Omona's Pick: 2020 2nd Quarter Kpop Favorites

[carmine-pink.livejournal.com]

Let's look back at our favorite Kpop releases during the second quarter of 2020 (April-June). Feel free to talk about your favorites including but not limited to title tracks or b-sides, MV/visual concept, live performances, choreography, etc.

Here are my personal favorites:

Jungkey - I Know (feat. george)
Listen to this soaring ballad, have your heart broken, and then repeat.

GWSN - BAZOOKA!
Play bazooka! This song is such a pick me up. I also enjoy Tweaks ~Heavy cloud but no rain~ from their latest album. Since they worked with people who produce for SM groups, I wonder if this would have been more popular if it was released by a bigger group. It sounds like it could have been a red concept RV song.

Raiden & Chanyeol - Yours (feat. Lee Hi & Changmo)
Didn't have any expectations but I end up really liking this chill track with a Daft Punk-esque vibe.

Apink - Dumhdurum
I'm one of those people who didn't like I'm So Sick or %%. This one I do enjoy though.

Baekhyun - Bungee
Candy has grown on me although it's still no UN Village, but Bungee is the one that gets me grooving the most.

ONEUS - Be Mine
A cover of INFINITE's timeless hit, this is my favorite from what ONEUS released for Road to Kingdom. I actually prefer rapper Leedo as a vocalist.

Honorable mention:

Golden Child - Without You
Thanks to RtK I checked out a few groups and discovered this January release. I love how it's a dance song with intricate instrumentals but stayed subdued throughout. I really like Joochan's voice, it's very distinctive. I'm also starting to enjoy Wannabe despite constantly complaining about being bored with the tropical beat in Kpop 🤷‍♀️

VERIVERY - Lay Back
Another January release that I discovered due to RtK. Also, their latest track Beautiful-x is my favorite out of all the RtK finale songs.

Source: 1theK, GWSN OFFICIAL, SMTOWN, Apink, BAEKHYUN - Topic, Mnet K-POP, woolliment, Stone Music Entertainment

Comments

[cosmicdaze.livejournal.com]

i am here to be a stay tonight supremacist!!!
i love the direction chungha has been going in with her concepts and her music. now if we could just get the full album that would be great @ mnh

baekhyun's album is also a definite fav for me. i still prefer the city lights album but delight is so good too.

also i am OBSESSED with the wayv album, holy shit it's so good. i've listened to nothing but the album from start to finish (okay i skipped 'stand by me' more often than not but it's at the end of the album so i don't feel bad) for like ten days straight.

i honestly don't remember what else was released in april, may or june so...lmao i'll be back to reply to some other comments later maybe

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

Favourite single : APink's Dumhdurum
There isn't even a competition, this song is already one of my favourite 2020 singles. I've played it so much already!!! It's so catchy and this chic, mature, feminine sound APink rebranded themselves with works so well. I just wished the mini album was stronger - I don't think it was on par with Percent or One&Six. It's pretty but not as exciting as it could have been.
Honorable mentions : April's Lalalilala ; Bvndit's Jungle ; Chungha's Stay Tonight ; Golden Child's ONE (Lucid Dream) ; GWSN's Bazooka ; NCT127's Kick It ; WayV's Turn Back Time (so either 80s inspired songs or weird structures lol, with Jungle making an apparition for the low voices in the verses and Turn Back Time for its guitar-filled dance break !).

Favourite bside : WJSN's Hola
There were a lot of candidates this time, I've enjoyed quite a lot of releases these months. But with summer getting closer, I'm already replaying Hola the most. It's super energetic and catchy, I love it so much. I still think it would have been more memorable as a single than Butterfly (but that's for another Omona exclusive post :D).
Honorable mentions : Bvndit's Children ; GWSN's The Aerialist, Tweaks & After the Bloom ; IZ*ONE's Merry Go Round ; NCT127's Elevator ; Oh My Girl's Neon & Dolphin ; Twice's Sweet Summer Day, Firework & Shadow ; WJSN's Pantomine & Our Garden ; Weki Meki's Moya Moya

Favourite mini album : GWSN's The Keys
This mini is way too short, especially compared to their 3rd Park in the Night (which had seven songs?!), but I love every song on it. Which isn't the case for my honorable mentions : I like everything, but there are songs that I don't love either. I guess in this case, short is better, as there isn't any filler.
Honorable mentions : Sujeong's Tiger Eyes, Twice's More & More, WayV's Awaken the World, WJSN's Neverland

As for the next couple of months, I'm super excited about GFriend (Labyrinth is still my favourite 2020 mini album and it dropped in January lmao) ; I have high hopes for Chungha's release as I really enjoyed Stay Tonight ; and I'm really curious about Seulgi & Irene.
I won't be able to listen to Sunmi's song before lunch break but I'm sure it will make me want to edit this comment. The preview sounded really nice already and I'm all for a summer song.
Lovelyz needs to have a comeback this summer TT I hope they're next after GolCha. Woollim could be tented to have Rocket Punch comeback though, their energetic sound fit summer (but I don't think they should release something too close to Itzy). I just miss Lovelyz lol and Sujeong's surprising concept and sound makes me even more impatient!!!

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

This mini is way too short

My only complaint about the Keys. I hope the next album is longer. Maybe they'll get a full album (I hope).

[paige-nevaeh.livejournal.com]

My personal favourites...

Favourite single: Yaya - Yubin. It’s basically just noise. But I can’t help but replay it over and over. It’s just fun nonsense. Everything I love about Kpop.

Favourite b-side: probably Rococo from Iz*One - again it’s just fun and catchy... such a solid pop album for me which brings me on to

Favourite album!! - Iz*One. Every song (except Pretty) is solid.

Favourite concept/performance: of course I need a shout out for BVNDIT & their Queen of the Jungle performances 👑 I love their energy and charisma.

[belintuchiha.livejournal.com]

The only two songs I downloaded and listen to for the 2nd quarter are
I'm in trouble by NU'EST and God's Menu by Stray Kids so that lol

[adenar.livejournal.com]

So, first of all, this, I was so hype for this and they delivered (melodic chorus and a drop? Blackpink would never) but I'll talk about it more when a post gets approved;





Some people were upset that (g)i-dle's first release post-Lion didn't go as hard as Lion - even the title track was more subdued in many parts - but I really liked how sophisticated and understated the album was. It really showed Soyeon's skill at songwriting and gave us some much more enjoyably creative tracks than 99% of what kpop produces. Maybe was definitely the highlight, I'm sad we still haven't had a performance.



This whole album was lovely! Villain naturally stands out as the right song to lead the album's promotion. The MV is so charming.



I'm not normally into OMG album tracks but this one is a wonderful exception, chill, funky, and I love outtake compilations so the video and its nostalgia was something I really enjoyed. The montage of Binnie corpsing gets me every time.



I will admit that I don't actually listen to this that much because it's just SO MUCH lol but I did enjoy this. When they released Dumb I was like finally!! this is the concept I've been waiting for from them!! and now that they've followed up on it I'm really excited to see the direction they take.



I find myself singing 'nan sarang ape orinae' multiple times a day. I only wish we could have had this comeback with a fuller lineup.



I could have posted Oopsy but this is such a gorgeous album track, and the first Weki Meki song released that's composed by leader Suyeon. It's a gorgeous, chill synthwave track that suits Weki Meki much better than the standard ballad that would otherwise have taken this song's spot on the mini. Sei really gets a chance to shine, and Rina gets much more vocally complicated lines.

[sweetestbliss1.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing! That The Paradise song is good! It reminds me of "Eclipse" from Kim Lip/Loona.

[snowphone.livejournal.com]

honestly work has been kinda stressful so i haven't been doing a good job keeping up with releases, i still need to listen to twice, weki meki, dia, heize, and more...

anyways i need a meme with that handshake template where the handshake is "love again" being an amazing b-side and one arm is baekhyun's "delight" album and one arm is nct dream's "reload" album.

heavy rotation:
chungha - stay tonight
apink - dumhdurum
baekhyun - candy
baekhyun - love again
baekhyun. - ghost
nct 127 - nonstop
nct dream - love again
crush feat. joy - mayday
sole - happiness
wayv - turn back time
wayv - after midnight
george feat. liss - fallin

[snowphone.livejournal.com]

+ gwsn - tweaks

[snowphone.livejournal.com]

also weki meki - oopsy and woogie - better

keep remembering stuff as the day goes on....

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

i haven't been keeping up very well, so i forgot about a lot of releases that i enjoyed, so this post is a perfect reminder!

songs i loved: apink's dumhdurum, crush & joy's mayday, baekhyun's candy, wekimeki's oopsy, yubin's yaya, astro's knock (does that one still count? when did it come out again? what is time?)

[camouflagecat.livejournal.com]

Well I can barely remember what came out this year bc it has seemed to last forever but things that come to mind are

Chunga Stay Tonight
Apink Dumhdurum
G idle Oh My God
Nature Girls
Dreamcatcher Scream
Itzy Wannabe
April Lalalilala
Nada My Body
Iz*one Fiesta

[vintage-boom.livejournal.com]

I can barely remember what came out this year at this point :/ had to check my playlist

A.C.E - Stand By You (MV aside the songs really great)
A.C.E - My Lover
Chung Ha - Stay Tonight
IZ*ONE - Secret Story of the Swan
Baekhyun - Candy & Underwater
APINK - Dumhdurum
Dynamic Duo & Chen - You
Max (Ft Chung Ha) - Lie



Haven't listened to anything that came out today but I assume Sunmi's on there lol

[myungung.livejournal.com]

April to June released more songs that were to my liking, so I’m happy it was a better quarter. Much more songs added to my playlist!

Apink - Dumhdurum
April - Lalalilala
GOT7 - Poison
Ha:tfelt - Satellite
Day6 - Zombie (underrated song that deserves more love!)
Sujeong - Tiger Eyes
Hyoyeon Cheetah - Turl
N.Flying - Oh Really
Weki Meki - Oopsy

Nature’s Girls and Zhoumi’s Starry Night also deserve special mention

[snowphone.livejournal.com]

ok turl just came up on my spotify, what a jam!

[thebloomroom.livejournal.com]

I have to say God’s Menu is maybe my fave q2 cb. Def from a male group. It slaps

I cant remember if Apinks song came out in March or April but that was my absolute fave if it was q2. Stay tonight had the best MV.

I kinda fell off listening to kpop as much stuck at home. Its my walking and workout music usually

[violoncelliste.livejournal.com]

my favourite everything is txt's the dream chapter: eternity. i even like Puma, though mostly when i listen to the whole album and it's between other songs :P but i loved the title and the bsides are amazing (i'm glad i stopped worrying about how young they are and started watching their content because they're hilarious and lovely. i have high hopes for them!)

another mention more honourable than others is Natty's Nineteen.

other favourites (not all of them are exactly kpop but whatever):

april - lalalilala
got7 - trust my love
baekhyun - love again
hoppipolla - enough
golden child - without you
alexa - kitty run
wayv - electric hearts and after midnight
nada - my body
yubin - yaya
nuest - i'm in trouble and moon dance

tbh there's probably more i don't remember now. these past three months were very good to me in terms of music :)

[rightclick5ave.livejournal.com]

here to rep my MNH girls Chungha and BVNDIT!! I've watched all the Stay Tonight videos and behind the scenes practices religiously and I'm still obsessed with the song and choreo 😍 and my five talented kids who put out three(!) songs of different genres - Children, Jungle, Come And Get It - in quick succession 🥰

[ohlookshiny.livejournal.com]

recent boy group faves are golden child - one (lucid dream), wayv - electric hearts, nct dream - love again.

for girl group's it's apink - dumhdurum (SOTY), april - lalalilala, gidle - maybe, wjsn - hola, twice - shadow.

[mattemate.livejournal.com]

my favorites so far:

apink - dumhdurum: pop perfection imo
everglow - dun dun dun: i was one of the people who shit on it at first but its...addictive lol
itzy - wannabe: first track i've liked by them

song of the year so far for me is fiesta by iz*one. the song is great, mv is nice, and i love the choreo

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

Here for the GWSN love! I loved the energy they brought to the performances. I agree that Tweaks is the best song.

I'm one of those people who didn't like I'm So Sick or %% 😭😭😭 I love Dumhdurum, too. It feels so luxurious 😂 I could watch the video over and over and not get bored.

Candy has grown on me although it's still no UN Village This is my problem, I keep comparing it to UN Village, which really isn't fair because it's a completely different kind of song. I have Poppin' and R U Ridin'? on repeat, though.

ONEUS did such a good job with Be Mine! I don't know much about them but I really liked A Song Written Easily.

[ty.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the post OP