Knet reminisce about music charts 10 years ago, when there were only songs that the whole country known by heart
K-netizens expressed that only those charts were a real chart with no idol fandom or sajaegi act controlling anything.
With nowadays charts being under the too heavy influence of idol fandoms and sometimes sajaegi acts, Korean netizens start to reminisce about the time when ranks on chart showed the true popularity of every song. On a famous forum, netizens recently made a throwback list of songs on a digital chart in 2009, which is exactly 10 years ago. It can easily be seen that all these songs were extremely popular at the time, not only in South Korea but also many other countries.
Top 50 most listened/downloaded songs in South Korea (2009):
1) “Gee” – SNSD
2) “Abracadabra” – Brown Eyed Girls
3) “Bo Peep Bo Peep” – T-ara
4) “I Don’t Care” – 2NE1
5) “Mister” – KARA
6) “Ring Ding Dong” – SHINee
7) “Hot Issue” – 4Minute
8) “Candy To My Ear” – Baek Ji Young (feat. Taecyeon)
9) “Sorry Sorry” – Super Junior
10) “Heartbreaker” – G-Dragon
11) “Chu” – f(x)
12) “Fire” – 2NE1
13) “Naeng Myun” – Park Myung Soo & Jessica
14) “Love Rain” – Kim Tae Woo
15) “Heartbeat” – 2PM
16) “Lie” – T-ara
17) “Genie” – SNSD
18) “Lollipop” – Big Bang & 2NE1
19) “Diva” – After School
20) “La Cha Ta” – f(x)
21) “Like The First Time” – Lee Seung Gi (feat. Kang Min Kyung)
22) “Because of You” – After School
23) “You and I” – Park Bom
24) “We Fell in Love” – Gain & Jo Kwon
25) “Saturday Night” – Son Dambi
26) “It’s You” – Super Junior
27) “Sign” – Brown Eyed Girls
28) “Have a Drink” – Zia
29) “Marshmallow” – IU
30) “Will You Marry Me” – Lee Seung Gi
31) “Mystery” – Beast
32) “Am I That Easy” – U-Kiss
33) “Woman Who Can’t Break Up, Man Who Can’t Leave” – Leessang
34) “Let’s Break Up” – Lee Seung Gi
35) “JoJo” – SHINee
36) “Again & Again” – 2PM
37) “In My Fading Memory” – Park Ji Yoon
38) “Map The Soul” – Epik High (feat. MYK)
39) “Let’s Dance” – Yoo Jae Suk, Tiger JK, Yoon Mirae
40) “There’s No One Like You” – Lee Seung Chul
41) “Muzik” – 4Minute
42) “Wonderful” – Big Bang
43) “Shake” – Chaeyeon
44) “I Hate You” – 2PM
45) “Juliet” – Seo Taiji
46) “That Thing Called Love” – Bobby Kim
47) “8282” – Davichi
48) “Honey” – KARA
49) “Like The First Time” – T-ara
50) “Don’t Leave” – Yoon Mirae
Looking at the songs that appear on this list, Korean netizens can’t help but remember the golden days of the country’s music industry. Many people believe that this is really a true ranking, which is not manipulated by fandom power as well as sajaegi moves.
1. [+168, -4] This is a legit chart. The music chart should be full of songs that the entire country knows. The current chart is a crazy result of idol fandoms and sajaegis.
2. [+120, -8] They say we’re romanticizing the past but I think this was when the Korean music industry reached its peak. These days, the artists are setting new records but the quality keeps declining…
3. [+80, -3] That was when WonKaSo dominated the girl group scene. The rookies T-ara, f(x), and 2NE1 were rising fast.
4. [+40, -8] I want fandoms to stop lining up every b-side on the chart. I hate sajaegis and idol fandoms. What’s the point of lining up every song when it’s not even done by public popularity? Honestly, I can’t tell the difference between idol fans streaming non-stop during school and sleep and sajaegis being streamed by machines.
5. [+27, -3] Gee managed to win #1 from all the songs… It’s just daebak ㅋㅋ At that time, the entire country knew SNSD.
6. [+26, -0] Wow… Just by reading the name of the song, I can hear the chorus. I think that was the golden era of culture. The quality of the songs, the visuals, and the stages was the best. Because I experienced it, I don’t feel as excited as that time.
7. [+20, -5] Idiots, that’s an annual chart ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Why would b-sides be on an annual chart?
8. [+19, -0] In the past, I used to go to Melon, play top 100, and listen until the end. But now, when I listen to top 100, I end up skipping every song.
Which is the most reminiscing K-Pop song of 2009 to you?
Sources: Kpopkfans
