The 20 Best K-Pop Songs of 2014

If you became a K-Pop fan in 2014 or already seasoned member, you may feel that you came in at the worst possible time. This year was filled with a number of scandals, tragedies and lawsuits that shook the very core of the industry. Most of the releases this year were also pretty weak compared to the genre exploring, risk-taking bops that dropped. Of course, 2014 was not a total disappointment in the K-Pop world and here are 20 songs that prove that:

HyunA "Red"

HyunA never fails to deliver a solo bop. Getting past the ridiculous of "Bubble Pop" allowed to me to genuinely enjoy "Ice Cream" and her Trouble Maker singles as well. So I don't feel bad at all for saying "Red" is the most addicting K-Pop song of 2014.

Trouble Maker Have a "We Found Love" Moment With "Now"

Trouble Maker was a winning formula for Cube Entertainment, enlisting Beast's lead vocalist Hyun-seung and 4Minute's diva HyunA. The duo is finally back after promotions with their respective groups. "Now" begins like a slow burning neo-noir jazz number sprinkled with stuttering before drums come in. The production is a bit anti-climatic as there is no major rises or falls and lacks the vocal conviction and chemistry that made the duo's first self-titled single such a bop! However, the song isn't bad because of these things, it's just a bit on the average side. Now let's talk about this video. It looks amazingly amazing and big budget. Not K-Pop big budget, like American music video big budget. They are getting a lot of flack for this, but I say it's better than doing some cheap recycle-a-set music video! There are many shots in the video that share similarities with Rihanna's "We Found Love" visuals, notably the shots of them making out in the car in the middle of a field, the shotty conditions in which HyunA and Hyun-seung live and the sprinker scene. I would do a .gif by .gif comparison of the two, but I'm too lazy to do that so just watch both videos and spot the similarities for yourself. Also, I hope that when they do promotions for the song that they make the choreography as electric as they do in the video. Not here for half-assed choreo onstage...