"Bohemian Rhapsody," a song written by Freddie Mercury of the British rock band, Queen, is one of the most iconic song breaking not only the international charts but the music-rule as well. The song combining various genres including acapella, ballad, opera, hard rock, progressive rock, pop and many more, expressed fatalistic lyrics, lasting for 6 minutes.
The classic song is indeed one of the most excellent songs in the music history, that's why when a movie with the same name was produced in 2018, even international fans loved everything about it, especially Koreans.
According to Koreans, which holds the highest sales upon the release of the film revealed that it reminds them of Korean pop music, which is also resonating various genres including pop, ballad, hip-hop, trot, contemporary, etc. Thus, a discussion between K-pop enthusiasts sparks, asking if what song could be the "Bohemian Rhapsody," of K-pop.
This started as a joke between fans, but later on, music fans then started to drop some analysis about the song. Here are then the top 4 songs released by these K-pop groups, which fan claimed to be fit for the title.
1. Girls' Generation's "I Got A Boy"
In the K-pop era where cute and pure concepts dominate, Girls' Generation then released their 2012 hit track, "I Got A Boy," which still remains as one of the classic songs in the K-pop industry. According to fans, they can't think of any song aside from this, one of the girl group who started an epic musical composition with incredible tonal shifts, jumping from a genre to other genres.
Billboard, in 2019, also acknowledge the comparison of "I Got A Boy," to "Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody," which also tells a story with strong lyrics. Jakob Dorof also noted that it is the "most structurally mega-hit since Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody."
2. Brown-Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra"
One of the most classic K-pop songs, Abracadabra displays shifts in music genre as well, introducing a narrative and dramatic scene at the start and the ending part of the song, while in between shows the performance of the band.
The impact of the song in the entertainment industry is indeed extreme, wherein several K-pop idols attempted to cover the song as well. At the same time, the K-pop icon Psy, even used the legendary choreography "hip dance," from this song for "Gentleman."It also breaks the concept of typical K-pop song, featuring queer love and using dark concepts.
3. EXO's "Tempo"
Released in 2018, music fans are quick to claim that EXO's "Tempo," is the "Bohemian Rhapsody" of K-pop. Indeed, the song used a wide range of genres, such as hip-hop, R&B, contemporary, ballad, Acappella with a mix of funk and pop, etc.
4. BIGBANG's "Fantastic Baby"
The song which was released in 2012, rose as one of the classic K-pop songs as well when even up-to-date new K-pop enthusiasts still listen to the boisterous song, featuring a genre-bending sound. Despite the futuristic vibes that it gives off it also showcased a mix of traditional Korean music elements, and use memorable phrases as well including "Boom Shakalaka," "Wow, Fantastic, baby" and "I wanna dance," the same atmosphere how "Bohemian Rhapsody left us the phrases, "Galileo," "Mama, ooh," and "Magnifico."
What do you think?
