On December 6, 2021, Rolling Stone released their "50 Best Songs of 2021" list. Among the top 50 are several K-pop releases. Keep on reading to see which songs made it.
TWICE 'The Feels' Included in Rolling Stone's 'The 50 Best Songs of 2021'
Ranking in 50th place on Rolling Stone's "The 60 Best Songs of 2021" list is TWICE's first English-language single, "The Feels." They are the only K-pop girl group to be mentioned.
The publication notes that even by K-pop's high standards, TWICE is a girl group that specializes in energy, bright colors and fun choreography.
The group's first English-language single successfully caught the attention of the Western market. Rolling Stone calls "The Feels" a "radiant burst of disco energy," noting its slick bassline and genius vocal arrangement. In addition, the publication notes that "The Feels" has one of the most addictive choruses, saying, "'Boy, I, Boy I, Boy I know, I know you get the feels,' will be replaying in your head all day."
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"The Feels" was released on October 1, 2021. The English single debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Global 200, making it TWICE's best-performing single in the United States. The song also peaked at number five on the US Digital Song Sales Chart.
Within the first week of its release, "The Feels" garnered 4.7 million streams, 208,000 radio impressions and 10,400 digital sales.
Epik High and BTS Included in Rolling Stone's 'The 50 Best Songs of 2021'
Epik High ranked in 40th place with their collaboration with CL and Zico, "Rosario." Rolling Stone calls Epik High a "trio of K-pop vets."
"Rosario" is a song from Epik High's tenth studio album and is a track that shuns the heavy-handed production and the avantgarde refrains that most K-pop songs favor.
Instead, "Rosario" is a song that features more depth. The three artists trade verses over a light trap beat and a flamenco-style guitar, showing off a new side to K-pop. The publication notes the defiant chorus as a killing point in the song. In the chorus, CL belts, "Out of my way, I am a legend and I'm here to stay."
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"Rosario" peaked at number 11 on the World Digital Song Sales chart on the Billboard charts. The song also peaked at number 15 on the K-Pop 100 chart.
BTS is the highest-ranking K-pop act on Rolling Stone's list, sitting at 16th place with "Butter." The publication notes that the song is characterized by its silky beats, party raps, sunburst harmonies and choruses that brights joy to all the listeners. Like "Dynamite," "Butter" is a Chic-loving disco groove track.
However, compared to "Dynamite," which was a song about their unity as a group, "Butter" is a song that allowed each member to shine. In addition, the publication noted that the song's remix with Megan Thee Stallion only made the mega-hit track even better!
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"Butter" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart upon release. Thanks to "Butter," BTS became the fastest artist to achieve four number-ones since Justin Timberlake in 2007 and the first group to do so since the Jackson 5 in 1970. In addition, the song remained at the top of the Hot 100 chart for ten non-consecutive weeks.
The song also remained on the Billboard Digital Songs chart for ten non-consecutive weeks.
Did your favorite K-pop song get mentioned? Tell us in the comments below!
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Written by Alexa Lewis.
