In his Dec. 16 article for Vice's music blog Noisey, writer Jakob Dorof called 2015 "the year K-pop nailed the full-length album." And though some observers may rightfully point out that EP and LP releases have always been a critical aspect of the South Korea's pop music scene, there did seem to be more good albums than ever in the past 12 months, far too many in fact, to mention in even a top 20 list. But, in the interest of keeping things short and sweet as you read yet another end-of-the-year roundup, here are the five releases that I found the most groundbreaking, powerful and fun this year.
5. Psy - 7th Album
In a year of surprises, The King Of YouTube's "7th Album" proved to be one of the biggest. While he delivered the new viral video everyone expected with "DADDY," he also created some formidable dance singles with "Dance Jockey" and "Swag" and even showed a more introspective side on two of the album's best songs "The Day Will Come" and "Dream." In the process, Psy made it clear that he has his sights set on a career far beyond that of the portly Korean man doing a funny dance on phone and computer screens around the world. He's a rapper in search of a great beat with the talent to deliver something unique and the status to bring whoever he wants to the party, whether that be CL, will.i.am or Ed Sheeran, all of whom appear on the record.
