KCritix Awards for Quarter 2 2024
Here are my "awards" for quarter 2 2024 (basically the Grammys, I know)
Best New Artist: BabyMonster (see my article for more)
Honorable mention: ARTMS (honestly would have picked them to win except is it cheating if they technically had already debuted as Loona?), NOWADAYS (OoWee is oooooweeeee so good!), Rescene (loved UhUh) and the first-ever hard-of-hearing Kpop group, Big O!cean!
Best Female Comeback
aespa, “Supernova” - me, obsessed with an aespa comeback!?!?!
Woo!ah!, “BLUSH” - it’s a bop and guess why? It’s produced by Ryan Jhun!
NewJeans, “How Sweet” - How to rise above the drama 101: Release a great song.
Yuqi, “Freak” - Yuqi is the Drew to my Barrymore <3 <3
tripleS, “Girls Never Die” - tripleS continues to deliver excellence!
Best Male Comeback
D.O., “Mars” - I’m so happy for D.O.!
Riize, “Impossible” - I already called this one of the best comeback of the year
ATEEZ, “WORK” - Got a fur coat, so I make it purrrrr
Lim Young Woong, “Warmth” - the greatest threat to Kpop artists for a reason!
B.I., “Tasty” - B.I. is criminally underrated, this song is so good!
Honorable mention for a Co-ed comeback: SPOT! by Zico and Jennie - two icons, what can I say.
Album of the Quarter
RM, “Right Place, Wrong Person” - I have so much to say about this album! I’ve been working on a full length review so expect that next week. This album is such a stunning change in direction for RM. Up to now, I haven’t been the biggest fan of his solo work but I can get behind this raw, emotional, psychedelic album - it’s the best album to come out of Kpop all year, and for me one of the best albums of the year period.
aespa, “Armageddon” - This was another surprise album for me. I haven’t ever loved aespa’s sound but something about this comeback and this album is really working for me. I love that they are sticking with their original concept of being half real world/half virtual world. This lends a really stylized electronic effect to their sound, and it feels like the really hit the sweet spot in this album. Singles Supernova and Armageddon are both songs of the year so far for me. I love the world play of Armageddon and “I’mma get it done.” Fourth gen Kpop is still here to play!
Young Posse, “XXL EP” - technically this was released in Quarter 1 but I only became of aware of it this quarter and I must give it it’s flowers! Young Posse is everything BabyMonster could have been. They have the swag and stage presence and rap talent of a YG group but they come from a small agency. And they are funny! This album is truly shockingly excellent.
Yuqi, “YUQ1” - This is Yuqi’s solo debut, but you might recognize her from a little group called (G)I-DLE. She is Chinese and speaks three languages fluently, including English, which she speaks well enough to deliver this entire album in English. She also has writing credits on most of the songs, although unfortunately not on my personal favorite from the album, Red Rover. This is just a really great album from start to finish. It’s the perfect pick me up to get you going!
Doh Kyung Soo (D.O.), “BLOSSOM” - I’ve already written about how much I love this album from D.O. under his new label. One of Exo’s main vocalists, D.O. appears to have been cast by SM Entertainment as the broody and silent, mysteriously handsome member of Exo, and now that he’s been set free of this restraint he is letting his true personality shine. It’s a joy to behold and a joy to listen to.
ARTMS, “<Dall>” - This quarter every former member of LOONA who had not yet re-debuted as a soloist or in a group finally officially debuted. One of the most anticipated debuts for me was ARTMS, comprised of the five former Loona members who signed to Modhaus after leaving BlockBerry Creative (Kim Lip, JinSoul, Choerry, HeeJin, and HaSeul). I’ve loved the music coming out of Modhaus with tripleS, so I was excited about this debut and I was not disappointed. Each pre-release single released showcased a different style, and they worked with El Capitxn to deliver official debut single Virtual Angel - it’s so good! The whole album has an otherworldly feel, which makes sense both with the ARTMS concept and as an extension of the vision for LOONA.
BM, “Element” - ok this album might be a tough sell because it is likely to be the filthiest thing you’ve ever heard in the context of Kpop. Motion had me GASPING on the street! I felt like I was at a middle school dance! But the album is also oddly refreshing. Korean-American rapper BM is part of the co-ed Kpop group KARD. Explicit lyrics aside, there is a lot of experimentation with international musical influences on this album. That feels earned, since his group has extensively travelled and promoted abroad and he definitely has this international man of mystery vibe. I think BM is a star - I also loved his feature on Young Posse’s album!
ZeroBaseOne, “You had me at HELLO” - ZB1 became immensely popular in Korea last year but their releases didn’t hit for me. But this album finds them tapping into the confidence that comes with a year as the nation’s sweethearts. In addition to their own excellent comeback single SWEAT, the rest of the album finds ZB1 beating all their competition at their own games. Solar POWER could be a xikers song, Feel the POP sounds like TWS, Dear ECLIPSE is treading into Treasure territory, Sunday RIDE has the exuberant joy of a BND single. Tie it all up with a fan service ballad and ZB1 show they can do it all well.
tripleS, <ASSEMBLE24> - Is 24 members a little outrageous? Yes. Is the fan-voting for subunits via the purchasing of NFTs kind of weird? Also yes. Is the music just so fun? Also yes. tripleS continues their run of straightforward, excellent pop music with this album, a follow up to last year’s <ASSEMBLE>. It’s not quite as memorable as labelmates ARTMS’ offering this quarter, but it’s definitely worth a mention.
Disappointments of the Quarter
NCT stans bullying Renjun over his very slight weight gain to the point where he is now on hiatus for anxiety. For shame!! (Obsessed with his hiatus fixation on exposing sasaeng fans though!)
Kiss of Life looked AMAZING in their high production value music video for their Midas Touch comeback, but the song is super meh
Drama at HYBE! The NewJeans vs. ILLIT drama, poor vocal performances from LE SSERAFIM and ILLIT on music shows, accusations of NewJeans copying Mexican band Jeans - BTS can’t come back soon enough!!
Spotify payola - was anyone else getting Magnetic and Deja Vu played at the end of EVERY playlist/album they were listening to in April? SO annoying - I didn’t even save either of those songs but they were being SHOVED down my throat.