Best Girl Group: Twice
No more games, no more denial. Twice towered above the competition this year. Whether you're looking for the insanely popular "Cheer Up," or the Halloween-themed "TT," Twice did a perfect job solidifying their status at the top of the girl group ladder in 2016. Both songs were a massive upgrade to the disjointed feel of "Like Ooh-Ahh," and they have established staples between their catchy choreography and beautiful bridges. With such a large roster, they have personalities and appearances of a wide variety, which helps attract fans of all kinds. If anything, they should work on getting more variety starts in 2017. Other groups certainly were successful this year, but none of them have exploded quite like Twice did this year.
Best Boy Group: BTS
Hmm, what a familiar feeling. BTS won this award last year, and it may not come as a surprise to see them take it again. There's simply no other group with the efficiency and work ethic of BTS. They debuted in 2013, and have averaged 3.5 title tracks a year. That number only includes Korean releases, by the way. That is insane. Anyway, 2016 saw songs like "Fire," "Save Me," and "Blood, Sweat, & Tears" enjoy considerable success. Along with the "Wings" album, Suga also had solo work (despite the unfortunate usage of a stage name for his stage name). With Big Bang departing for military service, the difference between BTS and rival boy groups seem worlds apart.
Best Soloist: Lee Hi
As we are no longer in the olden days of yore, soloists have been drowned out in the ocean of groups (both old and new) figuratively and sometimes literally. Perhaps that's why the decision for Lee Hi to release her album in two separate parts was a really good one. The first half of "Seoulite" simply set us up wanting more, and the entire album certainly delivered. Mixing in plenty of star power as featured artists, along with a variety of genres, "Seoulite" has plenty of great picks. Using tracks like "Fxxk Wit Us" to "My Star" to "Breathe," Lee Hi showed us her chic demeanor, playfulness, and serenity all in one album.
Best Rookie Group: Black Pink
What could be classified as unfair competition is really just YG making smart business decisions. Even though they essentially pushed 2NE1 to their figurative death, Black Pink's debut filled the void quickly. Many girl groups nowadays lack power and charisma, but not Black Pink. They dance with strong energy ("Boombayah" and "Playing With Fire") but can be more casual as well ("Whistle"). Rose has a unique voice that leads a balanced group, while Jennie and Lisa quickly made names for themselves with memorable rap breaks. But Black Pink have a soft side, too. "Stay" showcased exactly that, not to mention their already-promising variety appearances (all hail Jisoo).
Most Improved Group: Sistar
Groups that have been inactive notwithstanding, Sistar was the group who desperately needed a good comeback. The girls needed to regain some of the traction it lost when summer songs "Touch My Body" and "Shake It" weren't really doing the group justice. Enter: "I Like That." This was a potent reminder of the classy swagger Sistar had with songs like "Alone" and "Give It To Me," and if not for some of those intermediate summer songs, they might have embarked on a strong run of their own. Hyorin also came to play with a solo comeback, though despite the fanfare of multiple title tracks, the flat chorus of "Paradise" and overly girlish nature of "One Step" failed to live up the hype ("Love Like This" was really good though).
Most Consistent Group: Mamamoo
This award deserves to be BTS', but for the sake of variety I'm gonna mention someone else: Mamamoo!Although if we're gonna be legal about things, the politically correct answer for a super consistent group is Brown Eyed Girls, because their extended resume speaks for itself. Anyways, Mamamoo haven't been as active as BTS per year, and they are among many groups that stay true to themselves and their signature sound. But Mamamoo goes a step above by always making slight (yet fun) adjustments in each subsequent song - like "Taller Than You" and "New York," not to mention the occasional twist such as their pseudo-subunit songs.
Most Surprising Group: I.O.I
At this point I'm basically making up a category to keep it to four for each half of this point, but let me explain. I.O.I is surprising mostly because of their design. You'd think that after a massive trainee survival program, the final product would be something that isn't temporary. After all, look at the success of Twice, and their origins from Sixteen. But alas, all good things must come to an end. I.O.I went through many variations and many different singles, but ultimately gained serious momentum as a group and I'm sure fans across the world are gonna be disappointed to see them all go their separate ways. Nonetheless, with members going back to their companies and or groups, we'll see the legacy of I.O.I in full force in 2017.
Most Anticipated Group: KARD
To clarify, I mean anticipation in regards to their future next year, not like hype and attention prior to debut. But to be fair, K.A.R.D qualifies in both aspects of that anticipation, as coed groups are extremely rare nowadays. Furthermore they were the latest project from DSP, who suffered losses thanks to KARA and Rainbow disbanding. K.A.R.D kicked off their career with tremendous noise, thanks to "Oh Nana" and the inclusion of Youngji (which unfortunately isn't permanent). Not only did we see their vocals and rap, but they've already released plenty of extra content that have drawn in fans. There's still details to learn about this group moving forward, but they definitely have and deserve the attention.
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