Our Current 10 K-pop Songs
K-pop is part of our every day lives. Whether we are listening to it, tweeting about it, spending all our money on it, and when coronavirus isn’t a thing, going to concerts for it. Any way you look at it, K-pop is essential. Since we’ve been spending a lot of time in front of our computers lately working on our Sims K-drama, STAY WITH ME (나랑 같이있어), we’ve been realizing we need music to keep us vibin’ with what we are working on. Just like with any project we work on really. Music helps us get the creative juices flowing. And since the website was created to share our love of all things Korean (and lately we have been focusing on other things like BL dramas…which #sorrynotsorry) we thought we would share our current most listened to K-pop songs. Not all of these are new, or the groups most recent songs, but these are the songs that currently keep us in the zone. And these songs are subject to change as new music is constantly coming out and making us feel some type of way.
10. HOTSHOT – Jelly
When we went to grab the link for this song, we saw it came out in 2017! And we remember like it came out yesterday. Even so, this song’s melody is catchy and will make you scream, “Baby please don’t go” at the top of your lungs. The music video is also very enjoyable. *cough* shirtless Ho Jung and Timoteo rolling his hips *cough* “뜨겁게 번져가고/ 숨이 점점 가빠지면/ 돌이킬 수 없는 Paradise – tteugeopge beonjyeogago/sumi jeomjeom gappajimyeon/dorigil su eomneun Paradise – It spreads hotly/My breath gradually catches/This irrevocable, paradise
9. THE BOYZ -Salty
Salty. One of our favorite words for god knows how long. Sammie professes the song was named for her. However, the lyrics hold a lot more sexuality than the song title leads one to believe. “몇 번이고 원할 게- myeoch(but the ch kinda sounds more like a t) boneego wonhal gae – I’m wanting it again, several times…”
8. WINNER – Ah Yeah
As our fav editor Aleda said, “Cutest break up song ever.” She isn’t lying. Most breakup songs are sad, or angry. This one is the song version of the girl/boy shrugging emoji. “네가 알던 착한 바본 여기 없어 – nega aldeon chakhan babon yeogi eopseo – The nice fool you once knew is no longer here”
7. CLC – HOBGOBLIN
This is the only girl group(GG) we stan. Religiously. Sure, we listen to a GG song here and there, but CLC constantly comes out with hard bops for strong independent women who don’t need no man. This is the song that got us hooked on them. Sorn quickly became our fav and we came to find out she’s Thai…maybe she’s what kicked off our Thai obsession. Like look at this hot girl confidence. “너도 날 원하잖아 – neodo nal wonhajanha- You want me too”
6. MCND – ICE AGE
The beginning of this song always gets us ready for it to go in. It starts with a Castle J making a simple statement and then it grows into a chant with a hard backbeat. This is one of those songs that’s makes you want to punch the air and run up the Philadelphia Museum of Arts stairs. (Yes that’s a very old reference. WE’RE OLD!) “우린 앗 차가워!/Come into ice age – urin at chagawo! -we are cold/ come into ice age”
5. VeriVery- Lay Back
This song is sexy. That’s just facts. The sensual breathy voices that build into the deliciously erotic whispered “Lay Back” to start the chorus make that sexy vibe hit a peak. And their dancing really kicks it up a notch. “겁내지 말고 please take off/Go love 더 보여 줘 봐 – geopnaeji malgo please take off/Go Love deo boyeo jwo bwa – Don’t be afraid please take off/Go love, show me more)
4. JINU – 또또또 (Feat.MINO)
From the group that brought you the upbeat song about break ups, comes solo artist Jinu and his upbeat song about desperately trying to get this chick to simply text him. Yes, Jinu of WINNER produced a solo song that is literally a poor boy who wants someone to notice him and respond to his texts. But in a cheerful way. “ㅎㅎ은 너무 꼰대 같은 느낌이고/ㅋ은 가벼워 보여 결국 ㅎㅎ/으로 급히 보냈는데 오타 (Oh no)/뭐 해? 바쁘구나 – hieut hieuteun neomu kkondae gateun neukkimigo/kieukeun gabyeowo boyeo gyeolguk hieut hieut/euro geubhi bonaetneunde ota (Oh no)/mwo hae? Bappeuguna -“haha” seems too old/“ha” keeps too light so in the end I said “haha”/But I sent a typo (oh no)/What’re you doing? I guess you’re busy”
3. IMFACT – Tension Up!
If you’re looking for a song to get amped by, this is that song. We use this in every single work out mix we make. It has a great build and the chorus just gets you jumping and dancing and moving in general. It’s also a solid party track to get wasted, dance, and sing drunkenly to (If you are over the age of 21 in the US or are legally allowed to drink where you live. Please drink responsibly.) “뭐든 뭔들 눈치 보는 사치- mwodeun mwondeul nunchi boneun sachi – whatever happens being cautious is a waste.”
2. 1Team – Make This
After seeing this song performed live, we have a whole new appreciation for it. The beat? Sick. The dancing? Solid. The vocals? Unparalleled. Song in total? Sexy AF. “수천 번씩 또 되감아/Drama 같은 느끼한 건 아냐 /어설피 널 쳐다보는 시선 yo I just – Sucheon beonssik tto doegama/ drama gateun neukkihan geon anya/ eoseolpi neol chyeodaboneun siseon yo I just – I rewind it a thousand times and it didn’t feel like a drama. I’m just looking at you.”
1. ATEEZ – WONDERLAND
This song goes HARD. The whole damn song. The beat is like a militaristic uprising and we are ready to march behind ATEEZ into any battle. The dance break with Mingi in the forefront…don’t even get us started. “터져버려도/상관없어 난/지금 이곳은/끝의 시작 – teojyeobeoryeodo/ sanggwaneopseo nan/ jigeum igoseun/ kkeute shijak – even if I explode/ I don’t care/ this place right here/ is the beginning of the end”
So there you have it. Our top 10 current playlist. If you want to know more about any of these songs or the bands themselves feel free to reach out to us on insatagram (@koreanfromcontext) or twitter (@koreanfrmcntxt)
Travel NYC like, NCT127, The Boyz, and others
We have done one of these before. A spot that several idols have visited, and even actors have visited in NYC. Today we are offering you another such location. This place is fairly new to New York. Only being open to the public for almost a year at this point. We had actually seen it while it was being built and had no clue what the heck it was. We were so confused. A weird upside down pyramid, honeycomb looking thing with stairs? Huh?
But sure enough when it was revealed to the public as a climbable peace of art, we wanted to go! And sure enough The Boyz and NCT127 wanted to as well. We actually posted on Instagram when we first went, before Travel NYC Like ___ was a thought in our minds.
Meet The Vessel. Located between 10th and 11th Ave and 32nd and 33rd St, this 15 story, stair climbing honeycomb maze with amazing views of the harbor, and the newly built Hudson Yards resides.
The views truly are unparalleled and once at the top, as the wind hits your face you fell an the sense of accomplishment is amazing. You can take breaks going up, finding new angles to observe the city and new sights you may not have noticed before and enjoy the fact that you have now travelled NYC like The Boyz, NCT127, and others!
(Edit: sadly this location is also home to a very tragic event that happened this weekend. RIP young soul, may you no longer be in pain)
Travel NYC Like Sang Yeon, Jacob, and Sun Woo of The Boyz
We were hype when KCON NY 2019 announced one of our fav rookie groups, The Boyz, were performing. We were even more hype that The Boyz made the absolute most of their trip to NY. They traveled up and down the city, and even into the borough of Brooklyn. We find it funny how ‘hip’ Brooklyn has become in the last ten or so years.
We’ve grown up going to Brooklyn as a couple of us have family there. When we told our families that these kpop idols keep coming to the area they laugh. And when we told Sammie’s mother where we were going to take pictures of this location her eyes went wide with worry.
“I wouldn’t be caught dead there…actually I would probably end up dead there,” she explained, not making us feel all that great about making the trek up that way. But after doing our research we found that the area has definitely changed since her mother had lived in any of the boroughs.
The area of Brooklyn, named Bushwick, is now filled with breweries, beer gardens, restaurants, and insane street art. Seriously, the street art covers almost all the old factories now turned hipster shops, and apartments. This was another location we could’ve spent an entire day and not gotten enough pictures.
This corner we shot was a part of their “D.D.D” music video. There are actually several locations in the vicinity of this particular one. We will cover those in future articles.
Like The Roxy, where Stray Kids visited, this awesome crossroads is three street corner mish mosh. The intersection is Troutman St., Scott Ave., and St. Nicholas Ave.
We enjoyed living out a Beatle’s crossing Abbey Road scenario to get this photo and we hope you will too when you travel NYC like Sang Yeon, Jacob, and Sun Woo of The Boyz.
K-CON NY 2019 CONCERT NIGHT 1 (하나)
Now the content we know you all have been waiting to read about…THE CONCERTS! There was so much to talk about for each night we’ve decided to separate them into two articles.
After the convention wrapped up, fans made their way to the concert line, and unlike Prudential center, which was a free for all to try and get into the venue (even if you had seats), MSG came through with organization and the professionalism one expects from a venue of its magnitude. Once inside we were greeted with the loud cheers from the fans. The excitement coursed through our veins as we found our section. And we proceeded to walk down, and down, and down to our seats.
Our seats? Well, let’s just the words, “Holy sh*t,” and “대박 (dae bak- jackpot or amazing),” left our mouths a few times. Yes, we were only a few short rows from the stage, but that wasn’t even the best part. While everyone else eagerly awaited the idols to arrive on stage, we had a view of the backstage area. Want us to top that? Ok. While the members awaited their cues to head up on stage, all the fans around us would wave, send finger hearts and even hit some whoa’s, and guess what? The idols responded with waves, even more finger hearts and even more whoa’s hit. It was a sight to see. That joy the idols brought to the fans faces was worth the price of admission in our book.
On day one we had a total of 5 bands, as sadly one had dropped out unexpectedly a few days earlier. TXT (투모로우바이투게더– tomorrow together), ATEEZ (에이티즈), IZ*one (아이즈원), NU’EST (뉴이스트), and finally The Boyz (더보이즈). Every single member of every single group came out with full force and energy. The Boys and ATEEZ kicked it off with some amazing dance covers that got people out of their seats dancing and screaming along to the songs.
They were followed up by TXT, who is the baby brother group to BTS (we acknowledge they are their own group and are in no way related to BTS other than their management team), who, we in all honesty hadn’t listened to past their debut song, “어느날 머리에서 뿔이 자랐다 (CROWN)”(ohnewnal moroaeso bbulee jarassda- one day a horn grew in the head). We slept on talent and we apologize for that. They came to show they are a band to follow and have such a high energy, we soon after the concert, downloaded all their music.
Next to hit the stage was ATEEZ. We have seen these boys in concert before and we knew we wouldn’t be disappointed. What we hadn’t seen was the live performance of their the latest hit, at the time, “Wave”. They have already released another single “Aurora”, we highly suggest you check everything they put out. We were excited to see the choreography in person, and they brought their A-game. Their synchronicity and attention to detail made our eyes stay glued to them. Like all the other groups, the second they walked onto the stage, it was theirs, and they made everyone in the audience know.
The Boyz came out to some of the loudest cheers we’ve heard since the last time we saw BTS. And funnily enough they did a cover performance of BTS’s hit song “Fire”. Since their debut in 2017 they have come out with bop, after bop, after bop. All similar sounds but they tend to put different spins on each title track to keep their fandom (The B) coming back for more. Performing their latest hit “Bloom Bloom” among others, we were once again blown away by the amazing skills they presented not only choreographically but vocally as well.
If you have followed us awhile, you know, girl groups are not our thing. It is nothing against them. They have talent and looks, among a lot of other qualities that normally would sell us on any other artist. But for some reason, very few (we will say CLC and Momoland have us disturbingly hooked) can keep our attention for longer than maybe a song. IZ*one were interesting. They had a lot of different things we liked about them. Their music was very bubblegum pop, their outfits were doll-chic, and their vocals could rock you into another century. And while the vocals and, once again, choreography killed it, in all honesty we probably won’t listen to them again.
The final performers of the night were NU’EST. NU’EST was one of the first k-pop groups we started to follow religiously. After we saw the “Overcome (여왕의 기사- yewangwe kisa- Knight of the queen)” music video and questioned if it was fair that Ren could look sexy as both a man and woman, we knew we were forever hooked. They slowed down the pace of the concert. In away, they were like the end of a work out. You need your cool down after doing all the high intensity. NU’EST, while being the cool down process for the first night of K-con, kept people on their feet, screaming and slowly bopping to their songs. (Still kinda salty they didn’t sing Overcome)
The first night wrapped up with the standard k-con crazy confetti explosion as the bands came out to give their final bows. The whole show blew us away and we were happily anticipating what the second night had to offer and you guys should too! Check back soon for KCON NY 2019 DAY 2!
