Rolling Stones recaps the history of K-pop by compiling the 100 Greatest Songs in history.
Girls’ Generation’s hit song “Gee” topped the list of “The 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music” thanks to its “testament to the way love — and all of its indescribable ecstasies — can be translated through pop music,” said the magazine.
Second place was H.O.T.’s “Candy” released in 1996. The group added hip-hop to the well-known pop sensibility that “set the bar for every K-pop boy band’s sugary-sweet summertime earworms to come.”
IU’s “Good Day” coming out in 2010 ranked third. The media commented that “Good Day” “glides along key changes and soars with the momentum of confessed love — hitting a three-note jump in IU’s voice so singularly spectacular that it instantaneously launched her into the realm of legendary Korean singers.”
Following “Good Day” is BTS’ “Spring Day” out in 2017. Rolling Stone praised BTS for a “unique ability to sum up complex emotions into universal pop songs” with this track.
In particular, the song “Short Hair” from the 1950-born singer Cho Yong Pil’s first album, “The King” landed in fifth place, surpassing many contemporary releases. In the remarks by Rolling Stones, “Short Hair” is “a revolutionary force in Korean pop, offering listeners an escape from the pentatonic melancholy of trot” and “has since become inextricably associated with the liberatory spirit of the Eighties.”
Ranking from 6th to 10th place are, in chronological order, BLACKPINK’s “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” Big Bang’s “Haru Haru,” 2NE1’s “I Am the Best,” Seo Taiji and Boys’ debut song “I Know,” and Wonder Girls’ mega-hit “Tell Me.”
Among the 100 songs, SM Entertainment proudly has 14 songs entering the Top 100, while JYP and YG have seven songs each.
Source: Wikitree
