Welcome to Day 2 of the 2nd K-Pop Soloists rate reveal! We will be revealing the top 20 songs today.
For those following the song rate live, we highly encourage you to follow both this post and the live chat on our community Discord, as we will be using both for chatting/communication.
If you are here after the live results-reveal watch session, we would encourage you to avoid spoilers by going through the comments section one-by-one, as the comments will be sorted by Old after the live watch session so you can simulate the ranking reveal for yourself.
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STATS:
Participants: 54 participants
Average score: 6.899
Average controversy score: 2.396 (Any song with a controversy score higher than this is considered to be divisive)
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IU (8/11):
Blueming {Bonus}
G-Dragon (1/4):
HyunA (3/6):
Babe {Bonus}
Jay Park (0/5):
None :(
Gain (2/2):
Zion.T (0/3):
None :(
Ailee (5/6):
Heaven {Bonus}
Lee Hi (1/5):
Miscellaneous Artists (0/6):
None :(
"I see IU isn’t the only one that likes to mention her age in songs. Hyuna just combined them all into one."
"Ambiguous xylophone / marimba? Snaps. ANOTHER person saying their age?? Fits right into this rate. Chipmunk vocals overlaid in certain parts."
"she was 26 in 2017?? Okay unc…"
Bonus #3: HyunA - Babe
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Average: 7.151 // Total Points: 364.7 // Controversy: 2.215
(10 x8) 1998tweety, ayzrules, kauai6, kawaii_mokona, naegerowwa, necromanta_101, pollutedrain, popularsong
(9.5 x1) snowswinters
(9.1 x1) zo142
(9 x4) DoingItWright2, ruhroh386, Shay_Min, vayyiqra
(8.8 x1) Upper_Question1383 (8.7 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(8.1 x1) Randummonkey
(8 x3) ke1per, MeijiDoom, moonbia
(7.9 x1) WarpstarRider
(7.5 x1) omgthenerve
(7.4 x2) keine_panik, MartialST (7.3 x1) aidshha
(7 x7) dnarevolutions, ganos-b-thanondorf, gmint14, hockeynl, laulite, ohsomeday_, RBSun
(6.9 x1) Kronwell (6.8 x1) flawedconstellation (6.7 x1) msargent24
(6.5 x1) MurkyGalaxies
(6.3 x1) qquestionmark
(6 x2) CheesesPriced, Marsmaenschen
(5.9 x1) xiola_azuthra (5.6 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(5.5 x2) landshanties, SkylarV
(5 x3) DPM36, Jennywren2323, lemon131nomel
(4.3 x1) Zypker125
(2 x3) bibliomaniac15, kirakiranatsu, OnlyDragonfruit808
(1 x1) taebaegi
MeijiDoom (8): Easily the best of her offerings on this rate. Probably because she sings a lot more in a typical pop timbre and not her signature style. The instrumental's also doing some heavy lifting. Big fan of the electronic sounds being featured here.
RBSun (7): man im older than she was when she released this. doing this rate so full of artists i loved at age 12 is really sobering sometimes. it's a nice solid pop song, probably more palatable than a lot of her more famous tracks
Zypker125 (4.3): Feels like a diet version of a NMIXX switch-up song (probably no one will agree with me)
ayzrules (10): total banger
kauai6 (10): another favorite kpop song of alltime in the BONUS sadly…. but this song is hyuna’s best and really an embodiment of what a good ass k-pop song sounds like
kawaii_mokona (10): Best Hyuna song, you heard it here
naegerowwa (10): the reason why i think telling ppl who were upset by hyuna's choice of husband that "she was never a feminist icon to begin with, you made it up" is a bit unfair bc while yes, no kpop idol is a feminist icon (in no small part bc proclaiming that you are will get you jinjja killed) songs like this was kinda the closest we had to it
pollutedrain (10): this entire mini was one of her best offerings
popularsong (10): the guy who likes career/fan commentary songs disguised as rship songs is at it giving such a song a 10 again
snowswinters (9.5): i love that echoey interlude lol. i feel like this song kinda sounds a bit sad which i really like
zo142 (9.1): Subtracting 0.1 because How's This was robbed as fuck
Shay_Min (9): it's 10% annoying 90% begrudging bop
vayyiqra (9): earworm idc. why do i like random hyuna songs a lot sometimes how does she do this when i know i'd hate listening to a whole album of hers. or would i ...
SecretStoryOfThe- (8.7): I'm going to be charitable and assume that this song is intentionally rather than unintentionally creepy.
Randummonkey (8.1): 🦀
ke1per (8): a shame the best HyunA song has to kick it down here in the nosebleeds, but she’s a bop regardless.
WarpstarRider (7.9): pretty good
dnarevolutions (7): well composed and one of her more melodic songs which I enjoy. I like the message and MV concept as well.
ganos-b-thanondorf (7): IU absolutely wins the age themed song off
laulite (7): I see IU isn’t the only one that likes to mention her age in songs. Hyuna just combined them all into one.
Kronwell (6.9): girl same i'm turning 26 soon except i don’t think i’ll ever meet someone that will make me age back i ain’t Benjamin Button
flawedconstellation (6.8): she was 26 in 2017?? Okay unc…
MurkyGalaxies (6.5): Under no circumstances do I want to be with someone that makes me feel 15 why would I long back to my middle school days like that
CheesesPriced (6): Ambiguous xylophone / marimba? Snaps. ANOTHER person saying their age?? Fits right into this rate. Chipmunk vocals overlaid in certain parts.
landshanties (5.5): kinda reheating sunmi’s nachos
SkylarV (5.5): On the verge of being offensive to the ears
lemon131nomel (5): I’m glad to hear her softer vocals for once. The rap felt a bit out of place, and the babe part gets repetitive real fast. Bridge sounds like touch lmao.
kirakiranatsu (2): I had successfully forgotten about this song, thanks for nothing
taebaegi (1): Nope.
"Good Day if it were a Disneyland water show theme song reject"
"Did she just build the fucking TARDIS"
"Who stubbed their toe around the 2:30 mark?"
#17: IU - You & I
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Graph
Average: 7.196 // Total Points: 388.6 // Controversy: 2.165
(11 x2) bibliomaniac15, gmint14
(10 x4) dnarevolutions, DPM36, hockeynl, kauai6
(9.5 x1) snowswinters
(9.4 x1) AmeZim (9.2 x1) WarpstarRider (9.1 x1) Randummonkey
(9 x5) ganos-b-thanondorf, Jennywren2323, msargent24, RBSun, xiola_azuthra
(8.7 x2) flawedconstellation, qquestionmark (8.6 x1) lemon131nomel
(8.3 x1) keine_panik (8.2 x1) ayzrules
(8 x7) 1998tweety, aidshha, Kronwell, laulite, MeijiDoom, naegerowwa, omgthenerve
(7.9 x1) Upper_Question1383
(7.5 x3) goorry121, landshanties, Shay_Min
(7 x3) CheesesPriced, popularsong, SkylarV
(6.5 x1) pollutedrain
(6 x3) Marsmaenschen, OnlyDragonfruit808, vayyiqra
(5.7 x1) moonbia
(5.5 x2) MurkyGalaxies, ohsomeday_
(5.3 x1) Zypker125 (5.1 x1) MartialST
(5 x1) redalert30
(4.4 x2) ke1per, LeadingInspector1891
(4 x4) kawaii_mokona, necromanta_101, ruhroh386, taebaegi
(3.8 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(3.5 x1) DoingItWright2
(3.3 x1) zo142
(2.5 x1) kirakiranatsu
RBSun (9): absolutely iconic clockwork mv, beautiful strings, super fun dance break, key change of all time, it's got it all. visually and sonically an absolute delight. lyrically it's… there's something very bittersweet looking back on these then comparing them with something like, say, zeze
MeijiDoom (8): I honestly can't tell if it's just the producers who know how to build songs around IU's voice but every time I think I might not be a fan of how the song is progressing, they pull me back in with a big chorus that highlights her voice in a memorable way. It's insane how I consistently love these instrumentals.
Zypker125 (5.3): This song has a lot of ingredients similar to Good Day, but I just don’t resonate with it as much. Everything feels quieter in this song, the chorus lacks hooks, and I don’t really ‘get’ the melody behind this song.
bibliomaniac15 (11): This is my favorite Kpop song of all time ever since I listened to it for the first time. I love the tick-tocking bass beat, the orchestral fantasy instrumentals, the “showstopping number” aura, the iconic “clock hands” dance move, the time-traveling MV story that continues in “Above the Time,” the Japanese version that basically summarizes the plot of Kimi no na wa…the absolute pinnacle of the “Nation’s Little Sister” era.
gmint14 (11): kids today have it so easy with their tinder and hinge. my first love was a guy who fell into deep slumber and would only wake up once i became an adult, so i built a time machine to make time pass faster and be with him, but i timed it wrong and we lost the chance to be with each other 💔 the trope of "too much love / not enough time" is always going to be a 10 for me in rates, but now even that feels like a low score. iu’s live performances of this song are everything to me and i find it incredible that even in recent ones, she still brings out the youthful fragility and franticness of a princess from an old fairytale. i’ve watched it covered by so many people and no one gets it right! she’s forever the only one who can get me emotional with it!
dnarevolutions (10): og goat song I was absolutely smitten with her here
kauai6 (10): when the song comes back in the last minute and hits you like OH BITCH
snowswinters (9.5): i adore the fairytale/magical vibe
AmeZim (9.4): Whimsical yet spellbinding, Dreamcatcher would dream of having their 4th single be as magical as Disney at its peak
WarpstarRider (9.2): The sequel to Good Day brings in some more dramatic flourishes to keep things feeling fresh.
Randummonkey (9.1): I like to think IU performing this on her last tour was meant to placate the Good Day die hards
ganos-b-thanondorf (9): Did she just build the fucking TARDIS
Jennywren2323 (9): Catchy and goofy in a fun way
xiola_azuthra (9): Youtube comment pick: “u:Lee Joo-eun-o7m (11 months ago) If you listen to it at a concert, your heart will start pounding from the intro...❤And at the climax, tears well up along with fireworks🥹”
flawedconstellation (8.7): this is the iu song i have the least to say about bc its lowkey just good day redux but less good. iu does look super cutie with the pigtails though!
qquestionmark (8.7): Her classics are still the best with the a few exceptions.
lemon131nomel (8.6): Cinematic-sounding intro. The high-pitched whispering is definitely a choice. I guess overall the layering was a bit of a head-scratcher. It has that mysterious Nintendo feeling? I feel like I’m playing Mario Kart??? I feel like the instrumentals and choral background sounds are the standout in this song.
keine_panik (8.3): Who stubbed their toe around the 2:30 mark?
laulite (8): Was that a random grunt in this holiday sounding song? Other than that, it sounds so lovely. Her early stuff’s no joke. It’s so pretty.
Upper_Question1383 (7.9): Very musical-esque
landshanties (7.5): really hollerin her way through this one (complimentary)
Shay_Min (7.5): quite enjoyed the instrumental but the melody... bleh
CheesesPriced (7): Did they just interrupt the song with an interpolated Sabre Dance break?
popularsong (7): im such a sucker for this sound
SkylarV (7): For some reason this feels very 'live-action Disney remake' coded
pollutedrain (6.5): ailee takes this victory i’m afraid
Marsmaenschen (6): I absolutely adore this MV and especially its setdesign. I love her workshop with all its little thingies and peculiar items of unknown purpose, her budget TARDIS that seems to mostly run on loosely connected gears and her own dreams, and of course the goose who adds an incredible amount of charme just by virtue of being a goose. I am a sucker for physical sets and seeing one like this in an MV makes me happy. The song itself is interesting in that it kinda changes its vibe from time to time. Mostly magical but sometimes cheeky spooky isn't a combination I remember hearing.
vayyiqra (6): still confused by IU's vibe how she's kind of not any genre at once but vaguely "pop" with many different instrumental sounds but idk how to classify it. some say jazz-pop and i'm like ehh not really, it's in a quantum state of pop that's not-jazz but not-not-jazz, it's like laufey
moonbia (5.7): there's nothing here for me and it just goes on Forever
MurkyGalaxies (5.5): It is sweet and all but also terribly boring I feel...
redalert30 (5): same thing as above
ke1per (4.4): I heard the first chime and I wished I was dead tbh. The vibes here are very confusing - is this supposed to be yearning and angsty or bright and fun because I’m not getting a good read here, sonically or MV wise. Nothing interesting is going on and there are plenty of bland and chime-y things going on so this isn’t even a mixed bag, apologies to You & I truthers.
LeadingInspector1891 (4.4): Very disney princess without the things that make disney princess songs good. The pop beats added to princess tracks will never ever work on me
kawaii_mokona (4): The worse out of "You and I" songs of the rate and I say that without having heard Ailee's take
taebaegi (4): It’s fine.
SecretStoryOfThe- (3.8): Musically similar to good day but even worse. The lyrics feel kind of creepy too.
kirakiranatsu (2.5): this is my first time hearing this song and it’s literally just sauceless Good Day wtf? Good Day if it were a Disneyland water show theme song reject
"moonbia (11): on god we will get this man out of day 1"
“CheesesPriced (5): Ode to UK hooligan culture? Welcome to the top 10 G-Dragon, even if it took a 41-song contest with Zion T and Jay Park to make it happen.”
"HELL YEAH WHO CARES IF IT SOUNDS LIKE A KIDS SHOW THEME IT'S FUN "
"Now, arise, Sir Gabzy Draggo McCrooked of The Republic of South Korea! Next time you're in town, let's go down the local, eh guv?"
#16: G-Dragon - Crooked
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Graph
Average: 7.241 // Total Points: 391.0 // Controversy: 2.422
(11 x3) moonbia, ruhroh386, zo142
(10 x12) aidshha, AmeZim, DPM36, flawedconstellation, ganos-b-thanondorf, gmint14, goorry121, kauai6, kawaii_mokona, kirakiranatsu, necromanta_101, pollutedrain
(9.5 x1) Randummonkey
(9.2 x1) lemon131nomel (9.1 x1) ke1per
(9 x2) 1998tweety, Shay_Min
(8.5 x1) Upper_Question1383
(7.9 x1) qquestionmark
(7.5 x2) DoingItWright2, RBSun
(7.4 x1) msargent24 (7.2 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(7 x3) ayzrules, bibliomaniac15, OnlyDragonfruit808
(6.5 x3) laulite, WarpstarRider, xiola_azuthra
(6.3 x1) Zypker125
(6 x4) dnarevolutions, naegerowwa, ohsomeday_, popularsong
(5.6 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(5.5 x1) snowswinters
(5.4 x1) redalert30 (5.1 x1) MartialST
(5 x7) CheesesPriced, Kronwell, Marsmaenschen, MeijiDoom, MurkyGalaxies, taebaegi, vayyiqra
(4 x2) hockeynl, Jennywren2323
(3 x3) keine_panik, landshanties, omgthenerve
(1.8 x1) SkylarV
RBSun (7.5): emoboy gd does in fact hit unfortunately. he is a star in the genre of "shitty boy so sad he becomes shittier" and this is frankly a prime example
Zypker125 (6.3): Dw everyone, Crooked is a legendary and iconic song in K-Pop history, surely the raters won't tank such a legendary and iconic song from YG
MeijiDoom (5): It's crazy that the nonmelodic party song is where G-Dragon's voice bothers me the most. The verses are by far the most entertaining part but with a tone I do not enjoy. Maybe I need to hit the club more often.
moonbia (11): on god we will get this man out of day 1
ruhroh386 (11): Just me in the car, driving to and from summer classes, losing my religion to this and Vampire Weekend. Good times.
zo142 (11): Kwon Ji-Yong, I hereby pronounce you to be a top geezer, proper fella, and decent little lad. In your honour, I raise a pukka pie and a pint of brown; may your weekends be grey, your missus a pain in the arse, and your Tesco carparks free of crackheads. Now, arise, Sir Gabzy Draggo McCrooked of The Republic of South Korea! Next time you're in town, let's go down the local, eh guv?
aidshha (10): maybe my most unexpected 10 ever? i guess the solution is just to film your mv in london to get the real british emo kid vote
AmeZim (10): Early 2010s pop music is always going platinum in my bedroom and it’s a bit shame we’re not rating more of his club banger here
flawedconstellation (10): hear me out… woodz was kind of birthed from this song. the 3 minute runtime refers to the 3 trimesters through which woodz (the artist, not like cho seungyoun) was gestated until he popped out singing love me harder, bump bump, hijack, busted, drowning, in the last 45 seconds of this song. the climax sounds so emotional because we just birthed a baby - mini crooked g-dragon 🥺👶
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): You know you’re the GOAT when you make being British seem cool
gmint14 (10): something about the mv being the absolute epitome of 2013 makes the song feel even more timeless. it’s like the clock has stopped and you’re stuck in a random night out forever
kauai6 (10): https://tenor.com/view/6oon-goon-gif-24248469
kawaii_mokona (10): Immediately transported back to when I was living with a girlie who was a massive GD stan and used to blast this song a lot. Deserves all the flowers
kirakiranatsu (10): perfect song to listen to during a global economic recession
pollutedrain (10): top tier crash out song thanks king
Randummonkey (9.5): Why couldn't G-Dragon pull a Momoland and release the same sound like 5 more times without referencing Nazi iconography or ideological concepts?
lemon131nomel (9.2): I think his tone really shines here. The buildup is steady, strategic, and well-executed. As much as I feel like this song isn’t for me, I can’t see myself giving this a lower score.
ke1per (9.1): I love love love the synths in the instrumental, they feel almost like the synths in MGMT’s Kids, which I support wholeheartedly. Great melodies, great vibes. His tone is handled well here and while I think this could use more dynamics, I’m vibing too much to mind.
Shay_Min (9): HELL YEAH WHO CARES IF IT SOUNDS LIKE A KIDS SHOW THEME IT'S FUN GDDDDDDDDDDDD
Upper_Question1383 (8.5): A classic
msargent24 (7.4): The only GD song on the rate with a real pulse
SecretStoryOfThe- (7.2): This is apparently regarded as a standout. It's fine.
ayzrules (7): kinda boring
laulite (6.5): This was what I expected on the ballot.
WarpstarRider (6.5): I like the beat, but his rapping annoys me.
xiola_azuthra (6.5): iconic
dnarevolutions (6): the song is crooked cause only the chorus is good
popularsong (6): not a fan of the verses vs the hook but the hook is so good i will forgive it... it does feel like peak emo 15 yo song no wonder jungkook was obsessed with it when he was a toddler
snowswinters (5.5): the synth is quite nice but it’s a little too rap heavy of a song for me
redalert30 (5.4): very 2010s vibe party song, gets old fast
CheesesPriced (5): Ode to UK hooligan culture? Welcome to the top 10 G-Dragon, even if it took a 41-song contest with Zion T and Jay Park to make it happen.
MurkyGalaxies (5): you know I was bopping for like 30 seconds and then I was just begging for the song to change in any way shape or form but I guess not! It just remains mid-2010s G-Dragon soup!
taebaegi (5): It’s fine, it has that YG sound that is a bit boring to me, but it doesn’t have anything glaringly wrong with it imo.
vayyiqra (5): the energy is needed but i dont like his voice at all
keine_panik (3): The production on this aged terribly.
landshanties (3): fill up my cup (drank) mazel tov (l’chaim)
SkylarV (1.8): This is just a Big Bang song
G-Dragon
Overall Average: 6.621 // Average Controversy: 2.426
RBSun: its rough in the r/kpoprates streets for enjoyers of yg artists as a whole and bigbang in particular, generally - as a host i'm really sat to see what depths we can sink to given like half of this rate is yg, and which yg artist will come out on top (it's obviously lee hi, but yknow suspense)
Zypker125: G-Draggin deez nuts all over your face
MeijiDoom: Still not the artist for me but I did enjoy these songs more than his more recent songs that have shown up on the occasional rate here and there.
ruhroh386 (10.250): Everyone is entitled to a problematic fav, and he is mine
ganos-b-thanondorf (10.000): THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT THAT’S WHY HE’S THE MVP THAT’S WHY HE’S THE GOAT THE GOOOOOAAAAAAAAT
kauai6 (9.400): his voice makes any song at least 5x better
SecretStoryOfThe- (8.150): Had listened to some of his music previously and wasn't a fan, with the rate I ended up actually liking it though. Gotta say that at least the four songs here pretty much all deal with the same topic and it gets sort of repetitive.
ke1per (8.000): Power should have been here smh
qquestionmark (8.000): Missing you Missing You (Feat. Kim Yuna) [Best song: Missing You (Feat. Kim Yuna)]
bibliomaniac15 (8.000): G-Dragon’s music is like KBBQ to me—I never crave it and pretty much opt for eating any other Korean dish, but when I actually sit down and have it, it’s a lot better than I remember, I have a good time, and I can kinda get why it gets a certain legendary status.
Randummonkey (7.725): 🦀
ayzrules (7.675): why does he even make ballads like surely this isn’t what his audience is looking for from him
LeadingInspector1891 (7.225): Pleasantly suprised
aidshha (7.125): actually surprised by how much i enjoyed this section after giving power a 0. can gdragon start making 2013 softboy sadboy acoustic songs again instead
lemon131nomel (6.275): He has a unique tone, which works for some songs but doesn’t quite work for others.
msargent24 (4.250): Unfortunately, his best songs are not on the rate and we’re stuck with these boring ballads instead
vayyiqra (4.000): baffling man i don't get it. sorry to this man
keine_panik (3.400): What even is this song selection? Who decided that what we from GD is singing out of all things?
SkylarV (1.825): My sincere apologies to Ganos (that's what the 'G' in G-Dragon stands for, I can call him that cuz we're friends and we're cool like that, nbd)
User Averages:
ruhroh386: 10.250 ganos-b-thanondorf: 10.000 ShayMin: 9.500 necromanta_101: 9.500 moonbia: 9.450 kauai6: 9.400 kirakiranatsu: 9.125 DPM36: 9.000 zo142: 8.825 pollutedrain: 8.575 RBSun: 8.250 gmint14: 8.200 SecretStoryOfThe-: 8.150 laulite: 8.125 kawaii_mokona: 8.000 ke1per: 8.000 qquestionmark: 8.000 bibliomaniac15: 8.000 1998tweety: 7.750 Randummonkey: 7.725 ayzrules: 7.675 Upper_Question1383: 7.275 LeadingInspector1891: 7.225 goorry121: 7.125 aidshha: 7.125 WarpstarRider: 6.950 flawedconstellation: 6.850 xiola_azuthra: 6.800 ohsomeday: 6.500 AmeZim: 6.350 lemon131nomel: 6.275 OnlyDragonfruit808: 6.250 MeijiDoom: 6.150 taebaegi: 6.125 Marsmaenschen: 5.750 dnarevolutions: 5.750 Kronwell: 5.625 snowswinters: 5.625 Jennywren2323: 5.500 redalert30: 5.250 hockeynl: 5.125 naegerowwa: 4.975 CheesesPriced: 4.750 popularsong: 4.750 MartialST: 4.700 msargent24: 4.250 MurkyGalaxies: 4.250 Zypker125: 4.125 vayyiqra: 4.000 DoingItWright2: 3.625 keine_panik: 3.400 omgthenerve: 3.000 landshanties: 2.750 SkylarV: 1.825
"ilhoon: 1) says he has never been likeable 2) calls himself short 3) gasses hyuna up 4) leaves. fascinating feature"
“rare male feature where the main female singer sounds more gwigwi than the guy.”
"Cube had 2 rappers that didn’t suck ass and immediately tried to pull some YG type shit"
#15: HyunA - Roll Deep
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Graph
Average: 7.243 // Total Points: 391.1 // Controversy: 2.207
(10 x10) ayzrules, DPM36, flawedconstellation, kauai6, moonbia, msargent24, necromanta_101, pollutedrain, ruhroh386, zo142
(9.5 x1) taebaegi
(9 x4) ganos-b-thanondorf, Jennywren2323, RBSun, vayyiqra
(8.6 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(8.5 x2) 1998tweety, hockeynl
(8.2 x1) Randummonkey (8.1 x1) Upper_Question1383
(8 x1) kawaii_mokona
(7.9 x2) gmint14, MartialST (7.8 x1) MurkyGalaxies (7.7 x3) lemon131nomel, qquestionmark, redalert30
(7.5 x1) ohsomeday_
(7.4 x1) WarpstarRider (7.2 x1) naegerowwa
(7 x6) AmeZim, dnarevolutions, goorry121, Kronwell, omgthenerve, snowswinters
(6.5 x2) aidshha, kirakiranatsu
(6 x5) laulite, Marsmaenschen, OnlyDragonfruit808, popularsong, Shay_Min
(5.8 x1) xiola_azuthra
(5.5 x1) MeijiDoom
(5 x1) bibliomaniac15
(4.6 x1) ke1per
(4.2 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(4 x2) CheesesPriced, DoingItWright2
(3 x1) landshanties
(2.5 x1) keine_panik
(2.3 x1) SkylarV
(1 x1) Zypker125
RBSun (9): a long-time favorite of mine, although it'd probably been years since i'd heard it when we started working on this rate, so i was somewhat startled to find they'd changed this song's english name in the in-between (although my playlists with it from pre-2017 still have 'roll deep' and i think that's still what most people know it by). anyway it's a darker take on red, like a crimson, and ilhoon makes a good appearance here
MeijiDoom (5.5): Riser pre-chorus with the alley oop and post-chorus with the dunk of misery. The beat itself is pretty nice and the verses are solid but this brought me back to the 4Minute songs I try to erase from my memory.
Zypker125 (1): She really is the female Taeyong (see my scores for the Taeyong songs)
ayzrules (10): BANGERRRRRRR
flawedconstellation (10): rare male feature where the main female singer sounds more gwigwi than the guy. also I loved this song from an age where i definitely should not have been loving this song.
kauai6 (10): shorty i’m a god girl, also i honestly kinda love the album cover and the entire concept for A+, like she was really giving LA queen even if it kinda kills me that like it seems like they were just like omg there’s a mountain here let’s go and take photos
moonbia (10): lmao does anyone else remember when ilhoon was randomly replaced by dawn in one of the stages for this song or is that lost scripture
msargent24 (10): Love this instrumental
pollutedrain (10): when two queens come together to absolutely maximise their slay
zo142 (10): This song cemented HyunA's legacy as the greatest K-Pop vocalist of all time. Words fail to describe how good she sounds here. As a substitute, I shall do the routine from the 1988 Crystal Light National Aerobic Championship opening.
taebaegi (9.5): The beat on this is immaculate and it works so well with the chorus, I love it so much. I don’t really like the transition into the EDM post-chorus, it kind of ruins the vibes for me, and I don’t really know if Ilhoon’s rap was necessary, but everything else is perfect. The choreo is really good too.
ganos-b-thanondorf (9): Cube had 2 rappers that didn’t suck ass and immediately tried to pull some YG type shit
Jennywren2323 (9): sorry this song is a banger.
vayyiqra (9): its a tune even if her voice is kind of weird but i'm used to it by now
Randummonkey (8.2): 🦀
Upper_Question1383 (8.1): I really like the chorus
kawaii_mokona (8): Kinda not ashamed to admit that the cover for this album is cute
gmint14 (7.9): merry christmas god girls 😇
MurkyGalaxies (7.8): yeah IDK the beat on it kinda slaps in that kind of 4D chess way
lemon131nomel (7.7): Wow that buildup to the chorus is too good. This song lowkey slaps, and I don’t even know why. Her voice is so addicting here. Once again, her delivery is what sells the song.
qquestionmark (7.7): You can touch me PSYCH DON'T TOUCH ME
redalert30 (7.7): catchy ratchet (genre name) production. Still don’t like her vocal tone at all. The postchorus has cool synths though, overall the production carries
WarpstarRider (7.4): I should not like this as much as I do
naegerowwa (7.2): ilhoon: 1) says he has never been likeable 2) calls himself short 3) gasses hyuna up 4) leaves. fascinating feature
AmeZim (7): Pretty much the theme song for that popular group in school that later turns out to be the fake-out villain in a musical Disney movie, right before the real antagonist gets revealed in the last 30 minutes
dnarevolutions (7): this outsold adele by a long margin
Kronwell (7): unironically my most listened HyunA song. I like the Ilhoon feature.
snowswinters (7): it’s kind of jay park-esque
kirakiranatsu (6.5): i loved this song, then i hated it… now, it sits somewhere in the middle. it’s not a song i return to often but when i do it does make me remember ilhoon fondly
laulite (6): The chorus and the feature were the only noteworthy parts about it, but this far from the worst song on the ballot.
popularsong (6): is this a good song. not really. am i still moving. hell yeah
Shay_Min (6): if you had told me this was AI i probably would've believed you it's that generic
xiola_azuthra (5.8): This type of brag song is rarely my vibe but I’ll take it over Like Jennie.
ke1per (4.6): the way this song goes in one ear and out the other with no impact despite being relatively dynamic and having a solid feature should be studied by our most advanced kpoprates scientists, it’s just magic.
CheesesPriced (4): Birthed BlackPink.
landshanties (3): like if a jessi song was kinda good
keine_panik (2.5): Why is the title in YouTube Music completely different?
SkylarV (2.3): There's an Illit/God joke in here somewhere but I can't make it work
"I predict at least 2 Family Guy references in the comments"
"if you open the kpop history books this comeback is front and centre"
"that techno was ragebait right?"
#14: HyunA - Bubble Pop!
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Graph
Average: 7.263 // Total Points: 392.2 // Controversy: 2.352
(11 x1) WarpstarRider
(10 x9) ayzrules, DPM36, hockeynl, kauai6, kirakiranatsu, pollutedrain, RBSun, ruhroh386, vayyiqra
(9.9 x1) zo142 (9.8 x2) msargent24, Upper_Question1383
(9.5 x1) gmint14
(9 x3) Jennywren2323, omgthenerve, SkylarV
(8.5 x1) laulite
(8 x5) 1998tweety, aidshha, landshanties, lemon131nomel, moonbia
(7.9 x1) Zypker125 (7.6 x1) redalert30
(7.5 x2) goorry121, snowswinters
(7.4 x1) qquestionmark (7.3 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(7 x5) dnarevolutions, ganos-b-thanondorf, keine_panik, naegerowwa, popularsong
(6.8 x1) Randummonkey (6.6 x1) Kronwell
(6.5 x2) bibliomaniac15, Shay_Min
(6 x3) kawaii_mokona, Marsmaenschen, MeijiDoom
(5.8 x1) flawedconstellation
(5.4 x1) xiola_azuthra (5.2 x1) MartialST
(5 x2) CheesesPriced, DoingItWright2
(4.5 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(4.2 x1) ke1per
(4 x4) MurkyGalaxies, ohsomeday_, OnlyDragonfruit808, taebaegi
(1 x1) necromanta_101
(0 x1) AmeZim
RBSun (10): bubble pop they could never make me hate you. not in any universe. it's just summer it's just fun. free your heart and bubble bubble pop pop!
Zypker125 (7.9): I feel like this is a song that was very popular in the mid 2010s but has really abruptly fallen off in popularity over the past decade, compared to other hit songs from this era, even before HyunA became controversial. This song is where HyunA is the least nasally, so it’s ofc the one I like the most.
MeijiDoom (6): I have way better memories of this around the esports scene when this first came out and it felt like the definitive summer kpop song. Somehow, I never quite heard the dubstep bridge back then. What a goddamn trainwreck.
WarpstarRider (11): It’s not my very favorite HyunA song (that honor goes to Green Apple), but it’s the best here. Just pure fun. Of course, it gets this score in spite of the silly dubstep breakdown, which felt as out-of-place back when it was released as it does now.
ayzrules (10): it’s really not a coincidence that “bubble pop!” shortens to “bop!”
kauai6 (10): a little dated but it’s still good
kirakiranatsu (10): still her best
pollutedrain (10): if you open the kpop history books this comeback is front and centre
ruhroh386 (10): If you gave this less than a 10, have you ever tried having fun in the summer?
vayyiqra (10): very weird thought but hyuna may be the very first kpop artist i ever heard because in 2012 my friend showed me the video for bubble pop. at the least she is one of the very first. and it's still a jam idk
zo142 (9.9): This song is for the people who have escaped greyscale. Fun!!!!! FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
msargent24 (9.8): Banger
Upper_Question1383 (9.8): Such a fun classic. I can’t help but smile when hearing this
gmint14 (9.5): jolliest song ever
Jennywren2323 (9): This is like a strange New Wave novelty song, do I like it? well yeah, I do.
SkylarV (9): I hate to admit it but it's (still) pretty catchy. Unfortunately for Hyuna, her career was basically all downhill from here (in many ways)
laulite (8.5): Catchy as hell chorus with an annoying as hell addition of random noises. The good outways the bad here.
aidshha (8): unfortunately a top tier summer song though the random dubstep bit is hilarious
landshanties (8): sounds like being at a slutty car wash
lemon131nomel (8): There’s a reason Family Guy chose this song to represent. I feel like this isn’t something I’d usually like, but it keeps popping up in my head every now and then. It’s just so iconic—how could I possibly rate it low! With that being said, 8 is the highest it’s getting from me.
moonbia (8): I’ll put my recent distaste for hyuna aside for one second to tell everyone about the first time I watched the bubble pop mv after a guy from uni said all kinds of horrible things about it and her. I didn't agree then and still don't to this day! this is a banger
redalert30 (7.6): just an upbeat cutesy pop song with a surprisingly heavy and buzzy electronic bass. Like that dubstep instrumental break is kinda the best part of the song.
snowswinters (7.5): super catchy and playful, but it also kinda sounds a little sad/nostalgic to me lol
qquestionmark (7.4): The only bubble I want to see popped right now is the bubble that is my opinion that this song is overrated by the kpop community.
SecretStoryOfThe- (7.3): Good but just slightly too annoying in a way that makes it fall short of true bubble gum excellence.
dnarevolutions (7): we’re not finger poppin each other’s assholes. What we’re doing is getting shit done.
ganos-b-thanondorf (7): Can you stop fucking moaning in my ear goddamn
keine_panik (7): Oh dear, I had forgotten about the dubstep breakdown!
popularsong (7): so called free thinkers when bubble bubble bubble pop bubble bubble pop pop
Randummonkey (6.8): Move over Love Dive, we have the OG queen of topping charts whilst having a god awful dance break
Kronwell (6.6): so many Gwen Stefani soundalike titles in this rate and this song also shares the annoying moaning she does in What You're Waiting For (not the R.Tee x Anda one!) also hosties pleaaaase put Bubble Pop Electric as a queue song it would be so fucking funny
bibliomaniac15 (6.5): The chorus is an uproariously fun 10, but the opening “ooh ah”s and dubstep bridge section are absolutely awful.
Shay_Min (6.5): really disturbingly sweet and honestly a bit nauseating, also that techno was ragebait right?
kawaii_mokona (6): I predict at least 2 Family Guy references in the comments
xiola_azuthra (5.4): I'm so tired of popping. (Sorry I know you did it before all the 2022/2025 rate songs, but to be fair I didn't give some of those great scores either. chorus and all the ooh-ah-ooh parts are still annoying). It was almost a 6 but damn even as a 2nd gen dubstep drop apologist this one one was truly atrocious and weak, wtf was that.
CheesesPriced (5): Low effort oops-all-butts pop. Thanks for kickstarting the cringe sexy concept craze 😭. Really giving uncanny valley with that staccato cadence where the percussion and her different oh’s, ah’s, and oooh’s alternate. Dubstep break; it was the 2010s you see. There was a notable Ketamine resurgence you see.
ke1per (4.2): I can appreciate the fun summer vibes - but that’s all. The production is weird, the instrumental is weird, the gasping is weird, it’s weird. She isn’t even really singing or rapping, just…chanting?. The dance break is powerfully not for me. Just not the vibes I’m looking for.
MurkyGalaxies (4): Those choppy ooh-aahs give me the ick so badly
taebaegi (4): It’s iconic but is also not fully to my tastes.
AmeZim (0): I like Disney Channel music but I don’t watch the kind that aired at 3am on a Tuesday morning solely because the TV producer needs to fill up a leftover time slot with anything
HyunA
Overall Average: 6.526 // Average Controversy: 2.668
RBSun: this is another artist that i have a conflicted relationship with, because there are some criticisms that deserve to be made and some she has been getting her whole life for existing. either way, i've been along with her for nearly all of them
Zypker125: I can’t stand super-nasally voices, so that single-handedly tanked my average for Hyuna here, but I also don’t like her songs even outside of her voice
MeijiDoom: I remember when I heard Nabillera and being so horrified that I had to do a deep dive into her discography. I then promptly forgot I heard any of them. Turns out I basically only liked Babe back then and the same still holds true. It’s impressive how much I just don’t like songs with HyunA. Other than Gangnam Style I suppose.
zo142 (9.820): Everyone has some opinions that are clearly wrong, but that doesn't mean you have to acquiesce. HyunA has the best vocals in K-Pop, and that's ok. Of all my wrong takes, this is the hill upon which my legs grow weary and I say 'no more, r/kpoprates. No more.' I haven't the energy for a long, drawn out battle; I accept defeat here. I will lay to rest alongside my GOAT in Day 1. We shall be the sacrifice needed to successfully send my beloved YG artists across that bridge and into Day 2. Go forth and conquer.
vayyiqra (9.800): mostly she makes bad music and relies on being shocking and edgy or whatever but sometimes she makes a real tune here and there so
ayzrules (9.780): a deep and unabiding enjoyment of hyuna’s music is basically one of the only music taste overlaps i have with my lesbian crypto bro friend, who rapped WAP near perfectly at karaoke
msargent24 (9.400): Now this is real Kpop
ruhroh386 (9.200): I know Hyuna is unpopular these days, but truly the level of vitriol directed at her is unhinged. There’s valid criticism, and then there’s whatever the hell is happening under every post about her. Her music hasn’t been my favorite since she left Cube, but she has some all time bangers.
Upper_Question1383 (8.520): I used to love HyunA so so much, recent events…… love her less
kauai6 (8.320): she’s a little chopped and unc but we still enjoy your music girl
SecretStoryOfThe- (8.020): One of two artists here whose music I was familiar with before the rate (the other one was IU), no real surprises except for Red.
Randummonkey (7.680): 🦀
ganos-b-thanondorf (7.400): Married the wrong Beast member smh
qquestionmark (6.900): Not the character arc one would hope for. [Best song: Green Apple / A Bitter Day (Feat. Jun Hyung Yong & G.NA)]
lemon131nomel (6.480): Relationships and marriages aside, she knew exactly what type of music she worked well with, and she delivered almost every time.
ke1per (4.820): walked so nasal girls everywhere could run
LeadingInspector1891 (4.000): Sorry I don’t like this kind of pop
keine_panik (3.940): I've never been a big fan of her solo work, even her earlier releases that most people probably consider to be better.
SkylarV (3.340): Me looking at how Hyuna's career/life has turned out: That's craaazy
User Averages:
DPM36: 10.000 zo142: 9.820 vayyiqra: 9.800 ayzrules: 9.780 pollutedrain: 9.700 msargent24: 9.400 ruhroh386: 9.200 UpperQuestion1383: 8.520 Jennywren2323: 8.400 kauai6: 8.320 hockeynl: 8.100 gmint14: 8.060 SecretStoryOfThe-: 8.020 kawaii_mokona: 7.800 necromanta_101: 7.800 RBSun: 7.700 Randummonkey: 7.680 omgthenerve: 7.600 moonbia: 7.540 ganos-b-thanondorf: 7.400 WarpstarRider: 7.180 redalert30: 7.000 1998tweety: 6.900 qquestionmark: 6.900 taebaegi: 6.900 MurkyGalaxies: 6.860 Shay_Min: 6.820 snowswinters: 6.600 ohsomeday: 6.580 popularsong: 6.500 lemon131nomel: 6.480 goorry121: 6.300 Marsmaenschen: 6.300 Kronwell: 6.280 MartialST: 5.920 kirakiranatsu: 5.800 naegerowwa: 5.740 aidshha: 5.700 AmeZim: 5.520 laulite: 5.400 dnarevolutions: 5.000 ke1per: 4.820 flawedconstellation: 4.460 bibliomaniac15: 4.300 xiola_azuthra: 4.240 CheesesPriced: 4.200 landshanties: 4.000 LeadingInspector1891: 4.000 keine_panik: 3.940 MeijiDoom: 3.700 SkylarV: 3.340 OnlyDragonfruit808: 2.800 Zypker125: 2.780 DoingItWright2: 2.500
"So did y’all like Wicked 2"
“the astro x omg cover of this was so peak”
"why does she sound like ahn yeeun of changgwi fame in certain sections of this"
"what other teen idol is going “you know what i want to do for my next concept? i wanna do the charleston for four straight minutes.”"
#13: IU - The Red Shoes
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Average: 7.280 // Total Points: 393.1 // Controversy: 2.249
(10 x6) aidshha, flawedconstellation, hockeynl, kauai6, pollutedrain, xiola_azuthra
(9.8 x1) keine_panik (9.6 x1) gmint14
(9.5 x3) MeijiDoom, popularsong, snowswinters
(9.1 x1) WarpstarRider
(9 x5) bibliomaniac15, ganos-b-thanondorf, Jennywren2323, kawaii_mokona, laulite
(8.8 x2) msargent24, redalert30
(8.5 x2) 1998tweety, Shay_Min
(8.3 x1) Randummonkey (8.2 x2) SecretStoryOfThe-, Upper_Question1383
(8 x4) dnarevolutions, Kronwell, Marsmaenschen, vayyiqra
(7.8 x2) ayzrules, lemon131nomel
(7.3 x1) Zypker125
(7 x4) goorry121, landshanties, naegerowwa, omgthenerve
(6.5 x2) SkylarV, zo142
(6.2 x1) qquestionmark
(6 x4) AmeZim, CheesesPriced, DPM36, RBSun
(5.9 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(5 x1) necromanta_101
(4.8 x1) MartialST
(4.5 x1) DoingItWright2
(4 x3) ohsomeday_, ruhroh386, taebaegi
(3.5 x1) kirakiranatsu
(3 x3) ke1per, MurkyGalaxies, OnlyDragonfruit808
(1 x1) moonbia
MeijiDoom (9.5): Huge sucker for theatrical Broadway type songs. I normally wouldn't associate IU's voice with this style of song. It feels like the more typical accent would be trans-atlantic or just a more cutting tone. But her wispiness brings an interesting new dimension to this style. And the finale is fantastic. I love how everything just gets more and more frantic until we reach a halting stop.
Zypker125 (7.3): My favorite IU song is the one where she dons her best Ailee cosplay? :surprisedpika:
RBSun (6): perfectly well-made four minutes of jazz that's a very important step along the journey of iu's musical development. it's just that i don't really like to listen to it most of the time - i don't think iu's voice is well-suited to the sort of sound she does in the post-chorus as well as the scat sections, it really grates on me when she's in her higher register. sounds very much like a musical number
aidshha (10): palette and lilac i’m gonna let you finish but modern times is one of the best albums ever made
flawedconstellation (10): shoutout to the astro x oh my girl collab stage that opened my eyes to this incredible jazz banger. I love love love jazz & swing influences in modern day music - the songs sound so vibrant and alive, with the insistent percussion, the sax & trumpet, the slight little clarinet or pan-flute (i cant tell which it is (maybe both) - but if you like that here, listen to “modern times” from the same album, its my favorite kpop song of all time!!), the FULL vocals, how busy and chaotic it all is without overwhelming you too much. So good.
kauai6 (10): obviously good
pollutedrain (10): pure whimsy and i love it!!
xiola_azuthra (10): Katamari Damacy soundtrack-ass song /j Man, the instrumental and the vocal performance are both crazy good. Me, liking jazz/orchestral influence in my kpop? :fork: Youtube comment pick: “u:Park Jun-young-v9f (5 years ago) why was this uploaded so recently i swear this song is like 100 years old” T_T :ageism:
keine_panik (9.8): This was such a fun era!
gmint14 (9.6): am i allowed to log wicked on letterboxd after watching this
popularsong (9.5): the astro x omg cover of this was so peak
snowswinters (9.5): this birthed gain’s carnival
WarpstarRider (9.1): IU’s musical style developed further with a little big-band swing here. Fun.
bibliomaniac15 (9): This was a song I felt was overrated for the longest time, but after this rate came to love. Jazz suits IU’s vocal timbre so well.
ganos-b-thanondorf (9): So did y’all like Wicked 2
kawaii_mokona (9): I wish someone wrote a song about a different pair, sneakers perhaps
laulite (9): I guess we moved on from winter now. Ok Big Band vibes. I love it. It’s really fun.
redalert30 (8.8): jazz influence done very well in kpop. The instrumentation is full and dynamic, and the melodies are whimsical and sultry. just amazing use of brass, the song would not be the same without it. A decently long song that never lets up its energy but it always feels like its on its feet, never gets old. The type of song that doesn’t age
Shay_Min (8.5): what makes IU so IU, but again... those red shoes are in a bygone time I'm sorry
Randummonkey (8.3): Jazzy IU is a cheat code. I really like the instrumental. But I wish the chorus had been a little more jazzy and less standard IU.
SecretStoryOfThe- (8.2): This time Lee Min-soo's orchestral retro affectations work much better, maybe he's simply better with jazzy stuff. Love the sense of progression the song has as well.
Upper_Question1383 (8.2): Gives big band, vintage vibes, I love the instrumentals
dnarevolutions (8): we will never see this same hair color ever again cause of the amount of hair damage
Marsmaenschen (8): Great vibe and overall fun.
vayyiqra (8): see this is where you observe the quantum particle of IU and her music goes from a superposition of not-jazz and jazz to being acceptable as legit jazz
lemon131nomel (7.8): IU and her instrumental introductions—this time it’s the harp. And then the change-up to drums and flute??? THAT WAS VERY SUDDEN. I’m actually very captivated by this sound as a whole, but the brass gets repetitive fast. The post-chorus also feels a bit disjointed. Structurally, I am confused. I mean honestly when does the song end??? It just keeps faking you out.
landshanties (7): what other teen idol is going “you know what i want to do for my next concept? i wanna do the charleston for four straight minutes.”
naegerowwa (7): why does she sound like ahn yeeun of changgwi fame in certain sections of this
SkylarV (6.5): Very theatrical (vaguely derogatory)
zo142 (6.5): This is fun
qquestionmark (6.2): Lyrics: Summer time / Melody: Winter time. Chorus: Good time / Verses: Bad time.
AmeZim (6): On second thought, maybe I should’ve pushed for Love Poem instead which would’ve been fun to torture the raters more with another ballad
CheesesPriced (6): Big band / swing. Modern Times (with Charlie Chaplin) - GOAT GOAT GOAT. The Red Shoes (Powell & Pressburger) - it’s OK but easily one of their weakest films. The ending sax sounds EXACTLY like the ending of Tank! from Cowboy Bebop.
LeadingInspector1891 (5.9): The musical music works better on me here thanks to the brass and the comedic bits
ruhroh386 (4): sorry to the jazz enjoyers, but I am not
taebaegi (4): It’s fine.
kirakiranatsu (3.5): in another life, maybe I’m charmed by this song
ke1per (3): truly ke1per repellant - its orchestral and jazzy with bland vocals from a (generally) bland vocalist, which is all it takes. That in and of itself wouldn’t necessarily warrant such a low score, but then that weird oompa-loompa post chorus bit came in and now it’s worse. Anti-fun, weird Shirley Temple vibes.
MurkyGalaxies (3): Low-key one of my least favourite iterations of this type of sound because there is just nothing to it her vocals are just so light and airy and it just falls a bit flat to me
moonbia (1): I hate this song so much, the way she sounds on the chorus is genuinely unbearable to me and the only reason this isn't taking a fat zero is out of respect for her, I’m sorry iu
"Why does Ailee’s dead boyfriend look like Jesus? Girl you moved on too fast you coulda just waited 3 days and he would’ve come back to life."
"girl did you make this mv on windows movie maker”
"a little too if-alicia-keys-did-fight song for my taste"
Bonus #2: Ailee - Heaven
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Average: 7.390 // Total Points: 376.9 // Controversy: 2.040
(10 x6) ganos-b-thanondorf, laulite, pollutedrain, Randummonkey, RBSun, taebaegi
(9.5 x1) xiola_azuthra
(9.2 x1) lemon131nomel (9.1 x2) SecretStoryOfThe-, WarpstarRider
(9 x7) DPM36, Marsmaenschen, moonbia, omgthenerve, OnlyDragonfruit808, Shay_Min, Upper_Question1383
(8.5 x3) 1998tweety, bibliomaniac15, kirakiranatsu
(8.4 x1) ayzrules
(8 x4) dnarevolutions, hockeynl, kauai6, necromanta_101
(7.8 x2) MeijiDoom, zo142 (7.7 x1) qquestionmark
(7.4 x1) ke1per (7.2 x1) gmint14
(7 x5) aidshha, DoingItWright2, Jennywren2323, ohsomeday_, ruhroh386
(6.4 x1) LeadingInspector1891 (6.1 x1) Kronwell
(6 x4) MurkyGalaxies, popularsong, snowswinters, vayyiqra
(5.7 x1) keine_panik
(5 x4) CheesesPriced, kawaii_mokona, naegerowwa, Zypker125
(4.5 x2) MartialST, msargent24
(3 x2) flawedconstellation, landshanties
(1 x1) SkylarV
RBSun (10): very much one of my favorite k-pop songs of all time. i was really so obsessed with ailee right away back when this came out and it's just an absolute power vocal moment for the ages. sounds just like the heaven it's titled after. she came out swinging for real.
MeijiDoom (7.8): Power ballad Ailee has entered the arena. I used to think more highly of this song but parts of its composition bother me a bit more these days. The post-chorus repetition can get tiring and the instrumentation isn't the most exciting.
Zypker125 (5): The survey voters really voted in extra Ailee songs to tank my Ailee average. I will hold strongggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): Why does Ailee’s dead boyfriend look like Jesus? Girl you moved on too fast you coulda just waited 3 days and he would’ve come back to life.
pollutedrain (10): i can only hope ailee feels the sincerity with which i sing along to this every time it comes on shuffle
Randummonkey (10): The hosts strategically placing Heaven in the bonus rate so I can't give it my 11 :sadge:
taebaegi (10): Gorgeous song, I’m so happy this made bonus. I love the chorus. I do think the additional adlibs on the final chorus is a little unnecessary. They don’t sound very very melodic and really distract from Ailee’s beautiful voice, but I don’t let it hurt the song for me. Her smile on the cover is so lovely.
lemon131nomel (9.2): I’m literally in heaven omg. Love the vocal contrast here, especially the lower register doubling near the end. The scratchy sound was also a pleasant surprise.
WarpstarRider (9.1): Her debut made a big first impression.
Shay_Min (9): i'm in heaven
kirakiranatsu (8.5): really nice, doesn’t quite measure up to the other songs of her career but that’s fine
dnarevolutions (8): absolute classic, never forget Korean Jesus
kauai6 (8): this has such aggressive 2012 k-pop song vibes so it makes sense it came out in 2012
zo142 (7.8): IT SHOULD'VE BEEN THE BOSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is still heat though
ke1per (7.4): not my favorite kind of Ailee chorus, though the verses are pretty and her vocals slay as always. As an aside, I thought this MV was gonna turn out to be the darksided version of ‘Please Don’t…’ for a second there.
popularsong (6): a little too stomp clap corny but great chorus
snowswinters (6): it’s very 2000s
vayyiqra (6): mm more like the intermediate state i'd argue
keine_panik (5.7): This one is a bit of a snoozer.
CheesesPriced (5): Not actually a solo - there’s a guy saying heaven at the same time she says heaven.
msargent24 (4.5): Taeyeon and After School outsold
flawedconstellation (3): a little too if-alicia-keys-did-fight song for my taste
landshanties (3): girl did you make this mv on windows movie maker
SkylarV (1): Beyonce nachos (derogatory)
“what comes after SIX SEVEN”
"the "Prod.&Feat." in the credits is giving Suga by Agust D for BTS Suga by Min Yoongi, all while being an IU song"
"IU and suga give us city pop the children yearn for it (yes this is close enough it sounds kinda like momoko kikuchi)"
"dang i used to be so nice on these rates"
#12: IU - Eight (ft. Suga)
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Graph
Average: 7.393 // Total Points: 399.2 // Controversy: 2.023
(10 x12) DPM36, flawedconstellation, ganos-b-thanondorf, gmint14, hockeynl, kauai6, ke1per, laulite, omgthenerve, pollutedrain, qquestionmark, Shay_Min
(9.5 x1) keine_panik
(8.5 x2) ayzrules, goorry121
(8.2 x1) WarpstarRider
(8 x11) 1998tweety, AmeZim, bibliomaniac15, kawaii_mokona, landshanties, naegerowwa, necromanta_101, ohsomeday_, OnlyDragonfruit808, SecretStoryOfThe-, xiola_azuthra
(7.5 x1) lemon131nomel
(7.4 x1) Randummonkey (7.2 x1) moonbia
(7 x5) dnarevolutions, Marsmaenschen, MeijiDoom, Upper_Question1383, vayyiqra
(6.7 x2) Kronwell, zo142
(6.5 x3) DoingItWright2, msargent24, snowswinters
(6.3 x1) MartialST
(6 x4) CheesesPriced, kirakiranatsu, MurkyGalaxies, RBSun
(5 x3) Jennywren2323, redalert30, ruhroh386
(4.5 x1) Zypker125
(4.2 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(4 x2) SkylarV, taebaegi
(3.5 x1) aidshha
(1 x1) popularsong
MeijiDoom (7): Nondescript and a nondynamic melody. The Suga feature felt extremely reserved which lines up with the vibe of the song but the whole thing feels like it's been locked inside a small box with no room to breathe, at least the non-chorus portions.
RBSun (6): i used to like this lots more, but i think the sound has really cooled on me over time. theres still some parts i really love (particularly iu's harmonized verses) but suga sounds kind of energyless and the radio pop sound falls flat with me
Zypker125 (4.5): Seeing Suga give That That to Psy and Eight to IU, it is clear that Suga had a favorite between them
flawedconstellation (10): you can hear the bts production here in the best way. It sounds like jungkook’s euphoria turned on its head. it has those themes of being “ young forever”, the melancholy of saying goodbye, which are such signaturely bts ideas. I love how warm this song is for being so sad, how haunting it is in the most simple way. Its a beautiful tribute to a friend lost, whether that “friend” is an actual friend, your youth, or your own self - or all of those, simultaneously. growing up is complex and messy like that. eight is mature in all the best ways, and such a beautiful little song.
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): My fault Suga I didn’t recognize your game
gmint14 (10): what comes after SIX SEVEN
kauai6 (10): this took a bit to grow on me but it’s really just such a good winter song
ke1per (10): I mean, yeah, it’s a masterpiece - not dated, not orchestral, not chime-y while also being catchy and touching and sentimental without being a snoozefest. Suga adds such a nice contrast here and his flow is stellar.
laulite (10): This is so emotional! This might be an 11 contender for me.
pollutedrain (10): this song is just pure serotonin i can’t not feel happy whenever i listen to it
qquestionmark (10): Eight? No, you can give yourself some more credit than that. Have a ten from me.
Shay_Min (10): just soo fun and ascendant. like genuinely this raises my mood just from the first 10 seconds. i love walking around my campus with a playlist playing and this comes on occasionally; it feels like a filter is put on my eyes how positive the world feels with this playing
keine_panik (9.5): This song keeps getting better the more I listen to it!
ayzrules (8.5): does the g in suga stand for gwi gwi man
WarpstarRider (8.2): uplifting
1998tweety (8): appropriate score
AmeZim (8): Emotional, youthful coming-of-age sounding song will always be my reviving potion no matter how much pop rock as a genre keeps beating me to death for how generic it can be
kawaii_mokona (8): the "Prod.&Feat." in the credits is giving Suga by Agust D for BTS Suga by Min Yoongi, all while being an IU song
landshanties (8): just a sad motherfucking song man.
naegerowwa (8): name a song 11 next time
SecretStoryOfThe- (8): Hits the right emotional notes, somehow feels a bit basic though. Still good.
xiola_azuthra (8): without the lyrics this song is a bit boring to me but IU's one of those fortunate cases where reading the lyrics sometimes makes me like her songs better and this was one of those.
lemon131nomel (7.5): Ok the build up to the chorus is nice. But then she says forever young and then it becomes cheesy. I feel like I have to give props for the semi-animated MV bc that was the right decision imo. That dreamlike feeling was there. Suga’s part felt unnecessary.
Randummonkey (7.4): We went from 23 to 25 to 8 huh
moonbia (7.2): it's fine, didn't need the rap
dnarevolutions (7): decent collab, good tribute
vayyiqra (7): IU and suga give us city pop the children yearn for it (yes this is close enough it sounds kinda like momoko kikuchi)
zo142 (6.7): incredible. this was the score i gave it on my first run through, and i was gonna change it, but that would feel like angering the gods. 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8 6 7 8
msargent24 (6.5): Love the chorus, hate the post-chorus. Suga is also not adding much value
snowswinters (6.5): it’s cute but not super interesting to me
CheesesPriced (6): Our previous rating 7.175. ANOTHER ONE! WE THE BEST ENDING CREDITS MUZAK! (feat. DJ Khalid)
kirakiranatsu (6): this is actually a pretty good song if it weren’t for the gwi gwi man
MurkyGalaxies (6): this song does not need Suga, it can be perfectly mid without him
redalert30 (5): so boring and washed out
ruhroh386 (5): No one who has back pain better give this higher than a 6
LeadingInspector1891 (4.2): I never like this kind of uptempo ballad, but also I don’t get how Suga’s verse fit here
SkylarV (4): Why is Suga gwi gwiing up this boring IU song for?
taebaegi (4): This sounds so BTS actually it’s so funny just how you can tell this is a Suga production I feel lol. It’s fine, it never endeared itself to me much.
aidshha (3.5): one time i heard this in a starbucks and i think that’s pretty illustrative of who this song was made for
popularsong (1): dang i used to be so nice on these rates wym i gave this a 3 and celebrity a 2
"Cue all the “one day it will stop” comments 😭.” [Zypker125: “No one else made this comment”]
"instantly transported to some kind of home improvement commercial."
"I blame a lot of things for my recent growing appreciation of Taylor Swift music: Number one: my huge Swiftie of a coworker. Number Two: My friend and former colleague I carpooled with back in October who listened to The Life of a Showgirl on loop in my car. Number Three: all of the Taylor Swift ripoffs I rated these past 18 months (this one is more of a slowburn) Number four: Taylor Swift is basically omnipresent i cannot escape her i hear her EVERYWHERE"
#11: Lee Hi - Holo
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Average: 7.396 // Total Points: 399.4 // Controversy: 2.469
(11 x4) ke1per, pollutedrain, Shay_Min, snowswinters
(10 x8) aidshha, AmeZim, ganos-b-thanondorf, kauai6, laulite, OnlyDragonfruit808, popularsong, xiola_azuthra
(9.7 x1) ayzrules (9.6 x1) zo142
(9.3 x1) Upper_Question1383
(9 x1) Jennywren2323
(8.7 x1) flawedconstellation
(8.5 x2) 1998tweety, goorry121
(8.1 x1) moonbia
(8 x8) hockeynl, kawaii_mokona, Kronwell, lemon131nomel, ohsomeday_, omgthenerve, ruhroh386, SecretStoryOfThe-
(7.9 x1) WarpstarRider (7.8 x1) keine_panik
(7.5 x1) bibliomaniac15
(7.2 x2) gmint14, qquestionmark
(7 x2) DPM36, Marsmaenschen
(6.8 x1) redalert30
(6.5 x1) DoingItWright2
(6.4 x1) MeijiDoom
(6 x4) landshanties, LeadingInspector1891, RBSun, vayyiqra
(5.8 x1) MartialST
(5.2 x1) msargent24
(5 x3) CheesesPriced, Randummonkey, Zypker125
(4 x2) dnarevolutions, naegerowwa
(3.2 x1) SkylarV
(2.5 x1) taebaegi
(2 x2) MurkyGalaxies, necromanta_101
(1 x1) kirakiranatsu
MeijiDoom (6.4): There's a very lilting quality to this song, like you're at sea. Not that much to keep me interested in this song unfortunately. It probably doesn't help that I just think of Meghan Trainor - Like I'm Gonna Lose You.
RBSun (6): usually would very much be my kind of song but i actively cant unhear meghan trainor in the chorus now that ive noticed shes there. it's killing me. i really like the verses though, her lower register is so pretty <3
Zypker125 (5): Took her 10 times to win Best Girl on r/anime
ke1per (11): I mean, how are you not moving, emotionally or otherwise? Gorgeous lyrics, gorgeous vocals, gorgeous instrumental. I love that this feels comforting and triumphant but not cheesy and overly saccharine. Very healing and warm and honest, it’s peak.
pollutedrain (11): a gorgeous gorgeous song that feels like pure catharsis and a warm hug at the same time. i will never get sick of it
Shay_Min (11): i'm such a sucker for songs with intimate voicing. just 3 minutes of pure love
snowswinters (11): very fond of this one as it was the first lee hi song i ever heard and i was quite obsessed with it for a little bit. still such a lovely song, lee hi sounds so beautiful
AmeZim (10): I used to feel lonely to the point where darkness felt like a better sight than witnessing how empty my surroundings really were. With how much bad decisions being made before, maybe I should give my past self some love for being able to carry himself to this day
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): extra point because they swim in a pool in the mv
kauai6 (10): this song is peak like wow
popularsong (10): i remember when i was wondering what her output would be like post-yg and then this dropped and it was so peak
xiola_azuthra (10): “I’m too precious / To just sit around and worry / Take a look inside of your heart without a cover / It’s okay to be yourself”
ayzrules (9.7): oouuh this is lovely
zo142 (9.6): I heard this song in the survey and it got me pretty excited to hear the rest of her songs. As you can see, that excitement is now a smouldering wreckage around me. But this song is still beautiful!! Her voice melts into the instrumental to produce a stunning and heart rending masterpiece. Really good song.
moonbia (8.1): 👍
Kronwell (8): I blame a lot of things for my recent growing appreciation of Taylor Swift music: Number one: my huge Swiftie of a coworker. Number Two: My friend and former colleague I carpooled with back in October who listened to The Life of a Showgirl on loop in my car. Number Three: all of the Taylor Swift ripoffs I rated these past 18 months (this one is more of a slowburn) Number four: Taylor Swift is basically omnipresent i cannot escape her i hear her EVERYWHERE
lemon131nomel (8): Oooh her deeper sound is nice too. Nice contrast at the end.
WarpstarRider (7.9): I like it
landshanties (6): something about being a waltz elevates the most average tune
vayyiqra (6): is it a thing that soloists must use lots of piano or is that a consequence of the adult contemporary vibe yeah it is nvm
CheesesPriced (5): Cue all the “one day it will stop” comments 😭. [Zypker125: “No one else made this comment”]
Randummonkey (5): Sorry Lee Hi, I was stuck listening to this kind of western pop growing up and it is NOT what I'm here for
dnarevolutions (4): I just don’t like this genre that much
naegerowwa (4): upon reaching the first chorus you've heard all there is to this song but for some reason it goes on for 2 more minutes
SkylarV (3.2): This could have easily been a Jisoo/Rose track
taebaegi (2.5): Happy for those that like this song, but it’s never endeared itself to me.
MurkyGalaxies (2): This is obviously a really deep and meaningful but it employs so many pop cliches from an era back that I'm just instantly transported to some kind of home improvement commercial.
kirakiranatsu (1): crzy outsold
Lee Hi
Overall Average: 6.999 // Average Controversy: 2.385
Zypker125: Can she be the YG artist to finally avoid Day 1 carnage? [Prepares Spongebob meme]
MeijiDoom: She was an artist I frequently heard about in the past but never really looked into her music. Loved her voice in all these songs. I didn’t necessarily like the song’s construction but her voice stood out to me each time. Definitely another deep dive candidate.
ke1per (9.660): if she sang her grocery list i bet i would still cry
Shay_Min (9.200): icon
ganos-b-thanondorf (9.000): My sister wants to be her so bad
SecretStoryOfThe- (8.560): So I guess I'm a ballad enjoyer now.
keine_panik (8.480): She just has such a lovely, warm voice. I'm happy she's kept going after leaving YG.
kauai6 (8.220): 4only being absolutely huge is still mind boggling to me. but well deserved and we pray for another release from you girl
vayyiqra (6.800): one of those artists i know by name but idk anything about her
qquestionmark (6.680): Sorry, but: [Best song: Epik High - HERE COME THE REGRETS (Feat. LeeHi]
Randummonkey (6.440): 🦀
taebaegi (3.900): Lee Hi is perhaps my favorite female soloist in the K-Pop and KHH/K-R&B-adjacent sphere and all of her most popular songs are my LEAST favorite songs from her. This section is beyond hurtful for me because I love her dearly but I cannot stand most of the songs that made this rate for her. Justice for No One because it’s better than every song on this rate from her section except 1, 2, 3, 4. I take it very personally when artists I like have songs that I don’t enjoy and Lee Hi’s section here is the prime example of that. Happy for everyone else, but sad day for me lol.
SkylarV (3.540): Won't be listening to anymore of her music anytime soon
User Averages:
laulite: 9.700 pollutedrain: 9.700 ke1per: 9.660 Jennywren2323: 9.300 popularsong: 9.300 aidshha: 9.260 ShayMin: 9.200 ganos-b-thanondorf: 9.000 Upper_Question1383: 8.960 xiola_azuthra: 8.820 ayzrules: 8.700 SecretStoryOfThe-: 8.560 snowswinters: 8.500 keine_panik: 8.480 1998tweety: 8.300 kauai6: 8.220 RBSun: 8.200 AmeZim: 8.180 hockeynl: 8.000 WarpstarRider: 7.920 gmint14: 7.880 OnlyDragonfruit808: 7.800 ohsomeday: 7.600 MeijiDoom: 7.520 goorry121: 7.420 omgthenerve: 7.300 bibliomaniac15: 7.200 moonbia: 7.040 flawedconstellation: 6.900 lemon131nomel: 6.880 DoingItWright2: 6.860 vayyiqra: 6.800 DPM36: 6.800 redalert30: 6.760 qquestionmark: 6.680 landshanties: 6.600 Kronwell: 6.540 LeadingInspector1891: 6.520 Randummonkey: 6.440 ruhroh386: 6.400 dnarevolutions: 6.200 Zypker125: 5.620 CheesesPriced: 5.600 kawaii_mokona: 5.200 zo142: 5.200 Marsmaenschen: 5.200 msargent24: 4.660 MartialST: 4.400 naegerowwa: 4.200 taebaegi: 3.900 necromanta_101: 3.700 SkylarV: 3.540 MurkyGalaxies: 3.300 kirakiranatsu: 1.300
"The G in G-Dragon stands for Gwigwi"
"before i would complain about g-dragon being on this but now that my third eye opened with 2024B i love it "
"Will kpoprates love of IU beat out kpoprates hatred of anything
GDBBYG? If you are reading this, then you already know the answer. Personally, kinda rooting for hatred.""i always avoid this mv because it makes me want to get a bob when i know damn well it’s not going to look as well on me as it does on her smh"
#10: IU - Palette (ft. G-Dragon)
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Average: 7.404 // Total Points: 399.8 // Controversy: 2.410
(11 x2) flawedconstellation, goorry121
(10 x9) 1998tweety, DPM36, ganos-b-thanondorf, kauai6, laulite, naegerowwa, necromanta_101, RBSun, snowswinters
(9.5 x1) taebaegi
(9 x1) hockeynl
(8.7 x1) LeadingInspector1891 (8.6 x1) Upper_Question1383
(8.5 x6) bibliomaniac15, gmint14, MeijiDoom, ruhroh386, SecretStoryOfThe-, xiola_azuthra
(8.4 x1) redalert30
(8 x8) aidshha, dnarevolutions, Jennywren2323, Kronwell, moonbia, OnlyDragonfruit808, pollutedrain, Shay_Min
(7.8 x1) WarpstarRider (7.7 x1) ke1per
(7.5 x4) ayzrules, DoingItWright2, kawaii_mokona, keine_panik
(7.3 x1) Randummonkey
(7 x1) omgthenerve
(6.8 x1) ohsomeday_ (6.6 x1) msargent24
(6.2 x1) MartialST
(6 x2) CheesesPriced, vayyiqra
(5.7 x1) qquestionmark
(5 x1) Marsmaenschen
(4 x2) landshanties, lemon131nomel
(3.8 x1) kirakiranatsu (3.7 x2) AmeZim, SkylarV
(3 x1) popularsong
(2 x1) MurkyGalaxies
(1.3 x1) zo142
(1 x1) Zypker125
RBSun (10): i like it :') i'm truly fine :') very soft and wistful but hopeful and kind, a song that is explicitly about iu's personal experiences while still feeling so universal. gd is a really good addition here, too, especially the way they've layered his vocals to match the way iu's are. a real favorite of mine
MeijiDoom (8.5): Lovely sound design to set up an immersive atmosphere. It all feels quite dreamy and soothing. G-Dragon provides a nice contrast while still fitting in with the vibe of the song. I'm not as on board with his own songs on this playlist but he adds a nice change of pace to this song.
Zypker125 (1): I’m sorry, this might be my least favorite vocal delivery ever, I would rather have the vocals of dozen contestants on Produce seasons over this
flawedconstellation (11): picking an 11 here was nearly impossible. I mean, how does one choose a favorite among their children?! I love all the iu songs here, especially my 10s, for different reasons. But I ultimately gave my 11 to the first iu song i ever loved. I no longer remember why exactly i connected with this, but the sentiments feel accurate for most ages - looking back and realizing your tastes are changing. I’m not who i was before, am i? But that’s okay - we change, its natural. Do you like the you that you see in the mirror? I do, i have to - its the only me i have. Its a soothing self-assurance that you Are likable. Reader, you are amazing as you are! This is your personal color - embrace it! I find you so cool! I’m excited to see who i’ll turn out to be at 25 - and I really do hope I like her. The song itself, of course, is very lovely - well-produced, well-performed, easy to listen to but not boring - immersive, calming, picking up and putting down pace where it needs to. I just really love this song, and think it will be a lovely reminder of self-acceptance for long after i finish 25, just as it was for so, so many years before.
goorry121 (11): this song is so beautiful and g dragon is actually the perfect feature for the song, i couldnt believe it
1998tweety (10): mother and father ate that
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): What a nice feature I wonder who this G-Dragon guy is I should check out his stuff
kauai6 (10): before i would complain about g-dragon being on this but now that my third eye opened with 2024B i love it and i love him and this song
laulite (10): It’s a good self confidence song and I love how G-Dragon’s verse is encouraging her.
snowswinters (10): so dreamy and i really like the chorus lyrics
taebaegi (9.5): The vibes are immaculate and this is still my fav IU title track. I love GD’s feature on this song, the way he gives IU some advice in his verse is really sweet.
Upper_Question1383 (8.6): I really like the rap of G-dragon, it feels very validating given I am 25 but at times I really do not feel like a grown up who is supposed to have their life together.
gmint14 (8.5): i always avoid this mv because it makes me want to get a bob when i know damn well it’s not going to look as well on me as it does on her smh
xiola_azuthra (8.5): Nice but her breathier singing here isn't my fave compared to some of the others.
redalert30 (8.4): i like the bubbly production
dnarevolutions (8): hag has to reveal her age AGAIN ofc
moonbia (8): this is how gd unflops
Shay_Min (8): i wish the chorus had more oomph but it was quite pleasant
WarpstarRider (7.8): it’s fine
ke1per (7.7): GD actually adds so much to this song - it would be another bland and boring IU offering if not for his inclusion here (not that he makes it that interesting, but he does an okay job and that’s all I ask of him). It’s a solid bop and certainly has some of IU’s more interesting vocal deliveries so that’s bonus points.
ayzrules (7.5): does the g in g-dragon stand for gwi gwi man
keine_panik (7.5): The G in G-Dragon stands for Gwigwi
Randummonkey (7.3): G-Dragon's feature is surprisingly bearable. Maybe IU is the secret to enjoying G-Dragon's music (not incl Crooked obviously)..
CheesesPriced (6): Another song about what age you are?? (Sees Eight two songs from now 😱)
vayyiqra (6): what a bizarre song and crossover like How lmao and the weirdest part is it's not even bad
qquestionmark (5.7): Will kpoprates love of IU beat out kpoprates hatred of anything
GDBBYG? If you are reading this, then you already know the answer. Personally, kinda rooting for hatred.landshanties (4): i am asleep
lemon131nomel (4): The high-pitched whispering voice kind of bothers me. It feels a bit straining. The lyrics feel a bit uninspired? (“I like it. I’m twenty-five.”) To be brutally honest, the lyrics feel like a bunch of sentences stitched together, but maybe they flow better in Korean? G-Dragon’s rap section also felt very restrained, even for this song. They’re voices unfortunately don’t compliment each other really well.
kirakiranatsu (3.8): this song has always been overrated, the best thing going for it is the music video. highlights everything I dislike about her singing technique
AmeZim (3.7): Vocaloid outsold
SkylarV (3.7): Why is GD gwi gwiing up this boring IU song for?
popularsong (3): i appreciate it as a reflection on her life / career so far but it's just so flat, i don't like how she sounds on this, and oh my god, GD is here,
MurkyGalaxies (2): ZZZZZZZZZZ oh hello G-Dragon ZZZZZZZZZZZZ
“just a perfectly middling sonic experience - a shoulder shrug of a song, a boiled chicken breast of a song, a 2018 Kia Sorento of a song, etc etc.”
"kpop HERSTORY"
"Good Day’s more mature older sister"
#9: Gain - Bloom
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Graph
Average: 7.626 // Total Points: 411.8 // Controversy: 1.942
(11 x1) landshanties
(10 x9) aidshha, ayzrules, gmint14, Jennywren2323, kauai6, keine_panik, pollutedrain, popularsong, SkylarV
(9.5 x3) AmeZim, goorry121, msargent24
(9 x3) ohsomeday_, snowswinters, vayyiqra
(8.6 x1) MeijiDoom
(8.5 x2) 1998tweety, WarpstarRider
(8.3 x1) Shay_Min (8.2 x1) Randummonkey
(8 x7) bibliomaniac15, DPM36, ganos-b-thanondorf, hockeynl, laulite, MurkyGalaxies, xiola_azuthra
(7.8 x1) Upper_Question1383 (7.6 x1) flawedconstellation
(7.5 x3) kirakiranatsu, RBSun, redalert30
(7.4 x1) qquestionmark
(7 x6) dnarevolutions, DoingItWright2, Kronwell, LeadingInspector1891, omgthenerve, ruhroh386
(6.5 x1) ke1per
(6.4 x1) zo142 (6.2 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(6 x2) kawaii_mokona, necromanta_101
(5.3 x1) moonbia (5.2 x1) Zypker125
(5 x3) CheesesPriced, lemon131nomel, Marsmaenschen
(4 x1) OnlyDragonfruit808
(3.8 x1) MartialST
(3.5 x1) naegerowwa
(2 x1) taebaegi
MeijiDoom (8.6): I really only knew Gain from her more recent releases, mostly Bloom, so hearing this unapologetically upbeat song was quite the surprise. Definitely feels more BEG and she sounds incredibly charismatic in this style. Great dance song that just compels you to move.
RBSun (7.5): it's really so funky. my docked points are largely for a really unpleasant hissing effect on some of the backing vocals that makes me want to avoid it but everything else is really high-level perfection
Zypker125 (5.2): This really was her take on You & I (by IU).
landshanties (11): ironically this song is better than sex
aidshha (10): i could talk a lot about gain and how unique and important an artist she is but instead i’m just gonna vibe to this absolute banger
ayzrules (10): groovy, but why is the album called “Talk about S.” ?! is subtlety dead to these people?
gmint14 (10): this was my 11 for the entirety of the voting period but then the morning of the deadline i felt more cute than sexy so i gave it to iu.. but ugh does a song ever make you feel ALIVE and HOT!! very few do it better than this one
Jennywren2323 (10): I love love love this song! The lyrics are so good. They really capture that giddy feeling of crushing on someone really hard and wanting to be with them all the time and in all ways.Sex-positive in a way that centers the woman's feelings.
kauai6 (10): this is so light and such fun energy like
keine_panik (10): I love Gain so much for tackling “taboo” topics such as female sexuality and for doing it with such great, catchy songs!
pollutedrain (10): kpop HERSTORY
popularsong (10): sonically pretty close to BEG songs like atomic, love the imagery it portrays too, nobody is going to be as good at sex songs as they were queens i need you back
SkylarV (10): Phenomenal song from Gain, exactly the kind of song I want from her
AmeZim (9.5): One can never get enough of Gain and knowing that it was initially a 4, you could say this song bloomed the prettiest. Gosh, she’s so HOT 😖😖😖
msargent24 (9.5): Banger
snowswinters (9): very cutieful!
vayyiqra (9): a tune its got vibes idk what to write im in a hurry
WarpstarRider (8.5): This is like… Good Day’s more mature older sister
Shay_Min (8.3): does have that dated vibe i hate but it's quite catchy
Randummonkey (8.2): Song is neat. Subject matter is also... neat? Gain sure knows how to pick concepts
ganos-b-thanondorf (8): That long ass intro in the mv baited me
laulite (8): I really love that chorus.
MurkyGalaxies (8): It's nice but it overstays its welcome juuuuuuust a little too long I fear
xiola_azuthra (8): sonically, surprisingly IU-esque (otherwise, not so much lol).
flawedconstellation (7.6): i like the strummy guitar
redalert30 (7.5): upbeat with a peppy piano and breezy rhythmic guitars. the electronic aspects are also zippy, fun, and add more depth to the production. the modulation into the chorus was kinda jarring to me though and the chorus vocal melody isn’t my favorite. wish it took a more electronic and chromatic route. overall has a pop diva feel which is enjoyable, and the bridge into the final chorus felt climactic and satisfying.
dnarevolutions (7): i haven’t lost my virginity cause I never lose
ke1per (6.5): it’s a song, alright. Not bad, not great, just a perfectly middling sonic experience - a shoulder shrug of a song, a boiled chicken breast of a song, a 2018 Kia Sorento of a song, etc etc.
SecretStoryOfThe- (6.2): Unfortunately sabotaged by a boring chorus
kawaii_mokona (6): It just doesn't bloom for me, but maybe it does for you
moonbia (5.3): god it just goes on and on
CheesesPriced (5): Second song of the rate with a sampled kiss / smooch sound. Compare to AOA truly all jazz does NOT sound exactly the same.
lemon131nomel (5): The lyrics are fine; the song is fine; the MV is fine; but nothing really bloomed for me.
naegerowwa (3.5): i'm gonna assume that her not sounding like she's having any fun is intentional performance art or else i'd score it even lower
"landshanties (10): homophobic to put this in the bonus so i can’t give it my 11. y’all better be saying nice things about my wife in your comments"
"how can i be homophobic, my bitch (half of kpoprates) is gay!!"
“formal application of apology to shanties: i was wrong for giving this only a 6 on 2019 rate”
“My comment for this song was featured on my first ever rate! It made me feel bad because it was me shitting on the song right underneath someone talking about how it was their wedding song. Anyway, I've since met Shanties, and no longer feel guilty, as I have no doubt they're going to shit on my future wedding song in their comments for this rate (it's going to be MOMMAE)”
Bonus #1: IU - Blueming
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Average: 7.663 // Total Points: 390.8 // Controversy: 1.877
(10 x10) DPM36, flawedconstellation, hockeynl, kauai6, kawaii_mokona, landshanties, laulite, MeijiDoom, SecretStoryOfThe-, Shay_Min
(9 x4) ganos-b-thanondorf, MartialST, omgthenerve, pollutedrain
(8.9 x1) Upper_Question1383 (8.8 x1) keine_panik
(8.5 x3) ayzrules, bibliomaniac15, WarpstarRider
(8.2 x1) SkylarV
(8 x6) 1998tweety, DoingItWright2, naegerowwa, RBSun, ruhroh386, vayyiqra
(7.8 x2) moonbia, msargent24
(7.5 x4) Jennywren2323, ke1per, Randummonkey, xiola_azuthra
(7.4 x1) qquestionmark
(7 x7) CheesesPriced, dnarevolutions, kirakiranatsu, Kronwell, LeadingInspector1891, Marsmaenschen, snowswinters
(6.8 x1) aidshha
(6 x3) MurkyGalaxies, necromanta_101, popularsong
(5.9 x1) gmint14
(5.1 x1) lemon131nomel
(5 x1) ohsomeday_
(4 x1) OnlyDragonfruit808
(3.3 x1) Zypker125
(3 x1) taebaegi
(2.3 x1) zo142
MeijiDoom (10): IU's color songs have always been my favorite. It started with Lilac but then I found Palette and then Blueming. Her iconic timbre with the guitar and this chorus drop has me dancing alone in my room every time. Something that isn't always mentioned is I think IU has a great self-harmonizing voice. This would have had a strong case for my 11 if it were in main rate and a certain other song didn't exist.
RBSun (8): cute and upbeat and gentle and it's really grown on me since 2019 rate
Zypker125 (3.3): Can’t wait for this song to be Day 1 and we encounter shanties saying the exact same thing about us tanking her wedding song. Sorry shanties
but that’s why we shouldn’t have voted it in again.flawedconstellation (10): MY 11 YOU WERE VIOLENTLY TORN FROM MY HANDS BY EVIL, CONSPIRATORY FORCES (the kpopraters who did the survey)!!!!!!
kauai6 (10): SOOOOOO GOOD THIS IS ONE OF HER BEST TITLE TRACKS F Y I
kawaii_mokona (10): I WILL be beating homophobic allegations, shanties
landshanties (10): homophobic to put this in the bonus so i can’t give it my 11. y’all better be saying nice things about my wife in your comments
laulite (10): Aw, I wish this was in the main rate.
SecretStoryOfThe- (10): Would have ranked it first if it was eligible.
Shay_Min (10): classic iu bop!!!
ganos-b-thanondorf (9): Shoutout to that one gay couple you know who you are
MartialST (9): This was my favorite IU song for a long while until Holssi came out
pollutedrain (9): formal application of apology to shanties: i was wrong for giving this only a 6 on 2019 rate
Upper_Question1383 (8.9): One of the first songs I heard when I got really into Kpop. Also, I think, one of the first songs I voted for on a music show.
WarpstarRider (8.5): Because you can never have too much IU
SkylarV (8.2): Not a big fan of the song, but it's kinda good among the company of this rate
naegerowwa (8): congrats on the wedding, shanties, a shame wifeshanties is too evil to be allowed to participate in the rates
vayyiqra (8): everyone loves this right if not they should
msargent24 (7.8): Throwback to landshanties’ wedding. Good times
ke1per (7.5): she’s cute and bright in all the good ways, even if this is a bit basic. Pretty and soft and spring-y.
Randummonkey (7.5): 🦀
qquestionmark (7.4): I'm afraid she just blueming herself
CheesesPriced (7): One of IU’s best songs in bonus RIP. Scoring 41/60 in the 2019 rate wasn’t so bad considering we were already at a 7 average by 40.
dnarevolutions (7): I feel blue badabeebadabyebadabeebadaba
kirakiranatsu (7): a mid song that sounds much better after listening to the other IU songs here
Kronwell (7): I wonder how much mileage this song will get thanks to loreshanties'
snowswinters (7): super cute
aidshha (6.8): sorry shanties
popularsong (6): will we make shanties' happier this time lets find out
gmint14 (5.9): how can i be homophobic, my bitch (half of kpoprates) is gay!! i think it’s beautiful that this song means something to people, but to me it’s the least memorable among all the samey songs iu released around that time. the gun better jam when i yell LILAC
lemon131nomel (5.1): The instrumental part is really repetitive. I don’t love the cutting of phonemes. The song feels like it lasts forever. I keep hearing mafia mafia.
taebaegi (3): It’s fine.
zo142 (2.3): My comment for this song was featured on my first ever rate! It made me feel bad because it was me shitting on the song right underneath someone talking about how it was their wedding song. Anyway, I've since met Shanties, and no longer feel guilty, as I have no doubt they're going to shit on my future wedding song in their comments for this rate (it's going to be MOMMAE)
"…see, the first time I heard of this song was a random SHINee BNF on Twitter saying it was about her having a secret affair with her manager. I didn’t actually look it up at the time, but uh, in retrospect it’s no surprise that I unfollowed her later for being a toxic delulu :D"
"The train stations in Korea were not this lit last time I went"
"One of the instances where her airy vocal compliments well with the soft texture of Lilac itself, resembling how gentle sincere love can bloom"
#8: IU - Lilac
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Graph
Average: 7.835 // Total Points: 423.1 // Controversy: 2.094
(11 x4) ayzrules, DoingItWright2, SecretStoryOfThe-, vayyiqra
(10 x7) hockeynl, kauai6, keine_panik, msargent24, naegerowwa, necromanta_101, Shay_Min
(9.5 x3) AmeZim, MeijiDoom, snowswinters
(9.4 x1) Upper_Question1383 (9.3 x1) WarpstarRider
(9 x3) ganos-b-thanondorf, goorry121, kawaii_mokona
(8.8 x1) ke1per
(8.5 x4) 1998tweety, bibliomaniac15, Jennywren2323, SkylarV
(8.4 x1) flawedconstellation (8.3 x1) redalert30
(8 x2) landshanties, RBSun
(7.5 x5) ohsomeday_, omgthenerve, popularsong, Randummonkey, xiola_azuthra
(7.4 x1) zo142 (7.3 x1) moonbia
(7 x7) CheesesPriced, dnarevolutions, laulite, Marsmaenschen, MartialST, pollutedrain, taebaegi
(6.7 x1) qquestionmark
(6.5 x1) lemon131nomel
(6.4 x1) gmint14
(6 x2) DPM36, OnlyDragonfruit808
(5.5 x1) MurkyGalaxies
(5.1 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(4.8 x1) aidshha
(4 x1) ruhroh386
(2.8 x1) kirakiranatsu
(2.4 x1) Zypker125
(2 x1) Kronwell
MeijiDoom (9.5): I imagine this will be one of those songs where people's reception of it lies entirely whether they like IU's timbre. I've fallen on both sides of the line but it totally works for me in this context. Solid bass line with her floating over the top and that vocal slide chorus drop is like a shot of dopamine to my brain. Often times, I find the city pop genre to be too mellow but the combination of IU's voice with these instrumentals manages to create something special. I imagine this will be a bit much for some listeners but I can definitely see this being a perfect 10 for a lot of fans as well. There's a reason why it is where it is in her TTT.
RBSun (8): i don't have any kind of long introspective message for this one it's just a pretty well-crafted pop song. i'm really not dodging the "ro just likes anything that's purple" accusations this rate though huh
Zypker125 (2.4): Damn, it’s been so long since we did the 2021 Rate…. What did you mean we did it only 1.5 years ago
ayzrules (11): ugh this is just so lovely and beautiful. It’s got this slight wistful tinge of melancholy that only makes it lovelier. I also love how the soundscape and vocals so perfectly encapsulate the quote at the end of the MV: “spring is short, but it comes again”
SecretStoryOfThe- (11): It was close for a while, but ultimately I came in to the rate thinking that this would be my number one song, and I can't really justify giving the top score to any other candidate over this. Amazing, great atmosphere, bittersweet though with the emphasis on sweet.
vayyiqra (11): perfect song best song fave song spring best season i've 11ed this a few times before i love spring i love lilac i love ourple and i have fond memories of last spring with my beloved ...
kauai6 (10): this song and album in general have such aggressive spring vibes i love it
keine_panik (10): This song quickly became one of my all-time favorites when I got back into k-pop. Absolutely an 11 candidate!
msargent24 (10): One of IU’s best songs for sure. The city pop/disco sounds really suits her
Shay_Min (10): this is the postergirl for inoffensive, it's like, fuckin hell, fair play it's a 10
AmeZim (9.5): One of the instances where her airy vocal compliments well with the soft texture of Lilac itself, resembling how gentle sincere love can bloom
snowswinters (9.5): the post-chorus is so gorgeous
WarpstarRider (9.3): This kind of 80’s-style disco synthpop is a really easy sell for me, and IU pulls it off as well as anyone.
ganos-b-thanondorf (9): The train stations in Korea were not this lit last time I went
kawaii_mokona (9): At least there are no Chainsmokers in sight!
ke1per (8.8): groovy and bouncy and funky with great melodies and the perfect retro vibes for IU’s vocal timbre. I love the concept and lyrics and this is just about as catchy as IU can get, tbh, so bonus points there.
SkylarV (8.5): Rare good title from IU, especially after so long
flawedconstellation (8.4): its good, a nice bid to the 20s age series, and from a great album. But, to me, it doesn’t quite carry that same sense of individuality iu’s other songs have. i’m happy she’s happy about entering her 30s though!
redalert30 (8.3): cute and breezy, nice use of strings and bells. One of the better nu disco songs of this era, really pleasant twinkly atmosphere
landshanties (8): good song but the breathy quality of her voice is kinda misused here
popularsong (7.5): its fun its groovy
Randummonkey (7.5): Between this MV and the Lovedrunk one, I'm convinced IU really wants to be in a martial arts movie and is out here using MVs as free previews.
xiola_azuthra (7.5): TIL “u:kenta931 (2 years ago) Fun fact: this song isnt actually about forbidden love or saying goodbye to a lover. Its actually about memories of youth. IU embraces the symbolism of lilac flowers as memories of youth to bid an emotional farewell to her 20s and a hopeful hello to her 30s.the train she takes is actually a train from her 20s to her 30s!” …see, the first time I heard of this song was a random SHINee BNF on Twitter saying it was about her having a secret affair with her manager. I didn’t actually look it up at the time, but uh, in retrospect it’s no surprise that I unfollowed her later for being a toxic delulu :D
zo142 (7.4): I remember this song being a bit better, but it's still pretty decent. The airiness in the vocals actually works in this song, and it has some substance in it.
moonbia (7.3): ngl this iu section almost killed my spirit you guys, one more song and I wouldn't have made it out
CheesesPriced (7): Our previous rating 7.622. Jazz - where chromatic lines actually belong. Vocal line of the post-chorus “love resembles misty dream” has those grace notes making it a similar cadence to Born Again by Lisa.
dnarevolutions (7): whimsical and nice
laulite (7): Parts like “only til this spring” don’t bother me as much anymore since we rated this last time. I’m just still not blown away by this one.
pollutedrain (7): celebrity better
taebaegi (7): I like her voice so much on this song. She sounds so pretty and ethereal to me. The song is so wistful. It’s just nice to listen to!
qquestionmark (6.7): I miss the smell of the lilac we used to have in our back yard.
lemon131nomel (6.5): Not a fan of how she cuts the phoneme at the end of each phrase in the first line. Trumpet transition into verse two was nice though.
gmint14 (6.4): what an amazing song this could’ve been if the sax from the outro had been featured throughout the whole thing </3
MurkyGalaxies (5.5): : not as much of a snoozefest as some of the other songs on here but I have also never liked the delivery on that lilac in the chorus
LeadingInspector1891 (5.1): I’m moving yet I’m bored
aidshha (4.8): just twee and annoying
ruhroh386 (4): I can’t hear this without being reminded of the terrible job I was working when it came out, sorry IU
kirakiranatsu (2.8): this one is filed under “songs I might like if I didn’t hate the way IU sings”
Kronwell (2): This is the first IU song I ever heard and I don't like it at all, which is a shame because I hibernated on her discography several winters in a row until The Rating Era began. Time to correct my mistakes with this >7 average of mine
"Good Day got 63rd on the Best Of rate. SIXTY THIRD! Y'all better be treating her nicely after that generational robbery 😤"
“now that we have Golden, i wonder which of the two is more challenging to sing”
"this undeniable christian horse girl classic but when i hear it all i can think of is that girl on produce 101 s1 who royally fucked up the high notes in her audition"
#7: IU - Good Day
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Graph
Average: 7.843 // Total Points: 423.5 // Controversy: 2.100
(11 x4) dnarevolutions, kauai6, Kronwell, SkylarV
(10 x10) ayzrules, bibliomaniac15, DPM36, flawedconstellation, ganos-b-thanondorf, hockeynl, laulite, lemon131nomel, naegerowwa, Randummonkey
(9.4 x1) msargent24 (9.3 x2) gmint14, zo142
(9 x6) 1998tweety, aidshha, goorry121, Jennywren2323, MeijiDoom, WarpstarRider
(8.9 x1) xiola_azuthra (8.8 x1) qquestionmark
(8.5 x1) Shay_Min
(8 x3) omgthenerve, snowswinters, Upper_Question1383
(7.5 x2) MurkyGalaxies, pollutedrain
(7.4 x1) Zypker125
(7 x5) AmeZim, landshanties, Marsmaenschen, ohsomeday_, RBSun
(6.7 x1) moonbia
(6.5 x1) popularsong
(6 x5) CheesesPriced, DoingItWright2, redalert30, ruhroh386, vayyiqra
(5.9 x1) ke1per (5.8 x2) keine_panik, MartialST
(5.1 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(5 x1) OnlyDragonfruit808
(4.8 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(4 x1) taebaegi
(3.8 x1) kirakiranatsu
(3.5 x1) necromanta_101
(3 x1) kawaii_mokona
MeijiDoom (9): This intro feels like a weird blend of Disney and theater. Lovely chorus melody arc. It takes its time to develop and reaches an incredibly satisfying conclusion by the time the vocal phrase ends. Feels like they brought in the full orchestra to support this song, from slap bass to timpani to trumpets to electric guitar. Just when you think the song is going to end where all pop songs end, it hits you with the extended high note outro.
Zypker125 (7.4): This was one of the two IU songs we rated on r/KpopRates’s Best Of Rate; on that rate, it got #61/75 and a 7.149 score. How will it do this time? Stay tuned. This is definitely one of my favorite IU songs, I love the cinematic, musical-ish instrumental that propels this song, but the song is a bit too ‘musical theatre’ for me.
RBSun (7): if i can forgive snsd for being made to do oppa crimes i can certainly also forgive iu especially when the orchestra is so cutesy and that high note is so high. i am glad she got to move on from this sound though
dnarevolutions (11): My most favorite song in all kpop, this song really started the rabbit hole for me and I’m still salty at her for not singing this live on her US tour, though completely understandable cause it ruins her vocal cords. (But she still sang a small snippet at LA! REEE)
kauai6 (11): absolutely iconic
Kronwell (11): i have no 10 so Good Day is getting my 11 because it’s my favorite rate song opener we had in a while. It singlehandedly helped me to lock in and finish this rate while the end of the year festivities prep and work duties are kicking my ass rn. Thank you IU !!
SkylarV (11): I remember listening to this for the first time when IU was promoting it on music shows and it was such an experience. Expertly crafted instrumental, amazing attention to detail, and just wonderful musical direction to have everything (including to key change!) lead into the high note the way it does. Career-making/defining song for IU
ayzrules (10): this song holds such a soft spot in my heart, it’s so hopeful and uplifting. that high note lives in my dreams!!
bibliomaniac15 (10): This is the song that started converting me into an enjoyer of Kpop. A song so epically done people confuse half steps for octaves when they call it the “three-octave ending.”
flawedconstellation (10): there’s so much intention in the production here, this sense of open-hearted theatricality i absolutely adore - we truly never get songs like this anymore and its sad to see. It starts at a 9, hits a 10 at the chorus, keeps up that 10, and then blasts into like a 12 with the bridge, then hits a 15 with that gorgeous, stunning triple-layer high note (why do we never get these anymore!!! why cant nmixx or jungkook or zb1 taerae or SOMEONE (seungkwan gets a pass bc he did do it once) blast their lungs to the absolute moon again!!!). Its a triumphant, euphoric, absolute high of a note to go out on. Damn, are people just not yearning like this anymore??????? 😭😭 im so sad we lost these recipes, pls bring them back Someone…
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): Isn’t it weird that Christmas in Korea is a romantic holiday
laulite (10): I only knew this as the song with the insane high notes. What do you mean she was doing that when she was a teen?! Other than the high notes, I love how theatrical the song is.
lemon131nomel (10): Did The Wild Robot sample its soundtrack from this song??? I love the instrumentals ahhhhh. Honestly, the instrumentals alone do it for me. I mean IU is lovely as well but THE INSTRUMENTALS. It’s a good day now. WOW, what a great start to this rate!
naegerowwa (10): you ever hear a song that makes you so happy you experience integer overflow and feel like crying when you listen to it
Randummonkey (10): Good Day got 63rd on the Best Of rate. SIXTY THIRD! Y'all better be treating her nicely after that generational robbery 😤
gmint14 (9.3): she was trying so hard to promote my good friends cignature and get them a spot in the 2023 b-sides rate but y'all didn’t listen
zo142 (9.3): I don't know if anyone's going to get what I'm trying to say here, but there are some songs that feel like template songs. Like, you just take the absolutely most standard formula for a pop song, and you run with it. Perhaps I'm getting old, but this type of song just doesn't get made enough anymore, and Good Day shows why that's such a shame. It's not fancy, it's not special, it doesn't do anything new or crazy. It's predictable, robust, and bombastic in the best way. This is the type of song anyone can enjoy, no matter where or when you're from. Just go for it! That's what this song is all about.
aidshha (9): this undeniable christian horse girl classic but when i hear it all i can think of is that girl on produce 101 s1 who royally fucked up the high notes in her audition
WarpstarRider (9): I have to confess, I never cared too much for the famous triple high note; an impressive feat for sure and did wonders for her career, but it just doesn’t sound pleasant to my ears. But other than that, I love this song and the more theatrical style that carried IU through her next few releases.
xiola_azuthra (8.9): Youtube comment pick: “u:rmftpek00 (3 months ago) This is a song that IU is thankful for, as it has earned her numerous titles such as ‘nation's little sister’ and ‘3-step high note terminator.’ I think it is no exaggeration to say that she has been on the rise since this song.”
qquestionmark (8.8): Needs more Kylie Minogue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RexcDtRV_o
Shay_Min (8.5): man i can't lie it sounds so "in that era" but it's iu so it ends up pulling you back to what you know from her and it's comforting yet so far away
snowswinters (8): i knew this song was iconic because of the high note but i actually never really checked it out until this rate, turns out it is quite slayful in its entirety!
Upper_Question1383 (8): It’s a good song, I mainly like the slightly ‘darker’ parts in the song.
MurkyGalaxies (7.5): Ah yes the super famous high note. Still I do like how fun and sparkly it is, even if it's a touch Christmassy. 'Tis the season I suppose.
pollutedrain (7.5): let’s be honest you spend most of the song waiting for the high note to come but god what a moment it is when it arrives
AmeZim (7): Missing a little sparkle to make the title more convincing but that high note is gleaming with glitters
landshanties (7): eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Marsmaenschen (7): My introverted ass could use a parrot as a conversation starter.
moonbia (6.7): it sure is a song
popularsong (6.5): still cute...
CheesesPriced (6): Our previous rating 7.149. “I’m POUTY because my CRUSH doesn’t NOTICE me 😂.” Music is very cute concept with storybook violin, in some ways Lovelyz adjacent with the chiptunes swapped out for traditional brass. Also a trio of virtuoso high octave notes. Why does she have yellow makeup above her right eye in the rooftop snow scene in the MV?
redalert30 (6): nice strings but the energy is inconsistent, the red shoes washes
ruhroh386 (6): the note is impressive but I don’t like it
vayyiqra (6): a bit kitschy but you don't hear many pop songs this tempo with orchestration and electric instruments it's so busy lol
ke1per (5.9): it’s too Christmasy, too brassy, and too dated for me to truly enjoy. I do really like the variety of sounds we have in the instrumental and the melodies are solid, but this just doesn’t land for me the way it could.
keine_panik (5.8): The three strained high notes at the end really bring this already fairly unimpressive song down. I remember them being used in “impressive vocals” compilations, a prime example of people mistaking being able to hit high notes for singing well.
MartialST (5.8): now that we have Golden, i wonder which of the two is more challenging to sing
LeadingInspector1891 (5.1): It only works-ish because of the musical tone it can take
SecretStoryOfThe- (4.8): I get that it is a classic. I get that Lee Min-Soo is a talented guy (hell, he composed and produced Abracadabra for Brown Eyed Girls). I appreciate the tonal contrast present in the lyrics. Unfortunately, none of that changes the fact that the instrumental and the vocal lines are just full of these garish old-timey flourishes. I understand that the retro pop influence is intentional, but unfortunately the effect just ends up sounding cheesy
taebaegi (4): It’s fine.
kirakiranatsu (3.8): if I never have to hear the “three high notes” again it’ll be too soon
kawaii_mokona (3): I get that it's "culturally significant" and "but the high note!!" but I remember getting to this on Best Of rate and being so bored that I never actually submitted my ballot
"mate just download Waze"
"gain is kinda the bjork of kpop if you think about it"
“If this doesn't win the rate this time idk what that says about us as a society”
"I wasn't so hot on this song back during the Halloween rate (gave it a 6.7). Is this character development? Or is this listening to 4 Jay Park songs in a row? A real mystery to be sure."
#6: Gain - Paradise Lost
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Average: 7.881 // Total Points: 425.6 // Controversy: 2.365
(11 x3) keine_panik, ohsomeday_, popularsong
(10 x11) ayzrules, DPM36, Jennywren2323, kauai6, kawaii_mokona, landshanties, laulite, lemon131nomel, msargent24, necromanta_101, pollutedrain
(9.8 x1) Kronwell (9.7 x1) AmeZim
(9.5 x2) aidshha, SkylarV
(9.2 x1) Shay_Min
(9 x6) ganos-b-thanondorf, goorry121, hockeynl, MeijiDoom, omgthenerve, xiola_azuthra
(8.9 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(8.5 x3) 1998tweety, bibliomaniac15, Upper_Question1383
(8.1 x1) qquestionmark
(8 x4) OnlyDragonfruit808, RBSun, ruhroh386, WarpstarRider
(7.8 x1) ke1per (7.7 x1) redalert30
(7.5 x3) gmint14, MurkyGalaxies, Randummonkey
(7 x1) taebaegi
(6.5 x1) snowswinters
(6 x2) moonbia, vayyiqra
(5.5 x1) kirakiranatsu
(5 x2) CheesesPriced, Marsmaenschen
(4.7 x1) Zypker125
(4.5 x1) MartialST
(4.3 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(4 x1) DoingItWright2
(3 x1) flawedconstellation
(2.9 x1) zo142
(2 x2) dnarevolutions, naegerowwa
MeijiDoom (9): Such an atmospheric song. I love how the song comes in with a pretty unconventional but deliberately unsettling vocal slide. The murmurs and background vocals in the second verse are great for reinforcing this mysterious and enticing world that Gain is inviting us into. I wish the chorus wasn't quite so straightforward although it does set up the final chorus very well.
RBSun (8): we rated this previously on our halloween rate last year, and it did very well. at the time, which was my first ever rate, i gave this a middling-to-good score and i am here now as a host to rectify my mistake. this song absolutely fucks right down to the organ
Zypker125 (4.7): We rated this previously on the Halloween Rate, where it got #7/45 and a score of 7.822. How will it do here? Stay tuned.
keine_panik (11): I'll happily give this masterpiece an 11 again!
popularsong (11): it's dramatic, it's sexy, it's subversive... it would probably be my 11 even without the underlying meaning just because it's such a banger, but the rejection of purity / being drawn to the "sin" in the lyrics is cherry on top. "you and i, another paradise", "they are making up a story so they can control you and me" - it's just so powerful... kim eana you are my goat forever
ayzrules (10): absolutely love this song, what a complete and utter bop
Jennywren2323 (10): They're talking about a fantasy/ they're making up a story/So that they can control you and me
kawaii_mokona (10): If this doesn't win the rate this time idk what that says about us as a society
landshanties (10): MADAMA CUNTRESSA 5000
laulite (10): By the way, this would’ve been my 11 if I didn’t make amazing rate discoveries. Since another song has taken the crown for me, this gets a spiritual 11 instead. Those organs ate. Wow, what a way to set the atmosphere. Her vocals get kind of haunting at times too which fits so well with the instrumental. I mean, it was also in the Halloween rate so that makes sense. It’s just so cool. I love this song so much!
lemon131nomel (10): It just so happens that a lot of my friends are currently reading John Milton’s Paradise Lost for their English elective AND that Victoria Coren Mitchell has been reading snippets of the epic at the end of each episode of the current series of Only Connect. So yes, I have been lost in this paradise for quite some time now. From my (arguably biased) point of view, I think this song is the epitome of going all-in on a concept and nailing it. This reddit post really dives into all aspects of this song in a lot of detail, and I highly recommend checking it out for a holistic review of the concept. For me, the successful conveyance of the “dark church” vibe through the music is what makes me want to listen to this again and again. The ominous organ, the faint echoes, and the ethereal choir all come together with Gain’s nuanced tone to build this atmosphere that is unlike any other. Simply put—this song is absolutely brilliant.
msargent24 (10): I love how seductive this song is, along with the grandiosity brought by the organ. She also looks incredible in the music video. It’s tempting to give this an 11, but I already did on the Halloween rate, so I’ll change it up this time
pollutedrain (10): as i said in halloween rate absolutely no one is doing it like this
Kronwell (9.8): my halloween rate winner... Mind you the Halloween rate had at least 15 potential winners imo
AmeZim (9.7): Not just the paradise, my mind and words were also lost
aidshha (9.5): the craziness of a female kpop idol in 2015 making a song about how society invents narratives to control people’s sexuality….her mind. i love you gain
SkylarV (9.5): I still don't really get why this was on the Halloween rate. Anyway, it's a great song, especially in the context of this rate
Shay_Min (9.2): fucking banging man
ganos-b-thanondorf (9): Banger but the lyricist did not read Milton
xiola_azuthra (9): The Girl Taemin. That organ intro is everything.
Upper_Question1383 (8.5): The choreo is so iconic
WarpstarRider (8): Milton’s Paradise Lost was one of those reading assignments I skipped back in high school. This song is pretty cool, but it’s probably not going to help you with your Literature homework.
ke1per (7.8): I had a much better time with this song during this rate than I did during the Halloween rate, so apologies to Gain for this switchup, I am anything but consistent. Still, the delivery isn’t for me and it’s not the kind of song I would return to often.
redalert30 (7.7): it’s pretty good but i have other sounds that i prefer. very cinematic and grand, but i wish the chorus had a fuller instrumental. the song also doesn’t develop that much between choruses. like imagine how good the chorus if it had more orchestral backing. the bridge is kinda cool with the dramatic string transitions and heavier percussion, that’s what the chorus should’ve sounded like. at least the final chorus introduces these stuttery moments that change it up slightly. but overall this song is giving movie trailer music and could have been so much more interesting
gmint14 (7.5): gain is kinda the bjork of kpop if you think about it
MurkyGalaxies (7.5): I really want to like this more than I actually do it doesn't really hit the way I want it to
Randummonkey (7.5): I wasn't so hot on this song back during the Halloween rate (gave it a 6.7). Is this character development? Or is this listening to 4 Jay Park songs in a row? A real mystery to be sure.
snowswinters (6.5): love how spooky the intro and overall instrumental is, i just don’t really love the chorus that much
moonbia (6): it sure is a song [2]
vayyiqra (6): dramatic movie soundtrack from the 2000s is what im getting somehow
CheesesPriced (5): Our previous rating 7.822. Sounds dramatic but I don’t actually like any of the melodies.
SecretStoryOfThe- (4.3): Usually this sort of grandiose concept with production containing epic orchestral elements would be right up my alley, but unfortunately I found the execution sorely lacking. The instrumental ends up sounding weak and outright goofy at times, not helped by noticeably awkward English lines at just the most unfortunate moments. Hold up, literally just as I was writing this I realized that Lee Min-Soo also produced this track. I have mixed opinions on his stuff, especially anything orchestral, so it makes sense I don't like this.
flawedconstellation (3): this is way overdramatic for me, with a pretty slow beat.
zo142 (2.9): mate just download Waze
dnarevolutions (2): round 2 of rating this, nope, still bad
Gain
Overall Average: 7.754 // Average Controversy: 2.153
Zypker125: I have nothing to lose, but everything to
MeijiDoom: Another artist who has expansive range. I love certain BEG songs and Bloom falls under that umbrella but the combination of Paradise Lost and Irreversible from the survey make for a really intriguing discography. I sense a future deep dive.
keine_panik (10.500): She is still one of my favorite soloists and I hope we will get to see her perform again at some point.
kauai6 (10.000): QUEEN
msargent24 (9.750): I hope she comes back someday soon
SkylarV (9.750): Need to do a deep dive on Gain soon
Shay_Min (8.750): don't really like most of Gain's songs but the selection was pleasant
ganos-b-thanondorf (8.500): Does anyone know if Gain fw broke english majors 16.5 years younger than her
Randummonkey (7.850): 🦀
qquestionmark (7.750): Quite the two contrasting songs. [Best song: Paradise Lost]
vayyiqra (7.500): idk i like gain i like brown eyed girls i like kpop
lemon131nomel (7.500): Very glad to have discovered her through this rate :)
ke1per (7.150): my favorite brand of fabric softener, what can i say
SecretStoryOfThe- (5.250): Hadn't listened to her before this, for what it's worth a lot of her other songs seem to be better than the ones on the rate.
naegerowwa (2.750): an actually good song of hers didn’t make it out of the survey and now we’re stuck with this
User Averages:
landshanties: 10.500 keinepanik: 10.500 popularsong: 10.500 ayzrules: 10.000 Jennywren2323: 10.000 ohsomeday: 10.000 pollutedrain: 10.000 kauai6: 10.000 msargent24: 9.750 SkylarV: 9.750 aidshha: 9.750 AmeZim: 9.600 goorry121: 9.250 laulite: 9.000 DPM36: 9.000 MeijiDoom: 8.800 gmint14: 8.750 Shay_Min: 8.750 1998tweety: 8.500 xiola_azuthra: 8.500 hockeynl: 8.500 ganos-b-thanondorf: 8.500 Kronwell: 8.400 WarpstarRider: 8.250 bibliomaniac15: 8.250 Upper_Question1383: 8.150 omgthenerve: 8.000 kawaii_mokona: 8.000 necromanta_101: 8.000 LeadingInspector1891: 7.950 Randummonkey: 7.850 qquestionmark: 7.750 MurkyGalaxies: 7.750 snowswinters: 7.750 RBSun: 7.750 redalert30: 7.600 vayyiqra: 7.500 ruhroh386: 7.500 lemon131nomel: 7.500 ke1per: 7.150 kirakiranatsu: 6.500 OnlyDragonfruit808: 6.000 moonbia: 5.650 DoingItWright2: 5.500 flawedconstellation: 5.300 SecretStoryOfThe-: 5.250 CheesesPriced: 5.000 Marsmaenschen: 5.000 Zypker125: 4.950 zo142: 4.650 taebaegi: 4.500 dnarevolutions: 4.500 MartialST: 4.150 naegerowwa: 2.750
"this is so painfully second gen that it’s getting boosted like four points"
"Taylor Swift if she write good music I guess idk I don’t really listen to her songs"
"“You wouldn’t steal a car??” Well… maybe?"
#5: Ailee - Mind Your Own Business
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Average: 7.885 // Total Points: 425.8 // Controversy: 1.611
(10 x7) ayzrules, DPM36, kauai6, laulite, popularsong, Randummonkey, xiola_azuthra
(9.3 x2) aidshha, AmeZim
(9 x10) 1998tweety, flawedconstellation, ganos-b-thanondorf, Jennywren2323, kirakiranatsu, lemon131nomel, pollutedrain, ruhroh386, Upper_Question1383, WarpstarRider
(8.8 x1) DoingItWright2 (8.7 x3) goorry121, keine_panik, Shay_Min (8.6 x1) ke1per
(8.5 x3) Kronwell, MeijiDoom, omgthenerve
(8 x6) hockeynl, Marsmaenschen, moonbia, RBSun, vayyiqra, Zypker125
(7.9 x1) zo142 (7.8 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(7 x6) bibliomaniac15, gmint14, landshanties, necromanta_101, OnlyDragonfruit808, redalert30
(6.9 x1) qquestionmark (6.8 x1) msargent24
(6.5 x1) ohsomeday_
(6.3 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(6 x3) CheesesPriced, MurkyGalaxies, naegerowwa
(5.5 x1) snowswinters
(5 x3) dnarevolutions, kawaii_mokona, taebaegi
(4.5 x1) MartialST
(3 x1) SkylarV
MeijiDoom (8.5): There are very few Ailee songs I don't enjoy. This would be one that hovers more towards the lower end. The instrumental has a bit of that 2nd gen abrasiveness and the sound/themes are definitely feeling like retreads of her past songs at this point. I don't connect with this one nearly as much.
RBSun (8): i think it's so funny how ailee turned around after the sweetest love song debut ever and then said don't touch me, don't teach me, leave me the FUCK alone and i support it 50000% for her
Zypker125 (8): Queen saving my ballot average once again
kauai6 (10): SO FUCKING GOOODDDDDDDDDDDDD
laulite (10): My favorite so far from her. She’s so goddamn talented. I’m having so much fun with this section. It went by so fast. I can’t help being redundant, but this is also an 11 contender.
popularsong (10): my personal favorite variation of the fuck that guy i love myself bangers
Randummonkey (10): Nothing crazy but god that pre-chorus sounds so good. And of course the chorus rarely disappoints when you have Ailee supported by a solid instrument track. Song doesn't do anything super fancy or different but it doesn't have to
xiola_azuthra (10): Youtube comment shoutout: “u:briannafullbuster7189 (9 years ago) I'm pretty sure Ailee should give Taylor Swift lessons on how to do a proper break up song”
AmeZim (9.3): Taylor Swift if she write good music I guess idk I don’t really listen to her songs
flawedconstellation (9): she sounds her best here and the material is equally exciting!
ganos-b-thanondorf (9): She really about to whoop my ass with this choreo
kirakiranatsu (9): the weakest of her offerings on main rate but a banger nonetheless
lemon131nomel (9): This has that older style to it, and I love it. Trumpets deserve a raise. And that triple fakeout at the end! 🤌🤌🤌
ruhroh386 (9): what kind of cops are those?
WarpstarRider (9): great
Shay_Min (8.7): the one thing i will concede was unbeaten about this generation is the killer sax usage
ke1per (8.6): a common Ailee slay, there isn’t much to say. Insane vocals, catchy melodies, clever concept - it’s great.
Kronwell (8.5): such a majorette song!
moonbia (8): naega neol BEORIGOO 🗣️
vayyiqra (8): :saxbug:
landshanties (7): this is so painfully second gen that it’s getting boosted like four points
msargent24 (6.8): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8V9NK-COJ8
CheesesPriced (6): Wherein Ailee gets arrested by stripper cops. “You wouldn’t steal a car??” Well… maybe?
snowswinters (5.5): the verses are nice but idk, nothing about the chorus really draws me in
dnarevolutions (5): the most universal response to any question ever
taebaegi (5): I think this was such a poor follow up to the previous two titles. This lacks all of the punch of U & I and Don’t Touch Me. The instrumental is so lifeless and her vocals are not as interesting or powerful here imo. She has a nice belt near the end but it doesn’t feel as powerful as the one in U & I. U & I and Don’t Touch Me felt so much more interesting and grittier and I prefer that much more than this.
SkylarV (3): Don't Touch Me, but again
"her yelling all my ladies clap really gives that video of fifth harmony performing and going “everybody clap” at a sam’s club"
“i feel so 2010s girlboss white feminism pilled listening to these /positive”
"her vocals completely make the song like imagine nugutron teenage survival show contestant with weak breath support singing this"
#4: Ailee - Don’t Touch Me
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Average: 7.976 // Total Points: 430.7 // Controversy: 1.656
(10 x12) 1998tweety, AmeZim, ayzrules, DPM36, Jennywren2323, keine_panik, laulite, MeijiDoom, RBSun, Shay_Min, taebaegi, xiola_azuthra
(9.5 x2) kauai6, kirakiranatsu
(9.3 x1) pollutedrain (9.2 x2) Upper_Question1383, zo142 (9.1 x1) Randummonkey
(9 x3) DoingItWright2, ganos-b-thanondorf, omgthenerve
(8.9 x1) WarpstarRider (8.7 x1) qquestionmark
(8.5 x2) aidshha, goorry121
(8 x2) lemon131nomel, ruhroh386
(7.8 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(7.5 x2) hockeynl, Marsmaenschen
(7.4 x2) gmint14, redalert30 (7.3 x2) moonbia, ohsomeday_
(7 x8) bibliomaniac15, kawaii_mokona, msargent24, OnlyDragonfruit808, popularsong, snowswinters, vayyiqra, Zypker125
(6.8 x2) flawedconstellation, Kronwell (6.6 x1) ke1per
(6.5 x2) MurkyGalaxies, necromanta_101
(6.3 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(6 x2) CheesesPriced, dnarevolutions
(5 x2) landshanties, naegerowwa
(4.6 x1) MartialST
(3 x1) SkylarV
MeijiDoom (10): I don't know if any song has ever committed to stomp clap as much as this song. I don't quite love the vocal work and the post-chorus "clap claps" get pretty annoying but the pre-chorus is fantastic and something about that bassline is infectious. The last "I'm out" is a great final touch.
RBSun (10): when i did ailee's top ten tuesday (#sponsored!!! fill them in on r/kpop!) prior to this rate i actually put don't touch me i think sixth, but during the period of the rate it's emerged as my easy second favorite of her songs. it reminds me very much of country diva hits from when i was little, her voice is just so full and full of energy. also we do need some more don't fuckin touch me energy in kpop
Zypker125 (7): Random high note belts always make a song better, tbh
AmeZim (10): I’m GAGGED and I don’t know if I can recover from what this song is going to do to me over the next few weeks
keine_panik (10): One of those songs where you feel more powerful just from listening to it
laulite (10): She’s mastered choruses. This one is so good here too. Yep, 11 contender.
Shay_Min (10): YAAAAAAAAAAAA
taebaegi (10): Probably my 2nd favorite title track from her. I love the progression of the song and the beat has a nice vibe.
xiola_azuthra (10): Youtube comment shoutout: “u:Crabman44 (9 months ago) 2014.09.25-26 As time went by... This is my enlistment song. I suddenly thought of it in 2025 and came to listen to it. As expected, it's a masterpiece. Raise your hand if you're listening in 25 too!!!”
kauai6 (9.5): her yelling all my ladies clap really gives that video of fifth harmony performing and going “everybody clap” at a sam’s club
kirakiranatsu (9.5): iconic, slayful
pollutedrain (9.3): what a mood girl
zo142 (9.2): Her vocals are almost as good as HyunA's which sounds like an insult, but coming from me that's exceptionally high praise
Randummonkey (9.1): 🦀
ganos-b-thanondorf (9): YES QUEEN SPIT YOUR SHIT INDEED
WarpstarRider (8.9): strong vocals as always
lemon131nomel (8): Oooh her deeper voice here is nice too. I like it when she doubles over her low voice in a soft high-pitched voice.
SecretStoryOfThe- (7.8): Good but feels like a less good version of the previous 2 tracks on the rate.
redalert30 (7.4): her vocals completely make the song like imagine nugutron teenage survival show contestant with weak breath support singing this
moonbia (7.3): it's fine, she sounds amazing
popularsong (7): i feel so 2010s girlboss white feminism pilled listening to these /positive
snowswinters (7): nice chorus and she sounds great
vayyiqra (7): piano emoji
flawedconstellation (6.8): in iu’s case, you & i was her copy of good day; here, don’t touch me is ailee’s copy of u & i.
ke1per (6.6): gorgeous vocals, great charisma, stellar delivery, but I don’t love the melodies here and the instrumental doesn’t do anything for me. A mixed bag.
MurkyGalaxies (6.5): I remember that "swing jazz" pop music era like it was yesterday, and I fear I'm not that unhappy about it dying out. That checkered dress is an absolute slay though, even if it's a bit "rawr XD nuzzles u" era vibes.
CheesesPriced (6): Diva jig?
dnarevolutions (6): queen vocals as always but not my style of song
landshanties (5): basically the same as her other jazzy songs but the piano is nice
SkylarV (3): Song bad
"an absolutely fabulous song (that would make a beautiful banner @ other kpopraters wink wink…//)"
"it was so whelming... but then it was WHELMING!(positive)"
"some years ago, i read the lyrics to this and thought being 23 and so unsure of what version of yourself you want to be makes no sense because that’s how you feel at like 15. guess who turned 23 this year and doesn’t have a single clue about what she wants to do with herself 🤣 🤣"
#3: IU - Twenty-Three
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Average: 8.061 // Total Points: 435.3 // Controversy: 2.347
(11 x3) aidshha, hockeynl, Randummonkey
(10 x13) flawedconstellation, ganos-b-thanondorf, goorry121, Jennywren2323, kauai6, keine_panik, landshanties, necromanta_101, pollutedrain, popularsong, ruhroh386, SecretStoryOfThe-, snowswinters
(9.7 x1) gmint14 (9.6 x1) msargent24
(9.3 x1) ayzrules
(9 x7) 1998tweety, laulite, naegerowwa, omgthenerve, RBSun, SkylarV, WarpstarRider
(8.8 x1) Upper_Question1383
(8.5 x3) redalert30, Shay_Min, xiola_azuthra
(8.2 x1) AmeZim
(8 x3) CheesesPriced, dnarevolutions, Kronwell
(7.8 x2) moonbia, ohsomeday_
(7.5 x3) bibliomaniac15, DPM36, MeijiDoom
(7 x6) DoingItWright2, ke1per, Marsmaenschen, OnlyDragonfruit808, qquestionmark, vayyiqra
(6.4 x1) LeadingInspector1891 (6.3 x1) MartialST
(6 x1) taebaegi
(4.5 x1) lemon131nomel
(4 x1) kawaii_mokona
(2.4 x1) zo142
(2 x1) MurkyGalaxies
(1.5 x1) Zypker125
(1 x1) kirakiranatsu
RBSun (9): among my favorite iu songs, it's upbeat and groovy with a bassline for the ages and one of her catchiest choruses so far as well as frankly achy lyrics, especially when i first saw them from the other side of twenty three. i'm very fond of chatshire the album as well, and not just because it's ourple
MeijiDoom (7.5): A very smooth song albeit without much of a high point. The bridge is a bit of a miss as well. I do like IU's talk-singing voice in certain parts which I can not say for some of her other songs.
Zypker125 (1.5): This was one of the two IU songs we rated on r/KpopRates’s Best Of Rate; on that rate, it got #51/75 and a 7.443 score. How will it do this time? Stay tuned. I just don’t think the song flows well, it doesn’t feel like it’s leading anywhere, it’s a bit slow, I’m not a fan of some of the vocal choices, etc..
aidshha (11): i saw a tweet a while back that said something along the lines of “people will sooner believe a woman is stupid than that she’s joking or being ironic”, and while i think that’s applicable to a LOT of stuff in kpop it’s particularly applicable to moments where female idols reflect a level of artistry and social justice that goes beyond the bare minimum that the industry has spoon fed people to believe is activism. you see it now with soyeon and you could see it then with the way the industry treated iu when she released this song. when it came out people accused her of playing into a lolita concept and playing up to her pervy uncle fans. but it couldn’t be further from the truth! this song is about the contradictions of living as a woman, about living under the male gaze and under the madonna-whore concepts that women, especially in the public eye, are subject to. when iu sings that she’s “a fox who pretends to be a bear who pretends to be a fox, or something completely different”, she’s talking about those expectations people make for women: that they must be either innocent or sexy, that they must be stupid and docile, that any resistance or intelligence is treated as the cunning mechanisms of an evil shrew, or thoroughly sexualised. and this is of course something that most people who are afab or identify as women deal with at some point in their life, in spite of the inherent hypocrisy: because who truly is only one thing forever? even the greatest critics arent. when she sings “i want to be a child forever, no, i want to be a moist woman”, she’s not, as people in 2015 claimed, playing into a lolita concept—she’s genuinely addressing and playing into the idea that sex and being sexy is the definition of the arbitrary divide between girl and woman. between nation’s little sister, good girl, singing cutesy innocent god-fearing ballads and a blooming artist and singer-songwriter. and the misunderstood genius of twenty-three is that she plays into it! not by accident, not to be sexy for no reason: because the song IS suggestive. we see iu in the mv alternating between the “sexy” outfits of crop tops and short shorts and chokers and her classic white dresses; but of course the catch-22 is that both concepts play to the male gaze, and play to the madonna-whore complexes of the people who try to put her in a box. the only true way to avoid it is to define it, to identify it, and to outright reject it, and that’s what iu does here. it’s not “fuck you, haters!” it’s not “i’m sexy, what are you going to do about it?” the playfulness with that ambiguity, with that grey area and all the liminality that comes with it, is what really makes twenty-three stand out from the crowd. maybe i am sexy, maybe i am a sly fox, maybe i am a cunning man eating shrew. who knows? or maybe i’m pure and innocent and the virgin mary but korean. who knows? try to guess, obsess over it if you need to, but you won’t ever know for sure. teehee!
Randummonkey (11): This was one of the first songs I rated on the old k-pop jukebox 7 years ago. I gave it an eight 🙃. I'm pretty sure I was spoiled by only rating good songs early on. Anyways, it's been 7 years and I still come back to this song. I love the instrumental. IU's great. And it has a very cool meaning. Extra points for the cool "call and response" style verses that flip between what people expect from the her little girl image and her much more realistic/pragmatic concerns. Sorry IU, it's been 7 years but I'm here to make amends now.
flawedconstellation (10): indeed, i am 23 and a walking, talking contradiction. Sometimes i want to feel pretty and attractive. Other days i revel in feeling ugly. I feel like a little child living in a big world among adults. I feel like an adult stuck in a child’s body among younger kids. I laugh when i’m sad, i cry when i’m happy. I don’t get it. I don’t think i will ever get it. But neither did IU, by the looks of it. 23 makes my strange conflicting emotions feel universal. It’s playful, it’s upbeat, it’s delightfully cheeky and a little bit coy - like IU is teasing you to catch her but running away just out of grasp. Its the perfect mix of the childish with the more mature, and an absolutely fabulous song (that would make a beautiful banner @ other kpopraters wink wink…//)
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): Took 10 years to drop that damn performance video
kauai6 (10): her hair ain’t hurt with all that in it?
keine_panik (10): Still one of her best.
landshanties (10): no one including native korean speakers has ever adequately explained what “i want to be a moist woman” is supposed to mean
popularsong (10): im sure shads write up will cover everything but this and babe are some of my most fav songs of all time for how they reflect the ageism and misogyny in the industry and the playful sound vs the lyrics is just so good...
SecretStoryOfThe- (10): Both kind of quirky and kind of serious, lyrically the song explores the conflict and confusion between multiple public images and the reality. Excellent.
snowswinters (10): i never really paid attention to this song before this rate but i’ve become genuinely obsessed with it, enough to where i need two 11s so i can 11 this queen as well. so catchy and fun and so slayful of iu to write a song like this
gmint14 (9.7): some years ago, i read the lyrics to this and thought being 23 and so unsure of what version of yourself you want to be makes no sense because that’s how you feel at like 15. guess who turned 23 this year and doesn’t have a single clue about what she wants to do with herself 🤣 🤣
msargent24 (9.6): Fantastic chorus
ayzrules (9.3): this is sooo groovy
laulite (9): I only knew this one through Gahyun’s cover of it, but the original is pretty nice as well. I love how kinda whimsical it sounds. It matches the MV’s aesthetic really well.
SkylarV (9): Slick production for IU, was becoming less of a thing for her starting around this point in time
WarpstarRider (9): IU would later do even better with the disco sound, but this one is still pretty great.
redalert30 (8.5): jazzy and layered with a satisfying range of instruments and textures. it’s pretty upbeat but has a mature tinge to its sound (fitting the lyrics) which is enjoyable.
Shay_Min (8.5): it was so whelming... but then it was WHELMING!(positive)
xiola_azuthra (8.5): Youtube comment picks: “u:mr-zy9br (1 year ago) Time flies so fast, she's now 1300 years old.” | “u:iwasborntosurvive5396 (5 years ago (edited)) IU, who has heard all sorts of things like, ‘She's a fox,’ ‘She has a mysterious mental state, so it's annoying,’ and ‘She's sinister,’ is indeed a fox in this song with such honest lyrics. How honest are these lyrics about humanity? This isn't just a story limited to 23-year-olds. Sometimes, people want to live quietly like a dead mouse, but also want to turn the world upside down, and sometimes, they want to go crazy in love, but also want to focus on their studies and their path, etc. The human heart appears in all kinds of forms like Alice's cat in Wonderland.”
AmeZim (8.2): Another year before I can officially relate to this song on a personal level
CheesesPriced (8): Our previous rating 7.443. The two quick notes in the vocal line - total earworm!
dnarevolutions (8): hag has to reveal her age ofc
moonbia (7.8): this song is so good I can almost overlook the really bad bridge
ke1per (7): I could still do without the orchestral elements, but this is a really solid sonic departure from her earlier Broadway-kpop thing so I very much appreciate it. It’s not super catchy, but I love that funky, groovy guitar.
qquestionmark (7): Not even a third of that.
vayyiqra (7): she should lean into making a funk banger what you do think (dont answer this)
taebaegi (6): Not bad. Has a bit of a groove to it that I enjoy.
lemon131nomel (4.5): She wanted 23; I’ll give her 4.5. Not in love with the pre-chorus at all. The delivery of the lines feels like a sine graph.
kawaii_mokona (4): Sounds like it would do well with gen 3 gg loving crowd, but I am kinda super bored even if it was Culturally Significant
MurkyGalaxies (2): I know the message behind this song is sweet and interesting and all but it's sooooo boring:
kirakiranatsu (1): I hate the way this song sounds
IU
Overall Average: 7.321 // Average Controversy: 2.342
Zypker125: She seems like a lovely lady! I’ve never seen her in variety content though. And unfortunately, she is in contention for “least favorite K-Pop discography” for me, she just does way too many slow/ballad/quiet songs for my tastes.
MeijiDoom: I seemed to like her voice for most songs but my biggest takeaway was that her songs almost always have very strong choruses and fantastic instrumentals. The team she works with to construct songs to suit her style really knows what they’re doing. All artists in the industry could use that kind of team.
flawedconstellation (9.780): my goat! IU is one of my favorite acts, her music is very much tailored to my tastes. strangely enough, this doesn’t even begin to cover my favorites (though it is a good spectrum of her music). If you liked these songs, i recommend: modern times, dear name, troll, ah puh, red queen (more zion.t LMAO), a gloomy clock with jonghyun of shinee, friday with el capitxn, dlwlrma, sleepless rainy night, can’t love you anymore with OHHYUK, and unlucky. theyre all so good!!
ganos-b-thanondorf (9.200): Ending Scene ROBBED
bibliomaniac15 (9.050): My favorite artist of all time. Although I had heard quite a few kpop songs since 2005, I didn’t really enjoy kpop and consciously avoided it until I watched Hotel del Luna in 2023, which made me listen to IU and consequently opened up Pandora’s box for me. As an early 90s kid like IU, I really identify with the ways she’s grown through the years. Although I wasn’t able to follow that in real time, when I put my own life’s timeline next to hers I found a lot of parallels through the ups and downs of navigating youthful beginnings, the twists and turns of emerging adulthood, and now being a seasoned veteran with a defined voice in my field.
kauai6 (9.020): a eternal queen. only pretty and hot people like her music so if you don’t, then we know what you are!
ayzrules (8.760): i truly appreciate an artist where you never know if you’re getting an absolute bop or a snoozer bottom 5 ballad. However outside of that i do love her very very much
Shay_Min (8.750): as I've said before, stop trying to save dead melodies and go get those charts girl, her voice is THE icon.
Upper_Question1383 (8.640): I like IU a lot. I don’t follow her that well, but her songs do pass in my spotify playlist and I enjoy them.
keine_panik (8.440): I have loved watching her growth as an artist. I don't love every release but I'm always curious what she's prepared this time.
Randummonkey (8.120): I miss the old IU. Straight from the go IU. Belting her soul IU. Good on her days IU.
SecretStoryOfThe- (8.020): I guess I don't like her early stuff that much but starting from Modern Times she's very good.
aidshha (7.230): I miss the old IU, straight from the 'Go IU, chop up the soul IU, set on her goals IU, I hate the new IU, the good mood IU, the always cute IU, real estate speculation in the news IU, I miss the cunty IU, chop up the haters IU, I gotta to say at that time I'd like to meet IU
vayyiqra (7.000): i'm pro-IU in theory and in the past i've tried to like IU and she seems wholesome and nice but i only really like a few songs; but feel like she could grow on me too
ke1per (6.770): She is as pretty as she is bland, and she is very, very pretty.
qquestionmark (6.750): IU taking up 11 songs in this rate is The Reason I Became a Witch [Best song: eight(Prod.&Feat. SUGA of BTS)]
lemon131nomel (6.630): I do have to give IU her flowers for being one of the most consistently profitable soloists in kpop. However, I definitely prefer her older songs over her more recent tracks.
SkylarV (6.070): Honestly, a pretty fair selection of songs, my average here is probably fairly close to how I feel about her discography as a whole
zo142 (3.940): I'm convinced IU only had this many songs to punish me and me PERSONALLY for something I've done to one of the hosts
User Averages:
flawedconstellation: 9.780 hockeynl: 9.700 naegerowwa: 9.200 ganos-b-thanondorf: 9.200 gmint14: 9.050 bibliomaniac15: 9.050 kauai6: 9.020 laulite: 9.000 ayzrules: 8.760 ShayMin: 8.750 WarpstarRider: 8.660 Upper_Question1383: 8.640 xiola_azuthra: 8.590 pollutedrain: 8.550 snowswinters: 8.550 DPM36: 8.550 1998tweety: 8.500 keine_panik: 8.440 goorry121: 8.200 Randummonkey: 8.120 SecretStoryOfThe-: 8.020 MeijiDoom: 7.960 dnarevolutions: 7.900 omgthenerve: 7.850 Jennywren2323: 7.850 RBSun: 7.750 msargent24: 7.380 Kronwell: 7.320 aidshha: 7.230 AmeZim: 7.170 vayyiqra: 7.000 Marsmaenschen: 6.900 DoingItWright2: 6.880 landshanties: 6.850 ke1per: 6.770 qquestionmark: 6.750 popularsong: 6.750 redalert30: 6.740 lemon131nomel: 6.630 moonbia: 6.550 kawaii_mokona: 6.450 OnlyDragonfruit808: 6.400 LeadingInspector1891: 6.370 CheesesPriced: 6.300 necromanta_101: 6.250 MartialST: 6.090 SkylarV: 6.070 ohsomeday: 5.760 ruhroh386: 5.550 taebaegi: 4.950 MurkyGalaxies: 4.400 zo142: 3.940 Zypker125: 3.590 kirakiranatsu: 2.640
"the opening notes of this song would wake me from a coma"
"went to nayeon school of channeling your beyonce-crazy-in-love-isms, and the jonghyun school of just absolutely hooting & hollering"
"more songs need horns blaring"
" hears brass neuron activation"
#2: Ailee - U & I
Banner
Graph
Average: 8.246 // Total Points: 445.3 // Controversy: 1.688
(11 x2) MeijiDoom, Upper_Question1383
(10 x13) 1998tweety, ayzrules, DPM36, ganos-b-thanondorf, Jennywren2323, kauai6, kirakiranatsu, laulite, lemon131nomel, pollutedrain, Shay_Min, taebaegi, xiola_azuthra
(9.4 x1) zo142 (9.3 x1) keine_panik (9.2 x1) WarpstarRider (9.1 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-
(9 x3) kawaii_mokona, Marsmaenschen, ohsomeday_
(8.8 x3) aidshha, Randummonkey, Zypker125
(8.5 x2) DoingItWright2, goorry121
(8.3 x1) gmint14
(8 x8) AmeZim, bibliomaniac15, hockeynl, Kronwell, moonbia, OnlyDragonfruit808, RBSun, vayyiqra
(7.8 x1) flawedconstellation
(7.5 x2) msargent24, omgthenerve
(7.1 x1) qquestionmark
(7 x3) CheesesPriced, dnarevolutions, popularsong
(6.8 x1) redalert30 (6.7 x1) ke1per
(6.5 x2) LeadingInspector1891, snowswinters
(6 x3) MurkyGalaxies, necromanta_101, ruhroh386
(5.5 x1) naegerowwa
(5.2 x1) SkylarV
(4.5 x1) MartialST
(3 x1) landshanties
MeijiDoom (11): There are a few k-pop songs I remember running into many years before I became a real k-pop fan: Taeyang - Wedding Dress. SNSD - Gee. Psy - Gangnam Style. Twice - Likey. U & I was one of those songs and it's always been one of my favorites, no matter how many other great songs I listen to. I love absolute superstar vocals, I love big band brass, I love a driving bassline. Ailee knows she sounds fantastic here and she shows it off in different registers, timbres, styles and rhythms, all in one song. I would be impressed if any current idol or artist tackled this beast of a song. There was a while there where Ailee's label shut down their youtube channel and essentially deleted this MV. I was ready to burn the internet to the ground for their blasphemy. I do this quite often, mostly out of delusion, but once again I'll return to the well for my winner prediction. I love this song, everyone else should love this song, this song is winning the rate. Congrats on the victory Ailee, you earned it.
Zypker125 (8.8): [This ended up being my highest score of the rate] Thank you queen for injecting some energy that I desperately needed in this rate
RBSun (8): so groovy. right now, before i've received any ballots, i've put this at the winner spot in my predictions. i wouldn't be surprised if someone else takes it, but i'm hoping the queen will come through for me
Upper_Question1383 (11): Christina Aguilera in Burlesque, is that you? Why did I not know this song sooner?
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): IU did well but this an unprecedented mogging Ailee has done in the U/You & I off
Jennywren2323 (10): She's just showing off that amazing voice.
kauai6 (10): i have such an attachment to this song and the reacttothek video really plays a part in that
kirakiranatsu (10): fantastic Jaehwan cover of this on KOMS
laulite (10): I can’t believe I’ve been sleeping on her music. Definite 11 contender.
lemon131nomel (10): This coming out after I Will Show You is an insane follow-up. The confidence and charisma that she has is incredible. This has that circus-y vibe, and I am so here for it! The energy literally radiates through the screen, yet it doesn’t seem overbearing. I know she’s American, but that English line (“Tired of all your lies and excuses now just get out my face”) was delivered flawlessly (and with so much sass lol). As always, the chorus is addicting, and the ad-libs are excellent. Yet another masterpiece by the queen.
pollutedrain (10): the opening notes of this song would wake me from a coma
Shay_Min (10): she is fuckin SINGING
taebaegi (10): I still think this is her best title track even after all these years. It’s dynamic, it’s powerful, and always packs a punch. I love the intro to this song so much lol. It just automatically wakes you up. I loved her Beyonce era so much.
xiola_azuthra (10): Hating this song is like hating Beyonce /hj
zo142 (9.4): This is how theatre kids think they sound when they're warbling Hamilton in the dining hall
keine_panik (9.3): Bring back brass in K-Pop!
WarpstarRider (9.2): Crazy In Love with a little hint of T.T.L thrown in
kawaii_mokona (9): I'm a sucker for brass sometimes and this is indeed better than IU's You & I
Marsmaenschen (9): A big song fitting for a big voice.
aidshha (8.8): i miss brass in kpop
Randummonkey (8.8): 🦀
gmint14 (8.3): u&i.. flip it around.. iu 🤔
AmeZim (8): Is it really fair that her performance in the MV bumped my score by several points? and I haven’t got into her better songs yet
Kronwell (8): hears brass neuron activation
moonbia (8): this is not very much my style but I fear ailee could make me like anything
vayyiqra (8): kind of a banger more songs need horns blaring
flawedconstellation (7.8): went to nayeon school of chanelling your beyonce-crazy-in-love-isms, and the jonghyun school of just absolutely hooting & hollering
msargent24 (7.5): Another hit from reigning rate winning songwriter Shinsadong Tiger. Not quite up to his T-ARA standards of course
CheesesPriced (7): Opens with the blues scale in D, which is the D minor pentatonic scale with an extra note - a flat fifth in between the perfect fourth and fifth. The More You Know Etc. High octave trumpet = high energy?
dnarevolutions (7): IU outsold
popularsong (7): honestly i love all her anthems like yes fuck this guy i also dgaf what he is doing!!!
ke1per (6.7): this isn’t a sound I generally vibe with, and she can’t rescue it for the most part, but I do find this brassy, jazzy vibe to be less egregious if Ailee is singing on top of it, so kudos.
snowswinters (6.5): the verses are a lot of fun i just don’t really like how the chorus progresses
MurkyGalaxies (6): oooooh the second gen over-singing disease is so strong in this one 😭
ruhroh386 (6): oh brass, my old nemesis
SkylarV (5.2): 5 & 2 (tenths)
landshanties (3): incredible how an instrumental can be so loud and so empty simultaneously
"xiola_azuthra (10): … probably should have 11'd this one because I want it to win, but I guess we'll find out later if that was a mistake or not.”
"It's giving fresh-off-winning-American-Idol Kelly Clarkson”
"you can tell she’s from america bc she’s got that classic disney channel invisible-nerd-becomes-a-hottie makeover concept"
"me when gd sings about being better than the other guy: boo we hate your pussy / me when ailee sings about being a better version of herself and meeting an even hotter guy: yas queen slay"
“i will try not to be too mean to ailee in her section but she’s always vibed to me like the girl in your 9th grade class who thinks she’s beyonce because she got the lead in the school musical and sang the national anthem at a local minor league baseball game. naming no [REDACTED TO KEEP BALLOT VIABLE BUT I STILL FUCKIN HATE THIS GIRL FROM MY HIGH SCHOOL]”
#1: Ailee - I Will Show You
Banner
Graph
Average: 8.448 // Total Points: 456.2 // Controversy: 1.659
(11 x1) lemon131nomel
(10 x11) 1998tweety, ayzrules, DPM36, ganos-b-thanondorf, kauai6, kirakiranatsu, laulite, MeijiDoom, Shay_Min, SkylarV, xiola_azuthra
(9.9 x2) gmint14, Upper_Question1383 (9.7 x1) AmeZim
(9.5 x4) aidshha, ke1per, omgthenerve, redalert30
(9.4 x1) WarpstarRider (9.3 x1) Randummonkey
(9 x8) bibliomaniac15, dnarevolutions, goorry121, Jennywren2323, necromanta_101, OnlyDragonfruit808, RBSun, zo142
(8.8 x1) moonbia
(8.5 x4) keine_panik, pollutedrain, popularsong, SecretStoryOfThe-
(8.3 x1) msargent24
(8 x6) DoingItWright2, flawedconstellation, hockeynl, MurkyGalaxies, ohsomeday_, qquestionmark
(7.7 x1) Zypker125
(7.5 x1) ruhroh386
(7 x3) Kronwell, Marsmaenschen, vayyiqra
(6.6 x1) LeadingInspector1891
(6.5 x1) snowswinters
(6 x1) CheesesPriced
(5.5 x1) taebaegi
(5 x1) naegerowwa
(4.1 x1) MartialST
(4 x2) kawaii_mokona, landshanties
MeijiDoom (10): Showcasing the two major sides of Ailee here. It's impressive to commit to the super moody ballad for the entire first verse before exploding this powerhouse chorus about self-confidence and the strength to decide your own path through life. Also, can we talk about 30 seconds of straight instrumental outro? Take me back.
RBSun (9): and she showed them!! just from my anecdotal point of view, heaven definitely got people interested in her because it showed her english and her pipes, but boyeojulge blew it out of the water in the eyes of the public and although i love heaven so much, Deserved.
Zypker125 (7.7): They didn’t even do a remotely believable job at making Ailee look like an ugly nerd girl, lmao. Fun fact, this song was briefly considered by me to enter the Best Of Rate.
lemon131nomel (11): This song is a masterpiece. The first verse is one of the most effective buildups I have ever heard: from the piano to the violins to the bass to the drums to her incredibly controlled crescendo, everything about this beginning was flawless. The second verse has a different vibe from the first but is just as expressive and brings a lot of excitement. I haven’t even talked about the addicting chorus and clever bridge, which brings back the solemn mood before doing a mini buildup to the last chorus. And who can write about Ailee without discussing her top tier ad-libs; she is genuinely one of the best singers in kpop. I would go back to the first time I listened to this song a million times if I could because I was truly flabbergasted by the brilliance of it.
1998tweety (10): the drama mama
ganos-b-thanondorf (10): Probably the best switchup in kpop history
kauai6 (10): SHE CAME OUT THE DOOR FUCKIN SWINGING
kirakiranatsu (10): nmixx change up
laulite (10): Oh my god, that chorus! I’m gonna say it now, you’ll see plenty of “11 contender” during her section. If I were to call a winner, maybe this one. It’s hard to say. There’s a lot of good choruses on the ballot, but this is one of my favorites.
Shay_Min (10): now THAT'S a chorus
SkylarV (10): Ailee's representative song, for me. Great showcase of her vocals, it's giving fresh-off-winning-American-Idol Kelly Clarkson. Went platinum in my car, if nowhere else
xiola_azuthra (10): A national anthem. Honestly the actual lyrics are a tiny bit too "makeover movie" for me but since it's not in English I can just pretend this is the Korean I Will Survive coz it's iconic AF and the energy hits like nothing else. I'm also trash for a build and the slow-burn intro to disco drop into full-on classic k-pop build structure with a complete power-vocal bridge is just... can't beat it. Perfect pop song. My other 11 contender. I probably should have 11'd this one because I want it to win, but I guess we'll find out later if that was a mistake or not.
gmint14 (9.9): i loooove a petty breakup song and there’s like zero of those in kpop </3 i know people have been complaining about ailee’s hooting and hollering but idc that’s why this song is good! probably only her and hyolyn can make it work and give it all the attitude it needs
Upper_Question1383 (9.9): I am getting The Supremes, Wonder Girls, Dream Girls, Beyonce and Gloria Gaynor vibes from this and I cannot get enough. Give me more!
AmeZim (9.7): The magnum opus of her career that not even the biggest spotlight could reveal how much of an NPC I was to her diva aura
ke1per (9.5): if any other vocalist was doing runs like this, I would say they were doing too much, but Ailee just sells it so well, I don’t mind it at all, actually. Great vocals, great instrumental, a major vocal-slay-forward bop.
redalert30 (9.5): the ultimate karaoke song. her vocals are just too good like this wouldn’t hit the same at all with a weaker vocalist
WarpstarRider (9.4): feels very I Will Survive
Randummonkey (9.3): I choose to believe Ailee is getting together with the dude just so she can dump his ass 2 days later
dnarevolutions (9): classic. If you can’t handle me at my best, you can’t handle me at my worst or something
zo142 (9): Similar sentiment to Good Day. Very classic pop song, although clearly more dramatic than IU's offering. The thing that makes this just slightly worse is that the down parts kill the momentum a bit more, but don't get me wrong, this is still a wonderful song with a lovely little staccato bit in the chorus.
moonbia (8.8): I don't doubt it!!
popularsong (8.5): me when gd sings about being better than the other guy: boo we hate your pussy / me when ailee sings about being a better version of herself and meeting an even hotter guy: yas queen slay
flawedconstellation (8): you can tell she’s from america bc she’s got that classic disney channel invisible-nerd-becomes-a-hottie makeover concept (i’m writing this at the very beginning of the music video, so sorry if it turns out the MV goes in a very different direction somehow)
MurkyGalaxies (8): This song is so ridiculously musical theater lmao
vayyiqra (7): was really not expecting this piano to wind up as disco
snowswinters (6.5): slayfully dramatic chorus
CheesesPriced (6): They used to put glasses on women you see… And pretend they weren’t beautiful you see. Possibly the same dresses as the So Cool by SISTAR MV?
taebaegi (5.5): It’s fine.
landshanties (4): i will try not to be too mean to ailee in her section but she’s always vibed to me like the girl in your 9th grade class who thinks she’s beyonce because she got the lead in the school musical and sang the national anthem at a local minor league baseball game. naming no [REDACTED TO KEEP BALLOT VIABLE BUT I STILL FUCKIN HATE THIS GIRL FROM MY HIGH SCHOOL]. anyway ailee’s vocals are genuinely mid you can hear this kind of clean but soulless belting every sunday at literally any religious establishment. whatever.
Ailee
Overall Average: 7.855 // Average Controversy: 1.840
Zypker125: Thank you queen for saving my ballot average this rate ♥️
MeijiDoom: Easily my favorite artist on the playlist. It’s a pipe dream but I wish we got vocalists of her caliber in the industry. Alas, companies have other priorities than trying to find the next powerhouse singer. We do need more brass and sass songs. Every group could use a high energy scorned lover revenge title track.
ayzrules (9.840): those vocals wow…she is utterly showstopping. clearly i need to be listening to more ailee!
kauai6 (9.700): a absolute icon who made some good ass fuckin music (see: had 35 songs in consideration for my TTT list for her)
ganos-b-thanondorf (9.600): SHE DON’T MISS
Upper_Question1383 (9.560): Her voice, in love
Shay_Min (9.540): straight golden voice
lemon131nomel (9.500): Arguably the best female vocalist in kpop. She has so much stage presence and charisma to pair with that vocal skill too! I highly recommend checking out some of her stages with other individuals, as her aura and singing seems to make others stronger, more confident singers as well.
aidshha (8.920): kinda the queen of hooting and hollering
keine_panik (8.900): What a voice! Her discography is a very mixed bag but there's some great stuff in there as well.
Randummonkey (8.520): 🦀
bibliomaniac15 (8.200): Boy I sure do love brassy vocals and ballads!
ke1per (8.080): I gave her far more grace than I would give other jazz queens, she’s just too good
SecretStoryOfThe- (7.940): Great vocals, good music.
zo142 (7.460): Absolutely loved this section, her vocals are wonderful
qquestionmark (7.340): Oh boy, 2 songs in hangeul on Spotify. Time to roll the dice and hope I rate the correct songs. [Best song: Illusion]
LeadingInspector1891 (7.100): Welcome back, early gen 3 GGs
flawedconstellation (7.020): she’s kind of the korean cher lloyd
vayyiqra (7.000): only the vaguest sense of who she is turns out shes not bad
naegerowwa (5.300): ailee is so good at releasing songs that are exactly 5/10 it’s crazy
SkylarV (4.920): Ailee deserved better from the k-pop industry (in terms of the media and songs)
User Averages:
xiolaazuthra: 9.960 ayzrules: 9.840 kauai6: 9.700 kirakiranatsu: 9.700 ganos-b-thanondorf: 9.600 Upper_Question1383: 9.560 Shay_Min: 9.540 1998tweety: 9.500 laulite: 9.500 lemon131nomel: 9.500 MeijiDoom: 9.420 DPM36: 9.400 pollutedrain: 9.360 Jennywren2323: 9.300 aidshha: 8.920 keine_panik: 8.900 WarpstarRider: 8.880 AmeZim: 8.760 goorry121: 8.740 Randummonkey: 8.520 popularsong: 8.300 RBSun: 8.300 bibliomaniac15: 8.200 omgthenerve: 8.100 ke1per: 8.080 hockeynl: 8.000 gmint14: 7.980 SecretStoryOfThe-: 7.940 DoingItWright2: 7.860 OnlyDragonfruit808: 7.800 redalert30: 7.760 Kronwell: 7.660 ruhroh386: 7.500 Marsmaenschen: 7.500 zo142: 7.460 moonbia: 7.420 qquestionmark: 7.340 ohsomeday: 7.160 LeadingInspector1891: 7.100 flawedconstellation: 7.020 vayyiqra: 7.000 snowswinters: 6.900 Zypker125: 6.900 necromanta_101: 6.800 dnarevolutions: 6.800 taebaegi: 6.300 CheesesPriced: 6.000 kawaii_mokona: 6.000 msargent24: 5.920 MurkyGalaxies: 5.800 naegerowwa: 5.300 SkylarV: 4.920 MartialST: 4.640 landshanties: 3.800
Results:
Number of participants: 54
Average score: 6.899
Average controversy score: 2.396
Highest controversy: Xtra McNasty (ft. Jessi, Awich, MILLI & Ramengvrl) (3.435)
Lowest controversy: Mind Your Own Business (1.611)
Most 11s: Good Day, Lilac, Holo (4)
Most 0s: Xtra McNasty (ft. Jessi, Awich, MILLI & Ramengvrl) (8)
* Top/Bottom 5 Predictions
* Rank Progressions Graph
* Averages and Positivity/Negativity Scores