#eyedi

song 1: "rollin'" by brave girls. there is honestly so much to love about this song. i think the entire story that comes along with it, about how a video of its performance launched brave girls into the spotlight so long after its release, really makes this song so special. but it's also just fun! it's impossible not to dance to this song. trust me, i have tried, for science. it's a beautiful, lighthearted track, and i go to it whenever i need a little levity in my life. song 2: "dramatic" by bvndit. okay, first of all, where is bvndit?!?!? where are they?!?!? second of all, i love this song so much. i love the sort of introduction~ into the song, i love the dance beat, i love the high energy, i love yiyeon's "BANG BANG"... this song is really it. it hooks into your head and just never lets go. some tmi for everyone but this is a popular song for when i'm choreographing my own spin workouts because the BEAT! IS! SO! GOOD! song 3: "hands up" by cherry bullet. i love cherry bullet generally speaking, but this song was so different from anything else they've released really, that i was so excited when i first heard it. i think i saw a post going around saying that no other sound could ever sample "für elise" so successfully, and honestly, so true. i think that's one of the things i love about it, is that it has this nod to a classical staple, and sort of melds that into a much more high-energy, dance-driven track. also the fact that the sampling sort of acts as a cliffhanger in the beginning until the full sample plays at the very end, which is clever. this song gets stuck in my head all the time. song 4: "stay tonight" by chungha. i'm also a huge fan of just about everything chungha releases, but something about this song was really spectacular to me. the anti-drop chorus is definitely part of it, because you get this beautiful build in the prechorus both vocally and instrumentally only to lead to this bass and vocal driven chorus that feels both empty and filled with energy at the same time. chungha is a vocal powerhouse, so this feels like an especially good choice to me. also the music video is one of the most visually pleasing things i've ever seen, please go watch it! song 5: "like it" by clc. oh, clc... you deserve better. i think a friend had sent this song in a group chat or discord server as a favorite song of theirs, and i listened to it once and was completely hooked. it's catchy as hell, and it's a hard-hitting song, with a strong beat and incredible vocals. yeeun really knocks it out of the park in this one! song 6: "caffeine" by eyedi. "caffeine" is such a slow + sexy song and i love it so much. this also has a lot of that delicious 80s synth pop influence that i will absolutely eat up, so really, there isn't anything not to love here. song 7: "evita!" by devita. i'll be honest, i heard this song in a non-kpop recommendation playlist and saved it and listened to it on repeat for months before discovering through her collab with yugyeom that devita is actually based out of korea... whoops. devita has this incredibly soulful voice that i always gravitate to with female soloists. i'm not sure if it's because it's a quality that i'm accustomed to through western pop and r&b, but the tone her voice has is so strong and so gorgeous. this song also has a lot of 80s synth pop influence, and i especially love the brass used in the chorus! there's a KILLER part towards the end of the song in the last chorus... listen to the song, you'll thank me. song 8: "la di da" by everglow. speaking of powerful, catchy, hard-hitting songs... this one is incredible. i've mentioned before that outside of kpop, i'm a huge fan of 80s synth pop, and this song definitely has elements of that, which really attract me. there's something about the sound of the song itself that almost reminds me of "flashing lights" in a way? that 80s sound made more modern. this song to me is the song i most strongly associate with everglow. it's powerful, it's catchy, and every member of the group contributes their own flavor to the song. this is another favorite workout song~* song 9: "dahlia" by (g)i-dle. i remember the first time i heard this song and how deeply i fell in love with it right away. the music itself really expertly reflects the longing that's expressed in the lyrics, and it's so incredibly beautiful, but also very sad? it definitely has more of a pensive feel than a lot of the other tracks in this list, and i really do adore it. song 10: "wannabe" by itzy. it took me way too damn long to get into girl groups and female idols (sometimes i like to consider myself a "recovering bg stan" for that reason), and it's embarrassing because i could have been enjoying bops like this for so much longer!!! i remember hearing a sample of this song in a youtube compilation video, but i wouldn't find out until much later that the sample was this song. this song is so very itzy, it's fun, it's boisterous, it's loud, it's unapologetic, and that shoulder move in the choreo? iconic. i still haven't gotten tired of this song despite playing it into the ground. long live itzy.