In this “Best Of” series, we’ll be taking a look at the various fields of talent in KPop. What kind of talent? Vocal talent, of course! I’ll bring up eight of my favourite singers across four different categories, while highlighting some of their most impressive works of course.
While none of these are particular rankings, these eight might just be the overall best, balanced in pretty much every way between control, pitch, range, utility, and more. While they are essentially capable of being leads, they’re just too strong at everything else to be labeled as such.
Younha leads the pack as my favourite vocalist ever. She may not have the widest range or the most powerful voice, but the ability to put emotion, innocence, and consistency in her voice is unrivaled and her versatility is remarkable. Through the emotional “Broke Up Today”, energetic “Houki Boshi”, and the powerful “Hero”, Younha is allstar material.
Hyorin is known for carrying Sistar, who are at best mediocre singers without her. Her prowess in lower ranges is incredible, and her high notes and belts are something, too, if but a little airy. Hyorin’s voice is probably best described as “running velvet”, or “silvery”. It’s like methodical but precise, able to adapt to various styles at ease. Hyorin is hailed as Korea’s Beyonce, and justly so.
In contention for said title is rising rookie Ailee, whose explosive voice (“Girl On Fire”) is also the same lofting beautiful light ballads (“Evening Sky”). Throw on being a native English speaker and the ability to rap (Wheesung’s “He Is Coming”), and Ailee was my candidate for “Best Rookie 2012” or at the very least the solo artist recipient. If all else, Ailee will probably have one of the best covers ever (“Halo”).
Taeyeon finishes off the girls’ list in glory, as the most impressive female group vocalist with 5+ years in experience. Years have gone by and all Taeyeon has is matured since 2007. Complete versatility (“7898”, “Devil’s Cry”, “Hoot”) and angelic power notes (“O Holy Night”) are some of the best qualities.
Over on the males side, Kyuhyun tops out Yesung for Super Junior’s representative (don’t worry we’ll talk about Yesung later). While Yesung is definitely the expert at ballads and emotion, Kyuhyun isn’t that far off and is also stellar at various genres like rock (“Pretend Party”) and pop (“Rise & Shine”), too.
When one brings up DBSK, Junsu is the essence of prime vocal ability. The unique sound he possesses and quality control make Junsu instantly recognizable and with work like “In Heaven” and even older releases like the “Timeless” duet with Zhang LiYin (which was lovely, may I add), it’s not hard to see why. Since the DBSK / JYJ split, JYJ’s music has always tailored more to the vocal talents, and Junsu utilizes that as much as possible.
Seulong has the smoothest voice in 2AM and thus overall. Being a member of 2AM, most of his work is ballads (“You Wouldn’t Answer My Calls”, “Even If I Die I Can’t Let You Go”), he has branched off so to speak with collaboration work in “Nagging” with IU and even under “I Did Wrong”, too.
Originally, I thought of Daesung as a support role. While he does do the vocal work in Big Bang, it’s not typically expressive enough as some of the other singers on the group. However, going back through older stuff reminded me on just how brilliant he can be, with more recent things like “Baby Don’t Cry” and “Bad Boy” highlighting his smooth voice. The very fact that I feel his voice is more utility but at the same time omnipresent is proof enough of his skill.
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