Hallyusurfer Top 16 Kpop of 2016

Kpop in 2016 has been quite interesting, the debut of IOI, a girl group formed by Mnet's Produce 101 which see trainees from various companies including JYP. The top eleven trainee debuted and also disband this year had 3 release, Dream Girl, Whatta Man and Very Very Very but the strangely addicting "Pick Me"is the most notable song from the show. In between promotions, Chaeyeon who was already in DIA is the busiest, because she also stars in Drinking Solo did some promotion with DIA. SeJong and Mina debuted with Gugudan (which literally means timetable wtf) and Yeonjung was the SuJu Kyuhyun to WSJN. If the future of the members are reflected on the promotions outside IOI.. I'm afraid it won't be very promising.

SM were quite busy last year but nothing compares to this year rush. Every single week SM released a digital single with SM Station and mind you, that it also has a video. That's a lot of work! I haven't been keeping up with the SM Station releases because I blame it on Kdrama addiction but I love it because it showcase the diversity of SM talent. I think it's something only SM is capable of doing because they are one of the biggest company with many employees. Not only SM Stations were doing well, but also the major comebacks. Every month, there's bound to have one or two SM
artiste doing a comeback or debut.

While I do try to watch music bank every week, I really don't care for the charts anymore because I just don't. Honestly I have yet to hear their songs, but I hope they continue to do well. SMTM5 were a nice surprise, I really did like most of the release, my favorite is of course by Bewhy, Forever is such a cool song and Day Day is a jam.

Without a further due, here is my list. It is based on my preference in KPop..nothing to do
with who is popular or had the most sale.


1. All I Wanna Do - Jay Park

I don't have to look back on my 2015 list because I clearly remembered that my top1 was
Jay Park feat Loco and Gray "My Last". I am so happy that yet again, this year it's Jay
Park topping the list because I really do like his music. All I wanna Do is essentially
the Jay Park. The English version is a lil naughter but fun and the Korean version
is exciting with the addition of Hoody and Loco featuring but the winner is clearly the
part that goes "Unless you're Tinashe".

2. Stay With Me - Jay Park

Jay Park back to back.. I was very close of just putting all of his songs on "Everything
You Wanted" album on this list.. I could but that's not entirely how I felt. I instantly
love this song. I just had to put this on the list and no.2 seems right. I love when he
strips down (pun intended) and just sang without any gimmicks. Jay Park knows what
the public likes and he's good at delivering his songs.

3. Don't Forget - Crush feat Taeyeon

On my half year list, this was the no.1. I still love it even it was released in early this year
when it's still cold. Now that winter is coming, I feel like the song is still fresh. Crush
also recently released Fall (aptly during fall) and I like it but Don't Forget is still
a gem among all of his song. I hope that Crush will continue making great songs.

4. D (Half Moon) - Dean feat Gaeko

On paper, I don't think I would like Dean's music, I for one, really dislike adding sound effects
to songs because it's noise not music. leave it to Dean to make me like his music. Would it
be an exaggeration to call him a music genius? Perhaps so..but that's how I feel whenever I
listen to his songs. Dean wants his song to be like a story and he certainly accomplished that.
I can't wait for his future released. He had a pretty good year, and I hope he continues to
flourish.

5. Why - Taeyeon

Among all of the idols out there, Taeyeon certainly tops the list of idols that public want a
solo released. She does it incredibly well. I like that she trys different kind of concept
for her comeback. Why is my favorite, it maybe the most idol-like but I have the feeling that
this is the song that she personally really loves.

6. Monster - EXO

The thing about EXO is that they are super duper famous that they can just sing whatever and it's
a gurantee to win no.1 because of the power fandom. Didn't quite like Lucky Ones or Lotto, don't know if it was coincident but I didn't like Love me right last year...Yup let's conclude that if EXO release a song titled with an "L" I might not like it. Monster is perhaps my favorite EXO release so far. I love it from the moment I heard the first beat. I normally don't like sound effect but it adds richness to the song.

7. Tell Me What is Love - Yoo Young Jin feat D.O.

If Yoo Young Jin was a little prettier, maybe SM will make him into an idol but thank God that didn't happen because songs like this don't need no idol... I mean sorry D.O. but Yoo Young Jin was a clear winner if this was a battle. I look forward for the next release!

8. Woo Hoo - Mamamoo

Okay this is going to make me feel slightly embarrass as a Moomoo.. I didn't know that they already released the song in the summer! I hope it at least did charted somehow? yup, I'll be googling later. My review of this song is posted before this post. :D

9. All Mine - f(x)

Only Luna (which btw is my pup name!) promote this year but if there's any song I really wanted to see being perform from the SM Station was this song. I enjoyed the summery song and I love how happy the girls looked on the MV. Hopefully by 2017 we will see a better and gorgeous f(x) back!

10. Save ME - BTS

The song genre is just trendy for 2016, I think a lot of songs charted on Billboard has similar flair. I still love this song the most out of all the songs they released this year and I hope they will release songs that have a similar vibe to this song.

11. Try - Jimin

What would it be like if Jimin decided to join SM or YG instead? Maybe not YG, because YG is
master of delays, SM probably would let her have more songs out. I know the Jimin adores her
JYP Nation but damnit, JYP is sleeping on her talent. Her mini album is so good. I like every
single song. I wished she had more promotion than Twice. Let us fan see her perform more often!
I think her personality is good for TV, but I don't really like her stint in ASC. She's not
a good MC. She often mumbles her words and have awkward pauses. I don't know if she's better
now but she is born to be a singer. There's no doubt about that.

12. TT - Twice

Obviously Twice is an attractive group but their talent has always been debatable. If any,
I think their best talent is timing. I have no idea why are they so fascinated with zombies
and cosplay but it just works. Cheer Up was the biggest hit of 2016 but I cannot bring myself
to admit to like the song because let's be honest that the song is messy. "sha sha" was cute
but that was it. TT is a recycle of their previous concept but the timing was perfect. They
released the adorable video near halloween and I love it. I don't care for Halloween but the
song is the best they have released so far. I just feel odd seeing Sana being brunette. I'm
so used to seeing her as blonde. I don't know if it's the JYP thing but JYP artiste always had
the same formula. Why can't JiHyo start? Why is it always Nayeon? Why do they always make the
foreigners stands out the most?

13. Tell Me What to Do - SHINee

Whenever I think of SHINee.. I feel old because they remind me of my early days as a kpop fan
but I was not expecting them to go retro! 1 of 1 isn't a bad song.. it matched the group but
I thought SM loves EDM stuff and SHINee does well with trendy songs so I was sad because View
was awesome, I wanted something similar. Thankfully they returned with Tell Me What To Do.
Only if they didn't make Minho rap, this song might charted higher. Sure, Minho has improved
a lot, but it was bad in this song. He is the reason why idol rappers received so many crap.
I can just pretend that part never exist. I love MinHo the most. Don't kill me for saying
the truth.

14. Whatta Man - IOI

When I first saw the title, I thought it sound outdated because no one really uses Whatta anymore.
I was right because it's somewhat a cover of an 80's song. This updated version sounded fresh and
it was the right concept for the girls. Although the members are quite young, they don't seem to
do cute concept well. I would love to see YeonJung, Chaeyeon, Mina and Sejong perform this song but at last.. I don't think it would happen.

15. Shut up and Groove - Heize feat Dean

Dean was so lovable with Taeyeon in the Starlight MV, people be shipping them two but not me. I
ship Heize and Dean. I think both of them have a similar vibe and style. Both of them can get
crazy experimental together.. Can you see Taeyeon sing this song? nope. This is song is totally
Dean experimental style and Heize is the queen of this song.

16. The Truth is - Jay Park

Lyrics are painfully witty and the song is catchy. It's Jay Park, what's not to love? I know 3 songs in one list seems a lot and I feel a bit guilty for showing too much bias but this my blog, let me have my way! lol

Special mention Taeyeon's 11.11 Fanxy Child (Zico, Crush DEAN) Bermuda Triangle. Love these two song but I am not obsess enough to include into the list because it's fairly new.

Happy New Year!