I only began listening to any kpop group in April 2020 when Oh My Girl’s “Nonstop” music video came out. Once I saw it and fell in love with their vocals, I was hooked—but only to them. As much as I loved their music, I didn’t want to become attached to other groups. I’m the type of person who tries to listen to an artist’s entire discography if I like more than one of their songs (which is exactly what I did with Oh My Girl), so I thought it would take too much time and effort to branch out.
However, this March I found myself watching more YouTube videos about kpop news and “best of” lists. It was the day after I first saw a video listing 100 songs every girl group stan should know that I decided to cut myself a little slack and actually listen to more than just Oh My Girl, starting first with whatever played on my Pandora station. Holy heck, was I impressed.
I’m going to give you a look into my “best of” kpop playlist, which for me is still growing beyond the 50 songs on it. I’ll be giving you my favorite from some of the groups or artists and a little about why I added that song to my playlist. Without further ado, here we go!
Oh, and a quick note: I’m linking videos to simply the audio, but if I can’t find those I’ll link the music video! Lyric videos for all of these songs, which usually include English translations, can be found easily on YouTube.
Oh My Girl: “Remember Me”
In all honesty, my favorite Oh My Girl song depends on the day. They’re all so good, I can hardly choose a favorite! That’s probably why their songs make up just under half of my playlist…and I have a playlist with their entire discography. This song in particular is so energizing; from the moment the first beat drops, I’m already on my feet dancing. Plus, I listen to this song so often that I can nearly do Mimi’s entire rap in both the Korean and Japanese versions! With the lyric video, of course. It’s always so much fun to sing along to. Not to mention, the music video has those perfect summer vibes!
I would list the other Oh My Girl songs on my playlist, but then we’d be here for a long time, haha.
Lovelyz: “Destiny”
As is going to be a bit of a trend, I first heard “Destiny” through Oh My Girl. So much for branching out, right? On the Korean show Queendom, Oh My Girl did a performance of “Destiny” with an entirely different concept than the original. If Oh My Girl’s performance was for a rainy, dreary day, the original by Lovelyz is for a bright, sunny day. That contrast is awesome, and there’s nothing that can beat the energy in this song. Not to mention, Lovelyz’s vocals with this song are to die for!
Other Lovelyz songs on my playlist: “Bookmark,” “Fondant”
10cm: “What the Spring??”
The only song not by a girl group or solo female artist, “What the Spring??” is a song I originally found on Mimi of Oh My Girl’s YouTube channel; she and member Jiho had done a cover of it. After looking up the original song to find the lyrics and English translation, I fell in love. What sounds like a spring love song is actually quite the opposite! It’s essentially a single person’s anthem, and in my opinion is a lot of fun to sing along to. Especially on my playlist, it provides a slightly more calming feel than the numerous high-energy options.
TWICE: “What is Love?”
Despite the fact that I heard it for the first time in early March, I completely forget how and why I first heard “What is Love?” Whatever the case, I fell in love with this song instantly, which is yet another trend of this article. This was the first TWICE song I ever heard, and is definitely my favorite that I’ve heard thus far. With the amazing vocals and unparalleled energy, it’s just so fun to get up and dance to! The music video is pretty amazing, too.
Other TWICE songs on my playlist: “Like OOH-AHH,” “Dance The Night Away”
Red Velvet: “Russian Roulette”
Okay, I know how popular Red Velvet is, but I literally only heard any of their songs on Pandora a few weeks ago. This is definitely a great song to dance along to from the get-go with an amazing beat, and the lyrics are fairly easy to follow if you’re the kind who loves learning the lyrics to sing along! I think this is a good staple to any pump-up playlist, despite the darker theme suggested by the music video.
Other Red Velvet songs on my playlist: “Red Flavor”
GFRIEND: “Me gustas tu”
I absolutely love the chorus. Sure, the chorus makes up about half the song, but I don’t mind that for the most part. It actually works well for this song, in my opinion. This song is just so much fun to sing along to from start to end, and I can’t help but smile whenever I hear it. I should seek out one of the performances or the music video for this song sometime!
Other GFRIEND songs on my playlist: “Fall in Love,” “Neverland,” “NAVILLERA”
MAMAMOO: “Starry Night”
The vocals on this were so different from the other songs on this playlist, there was no way I couldn’t add it. Where a lot of these groups and artists have a more teen-pop feel, at least with the songs I included and have listened to, MAMAMOO brings a more mature, smooth feel with “Starry Night.”
Taeyeon: “Fine”
This song gives me early-era Taylor Swift mixed with early 2000s Disney movie vibes in a way, if that makes any sense to anyone besides myself. And of course, I mean that in the best way; that era of music was one of my favorites. This is one of those songs to sing your heart out to on one of those days with some amazing vocals from Taeyeon, who is also the leader of the next group on my list, Girls’ Generation.
Other Taeyeon songs on my playlist: “Why,” “I”
Girls’ Generation (SNSD): “Gee”
Girls’ Generation is regarded as a bit of a staple as far as girl groups are concerned, nicknamed “The Nation’s Girl Group,” but again, I just started listening to a couple of their songs very recently. “Gee” is my favorite thus far, with fun choreography and vocals. If I’m not mistaken, it’s also one of the oldest songs on my playlist as of now, having debuted in 2009. Regardless of its age, “Gee” is definitely going to be a fun song to dance and sing to for years to come.
Other Girls’ Generation songs on my playlist: “Into the New World,” “I Got a Boy,” “Oh!”
Chungha: “Snapping”
This is a bit of an interesting choice on my part, since the vibes in this aren’t the kind I usually go for in music, but they’re still fun to listen to nonetheless. Chungha, a former member of the disbanded girl group I.O.I, brings some amazing vocals. “Snapping” is actually one of her most recent hits, having been released in 2019, and is therefore one of the most recent releases in any genre that I listen to semi-consistently.
fromis_9: “FUN!”
As the title suggests, this song really is fun. With a fun and bouncy chorus, it reminds me of the kind of song that would be played at a school dance that would have everyone on the floor dancing and jumping around. I always have to dance a little when I hear it, even if it’s just moving my shoulders or bopping my head!
Cosmic Girls (WJSN): “I Wish”
I don’t think I’d heard of this group before I heard the song on Pandora, but I became a fan of the song pretty quickly. Even though the song was released in 2017, it has that sort of early-2000s pop feel that I love so much. I’m not sure if it’s the right descriptor, but it gives me a bit of a disco vibe as well. Either way, I very much enjoy this song every time it plays on Pandora or my playlist!
Okay, that’s definitely a lot more groups than I thought there were on my playlist, and there are even more that I didn’t include here! If there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that this playlist will soon have many more songs on it, especially as groups have more comebacks. If there’s enough demand (or I just feel like it haha), I’ll go over the other Oh My Girl songs on my playlist, but until then, hope you enjoyed!