By Rolling Stone Contributors
Rolling Stone
July 20, 2023
THE BIRTH OF modern K-pop is often dated to 1992, when Seo Taiji and Boys, a dance-oriented trio led by an ex-metalhead, performed their song “I Know” on the South Korean network MBC. Not only did the group’s original blend of Korean ballad melodies with New Jack Swing, rap, and dance music shock the general public, but their dancing and aesthetic, heavily inspired by Black American trends of the time, appealed to a generation of young people eager to embrace contemporary Western culture.
Thus was born a multi-billion-dollar industry, now embraced globally across generations and cultures. K-pop’s enormous success is still predominantly fueled by the enthusiasm of teens and young adults, passionate devotees who look to their idols for belonging and inspiration. Though K-pop boldly mashes together genres from all over the world (sparking its fair share of conversations about the ethics of appropriation), it has still maintained its distinctly Korean ethos. It’s a culture that values the collective, looks toward innovation, and is highly attuned to emotions — resulting in cutting-edge songs and performances that explode with feeling, yet are accessible to a mass audience.
What truly binds the industry now is its perfection-honing training system and emphasis on highly conceptual multimedia storytelling. That industry has birthed two of the world’s most influential and bestselling artists today, BTS and Blackpink, and its powerhouse labels (like Hybe, SM, and YG) have proved remarkably consistent in creating new stars. Yet as more artists of non-Korean citizenship and ancestry have risen as “K-pop” stars in recent years, the label is being questioned by some critics and fans who see it as a tool to pigeonhole artists from being recognized on a broader scale. Even BTS leader RM told Rolling Stone in his May 2021 cover story that he sees the group as existing outside of K-pop: “Our genre is just BTS,” he said. “That debate [between whether BTS is K-pop or pop] is very important for the music industry, but it doesn’t mean very much for us members.”
Long before these Hallyu stars, plenty of homegrown artists paved the way for K-pop’s popularity and eclecticism. Our list of 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music was led by Rolling Stone contributor Michelle Hyun Kim and crafted by a panel of music journalists and critics, both based in South Korea and the United States, who have been writing about Korean music for years. After an initial ballot vote and series of heated debates, we arrived at a list that looked beyond the strict definition of K-pop as a hitmaking business in order to tell the broader history of Korean popular music.
The earliest entry on the list dates back to the 1920s, an era when recordings captured burgeoning artists living under Japanese occupation singing Korean lyrics atop songs from Europe or Japan. From there, the list spotlights artists throughout the 20th century who were the “idols” of their day, making folk protest anthems, ballads of mourning and change, as well as trot — a form of Korean popular music that derives from traditional Korean music, Japanese enka, and American and European ballads.
Elsewhere, there are trailblazing experimentalists and indie crossover artists whose early adoption of funk, pop, soul, and rock helped establish mainstream familiarity with those sounds. Then, the story catches up with K-pop proper in the Nineties, as we celebrate the biggest and most ingenious hits that were either musically groundbreaking, or influential to how K-pop is marketed and consumed.
What follows is not only the story of Korean popular music, and how it birthed the K-pop business, but also how a small peninsula nation learned how to make art in the face of colonialism and political change, culled sonics from all corners of the globe, and keeps striving to find new ways of distilling the purest, most thrilling aspects of the human experience into four-minute packages of pop revelation.
Hear this playlist on Spotify.
NOTE: Though there were 10 contributors total (Michelle Hyun Kim, Regina Kim, Kristine Kwak, Maria Sherman, Maura Johnston, Joshua Minsoo Kim, James Gui, Tamar Herman, Jae-Ha Kim, Crystal Leww), I’ve only included my reviews below. You may find the full list at Rolling Stone.
A timeless meditation on friendship, sorrow, and regret, “Spring Day” is a brilliant example of BTS’ unique ability to sum up complex emotions into universal pop songs. The soaring 2017 power ballad is full of lush vocals and soulful rapping, as the group movingly evokes powerful feelings of loss, memory, and hope for the future: “The morning will come again/Because no darkness or no season can last forever,” they sing. Widely understood as a tribute to the predominantly teenage passengers who drowned in the Sewol Ferry disaster of 2014, “Spring Day” creates powerful art out of deep desolation and remains arguably the most beloved song in the group’s rich catalog. —J-H.K.
No. 12: Super Junior, ‘Sorry, Sorry’ (2009)
Launched in 2005, Super Junior were the first boy group to break out into subunits with Korean and Chinese members, helping forge the beginnings of K-pop’s Hallyu wave. Of all their supercharged dance hits, “Sorry, Sorry” is their quintessential earworm. The throbbing techno beat drives the tune, but the appeal is in its seductive simplicity, as its sweet hook is made of the words “sorry” and “shawty” repeated in sets of four. The highlight, though, is members Sungmin and Ryeowook riffing off each other during the song’s immaculate bridge. —J-H.K.
No. 20: Lee Nan Young, ‘Tears of Mokpo’ (1935)
One of the most famous Korean singers of the 1930s and ’40s (and also the mother of the Kim Sisters), Lee is known for this evocative ode to her hometown of Mokpo. Recorded when Korea was occupied by Japan, “Tears of Mokpo” conveys strength and courage for the countrymen who endured colonization. Lee’s plaintive vocals set the tone for this ballad, which is both romantic and nationalistic. The pentatonic scale adds a mournful touch to the lyrics, which are sung from the perspective of a young bride pining for a husband who may not be able to return home. —J-H.K.
No. 23: PSY, ‘Gangnam Style’ (2012)
Park Jae-sang was already a famous rapper, singer, songwriter, and producer in Korea when “Gangnam Style” became a megahit that had people around the globe singing “oppa Gangnam style” — a catchphrase for a man who thinks he’s a baller. The song and accompanying music video, the first to reach 1 billion YouTube views, took a satirical stab at the money-obsessed nouveau riche. With its earworm EDM chorus, “hey sexy lady” hook, and PSY’s accompanying signature “horse dance” that was emulated by everyone from Britney Spears to Madonna, “Gangnam Style” helped introduce K-pop to the world. —J-H.K.
No. 36: Rain, ‘Rainism’ (2008)
No. 52: BTS, ‘I Need U’ (2015)
In the first two years of their career, BTS made rebellious, angsty hip-hop music dedicated to people who felt suffocated by societal expectations. But by becoming more vulnerable on their impeccably composed hit “I Need U,” the septet nabbed their first win on a South Korean music show. The song sees them switching between hope and hopelessness as Suga declares in the intro, “Because of you, I’m broken,” with his bandmates quickly following, “I need you girl/You’re so beautiful.” After the verses build with the desperation of one-sided love, the song explodes into a transcendent dance chorus. Its gentle synth wind instruments almost cruelly convince listeners that everything will be OK. But BTS knows better. —J-H.K.
No. 54: Yoo Jae-ha, ‘Because I Love You’ (1987)
A classically trained musician who wrote and arranged his own songs, Yoo Jae-ha cemented his legacy as the “father of Korean ballads” with his only studio album, Because I Love You, released months before his death at age 25. Though it wasn’t initially embraced by critics because his use of contrapuntal melodies was deemed too offbeat for radio, the LP’s title track set a new standard for how ballads could sound. With beguilingly forthright vocals, Yoo delivers wistful, lovesick lyrics, accompanied by luxurious strings that add credence to his sincerity. —J-H.K.
No. 70: Epik High, ‘Love Love Love’ (2007)
Epik High established themselves in the Korean hip-hop underground throughout the early aughts, with their lyrically dense songs considered a block to mainstream popularity. Six years into their career, the trio released the bestselling Remapping the Human Soul, a 27-track album that explored philosophical and societal themes, but was buoyed by its lead singles that perfectly blended EDM, pop, and hip-hop. On one of those hits, “Love Love Love,” Epik High take the listener through all the stages of love, from blissful infatuation to a painful breakup. Capturing the chemistry of MCs Tablo and Mithra Jin, while DJ Tukutz backspins a record like it’s 1975, it’s an eternal bop. —J-H.K.
No. 74: Monsta X, ‘Dramarama’ (2017)
Since 2015, these “beast idols” — or incredibly fit and sexy performers — have built a criminally underrated discography of raucous dance-pop anthems that seamlessly incorporate hip-hop. On “Dramarama,” the hit that brought Monsta X their first music show trophy, the original seven-man lineup shows off their fun side, reciting the title as a hypnotic incantation. Over a throbbing bass line, funky rhythms, and searing guitars, the group takes listeners on a wild ride topped off by the signature swaggy raps of I.M and Jooheon. —J-H.K.
No. 99: The Kim Sisters, ‘Charlie Brown’ (1964)
Decades before K-pop idols were wooing international audiences, the Kim Sisters did it first — while dancing and playing their own instruments. Formed by their mother, Lee Nan-young, during the Korean War to entertain U.S. troops, sisters Suk-ja and Ae-ja and their cousin Min-ja sang in English, which they memorized phonetically. By the late 1950s, the trio were performing concerts in the U.S. and were regular guests on The Ed Sullivan Show. Their sweet harmonies are highlighted on their effervescent version of the Coasters’ rock & roll classic “Charlie Brown,” a fine example of why the Kim Sisters were the first Koreans to break the U.S. market. —J-H.K.
My review of the Wonder Girls‘ “Nobody” was supposed to be on this list. But at the last minute, the editors decided that the girl group’s “Tell Me” was a more appropriate choice and substituted that song in instead. I personally still stand by “Nobody” and am therefore including the review that I wrote below:
Wonder Girls, ‘Nobody’ (English version) (2009)
Two years after topping the charts at home with 2007’s “Tell Me,” Wonder Girls had a U.S. hit with the English version of their Korean single “Nobody.” They became the first K-pop artists to break onto the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 76. The song—written by Park Jin-young, the singer/songwriter/producer who founded JYP Entertainment in 1997— features crisp snare drums and a sing-along chorus that recall the golden age of Motown. The first girl-group on JYPE, Wonder Girls boldly moved to the U.S., toured with the Jonas Brothers, and produced soloists Hyuna and Sunmi. (Sohee became a prolific actress.) Park, who had already helped develop artists like Rain and g.o.d., then went on to guide the careers of 2PM, GOT7, TWICE and Stray Kids—just to name a few.
And unrelated to the Wonder Girls … but several of my recommendations didn’t make it on this list, including The Rose‘s “Sorry,” which I believe is one of the best pop songs ever, and “Answer” by ATEEZ.
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