What are your 2024 hot takes?

[RussianRoulette]

I wanted to post a news roundup today but I am too exhausted from finishing finals

Instead, I’m seeing people start to post their 2024 kpop hot takes.

These hot takes includes:

- What you think was overrated/underrated
- Top 5 songs of the year
-Top 5 Least favorite songs of the year
- Reflections on what you thought would happen this year (like 2024 predictions reflection).
- Just anything you want to get off your chest

So, now that this year is coming to a close, what are your 2024 hot takes?

IMO, the top 5 best kpop songs of this year was:
1. Maniac
2. Cosmic
3. Supernova
4. Magnetic
5. Armageddon

My other hot takes:
- Despite all the disbandments, song-wise this was a Girl Group dominated year. I do not think this was a strong year for Boy Groups? I can’t name one boy group song that swept/dominated things like supernova or magnetic did for example.

- I don’t think How Sweet and Supernatural are NJ’s strongest songs as people are saying, but that is Ok. With the hell that’s been going on this year it’s a miracle they released songs at all.

- How do we STILL have no answers on if Wendy Joy and Yeri renewed??? ​

 

[inari]

- Top 5 songs of the year
1. Just wanna have some fun - Hwasa
2. Toxic - Meovv
3. Ego - Hwasa
4. Heya - IVE
5. Letter To Myself - Taeyeon / Supernova - aespa
- Reflections on what you thought would happen this year (like 2024 predictions reflection).
I thought IVE would have released more. I think Yujin had a really got chance to take over this year but didn't.
For me, this year, I LOVED some songs, but there were a lot less songs that I liked. I think some of the current trends gave me such a severe ick that I missed out on a lot.
- Just anything you want to get off your chest
NOVA, CAN'T STOP -- HYPER -- STELLAR BODY BAAAAAAAANG

 

[hatmixx]

Hot Takes:

1. Rescene had the best songs out of all the rookie GGs and arguably had a better collection of songs than every GG imo. Uhuh, Yoyo, Love Attack and Pinball all slap.

2. Loona is infinitely a better group split up into it's two groups right now. Loosemble and Artms were both good this year. Especially Artms.



1. I Got You - Twice
2. Zombie - Everglow
3. Blur - Taeyeon
4. XOXO - Nmixx
5. Pick Rescene song


Thoughts: 2 weeks til Sana's Birthday!

 

[Bellamy]

What you think was overrated/underrated
Cosmic was painfully underrated.

Top 5 songs of the year (Yes, I cheated)
-Cosmic by Red Velvet
-Supernova by aespa
-Can't Get You/Roses by Jaehyun
-Deep Ocean/Bandage by WayV
-Maniac by VIVIZ/Armageddon by aespa/Body by MEOVV

Top 5 Least favorite songs of the year (Just because I have high expectations from them)
- Batter Up by Babymonster
- Get Loud by Kiss of Life
- How Sweet by NewJeans
- Impossible by RIIZE/Feel The Pop by ZB1
- Gold by Itzy/Hit The Floor by TripleS


- Reflections on what you thought would happen this year (like 2024 predictions reflection).
Honestly I just wanted the best for my groups and...well SM being SM.

- Just anything you want to get off your chest
Red Velvet's 10 years anniversary was lackluster because Center 3 is incompetent...this was the perfect chance of a world tour but nope, SM loves when RV think they have fans only in Korea.

I have 0 expectations for 2025.

 

[SirTim0thy]

My top-5 favorite songs this year (not including my biases):

• aespa - Supernova (this has got to be song of the year)
• Loossemble - TTYL
• Lightsum - POSE!
• Minho - Call Back
• Moonbyul - Think About

((shoutout to Apink - Wait Me There. This one ranked high on my most-played this year, but I haven't really heard anyone else talk about this one.))

Favorite album:

• Girl group = Loossemble's TTYL (may they RIP )
• Boy group = FT Island's Serious (scandal aside )

Favorite debut:

• Geenius - Voyage

-

Including my biases:

Spoiler

• IU - Holssi
• G-Dragon - Home Sweet Home (ft. Bigbang)
• ITZY - Imaginary Friend
• ITZY - Mr. Vampire
• ITZY - Untouchable

IU: Holssi is my #1 most played song this year, and attending her world tour was the best part of my year, obviously

ITZY: they continue to flip-flop between excellent (see above) and terrible (looking at you, Born to Be & Gold... )

NewJeans: dark year for them, obviously. I like How Sweet, I don't like Supernatural.

SNSD: Hyo continues to deliver singles that are instant hits for me. I've not been a big fan of Taeyeon's solo stuff tbh. It's just OK I guess. Best part of them this year was Sooyoung's J-solo debut

the cherry on top this year was the G-Dragon comeback w/ Home Sweet Home ft. Bigbang. 10/10 for me

Overall, I'll say that where my tastes are concerned 2024 has been a contender for one of the best years music-wise in over a decade of what I've observed from k-pop. I anticipate looking back on the year with great appreciation and repeated enjoyment

Hot Takes:

1. Rescene had the best songs out of all the rookie GGs and arguably had a better collection of songs than every GG imo. Uhuh, Yoyo, Love Attack and Pinball all slap.

2. Loona is infinitely a better group split up into it's two groups right now. Loosemble and Artms were both good this year. Especially Artms.



1. I Got You - Twice
2. Zombie - Everglow
3. Blur - Taeyeon
4. XOXO - Nmixx
5. Pick Rescene song


Thoughts: 2 weeks til Sana's Birthday!

Spoiler

Should have been Dreamcatcher!

 

[hatmixx]

Favorite debut:

• Geenius - Voyage

Great debut. Was listening to the song the other day and wondering what they are doing

 

[roseychu]

- Top 5 songs of the year

• Yook Sungjae The Ghost
• Yook Sungjae Be Somebody
• Im Hyunsik La Mar
• KARD Waste My Time
• BTOB Please Stay

-Top 5 Least favorite songs of the year

• Honestly in general I don't listen to a lot of stuff (as you can see above) so nothing comes to mind

- Reflections on what you thought would happen this year (like 2024 predictions reflection).

• Really thought we'd get OT6 BTOB
• I love Home Sweet Home but I wish there was a proper BB comeback, hoping for next year

- Just anything you want to get off your chest

• 2024 proved that Fantagio letting Changsub prioritizing group activities is a lie
• If they choose a separate fandom name for him, I will be so disappointed
• A lot of people left their main company and I think that's great, but group activities aren't happening as often now. And that makes me sad. Like 2PM when?

 

[BianTwo]

Top 5 songs of the year (title tracks only, or promoted b-side) :

Gyubin - Really Like You
IVE - Accendio
Rescene - Love Attack
TWS - plot twist
Shaun - Easy

It's different from songs who were popular this year, examples : Supernova, Magnetic, Plot Twist, Klaxon, How Sweet, etc.


Top 5 least favorites songs :

Babymonster - Sheesh
Stayc - Cheeky Icy Thang
ITZY - Gold
MEOW - MEOW
IVE - Heya


Other thoughts :

• It was a busy year with HYBE/ADOR scandal. But also Fifty-Fifty issue. And it's not over.
• It's a girlgroups era since a few years but 2024 was even more noticeable since only Plot Twist was mostly known on BG side.
• I still don't like this trend with shorter songs and too much Western influence
• 3rd Gen is slowly fading away, getting less active or took the solo path. We still have some exception like Twice, with BGs or with group reunions
• I didn't expect Kep1er to extend
• Overrall and with some exceptions, most albums sales decreased, life became more expensive, shipping cost is still expensive, etc.

 

[Bchip]

My top 5 songs in no particular order:
Yugyeom - WUH
ZB1 - Sweat
SF9 - Bibora
Xdinary Heroes - Save Me
P1Harmony - It's Alright

And tomorrow i'll probably hate myself for forgetting a song on the list lol

 

[inari]

My top 5 songs in no particular order:
Yugyeom - WUH
ZB1 - Sweat
SF9 - Bibora
Xdinary Heroes - Save Me
P1Harmony - It's Alright

And tomorrow i'll probably hate myself for forgetting a song on the list lol

Bchip is really carrying BGs this year thank you for your service! Loved Sweat and Bibora

 

[Bchip]

Bchip is really carrying BGs this year thank you for your service! Loved Sweat and Bibora

I don't know what happened but GG releases didn't click with me that much this year

 

[inari]

I don't know what happened but GG releases didn't click with me that much this year

I get you. I feel like a certain... trend made it really hard to get into them this year
I have a good feeling for BGs next year tbh. I feel like 2025 is going to be for the boys.

 

[RussianRoulette]

It was a busy year with HYBE/ADOR scandal. But also Fifty-Fifty issue. And it's not over.

I feel like the hybe and ador issue will last years, but I’m hoping the fifty fifty issue might end soon.

Spoiler: Rumor

Rumor on the street is that Attrakt might have lost the high price they wanted the albume girls to pay battle. The due date for submitting evidence to court to prove they owed that high amount was like 2-3 months ago and they never posted a “we won the lost!” Response since then.

Between that, the fact that albume is moving forward with their debut, and the sudden KMCA trying to blacklist them now makes me think Attrakt lost something in court and now they’re grasping at straws to get them another way

 

[sm maid]

Top 5 Songs:

-KISS OF LIFE Midas Touch
-tripleS Girls Never Die
-NMIXX DASH
-aespa Supernova
-AMPERS&ONE Broken Heart

Worst Songs:

I don't really have a list ready but if I did I'm sure POW's Boyfriend would be there, it actually pissed me off to see it was a genderbended cover of Avril's Girlfriend.... I really liked POW's debut and I was excited for this comeback and whoever decided to release this should be jailed. Let's add NCT DREAM's Smoothie too cause what the well, Seventeen's whole Spill the Feels mini album can also go, APT sounds like a weird cult chant, and just to complete 5 I'll throw in GD's Power.​

 

[Polaris_Tae]

• I'm gonna be blunt and say that NewJeans music has turned into glorified advertisements. Which, imo, is pretty sad considering how much I liked their 2022 & 2023 releases.
• This year was like the holy grail for Korean Entertainment lawyers w/ all of the ongoing suits that took off throughout the year. CBX, FIFTY FIFTY, NJ/HYBE/MHJ & The drama re: Konnect. While they're raking in all the money, I just want it to stop give me a break. Also, half of these cases have seemed to fizzled out over the year. Which sucks when your literal job is to report on them. Like, what even happened to the SM vs INB100 lawsuit? Do I have to look up Korean court records or smth to find an update on it sjhdjsk
• Soyeon should've left CUBE. I feel like she has enough sway in the industry now to break IDLE from cube. I can only Imagine how much Cube had to pay her for them to keep her at the label. Oh well, It'll be another 4 - 7 more years of waiting I guess...
• Boy Groups actually had a pretty strong year for releases. It's just that ta lot of the major players (Exo-SHINee-BTS) have been largely absent throughout the year. Many of the underappreciated acts dropped some bangers. Ace's 'Supernatural', Cravity's 'C'est La Vie', The Wind's latest EP & both of ATEEZ's releases were all great. It's just gg+ don't pay attention to boy groups

Here are my top 5:
1. Jimin's 'Who'
=====GREAT WALL OF CHINA=======
2. Stray Kids' 'Stray Kids'
3. ILLIT's 'IYKYK'
4. RM's 'Nuts'
5. Cignature's 'I LIKE I LIKE' / 'Melody'

 

[Beefy]

Top 5 Songs:
1) Passionfruit - NMIXX
2) Supernova - aespa
3) Keep It Low - You Dayeon
4) Midas Touch - Kiss of Life
5) GPT - Stayc / official - ichillin’
((special shoutout to Lucky - RIIZE))

Least fav:
1) Anything by Baby Monster like...

I’m happy rookie boygroups are doing better than their predecessors! Looking forward to whatever else they’ll serve up next year and Seunghan’s (ALLEGED) debut

and all the lawsuits and such have made me re-examine my role as an enabler of company’s exploitative behavior. but for now I hope some good comes out of everything.

 

[frostpuddle]

Nugu-gg-pocalypse started in 2022 would continue into 2025, part of market consolidation which only the big companies groups would survive, similar to the telco industry

Top 5 songs: Dreamcatcher Justice, TripleS Girls Never Die, Itzy Imaginary Friend, The Fix Oddventure, ICHILLIN La Luna 2024, Purple Kiss Encore

Hot Takes:

1. Rescene had the best songs out of all the rookie GGs and arguably had a better collection of songs than every GG imo. Uhuh, Yoyo, Love Attack and Pinball all slap.

Ah yes almost forgot about Rescene. Agree that they're one of the best debut gg this year, should have been nominated for at least one rookie award. They have better songs than at least 4 of the nominees in the MAMA Best New Female Artist 2024. But such is the life of nugu...

Top 5 Songs:
-AMPERS&ONE Broken Heart
​

Very catchy and reminiscent of early kpop bg sound

 

[tokki]

- Top 5 songs of the year (no particular order):

• tripleS - Girls Never Die
• ILLIT - Tick-Tack
• IVE - Ice Queen
• MADEIN - DADARIDA
• NMIXX - Passionfruit

- Reflections on what you thought would happen this year (like 2024 predictions reflection):
Mashiro and Yeseo did (sort of?) join LIMELIGHT like I expected - just didn't expect the rebranding and two other additional members. MADEIN's debut (weird AI MV aside) was excellent and I was so happy to have all of my favorite girls in the same group at last...before 143 Entertainment decided to ruin everything by having a creep in charge. I'm so, so, so angry about how everything regarding Gaeun's case is being handled by them and I sadly don't think there will ever be any kind of justice for her so I've been distancing myself from the group now because I cannot stand to support that awful company.

I'm surprised that Kep1er ended up getting a renewal? They're doing okay, though - I think their sales finally became stable after dropping almost every era, but I think we need another comeback to really be sure of that. Could just be that people wanted to show their support to the remaining 7 girls' soft re-debut and we might see sales start to drop off again. I think Xiaoting might end up exiting the group next, unfortunately...seems like her company back in China (Top Class) and Klap Entertainment (who handles the day-to-day stuff for Kep1er now on WakeOne's behalf) can't agree on scheduling and she's been missing a crazy amount of Kep1er schedules. Gotta chase the opportunities when you've got them, though, and who knows how long this renewal contract is even for? If it's only for a year or two, I really can't blame her for setting up her future while she can (something all of the companies should have done 2 years ago, but I digress).

- Just anything you want to get off your chest: I've been losing interest in K-POP a lot over the last few months, so I'm kind of curious how 2025 will go for me as a K-POP fan. I used to be such a huge multi, but now I find myself only really caring about a few groups. I think it's only natural though with all of the "dark side of K-POP" stuff that's been in the headlines though (contract disputes, abuse cases, etc).

 

[Thumbnail]

- What you think was overrated
○ The drama "Lovely Runner" is really popular, and I get why it's popular. Same goes for "Queen of Tears". Both dramas are not for me, though.
○ Similarly, I definitely think "APT." is overrated, but I enjoyed listening to the song at least.
○ I feel "Squid Game 2" is overpromoted. I'm seeing it on ads — for instance, in that ongoing promotion by McDonalds. While I don't think it's a terrible drama — I did watch season 1 — I also think it's not as great as some viewers make it out to be and instead I've found dramas that better meet and fit with my viewing preferences.

- Favorite songs (unranked and selected)
I think overall this year there have been good and not-so-good tracks. There's probably a lot of tracks I'd like to mention, but I'll mention some songs that have stood out to me.
○ IVE - Accendio
○ aespa - Supernova, Life My Life, Whiplash
○ TWICE - I Got You
○ Chuu - Strawberry Rush
○ Cravity - Love or Die
○ ILLIT - Magnetic, Cherish (My Love), Baby It's Both (Tick-Tack Eng. Ver) feat. Ava Max
○ Zerobaseone - Good So Bad
○ PLAVE - Pump Up The Volume
○ The Wind - Hello, My First Love
○ TWS - Plot Twist, If I'm S, Can You Be My N?
○ Taemin - Horizon
○ NewJeans - Supernatural
○ STAYC - Stay WITH me
○ ONF - Bye My Monster
○ Chungha - I'm Ready

- Least favorite song
There are probably many unremarkable songs released this year, but I especially don't enjoy listening to "Done" by Naevis.

- Reflections on what you thought would happen this year (like 2024 predictions reflection).
○ I correctly predicted that 2NE1, GFRIEND and Lovelyz would reunite.
○ The writing was on the wall so I'm not surprised about Weki Meki's disbandment. I think at the very least it was expected. I'm also not too surprised about DoDaeng renewing with Fantagio for individual activities.
○ Overall lack of creativity in general. I don't expect this to change anytime soon either.

- Just anything you want to get off your chest
○ For K-pop, I'm not a fan of Reddit nor Disqus (which is used on sites like Pannchoa), and I don't enjoy the takes produced there either. Where possible, I try to avoid them altogether. Although I also think it can be helpful sometimes for keeping up with the most recent news.
○ My interest in X (previously Twitter) and Discord has declined. In fact, I recently logged in to the two platforms after months of inactivity. And despite the encouragement, I'm not actively looking to join another social media platform at this time.