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Some of the staff members combed through this year's numerous releases to bring you a list of fifty of the year's most noteworthy songs. Check in every Wednesday between now and the new year (January 1) for the next group of songs in our ranking. Note: To be on this ranking, the songs had to be released between the dates of December 1, 2012 to November 15, 2013 for consideration. Today, we bring you the ranking for numbers forty-one through fifty on our list
50. ZE:A "Ghost of the Wind"
Album: Illusion
Label: Star Empire Entertainment
Release Date: August 9, 2013
2013 has been a huge year for ZE:A, with all of their years of hard
work finally starting to pay off in terms of recognition, which helped
make "Ghost of the Wind" their highest-selling single to date- and not
a moment too soon! Three years after their debut, ZE:A's Phantom of
the Opera inspired song helped propel them to new heights and even
helped lead up to the group's first ever solo concert.
49. Kim Ye Rim "All Right"
Album: A Voice
Label: MYSTIC89
Release Date: June 17, 2013
It's not often that a soloist manages to outstrip the fame of their
group, but Kim Ye Rim of the duo Two Months, better known by her stage
name Lim Kim, took the K-Pop world by storm with her sleepy drawl and
quirky, alt-pop style, showing everyone exactly how you make a splash
in a crowded scene.
48. Nine Muses "DOLLS"
Album: DOLLS
Label: Star Empire Entertainment
Release Date: January 24, 2013
Like their labelmates, ZE:A, Nine Muses has been waiting a long time
for their chance to shine. This year they were finally able to come
back as a nine-member group, so it seems appropriate that the
horn-driven "Dolls" would be the first big shot in the arm the group's
had in a while, setting the stage for big success with "Wild"- their
highest-ever charting song on Billboard's K-Pop Hot 100- and most
recently, "Gun", their highest-ever charting song on Gaon.
47.VIXX "On and On"
Album: On and On
Label: Jellyfish Entertainment
Release Date: January 17, 2013
2012 was a tough year to debut as a boyband. With huge contenders like
B.A.P, EXO, and NU'EST debuting right out of the gate, it was hard for
anyone to make themselves heard. It wasn't until this year that VIXX
took a turn on the dark side with "On and On", giving us one of this
year's best English lines, "I need therapy, la-la-la-la-la therapy".
"On and On" was a huge turning point for VIXX and really put them on
the K-Pop map.
46.CNBLUE "Coffee Shop"
Album: RE:BLUE
Label: FNC Entertainment
Release Date: January 14, 2013
CNBLUE made headlines earlier this year when they insisted on
performing their newest songs on broadcast with live instruments- due
to the difficulties of recording live instrumental tracks, most bands
just hand-synch on music shows and save the live music for concerts.
And while "I'm Sorry" may have been the lead single off 'RE:BLUE', it
was Yonghwa's funky, 70's-inspired, self-written and composed "Coffee
Shop" that captured fans' attention- good thing they got to perform it
a few times live!
45. T-ara "Number 9"
Album: Again
Label: CCM Entertainment
Release Date: October 10, 2013
After redefining K-Pop in 2012, the lovely ladies of T-ara took a
break from the limelight in Korea for a while before bringing us their
hit "Number 9". Haters can say what they want but numbers don't lie-
T-ara is back, and they're not going anywhere any time soon.
44. MFBTY "Sweet Dream"
Album: Sweet Dream
Label: Jungle Entertainment (now Feel Ghood Music)
Release Date: January 21, 2013
Bizzy, Tiger JK, and Yoon Mi Rae pulled no punches debuting their
collaboration project MFBTY (My Fans Better Than Yours) with their
ambitious first single, "Sweet Dreams". From songwriting to delivery, from the production to use of English, MFTBY showed your oppas and unnies
how its done, all without breaking a sweat or taking themselves too
seriously.
43. San E "Story of Someone I Know"
Album: Story of Someone I Know
Label: Brand New Music
Release Date: August 2, 2013
After far too long in a contract limbo with JYP Entertainment, San E
finally cut loose and came back with the wildly popular "Story of
Someone I Know". While not the most musically complex thing he's ever
released (or even the most musically complex thing he's released this
year for that matter), the song's storytelling, San E's charm, and the anticipation
for him to finally return to music made "Story of Someone I Know" a
sensation.
Album: Let's Talk About Love
Label: YG Entertainment
Release Date: August 19, 2013
It was the solo comeback no one saw coming- at a time when we were all
wondering what was going on with WINNER and there were rumors of more
GD solo songs and a Taeyang solo comeback, all the while with people still
asking "What ever happened to that YG girl group?", Seungri came out
of nowhere with the sorely underappreciated "Gotta Talk To You". Big
Bang's maknae showed us just how much he's grown up since his last
solo effort, giving us a chic, sophisticated song and performance that
may have flown under the radar, but still managed to leave an
impression.
41. Jaejoong "Mine"
Album: I
Label: C-JeS Entertainment
Release Date: January 17, 2013
allkpop ReviewAs the guys of JYJ have built up their songwriting credits, each of
them have developed certain signature styles. In Jaejoong's case, he's
got a reputation for writing some of the angriest lyrics in K-Pop.
"Mine", the lead single off of one of the best K-Pop albums of the
year, took that anger to the next level with a raw, gritty,
visual-kei-inspired song that demanded everyone's attention, music
shows or no music shows.
This is just the beginning- check back next week on Wednesday, December 11 for songs thirty-one through forty!
[ 41-50 | 31-40 | 21-30 | 11-20 | 1-10 ]
allkpop's 'Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2013' is staff-determined and is not in any way connected with the fan-voted 2013 allkpop awards.
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