Bunni Pop's 2024 K-pop Yearbook
Breaking down the top debut, hit songs and newsmakers of the year
The best thing about reading year-end lists is the fact that they are subjective. No one is fully going to agree with one another, and I always find it really fun to see how other people’s opinions and feelings match up with mine.
I was inspired by Mary Siroky’s K-pop 2024 Yearbook over at Consequence and thought I’d do my own take on it.
So without further ado, here is my 2024 K-pop Yearbook.
Debut of the Year - ILLIT
No rookie group had a year like ILLIT. In March, the quintet came out with the hyperpop-inspired dance hit “Magnetic,” and quickly took off on social media and swept music competition shows in South Korea. The track is infectious from its intricate hand choreography to catchy chorus. That’s why I was not entirely surprised “Magnetic” was my #1 played song on Spotify this year.
ILLIT’s debut year has also been marred with controversy, after the group’s management BELIFT Lab were publicly accused of plagiarism by NewJeans’ creative director Min Hee-jin. It’s a wild way to start off a debut year. But something tells me ILLIT will be here for the long run. The group’s latest comeback “Tick-Tack” is so fun!
Honourable mention - BIG OCEAN, for breaking barriers as K-pop’s first hard-of-hearing idol group. Read my interview with them here.
Tour of the year - IU’s HEREH World Tour
(Photo credit: EDAM Entertainment)
I saw a lot of amazing acts this year, from Seventeen, ATEEZ, ITZY to TOMORROW X TOGETHER. But I have to say no one has been able to top IU for me. That’s because I could not miss the chance of being in the presence of a legend.
At the age of 31, IU remains a dominant force in the South Korean entertainment industry. But in 2024, she embarked on her first world tour in her 16-year career.
Demand for IU’s HEREH tour was extremely high, with tickets for her U.S. shows quickly selling out. In Chicago, where I saw her perform, she seemed stunned by the love shown by her fans, and gave that affection back right to them. Throughout her 3+ hour show, she joked with the crowd, took requests from her audience members and sang hit songs from her discography including “Love Poem”, “Lilac” and “Palette.”
I left the show with greater appreciation for IU’s vocal skills, charisma and ability to stand on her own and give 100 per cent. This was definitely a tour I could not miss. Read my review of the show here.
Honourable mentions: TOMORROW X TOGETHER, because it was a show I saw multiple times from different vantage points. The production, costuming and storytelling from this tour was extremely impressive.
PURPLE KISS, because the band embarked on a cross-Canadian tour that saw them hit cities like Halifax, Regina and Winnipeg. It was a major win for Canadians who have long complained about the lack of K-pop tours in the country.
Collab the year - “APT” by Rosé and Bruno Mars
This is probably one of the biggest songs of 2024 for me.
“APT” is a fun pop-rock song inspired by the name of a Korean drinking game. The track is not only extremely catchy, but it marks one of the most successful cross-cultural K-pop collaborations we’ve seen in recent years. Commercially, the track spent eight weeks on top of the Billboard Global 200 and Global Exclusive U.S. Charts. And in South Korea, the track won “a perfect all kill”, a music chart achievement in South Korea where a song simultaneously reaches number one on iChart (which aggregates rankings from streaming services).
In recent years, many K-pop artists have attempted to have a go at the mainstream U.S. charts with English language songs and collaborations. But not many have managed to reach the same level of recognition as “APT” or BTS’s Grammy-nominated songs “Butter” and “Dynamite.” I may go as far as to say that I smell a future Grammy nomination on Rosé’s hands IF this song keeps up the momentum. It’s just too bad it doesn’t qualify for the 67th Grammy Awards, which will air in February.
Honourable mention - “Strategy” by TWICE feat. Megan Thee Stallion. This song is just so sassy, flirty and fun! I am so glad this collaboration sneaked in before 2024 came to a close. Megan really seemed to mesh in well with the ladies of TWICE. Not to mention, I am really loving hearing and seeing the more mature side of TWICE.
Best music video - RM - “LOST!”
RM from BTS is no stranger to taking big risks. His second studio album Right Place, Wrong Person (released in May 2024), was a departure from the more emotional tracks of his debut album Indigo. RPWP is more experimental, playing with genres like alternative rock and grunge. This album is also more akin to the indie songs his friends at Balming Tiger have released. After all, member San Yawn worked with RM as a creative director on this RPWP!
This all brings me to RM’s music video for “LOST!” which is directed by Aube Perrie. The video sees RM playing the role of a guest on a dystopian-looking talk show. He is then seen navigating through a maze-like building while entering various rooms and floors. It’s a visual treat for the eyes, albeit a bit trippy.
P.S. I also spoke to actor Taz Singh, who stars alongside RM in the music video, about his experience working on the project.
Honourable mention - LE SSERAFIM - “CRAZY” - This video pays homage to the ballroom scene. I think it’s really cool of LE SSERAFIM to feature dancers of the House of Juicy Couture prominently in the music video and honouring a facet of Black, Latinx and queer culture. Shout out to Sakura for nailing that duck walk!
Veterans of the Year - Seventeen
(Photo credit: Pledis Entertainment)
Nearly 10 years since their debut, Seventeen have solidified their reputation as the musical theatre kids of K-pop. They have nailed the synchronicity of their performances, all while writing and self producing their own songs. At the same time, Seventeen also remains a major source of comfort for their beloved fans, known as Carats.
2024 marked a turning point for Seventeen, with the group playing major festivals including Glastonbury and Lollapalooza Berlin. The band has also been playing some of the biggest venues of their career, despite the fact that members Jeonghan and Jun have not been able to join the band’s latest “Right Here” World Tour.
I attended the “Right Here” tour in New York in October, which featured Seventeen’s biggest hits throughout the years. As someone who started listening to Seventeen in 2020, I found joy in their songs at a time when the world seem to be thrown into uncertainty. That’s why it’s been a joy for me to be able to relish in the moment of being in the same room as the band again.
Honourable mentions - In a year that saw second generation legends 2NE1 and BIG BANG make comebacks, this was a hard choice for me. I love going down memory lane watching these groups perform on stage again.
Earworm of the Year - “Work” by ATEEZ
What can I say? As a woman who works weird hours (journalism, am I right?), this is my ultimate motivation song. While ATEEZ have often been known for putting out intense, stadium-heavy tracks that sometimes verge on the side of metal and rock, I actually love the dialled back tone of this mid-tempo hip hop song. It’s just a fun bop!
With lyrics like “Gotta work (Gotta work), Gotta make that money, make purse”, I turned to this track for my daily affirmations.
Honourable mentions - “Whiplash” by aespa. I’ll be very honest and say that it has taken me a while to get fully on board with aespa. The girls are supremely talented and always serve looks. But I could never buy into the whole AI and digital world their lore has often been associated with. That all changed with the release of “Supernova”, followed by “Whiplash.” The latter track was what sold me because I completely bought into the high fashion/hyper pop concept. As I was fully observing Charli XCX’s “brat” summer, “Whiplash” is a song that fits right into this realm.
“Sticky” by KISS OF LIFE - The group’s performance at Waterbomb was quite literally all over my social media feeds for weeks. And soon enough, I was singing “sticky, sticky, sticky” without a second thought. This was song of the summer for me.
Newsmaker of the Year - NewJeans
Music was definitely overshadowed by labour and contract disputes in the K-pop industry in 2024. And in the latter half of the year, it seemed like fans could not get a pulse on what to make of NewJeans.
While the group’s creative director and former CEO Min Hee-jin had been feuding with HYBE for months, it was only in September that NewJeans officially broke their silence, going on an unauthorized livestream to allege HYBE of fostering a toxic work environment.
Hanni’s testimony on workplace harrassment at the National Assembly soon followed. Then on November 14, NewJeans threatened to leave ADOR if their demands were not met. Two weeks later, the group held an emergency press conference to announce their departure from ADOR due to a “breach of trust”. The company has since filed a lawsuit to look into the validity of the band’s exclusive contract with ADOR.
The members of NewJeans have since opened up a new Instagram account called ‘jeanzforfree’ to post content. And if I’m being frank, the girls seem to be enjoying their freedom—much to the chagrin of ADOR and the Korean Music Content Association.
Whatever you make of NewJeans, it’s rare to see young women relatively new in their K-pop careers calling for better work environments and taking control over their careers.
Honourable mention - Seunghan’s departure from RIIZE made headlines this year because it highlighted the worst of what can happen for simply living your life. After photos of Seunghan’s dating life pre-debut were leaked, he took a leave of absence in August 2023 after a few fans found his behaviour inappropriate. In October, it was announced Seunghan would return. But a mere 48 hours later, he made the decision to leave RIIZE permanently. While no one truly knows what prompted this choice, one can make an estimated guess that anti-fans sending funeral wreaths over to SM headquarters might have made a difference.
Seunghan’s departure was met with an uproar from fans across the world, with many vowing to boycott future RIIZE comebacks and SM artists as a whole. A number of K-pop businesses have also made the decision not to restock RIIZE products for the time being. I’ll have to check back in six months to see how successful the boycott is. As of writing, Seunghan has remained at SM as an artist, and is planning to debut as a soloist in 2025.
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