the only established group that didn’t disappoint this year with their comeback and they’ve more than solidified their status as my second favorite group after T-ara.

2. Playback – Playback

This year’s list notwithstanding, I’m normally very critical of newer groups so it was kind of a surprise to me just how much I liked this group and their self titled song.  I’ll admit it took a couple playbacks before I got onboard with them, but once I did, I was all in.  As is usually the case, I was inexplicably drawn to the only english speaking member even before I knew that was the case.  I’m really hoping that they stay relevant and that Hayoung starts going on variety because I would love to see more of her.  Until then, I guess I’m settling for this.

1. Why Why – Shannon

Like with last year’s winner, as soon as I heard this song, I had no doubt what would top my lists this year.  Like with Hayoung, she’s another English-speaking idol who has quickly climbed the ranks of my bias list.  Shannon has been in the periphery of Korean media the last few years, but she probably really only got somewhat popular after appearing on Hidden Singer as an IU impersonator.  Personally, I thought she did the best of the bunch there and really that’s what put her on my radar.  She’s as vocally talented as any in the industry and I’m really looking forward to what the future brings for the British born idol.

Honorable Mentions
Stress – Taeyeon(overall her album was pretty top notch and way overdue), Closer – Oh My Girl, Joker – Dal Shabet, So Crazy – T-ara

Also, I may have hated their songs this year, but damned if I didn’t miss SNSD in variety