[Bonus] 2019 Kpop Awards

The coveted 2019 Kpop Awards are here, and actually in December no less. Just in time I say! The previous two years' awards were posted in January which should have been illegal. But hey we're almost at a new year, so new-ish me. These are always fun to write looking back on the year as a whole, and the narratives from other years makes for a fun clash. Here are the nine magnificent awards and their glorious, resplendent recipients. This may or may not be split into two parts.

Best Girl Group: Red Velvet

This was a competitive year between the usual top three dogs: Twice, Red Velvet, and Mamamoo. Each of them have taken home this title once in the last three years, and now Red Velvet are the first to grab their second award of this name. Mamamoo have been the most active, and Twice likely have the best numbers, but Red Velvet were not far behind in many of these aspects throughout the year. We don't speak of their first showing in 2019 but "Umpah Umpah" was a good summer jam while "Psycho" made plenty of good impressions with such a late release. Ultimately I believe that Red Velvet is most deserving by remaining the most consistent girl group showing marked improvements with each subsequent song.

Best Boy Group: BTS

Death, taxes, and BTS winning the Best Boy Group award. They've fully monopolized this category since the series debut in 2015 and until their military service fractures their production it doesn't seem like they'll stop. Their achievements, statistics, and legacy are overwhelming at this point considering all of the impact they've had (both the good and bad). Compound this with the fact that other groups of this generation simply cannot match BTS' output at an individual or group level and it's easy to see why they've had a iron grip on this award. Also worth noting is that they were unparalleled in the meme department as well. From "Seoul Town Road" to "Chicken Noodle Soup," BTS were firing on all meme cylinders.

[Bonus] Best Of TeryReviewsKpop

As we look onwards to 2020, the final post of this decade will be a retrospective of sorts. It's been eight years since I started writing about Kpop. Lots of reviews, rankings, and lists. Over the years more fluff and less serious-type stuff has also made appearances which I think has helped me sustain the brand. It's been lots of fun because despite not having a huge audience, the writing is what keeps me going with a useful hobby. Either that or smoke crack. So with another year behind us, and potentially more to come in the next decade let's take a look backwards. Here are my picks for my top five posts of all time on this blog. They are simply ordered in how proud I am of each post - whether it's the writing style, presentation, or overall feel. If I had to make a blog-related resume for some writing job, I would place these entries on there (maybe but not actually).

[Bonus] Kpop Free Agency: Soloists (2013)
During my extremely short stint doing some work for Seoulbeats, I churned out this piece regarding where some female solo acts would go if they could join a group. The writing itself wasn't spectacular but I thought the concept was well-done. Plus it was only a year into my blogging "career." This was pretty neat since it was the first time my writing was ever published outside of my blog. Granted that was the only time but still! Gotta take my small victories when I can.

[Bonus] Best Of 2019

Last year, the Best Of 2018 post was released Christmas Eve on which I worked. This year's Best Of 20XX will be released on Christmas Day. Can you guess if I worked yesterday? Hope you said yes because I'm drowning myself in alcohol over the next few days. These are my picks for the top tracks in 2019. Remember, it's just an opinion bro.

#10. Taeyeon - Blue

Starting off with a B-side? You goddamn right I am. Taeyeon has made more progress to her career this year, but none better than this somber and soothing ballad. Don't get me wrong, "Four Seasons" and "Spark" are both excellent additions and showed yet more of her brilliant versatility. Combined with her Japanese release "Voice," they make for a fine 2019 trilogy. However, the simple beauty of "Blue" rises above the rest. It definitely feels weird to have a B-side on the Best Of 20XX series but hey it's been done before. Hell, I'd argue that it's kinda surprising that none of her title tracks were better, though that may be because of her high standards.

#9. Mamamoo - Gleam

Mamamoo have had a year of ups and downs. Activity and popularity-wise they have been rolling, but between "gogobebe" and "Hip" nothing has really knocked my socks off. Then I remembered that they released "Gleam" which was more a promotional CF of sorts kinda like "Woo Hoo" was for some Samsung phone. The fact that it's an ad for (sun)glasses makes it better. It's the most polished Mamamoo track despite "Hip" being solid thanks to its simplistic nature. Shoutouts to the bowling alley dance floor. First a B-side and then a promotional song, what a weird start to this year's best.

[Bonus] Best Of 2019: Honorable Mentions

Christmas is almost here and that means the Best Of 2019 are also almost here. But before that, let's check out some of the songs that almost found their spot on that prestigious list. Some of these songs will be very familiar, as will some of the final set that drops on Christmas day. Nonetheless they are all here for a reason: quality tracks with a plethora of positives. Might not necessarily be the best of the remainder (when is it ever) but all are worth mentioning.

I'm actually going to go out of my way and list some of the songs I've previously talked about throughout this year. Since this is not a valid strategy for the actual Best Of 2019 post I'm utilizing it here. The leading lady of this group has to be Twice and "Feel Special." If these were ranked, their best work would surely have been #11. Such a fantastic dance number with many boons and a refined mature sound that they have been working toward all this time. Jihyo is god tier, and the members make solid contributions paired with a blessed instrumental. Had this been any other year it'd have been good enough for a higher placing but the competition in 2019 is super tough.

[Misc] Sera The Star

God Bless Ryu Sera. She's been off the national Kpop grid for a long time and been doing small independent work and uploading to her Youtube channel. There's a little of everything here: new music, covers, reactions, language videos...hell I even saw a mukbang too. I chose to link the above video because as a strong fan of 9MUSES during their glory days, it's nostalgic and bittersweet watching Sera go over her past with her perspective and comments. Also helps that she is hilarious and adorable with her reactions and mannerisms throughout. And she and I are the same in that we both cringe watching videos of our own performances haha. Watching her being so emphatic about "Dolls" and saying it was her favorite after "Last Scene" really proves that it was an underrated legend of a track. If you were a fan of hers during her group days, this is 100% a must-watch. Maybe a 9MUSES retrospective post is in order one of these days because this group really didn't get enough credit during their ridiculous 2013 campaign. Obligatory fuck Star Empire for what they did to these girls both before and after debut. I don't watch much Youtube content for Kpop nowadays, but standouts like Sera and Dara may change that in 2020.

[Misc] Bias Power Rankings XIII: Winter 2019

With Sulli and Hara's news I had to delay this quite a bit. Seemed too prickly to post about biases after something like that. Then apparently my spreadsheet with all my Power Ranking information got corrupted? Or at least the Bias Power Ranking section did? I don't know what's going on. So while I'm remaking that page from scratch, there's also gonna be a change in format. Previously the top 12 members were included but now I'm cutting that down to 10. It was originally for the artwork purposes, but ten is a much cleaner number plus I'm getting lazy and less invested in following these members super closely. These lists will likely be made twice a year from now on, and depending on how long this blog goes on maybe even just once a year will suffice.

#10. Jennie (-4) / #9. Somin (+1) / #8. Hyejeong (+1) / #7. Olivia (+3) / #6. Eunji (+1)

Taking a huge tumble downward is Jennie, in the same manner that her group and label have done over the course of 2019. Supposedly there's a comeback around the corner from Black Pink but with all things YG (and Kpop in general), I'll believe it when I see the actual music video. For now I will place enough respect with her to keep her on the cut down list. Somin rises mostly due to Jennie's fall, as KARD have failed to impress me with their last couple comebacks. On the other hand AOA's "Come See Me" was a decent but more importantly welcome release showcasing the group as five, explaining Hyejeong's jump. Olivia is the new hotness on the prowl as Loona continues to gain momentum - this next comeback is fucking huge - so she'll blitz up the ladder as a result, though not nearly enough to topple the veteran Eunji's position. She has been a stalwart of the middle ranks and it'll be hard to make that change.

[Bonus] The Late Report: November 2019

My blog and random breaks, name a more iconic duo. It's been a rough time across the holidays...I won't front, my mental state has been in disarray for a while and even before that. Still, I'm gonna keep fighting and writing, as the latter is one of my most surefire ways to focus and recenter. I have some typical end of the year stuff to wrap up 2019, and we'll start December as we should any month: with the Late Report.

(G)I-DLE - Lion

I dread writing this group name every. Single. Time. Anyway "Lion" is their most complete work in their short careers thus far. The usual contributors are doing their thing: Yuqi and Soojin have their beautiful voices, while Soyeon drops yet another bomb rap break. But then the surprises like Miyeon rocking the chorus and sounding her best since "Pop/Stars," Minnie getting her chances to shine, and Shuhua getting more lines! This is as balanced a performance you'll ever see, and they continue to improve with every subsequent release.