In 2023, K-pop reached a new level of popularity. Globally, the music industry hit the one trillion streams mark faster than ever before, and K-pop was a major factor in that accelerated pace. The top 100 K-pop artists had over 90 billion audio and video streams combined, representing a 42% increase from last year, according to entertainment analytics company Luminate. And it’s not just streaming where K-pop fans showed up for their faves. According to Luminate, K-pop fans are 69% more likely to purchase vinyl and 46% more likely to purchase CDs compared to the average U.S. music listener. In the last year, one in every four K-pop fans have purchased a cassette.
What does this mean for the sound of K-pop music moving forward? In 2023, the prolific industry continues to thrive with its signature hybridization of musical influences. “K-pop is the result of the interaction of different genres and styles, such as Western pop, hip-hop, Japanese idol culture, and visual centrism, to create a new cultural form,” says Lee Jeeheng, a professor of cultural studies at Korea’s Chung-ang University, who literally wrote the book on BTS and their fandom.
The hybridization of genre influences that defines K-pop is becoming more popular as a subject of academic study. Earlier this year, sociology professor Grace Kao spoke with Yale News about her research, referencing papers that study the influence of genres including New Wave synth-pop, R&B, hip hop, Japanese city pop, and reggae on contemporary K-pop. “Other [scholars] have argued that K-pop borrows heavily from American Black music,” said Kao. “And it’s true, but we’re arguing that K-pop has links to all these different genres because the production is much faster.”
The K-pop industry is fast and prolific, and coming up with a finite list of the year’s best tracks is a big task. I am but one K-pop journalist and fan, with my own biases and preferences. That being said, I made an effort to represent some of the vast diversity of what K-pop has to offer: from solo releases to group efforts, rookie bands to industry veterans, earnest bubblegum K-pop to edgier fare, bombastic title tracks to underrated B-sides. I’ve also kept my list to one song per group. So, without further ado, here are 20 of the best K-pop songs of 2023.
Catch up on our list of the 20 best K-pop albums of 2023 here.
20. KARD: “ICKY”
Doing the often thankless work of crossing K-pop’s rigid gender lines, co-ed group KARD went hard this year with Moombahton banger “Icky,” which leaves the metaphors at home to tell a pretty explicit story about getting, um, dirty: “Said she want more than a tip / I ain’t talkin’ ’bout guidance.” With its catchy hook and Latin beats, “Icky” was the K-pop hoe anthem of the year—honestly, an unexpectedly competitive category in The Year of Our Lord 2023.
19. H1-KEY: “SEOUL (Such a Beautiful City)”
H1-KEY debuted last year, but it wasn’t until early 2023 that they would find notable success when mental health comfort bop “Rose Blossom” went viral. Seoul Dreaming was their follow-up EP and, while it didn’t enjoy the same chart success as Rose Blossom, the album’s melodic title track “SEOUL (Such a Beautiful City)” is a retro dazzler of a song. The track is a synth-driven ode to the city that drives the K-pop industry (and much of Korean society), and has a surprisingly edgy depiction (“Seoul that never sleeps / it keeps stealing dreams”) for a song that basically doubles as a tourism ad for the capital.
18. (G)I-DLE: “Eyes Roll”
“Queencard” may have been the (G)-IDLE banger that climbed the charts in 2023, but “Eyes Roll,” a B-side off of Heat, the girl group’s uneven English-language EP debut, was the quintet’s underrated bop of the year. With a driving bassline, the electro-pop earworm doesn’t ever let up, expanding on the cheeky confidence of “Queencard” with a devilish delight of a pre-chorus: “She a work of art / She gon’ break your heart / She gon’ fuck you up / But you love that part.”
17. ENHYPEN: “Bite Me”
This year, ENHYPEN went full vampire. To be fair, the seven-member boy group has always been a little bit vampire. After the individual members survived K-pop competition show I-LAND to make the band in 2020, this was their debut trailer. And, in 2022, their music and music videos inspired a tie-in webtoon called Dark Moon: The Blood Altar, an epic vampire romance set at rival boarding schools. But, it was 2023 when the K-pop group’s supernatural-glam potential was truly realized, with their fourth EP Dark Blood and its unapologetically vampiric lead single “Bite Me.” With its almost-acapella intro, anti-drop, and co-ed choreo, “Bite Me” is gloriously dramatic in all the best ways.
16. AKMU: “Fry’s Dream”
While they have yet to make big waves internationally, brother-sister music duo AKMU, aka Akdong Musician, are known as “The Nation’s Siblings” in Korea. Lee Chan-hyuk and Lee Su-hyun appeared on and won K-pop Star 2 as teenagers in 2013, and have been absolutely destroying the domestic charts ever since. “Fry’s Dream,” known as “후라이의 꿈” in Korean, is the B-side off of AKMU’s “Love Lee” digital single. The song was written by Chan-hyuk, and was originally performed alongside Korean pop darling and Broker actress IU during an AKMU concert way back in 2014. According to a 2021 episode of IU’s Palette, Chan-hyuk considered the song gifted to IU and IU considered it AKMU’s song, so nothing ever came of it—until 2023. The light-hearted song about pursuing one’s own dream pairs perfectly with Su-hyun’s crisp, crystal clear vocals, making it one of the brightest K-pop earworms of the year.
15. KEY: “Good & Great”
2023 was a good year to be a SHINee fan, and Key was a large part of that. The 32-year-old singer, known for his charismatic performance style and powerful vocals, released two albums this year: repackaged, full-length album Gasoline and six-track mini-album Good & Great. And they were actually both good and great. “Killer,” the title track off of Gasoline was an 80s-esque retro banger that revitalized the tired synth-pop trend when it was released in January, but it was funky dance track “Good & Great” that perfectly walked the line between camp and capitalism, elevated by a pitch-perfect music video that doesn’t take itself too seriously.
14. So!YoON! ft. RM: “Smoke Sprite”
While So!YoON! may not be a traditional part of the idol industry, “Smoke Sprite” slinked its way onto many a K-pop playlist this year when Hwang Soyoon, the guitarist and lead vocalist from Korean rock band Se So Neon, collaborated with BTS rapper RM. The result is a spell of a shoegaze track that has both So!YoON! and RM expressing their unembellished desires for sexual connection. “I understand your body and soul / I know how they work / So don’t be ashamed,” Soyoon sings smoothly in the first verse, before launching into a howl of a chorus, her distorted vocals echoed by a psychedelic electric guitar riff that lingers.
13. BOYNEXTDOOR: “But Sometimes”
As the first group to debut under Zico’s label KOZ Entertainment (a subsidiary of K-pop giant HYBE), BOYNEXTDOOR was always going to be fresh and polished, but it’s the earnest, sometimes silly specificity of the debut boy group’s lyrics—many of which are written by the young members themselves—that makes their music so appealing. “I widened my shoulders so you could lean on me, but now / They just make it hard to move through the metro,” they sing in “But Sometimes,” a pop-punk breakup song that isn’t afraid to be gawky in its boyish earnestness.
12. WOODZ: “ABYSS”
When it comes to K-pop musical experimentation, WOODZ is one of the most dynamic artists in the game. In the space of one of his albums, in this case 2023’s OO-LI, he goes from the energetic anger of pop-rock banger “Busted” to the dreamy R&B vibes of English-language track “Deep Deep Sleep.” This is a no-skips album, but guitar ballad “Abyss” holds a special place in my heart for its melancholic ambiguity. The stripped-down song explores WOODZ’s fears that his fans may one day stop loving him. Most of us are not idols, but there’s something broadly relatable in the lyrics: “It’s faster for me to give up on myself / Than for you to understand me.”
11. aespa: “Better Things”
No one does bold, hyperpop anthems for metaverse lore-building like aespa, but the girl group doesn’t give nearly enough credit for their sonic range. In breezy summer hit “Better Things,” Karina, Giselle, Winter, and Ningning’s vocal color gets a chance to shine. Textured and smooth, the breakup song is both reflective (“I wasn’t ever sure that I loved you / But I was always sure you would let me down”) and cheeky (“aespa, you’re our number one fan now / You can only see me at our sold-out shows”), broadening the appeal of one of K-pop’s most exciting groups.
10. LUCY: “Never in vain”
LUCY remains one of the most underrated groups in K-pop. The four-member band came out of the 2019 Korean music competition show Superband. They play their own instruments (violin, bass, drum, and guitar) in addition to writing and producing their own music, and are consistently churning out high-drama masterpieces that wouldn’t be out of place on an anime OST. “Never in vain” is a track of their 2023 mini-album Insert Coin, and it’s bursting with LUCY’s signature energy, using Choi Sangyeop’s powerful vocals and Shin Yechan’s melodic violin to tell the story of a defiant love that endures the darkness.
9. NCT DOJAEJUNG: “Perfume”
It was a year of transition for the NCT project, as SM Entertainment announced they would be capping membership of the K-pop group, originally conceived as ever-expanding. The decision allows for more focus on the existing members and subunits, including subunit NCT DoJaeJung. Composed of NCT vocalists Do-young, Jae-hyun, and Jung-woo, who had a banger 2023 debut with “Perfume.” The groovy, electro-pop track is straight out of 90s R&B, offering something smoother than the crash-bang of most recent NCT offerings and, alongside NCT Dream’s glam-rock anthem “Broken Melodies,” hinting at a bright future for NCT. (Note: You haven’t seen K-pop performed until you’ve seen it performed at San Diego Comic-Con alongside Star Trek cosplayers, which is where NCT DoJaeJung performed “Perfume” for the first time in the U.S., as part of the promotion for the NCT 127 graphic novel.)
8. Jimin: “Like Crazy”
Inspired by the 2011 Drake Doremus film of the same name, Jimin’s “Like Crazy” is the emotive dream of a lead single off of Face, the BTS member’s solo album debut. The synth-pop song (which was released in both Korean and English) explores the feeling of choosing to hold onto a dizzying, potentially doomed incarnation of a dynamic—be it a romantic relationship, parasocial fame, or something else entirely—just a little bit longer. “This is gonna break me / No, don’t you wake me / I wanna stay in this dream, don’t save me,” Jimin sings in the song he co-wrote, belying a rich complexity of emotions and expression from this boy from Busan.
7. KAI: “Rover”
KAI chose “Rover,” a close remake of a track of the same name from Bulgarian singer Dara, for the lead single on his third EP. It was a good choice. The EXO member’s dancehall single exploded onto the K-pop scene when it was released in March, with seemingly every idol in the business taking part in the accompanying dance challenge, set to the thumping, reggaeton-infused chorus. While the lyrics tell the story of a wanderer searching for freedom, they also reference the ubiquitous children’s game Red Rover, giving the track a playfulness that pairs well with its explicit demands. “Come on and hashtag me,” indeed.
6. Taemin: “Guilty”
In his first release since returning from enlistment hiatus, SHINee member Taemin reminds the industry why he is one of the princes of K-pop, with a synth-pop track that brings both the strings and the sensuality. It’s hard to separate “Guilty” from its thematically rich music video, which has Taemin attending a funeral, living alongside other boys in a dorm room, and ultimately escaping on his own into the night. The non-linear story had K-pop fans working overtime in an attempt to dissect its vivid imagery. Whatever the music video’s meaning, the sultry liberation of song “Guilty” speaks for itself, serving as a reassurance that Taemin’s commitment to authentic expression is as strong as ever, 16 years after his debut.
5. NewJeans: “Cool With You”
Almost every one of NewJeans’ 2023 releases could have snagged a spot on this list. Since their surprise debut in July 2022, K-pop’s it-girls have released fresh bop after fresh bop. Their breezy, R&B-inflected music has some of the best hooks in pop, “K” or otherwise. While “OMG” and “Super Shy” were the breakout hits from no-skips EP Get Up, bedroom pop B-side “Cool With Me” is an underrated, infinitely repeatable daydream of a track. Harnessing the harmonic power of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, and Hyein’s smooth vocals and pairing it with the lo-fi percussive potential of UK garage, “Cool With Me” is only one example of NewJeans’ K-pop cultural dominance this year.
4. Seventeen: “Super”
“Super,” known as “손오공” in Korean, was one of two lead singles off of Seventeen’s April EP FML. With the mantra “I love my team. I love my crew” leading its high-energy chorus, the alternative jersey club track brings listeners into the celebration of all the K-pop group has accomplished in the eight-plus years since their 2015 debut, rising from a relatively small company to global success. When Seventeen won “Best Album” at this year’s MAMA Awards, their first grand prize, the 13 members were visibly emotional on stage. “We were a group that started with a lot of fingers pointed at us, saying that it would be impossible for us to make it,” said member Woozi during the acceptance speech. “Everyone was saying there were too many of us to make it … We will work hard to become a team that gives good music, even better music, to you all, as a present, until the end.”
3. IVE: “I AM”
Like other artists on this list, IVE had many 2023 releases that could have snagged a spot on this list (shout out to “Either Way” and “Payback”), but it’s hard to argue with the supremacy of “I Am.” In the lead single off of their first studio album, I’ve IVE, the “chaebol crush” septet gave us the ultimate self-actualization hype song: “Be a writer, the genre is fantasy.” While many K-pop songs start energetic and burn out by track’s end, “I Am” manages not only to sustain its energy, but build on it, using the group’s razor-sharp vocals to stick its euphoric landing.
2. FIFTY FIFTY: “Cupid”
In the history of pop music, has there ever been a better hook than “Cupid is so dumb”? While cringe-worthy to some, the English-language expression of a girl in unrequited love is genius in its simplicity, especially when ensconced in bubblegum pop wrapping. After a sped up version of the track went viral on TikTok, there was no turning back. This wasn’t just the K-pop song of the year—it was the pop song of the year, with many listeners not even realizing it came from a Korean group. It’s a shame we won’t be getting more from this group.
1. Agust D ft. Ryuichi Sakamoto and Woosung: “Snooze”
The third album/mixtape released under the BTS rapper-producer Suga’s Agust D moniker, D-Day offered listeners closure on the trilogy, which explored (among other subjects) Suga’s struggles with trauma and mental illness. Nowhere was the album’s cathartic might more visceral than in “Snooze.” The track is offered up as comfort for and encouragement to young artists entering the notoriously harsh K-pop industry, but—like other songs that fall somewhere under the BTS umbrella—it has much broader relatability under late-stage capitalism: “Cry out loud, when you become to hate the world … It’s okay to let out a big sigh and yell out ‘this shit is fucked up’ / Because you too are just a human, just like everyone else.”
“Snooze” features a stirring vocal performance from The Rose’s Woosung and a piano melody from the great Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto—one of his final collaborations, released shortly after his death in March. The song is a bridge between generations of East Asian musical artists, working mostly outside of the U.S. system. When Suga became overcome with emotion while performing “Snooze” on stage during the final show on his world tour, it was one of the year’s most powerful moments in pop music—the culmination of an arduous journey of self-knowledge and healing, and a testament to one musician’s deep connection to his art.
Listen to a playlist of these 20 songs below.