Who are the most outstanding female Kpop soloists this year?
Recently, Genius Korea, “a collective community project focused on the promotion of Korean music”, has announced the ranking of Top 10 female Kpop solo artists of 2021.
The data is compiled from November 30, 2020 to November 30, 2021 based on searches for artists and original songs, lyrics, translations, and Hangul romanizations on the website. Not only singles, albums, but also collaborations, OSTs and non-profit releases on SoundCloud are included in the database to determine the ranking.
Instead of the impact of K-pop idols in the domestic market, Korea, Genius Korea’s year-end charts are more about reflecting the artist’s popularity internationally. Recently, the ranking of “Top 10 female Kpop solo artists of 2021” has surprised many netizens. Let’s check if your favorite idol is listed here:
10th place: Sunmi
Sunmi‘s popularity is indeed solid over the years considering that she has debuted for more than a decade. In 2021, Sunmi had two comebacks with the title track “You Can’t Sit With Us” for the mini-album 1/6 and the digital single “Go Or Stop?“. Although both songs could not become massive hits, the achievements of these 2 comebacks are still enough to help Sunmi enter the Top 10 most prominent female artists of the year.
9th place: Hyuna
2021 is also a productive year for Hyuna when the “sexy queen” not only made a solo comeback with I’m Not Cool and Good Girl, but she also debuted in a subunit with her boyfriend Dawn with the single Ping Pong. Thanks to her hard work throughout the year, Hyuna gets 9th place in the Top 10 female Kpop soloists of 2021.
8th place: Jeon Somi
The Black Label‘s “mixed-race beauty” has a successful year thanks to the viral hit, Dumb Dumb. 2021 is also a meaningful year for Somi as she released her first-ever solo full album called XOXO, with the title song of the same name that is also well-received by the public.
7th place: Jennie (BLACKPINK)
Perhaps Jennie making it into this list is perhaps not within the expectations of many netizens, because her solo debut was 3 years ago ago and there is still no news about her comeback as a soloist. However, Jennie’s power and charm still brings her into the Top 10 female solo singers of 2021.
6th place: Seori
Seori might be an unfamiliar name to Kpop fans who only stan idol groups. Starting out as a Youtuber and actually just entering the entertainment industry in 2020, Seori has soon attracted attention thanks to her soft and poetic vocals. One of Seori’s most outstanding releases this year is her collaboration with TXT in the enigmatic rock-themed song 0X1=Lovesong (I Know I Love You).
5th place: Lee Hi
Lee Hi is one of the most powerful vocalists in Kpop. So it is not difficult to understand when she gently “landed” in the top 5 hottest female artists this year. Thanks to the release of the 4th studio album titled 4 ONLY, the name Lee Hi was once again “warmed up”. Many people also commented that Lee Hi became a lot prettier than when she was under YG.
4th place: CL
Another former YG idol enters the list. In 2021, CL teamed up with Konnect Entertainment – the company of former Wanna One member – Kang Daniel to release the first full album titled Alpha. After leaving YG, CL seems to be more active in promoting her career in the US, and the 4th place here proves that international fans are still very interested in her.
3rd place: IU
No one can deny that 2021 is a brilliant year for “digital music queen” IU. She constantly releases new products, entertains fans with many hearty music parties, such as Celebrity, Coin, Lilac, Strawberry moon.
2nd place: Lisa (BLACKPINK)
Lisa‘s solo debut is a big Kpop event as the individual reputations of each BLACKPINK member are among the best in the world of female idols. And indeed, Lisa’s solo achievements made everyone look at her with a different eye. Despite being “estranged” from Korean fans, Lisa still achieved many remarkable achievements in the US, specifically, both songs “Lalisa” and “Money” entered Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.
1st place: Rosé (BLACKPINK)
Lisa is really hot, but her bandmate – Rosé is even considered hotter in the list of 10 brightest female solo artists in 2021 announced by Genius Korea. Rosé, in particular, appears to be superior to Lisa in one aspect. Her two songs, “On The Ground” and “Gone,” are not only popular with overseas fans, but also in the Korean market despite the fact that Rosé only sings in English while Lisa’s debut songs are half English and half Korean.
Thus, except for Jisoo who has not officially debuted as a solo, the remaining 3 members of BLACKPINK all entered the list with the victory belonging to main vocalist Rosé. This achievement is completely deserved when both songs that Rosé released this year are loved by many people.
However, many people are surprised because Lisa is always said to be the most famous BLACKPINK member in the international market. Moreover, her song “Money” has had a resounding success and went viral on many platforms.
Besides, a few other prominent solo artists such as Taeyeon, Hwasa, Chungha are also not listed in this list despite having several comebacks in 2021.
