Here are the gurus pick for their favorite songs released in 2022.
James:
I was hoping to get this list out sooner, but wanted to make sure I gave all the releases a chance. 2022 really brought back my love of some groups that had kinda drifted away from the sound that made me a fan in the first place. There were also some surprises that I would have never expected, and of course some of the groups/artists that of course you would expect me to mention *cough*XIA*cough*. This list is in no particular order. I also decided not to limit my self to a certain number of songs. I did stick to my usual rule of 1 song per artist.
1. HANA (하나) – XIA
Did you expect anything else from me. This man can do no wrong! There is not a single song that he has released that in my opinion has been anything less than absolute perfection.
2. HOT – SEVENTEEN
Hot damn S.Coups looks good with long hair. This song is just fantastic, the dance, the song, the music, the styling. I give this song 100 out of 10….The one downside to this song, it brought even more members to my attention. S.coups has been my bias since I started liking SEVENTEEN. Then Manwon^^ forced, me against my will, to go to their first concert. She dragged me there by my hair and made me watch them be amazing (Please note that I am 100% joking about not wanting to go to the concert) BTW I still hate you Manwon^^ because of this group. That was when DK decided to be a jerk to S.Coups and kinda become noticeable and I realized he’s kinda also perfect. Then Somewhere along the line Wonwoo decided to really get in the way. I am regularly upset with the both of them for trying to block S.Coups and knock him out of my Bias spot. Then HOT was released and all of a sudden, The8, Jeonghan, Seungkwan, and Jun decided they want to be noticed. MANWON^^ collect your biases and tell them to leave me alone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Darl+ing was cute not my favorite right off the bat, but has really grown on me. _World was great but HOT hit me like a ton of bricks.
3. Nobody Like You – Kim Jaejoong
This one shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. I have been obsessed with TVXQ! now for almost 18 years. When JYJ left SM and became a trio, I loved them just as much (if not more because XIA and Jaejoong were my two favorite singers from the group) XIA is my all time favorite singer. Jaejoong is way up there on my list of favorite singers as well. I was surprised that this song had a more pop feel when I associate his solo music with more of a rock style, but I was just so happy when this song came out. Admittedly , I didn’t listen to it immediately because I was so busy trying to catch up with all of the releases for this site that I didn’t realize that it had been released, but instantly upon hearing it I knew it would have to be on this list. Jaejoong’s voice and style matches this song so perfectly.
4. HALAZIA – ATEEZ
ATEEZ was one of the groups who had started releasing music that I wasn’t feeling. Their songs that were released after I’m The One just didn’t grab me the way their earlier music did, and I was really disapointed. Then HALAZIA was released and despite being out for 2 days of 2022 I knew the song had to be on my list. HALAZIA is literally everything I love about ATEEZ and their music in a single song. HALAZIA went back to ATEEZ sound, but added to it in such a perfect way. It took the best of all my favotie ATEEZ songs and just melted them into something even more perfect.
5. Maniac – Stray Kids
Stray Kids is another group that went through was ATEEZ did, where their songs started to drift away from what I loved about them Don’t get me wrong, change is good, change is needed, but I felt that they way that Stray Kids was changing, was going away from what made them unique. I don’t want to say they were getting more generic because they weren’t doing that either. Its hard to explain but something just wasn’t clicking with me and their music. Thunderous started to bring it back in 2021, but Maniac. They hit that one out of the park, it had that je ne sais quoi just gave me the chills. Like ATEEZ and HALAZIA it took all the parts that I have loved about Stray Kids and combine them into Maniac.
6. Glitch Mode (버퍼링) – NCT DREAM
Here is a group that I did not expect to ever have on a list of my favorite songs. But then looking back, Hot Sauce should have been on my list last year, and this year Glitch Mode has actually made it onto my list. WHY!? Where did NCT DREAM come from!? Glitch Mode is just a fun song. This was one of the songs that I heard and I just knew that I loved it.
7. Same Scent – OneUs
I’m surprised that this is OneUs hasn’t been on my favorite songs list before. They have some damn good music. Same Scent is another one of the songs like Maniac and HALAZIA that I think just has everything that makes OneUs OneUs. If this song had been performed by another group would I love it as much as I do now? I don’t think so. There are some songs and groups that are a perfect marriage. If anyone else covered this song it would be hard for them to do this song justice.
8. Tomboy – (g)I-DLE
This song was one of those songs that I did not expect to put on this list. I didn’t really like it at first, in fact it was least favorite (g)I-DLE song upon release. But it kept poping up on my spotify playlist and each time I liked the song more. So when I was writting out my list of songs that I was going to have for 2022 and Tomboy just appeared there I just accepted it. Tomboy was more of a slow burn song and not an instant hit, and that is okay.
9. Ascension (승천) – Kingdom
I freaking love this group. They are so good at what they do. Each release of theirs has so beautifully showcased the member whos story it is. Each time I’m excited for the next release.
10. Fire (불이나) – EXID
EXID IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so freaking excited to see that they were releasing something new. EXID makes some great music and Fire is no exception, though admittedly if EXID had been consistently releasing music the past few years I don’t think this song would be on the list, but because I am so excited for new music from them Fire gets bonus points.
11. Ditto – NewJeans
I am very surprised by how much I like this song. Hype Boy and Attention did nothing for me. I completely forgot the Cookie existed, and even Ditto I was kinda “meh” on but after two listens trying to get screen caps of each of the members the song got stuck in my head and I just had to listen to it over and over and over again to try and get rid of it. But in doing so, I ended up really liking the song and here we are.
12. Still Life (봄여름가을겨울) – Big Bang
I love this song. I have loved Big Bang for years and they make fantastic music. With Big Bang I gravitate to songs like Lies, and Haru Haru, and Monster. Their dancier songs like Fantastic Baby and Bang Bang Bang are good, but the other ones are perfect. Still Life fits into the mix of songs that I really love from Big Bang, and to have this be the first new song for them is years is everything I hoped for. Where EXID is more on this list because I love EXID, Big Bang is one this list because Still Life is everything I wanted from the group and more.
12. Me = (나는) – Just B
This song is so goooooooood. Just B is severely underrated. I highly recommend giving them a listen and start from this song (You really could start with any of their songs, because they are all great)
13. Doom Du Doom = P1Harmony
This one surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. When I capped it for this site it honestly didn’t grab my attention. I really noticed how good the song was after starting a 2022 songs playlist on spotify because I wasn’t getting to listen to a lot of songs that are in my “Liked Songs” and my discovory playlists don’t actually really add songs to discover which is odd. I’m really glad I did that.
Manwon^^:
2022 was both an amazing year of kpop but also a year that slightly disappointed me with some of the more “speaking” choruses – so songs were really either a total hit for me or a total flop. Here is a list of my favorite songs of 2022 – I have decided to make this list a little different since James and I have the same favorite songs for the following: Seventeen – Hot, ATEEZ – Halazia, Stray Kids – Maniac, NCT Dream – Glitch Mode, OneUs – Same Scent, Kingdom – Ascension (승찬), EXID – Fire, BIGBANG – Still Life (봄여름가을겨울), Just B – Me=(나는), P1Harmony – Doom Du Doom. I will be instead listing my other favorites not included on her list! My list will be in no particular order for this either.
1. BTOB – The Song (노래)
Yeah, BTOB will always be my one of my favorites – they just are so amazingly talented, and this song was truly for Melody with so many cute easter egg references to their journey in the industry. I listen to this songs all the time!
2. B.I – BTBT
Ya’ll haven’t been paying attention if you thought we’d get through a 2022 list of favorites without a B.I mention. This just constantly gets stuck in my head to the point that those in my household are stuck forever hearing this song as well because I just walk around singing it.
3. NewJeans – Hype Boy
I really didn’t think I was going to like NewJeans as much as I did! They are refreshing in the world of k-pop and bring back the vibes of older k-pop with the 4th generation vibe still. Truly an awesome group with incredibly talented members.
4. TXT – Good Boy Gone Bad
I was not a fan of this song when it first came out – damn TXT though – it has grown on me and now it gets played everyday on my commute to and from work! Can TXT do any wrong (ignoring Cat & Dog sorry not sorry it’s a terrible song)?
5. ITZY – Cheshire
Wow Itzy needed this song to make their way back on to my personal playlists. It was an amazing comeback for them though and again I find myself singing it all the time. My mom refers to Itzy as the “Alice in Wonderland” group because of how often I sing this song to myself.
6. Kara – When I Move
This surprised me, both for coming out and for being as amazing as it was! I never would have thought starting 2022, I would end the year with a Kara song on my favorite releases in k-pop for the year! Talk about the best kind of surprise!
7. Kingdom – Long Live the King (백야)
I’m always going to take an opportunity to offer more Kingdom to ya’ll. So since James had Ascension on her list, I am putting Long Live the King Here. I’ll let the awesome MV and song speak for itself!
8. Seventeen – _World / SVT Leaders – Cheers
Take your pick, Seventeen is just awesome! And they really never disappoint when they release something! Hot was my favorite release last year, but _World and Cheers both were amazing as well! Enjoy all the Seventeen!
9. Stray Kids – Venom (거미줄)
Yep, another option for an amazing group! While Maniac is the best 2022 Stray Kids song, Venom also makes it on to my list for being amazing!
10. APINK – Dilemma
I didn’t love this song when it came out, and would probably argue that it is still one of my least favorite of APINK’s newer releases – BUT again I am constantly humming it and singing it and just find enjoyment from the song; it is still an amazing song despite not being APINK’s best which is impressive!
11. OneWe – Universe_ (너의 우주는)
Ballads are always my favorite and OneWe just hit it out of the park with this touching song!
12. OneUs – Same Scent
Yes I did already mention this up in my intro, but it is just so great I’m going to leave the MV here one more time incase you didn’t watch if from James’ list or you just want to be blessed with this masterpiece again.
13. ATEEZ – Halazia
Why have you not watched this a second time yet since being here on this page? Let’s fix that now!
KpopInfo114 