The 15 Best K-Pop Songs of 2023

In a big year for the Korean music scene, these tracks stood out.

2023, at least in my subjective opinion, was a pretty good year for K-pop. It was, overall, an improvement from 2022, where most of the year’s biggest hits weren’t to my taste, and I struggled to find songs for my best-of-the-year list. In 2023, there were many songs I enjoyed, and I even had trouble cutting down this list to just 15. From the genre’s biggest names to its small-time up-and-comers, from industry veterans to on-the-rise rookies, these are the fifteen K-pop songs that most impressed me last year.

This article is adapted from a recent episode of my radio show, The K-Pop Power Hour, which airs weekly on WESU, 88.1 FM Middletown. After five and a half years on the air, the show’s final episode will be this Friday evening, technically Saturday, at midnight Eastern time. You can listen online through TuneIn.

15: CSR- “Shining Bright”

“Shining Bright,” the lead single from girl group CSR’s March EP Delight, is the sort of punchy bubblegum pop I think of as quintessentially K-pop, given a powerful edge with electric guitar. More specifically, it also reminds me a good bit of the work of GFriend, a group that sadly disbanded before their time. “Shining Bright” has an infectious, energetic chorus, and a soaring energy that I wish I heard more in K-pop. It was written by KZ,Nthonius, Meisobo, and DINT.

14: Trendz- “My Way”

“My Way,” the lead single from Trendz’s September EP Still on My Way, was a pleasant surprise for me. Having debuted in 2022, Trendz wasn’t previously on my radar; I actually discovered this song through its producer. Early this year, my favorite production and songwriting duo, Leez and Ollounder, sadly went their separate ways as the former signed an exclusive contract with the company Hi-Hat Co. One of the new ventures Leez went on to was writing for Trendz, and this song, with its dramatic, powerful melodies and genre-bending intensity, recalls Leez’s best work with Ateez. “My Way” was written by Leez, Luke, De View, Cali, XLimit, Jo Yuri, January, Kim Min-gu, Choi Sung-hyuk, Ellie Love, Juniper, Darly, and Trendz members Ra.L and Yechan.

13: aespa- “Spicy”

“Spicy,” the lead single from aespa’s May EP My World, sees the quartet take a bit of a detour from their previous hyperpop-inspired sound. Instead, “Spicy: plays like an amped-up descendent of f(x)’s “Hot Summer,” delivering an attitude-filled pop jam with intense, razor-sharp synths. “Spicy” was written by Ludvig Evers and Jonathan Gusmark of the Moonshine production team, alongside Moa “Cazzi Opeia” Carlebecker, and Jin Suk Choi of DSign Music, with lyrics by Bang Hye-hyun. “Spicy” reached number two on the Circle music chart in South Korea.

12: Young K (Day6)- “Let it Be Summer”

Between military enlistments and the departure of lead guitarist and vocalist Jae, the pop-rock band Day6 has been inactive for a couple of years now, leaving a big Day6-shaped hole in my heart. Thankfully, Young K, the band’s bassist, vocalist, and main songwriter helped satisfy this longing, delivering the September album Letters with Notes alongside its lead single, “Let it Be Summer,” an energetic, guitar-driven rock track reminiscent of Day6’s very best. “Let it Be Summer” was written by Young K and longtime Day6 producer Hong Ji-sang.

11: StayC- “Bubble”

With a sound driven by the production duo Black Eyed Pilseung (known for producing hits for Sistar, Twice, and more), the girl group StayC has become contemporary K-pop’s most reliable purveyor of classic bubblegum pop. This can easily be heard on “Bubble,” the lead single from their August EP Teenfresh. “Bubble” has an infectious energy with a bright, sweet chorus. On a bad day, it’s almost cloying, but on a good one, it’s the type of old-fashioned pop music you so rarely hear anymore. Bubble was written by Black Eyed Pilseung, Flyt, and Jeon Goon, and charted at number 11.

10: Lun8- “Wild Heart”

2023 was a major year for boy band debuts, and one of the most striking was “Wild Heart,” the lead single from the Lun8’s June debut EP Continue. Not to get repetitive, but this song has a breakneck energy driven by a propulsive drumbeat, and a passionate chorus with a rock edge and an addictive country Western-tinged whistled hook. When I feel down about contemporary trends in K-pop, it’s heartening to hear a new group with this kind of all-out sound. Wild Heart was written by Sebastian Thott, Alex Karlsson, Didrik Thott, enzo, Kim Jae-won, and Yoo Byul.

9: Twice- “Set Me Free”

As they’ve moved from up-and-comers to established industry veterans, aging from their teens into their mid-to-late twenties, Twice’s sound has shifted too, bringing their essential pop catchiness to more mature sonic landscapes. In “Set Me Free,” the lead single from their March EP Ready to Be, Twice take on a modern disco sound, with a driving bass groove and string flourishes. “Set Me Free” was written by Melanie Joy Fontana, Michel Lindgren Schulz, Marty Maro, Star Wars, and Jude, and charted at number 94.

8: Jung Kook (BTS)- “Standing Next To You”

Last year, after years of dominating not just K-pop, but the global pop scene, BTS went inactive, as their eldest member, Jin, had to enlist in the military. Currently, all seven members of the group are enlisted, preparing to return in 2025. But before joining up, the group’s members showed their individual styles with solo releases. Most exciting among them was youngest member Jung Kook, who, in November, put out the all-English album Golden. With its lead single, “Standing Next To You,” a drama-filled pop track, propelled by a groovy disco-inspired beat and big band drums and horns. If Jungkook’s charismatic performance wasn’t evidence enough, this song also received a remix featuring Usher, laying out exactly the kind of dancing, singing pop showman Jungkook aims to be. “Standing Next To You” was written by Andrew Watt, Henry Walter, Ali Tamposi, and Jon Bellion, and charted at number 6 in South Korea as well as making it to number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

7: Ateez- “Halazia”

I mentioned earlier that Leez and Ollounder broke up earlier this year. This was a hard blow for the two groups they primarily worked with, Ateez and Dreamcatcher. Both groups released their final material made with Leez’s involvement at the beginning of the year, and following his departure, I think both have suffered musically. For Ateez, this final Leez-penned material was “Halazia,” the lead single from Ateez’s EP Spin Off: From the Witness. I have to be fair here, this isn’t actually a 2023 release, it came out on December 30, 2022, but that was too late to make last year’s list, so it’s getting brought in this year. “Halazia” is Ateez at their theatrical best, with a grandiose sound featuring church bells and organ accompanying intense synthesizers. While its spare chorus might feel underwhelming, it’s just an amuse-bouche leading up to the song’s epic, pulse-pounding outro. Halazia was written by Eden, Ollounder, Maddox, Peperoni, Oliv, Buddy, Leez, and Neko, with rap lyrics from Ateez’s Hongjoong and Mingi.

6: Ampers&One- “On and On”

My sixth-favorite song of 2023 is also my favorite debut song of 2023, boy band Ampers&One’s single “On and On” from their November self-titled EP. This is just the kind of full-throttle pop music I love to hear, blending rock, EDM, hip hop, disco, and funk into a joyous, dancefloor-ready package. On and On was written by Benjmn, Jacob Aaron, Sooyoon, Park Soo-seok, J.Don, Lee Tae-hyun, Han Sung-ho, and Ampers&One’s Kamden, and charted at number 98.

5: SHINee- “The Feeling”

While my ranking below here fluctuated quite a bit, this top five remained solid, and all five of these songs were real contenders for the top spot. At number five is “The Feeling,” a lead-off single from SHINee’s May album Hard. This year, SHINee celebrated its fifteenth anniversary as a group and returned to full group activities following the completion of youngest member Taemin’s military service. Fifteen years is a rare feat in a K-pop scene where most groups barely make half of that. Yet it was an anniversary tinged with melancholy. There’s the ever-present shadow of the 2017 death of the group’s original main vocalist, Jonghyun. Plus, the day before the release of “The Feeling,” the group’s other main vocalist, Onew, announced a health-related hiatus from which he’s yet to return, leaving SHINee performing with a pared-down lineup of just three. It’s perhaps all this context that makes “The Feeling” hit harder. It’s an airy dance-pop track, lifted by a galvanizing drum-n-bass percussion and a sweet, sentimental melody with lyrics that discuss shaking off hard times and finding hope in life. I try to judge music on its own terms, but with a storied group like SHINee with whom I have so much personal history, there’s no divorcing the song from its context, and that makes its perhaps cliche sentiments ring more authentically. The Feeling was written by LDN Noise, Adrian Mckinnon, Imlay, and Jo Yoon-kyung.

4: Dreamcatcher- “Reason”

The girl group Dreamcatcher’s January single “Reason” is another song to which I have a more personal connection. Released in celebration of the sixth anniversary of the group’s January 2017 debut, “Reason” pairs Dreamcatcher’s signature melodic, energetic, guitar-driven pop-rock with sentimental lyrics about being given strength by someone. In context, this can be interpreted as referring to the group’s fanbase, Insomnia, whose steadfast support has propelled Dreamcatcher from a little-known group to one with ever-growing success. The music video’s use of staircase imagery is particularly notable for the group, who have earned the nickname “stairs idols” in Korean media, for their popularity that has gradually gone up like a flight of stairs, rather than the sudden breakthrough moments many groups see. I saw Dreamcatcher in concert this past March, participating in a meet and gree with the group, and the bond between them and their fans is unmistakable. “Reason” was written by Leez and Ollounder, and, like I mentioned with Ateez, is sadly the group’s last track written with Leez’s involvement.

3: Key (SHINee)- “Killer”

SHINee has already appeared on this list, but at number three, I have a song from one of the group’s members: “Killer,” the lead single from SHINee member Key’s February album, also entitled Killer. One great thing about being an older, more established singer in the K-pop scene is that you can pay less mind to trends, and deliver your own thing. Such is the case with “Killer,” which is an all-killer-no-filler synthpop anthem, with a propulsive energy and tense, dark synths paired with lyrics that compare the pain of a breakup to the scares of a horror film. “Killer” was written by Christoph Cronauer, Simon Klose, Rita Bavanati, Thilo Berndt, and Hwang Yu-bin, and charted at number 58.

2: IVE- “I Am”

I’ve mentioned before that my favorite songs are often out of touch with what’s more popular. You’ll notice that a lot of songs on this list charted low, if they even charted at all. But ever so often, a smash hit really is that good. Such is the case with my number two song of the year, “I Am,” the lead single from girl group IVE’s April album I’ve IVE. In a K-pop world so often dominated by sleepy-sounding R&B or abrasive trap-EDM, it’s genuinely refreshing to hear a group as massive as IVE make their name off of straightforward, classic pop. Of course, I Am isn’t merely straightforward, it’s exceptional, with immense, powerful production and sky-high melodies. If this is the future of K-pop, we’re in safe hands. I Am was written by Ryan S. Jhun, Kristin Marie, Audun Agnar Guldbrandsen, Eline Noelia Myreng, and Kim Eana, and was a number-one hit in Korea.

1: Golden Child- “Feel Me”

My number one came a bit out of left field for me. The boy band Golden Child had been on my radar for a while. I was aware of them as purveyors of solid, but, at least to my ear, unremarkable pop, never cracking my annual list. But their November single “Feel Me” absolutely hits my musical taste in all the right places, and shot to the top of my personal ranking, becoming my favorite of the year. With its synth-infused emotional rock sound, “Feel Me” reminds me quite a bit of one of my other favorite K-pop songs, NCT U’s 2016 single “Without You.” But “Feel Me” boasts a faster tempo and greater edge that pushes it from power ballad into emo-rock territory. Its chorus, driven by passionate vocals, guitar, and drums, hits like a ton of bricks, and its outro only builds on the intensity. Before I ever loved K-pop, I loved emo and pop punk, and this song beautifully marries my two musical worlds. Beyond being my favorite song of the year, it feels like an appropriate number-one song for the final year in review I’ll do for my radio show, blending where my music taste is now with where it’s been before. Feel Me was written by Zigzag Note, Kim Myung-shin, and Sero.

The final episode of The K-Pop Power Hour airs Friday night, January 26/ Saturday morning January 27 at midnight Eastern. For the foreseeable future, my random thoughts on K-pop will be hosted right here on this Substack!