What makes a perfect K-Pop album?
Am I a music critic? No! Do I know what I’m talking about? No! Do I have strong opinions? Yes!
Today I’m going to introduce you to six albums I think are perfect Kpop albums. They also happen to be the albums I would pick as “Pop Album of the Year” in my own hypothetical Kpop Grammys for the last six year. Here’s what I’m looking for in a nutshell:
Strong concept - I want the artist to be making a statement. Are you trying a new sound? Are you hoping to communicate the essence of what your group does? Are you trying to tell me a story?
Sonic cohesion - I want the album to flow. I want to be transported into your vision and I don’t want anything to jar me out of the experience. That doesn’t mean every song has to sound the same! It just means when they sound different, it still has to make sense together.
Talent - Let’s be real, the album has to slap. You need to be delivering a fantastic product. No skips.
Now let’s dive in. I’d love to hear if you take the time to listen to any of these from beginning to end - Kpop albums are usually pretty short and these are lovely listening experiences.
Real Love by Oh My Girl (2022)
This album has been the soundtrack to a ridiculous number of my afternoons. You might not have ever heard of Oh My Girl - they fly pretty under the radar. They are one of Kpop’s “cute” girl groups so at first listen you might think it’s a stereotypical sound, but give it a chance because this album is stuffed full of incredible sugar-coated sour candies. Album opener Real Love is sweet and cute, comparing the feeling of being in love to the color of the sunset on an island vacation, until suddenly we are breaking into a slowed-down R&B tinged bridge. Each song swerves just a bit away from what you are expecting. It might be the tropical house chorus drop in Eden or the surprising sexiness of Kiss & Fix. This album is sweet, feminine, sexy, smart, surprising - it basically is an auditory representation of experiencing love as a woman.
Sticker by NCT-127 (2021)
This is not just an album, it’s a manifesto. The NCT project introduced the “neo culture sound” (aka KPop noise music). It is chaotic, it is frenetic, a lot of people really hate it, but it has had a massive influence on Kpop sounds and styles, and, of all the various NCT groups I think NCT-127 embodies the concept the best. Sticker is peak NCT: almost too much but ridiculously addictive. Maybe I’m biased because I spent a whole summer on the back of a motorcycle listening to this album on repeat but give me nonsense lyrics (“Now breakfast time, oh jeeze!”) and dirty beats and Taeil’s insane voice howling above all the chaos and I am a happy camper. We bop from dancey banger to banger, but personal highlights are Lemonade and Bring the Noize, with calmer moments like R&B interlude Focus and ballad The Rainy Night. The back end of the album dials back the noise a bit before ending with one of my all-time favorite fan service songs, Promise You.
Heng:garae by Seventeen (2020)
With Woozi at the helm writing and producing every song, Seventeen’s discography is always cohesive and conceptually strong. But this album takes the listener on a perfectly curated journey through the strengths and sounds of Seventeen as an ensemble - no solo or subunit songs to be found here! This album is diverse but each song stands out but gently slides into the next. We slip and slide from high energy (Fearless) to musical theater (Left & Right) to midtempo vocal showcase (I Wish) to tropical (My My). We then soar into the absolute triumph that is Kidult, my personal favorite-ever Seventeen song which they are currently performing on tour and making me want to die with FOMO. In Kidult, Seventeen ruminates on the uncertainties of growing up but find strength with each other. They then underscore this message on album closer Together: “We will never lose our way and we will walk in the right direction. Let’s go together.” Love you forever Seventeen!!!
Love Poem by IU (2019)
IU has many great albums, but this 2019 release is excellent from top to bottom. Listening to this album makes you feel like you are sitting in a coffee shop as IU performs these songs with a live band (or orchestra in the case of above the time, I suppose). Speaking of above the time….let’s talk about it! What begins as an otherworldly IU dreaming of finding her lover and having time stand still for them and promising to dance when they finally find each other…and then right in the middle of this lush, orchestra backed dreamscape we slip into a full out jig as IU imagines what dancing with her lover will actually be like. Her MIND! NO ONE ELSE COULD EVER. IU is the Taylor Swift of Korea, not just because she’s a nationally beloved singer-songwriter, but because she, too, has created an interconnecting mythology across her discography. This short album is a demonstration of her mastery of her craft.
Love Yourself: Answer by BTS (2018)
Of all the incredible BTS albums to choose from, this is my favorite. I’m kind of cheating here because it’s a compilation album, so many of the tracks had already appeared on the previous two “Love Yourself” releases. But this album is BTS at peace. They have found the confidence and ability to “love yourself” has given them the confidence, as individuals and as a group, to rise above the challenges faced early on in their career. This realization is represented auditorily by each member performing a solo song. We get full length versions of Jimin’s Serendipity (the opener on Love Yourself: Her) and V’s Singularity (the opener on Love Yourself: Tear) as well as new additions from Jungkook (Euphoria, my favorite song of all time) and Jin (Epiphany). The rap line also perform solos: J Hope with Trivia: Just Dance, RM with Trivia: Love and Suga with Trivia: SeeSaw (another personal favorite). We also get subunit performances - Dimple from the vocal unit and both Her and Tear from the rap unit. And then if we look at Disc 1 alone, we still have three BTS classics (DNA, Fake Love, and Idol), two incredible B-sides (The Truth Untold and I’m Fine) and one perfect fanservice closer (Answer: Love Myself) where they thank their fans for helping them find the ability to love themselves. Are you crying? I’m crying! And that’s just the first CD! Not a single skip! So many hits! Bury me with this album!
Get Up by NewJeans (2023)
Can we call a 12 minute EP an album? It might be a stretch, but this album is absolutely necessary if you want to understand what is happening in Kpop at the moment. This is the “fresh” sound we are talking about in Kpop these days. In a lot of ways, it’s a reaction to some of the sounds and concepts captured in the other albums on this list. NewJeans can’t be pigeonholed as “cute” girls or “girl crush” girls like Blackpink - they’re the talented, cool girls you went to high school with but turbocharged with the power of Kpop. Their production style isn’t “noise music”, it’s inventive but stripped back and not overwhelming.
And there you have it! What albums are missing from my list?