Melon’s Top 100 Kpop masterpieces spark controversy for being biased towards SM, TWICE, BTS and iKON’s hits rank too low!

Melon has just released a list of 100 songs that are considered Kpop masterpieces. However, this list has immediately sparked controversies over the rankings of the songs.

Melon is one of the most well-known digital music platforms in Korea. Recently, Melon released the list of Top 100 Kpop masterpieces – a record of songs that are not only famous but also define the history of the Korean music industry. The songs that are considered the most legendary hits of Kpop are all included in the top 100, but the specific rankings have sparked controversies.

Melon‘s Top 100 Kpop masterpieces were selected by 35 experts: 20 music critics (including famous critic Kim Youngdae), 8 music broadcasters and 7 industry music officials.

The songs are selected and ranked based on their symbolism, popularity and influence on domestic and international stages, their significance in the growth of K-pop, artistic creativity, music videos and concert performances. Among 1,120 songs as candidates, the final 100 songs were picked after a 5-month evaluation period.

Let’s take a look at the list of Top 100 songs.

From 100th  to rank 90th place

100. Trouble Maker – Trouble Maker (2011)

99. Classroom Idea -Seo Taiji & Boys (1994)

98. Hug – TVXQ! (2004)

97. Replay – SHINee (2008)

96. Tell Me – Jinusean (1997)

95. Fly – Epik High (feat. Amin. J of Soulciety) (2006)

94. I Can Do – NRG (1997)

93. Atlantis Princess – BoA (2003)

92. Shine – PENTAGON (2018)

91. Come Back Home – Seo Taiji & Boys (1995)

90. Cherry Blossom Ending – Busker Busker (2012)

From 89th to 80th place

89. Cherry Bomb – NCT 127 (2017)

88. To My Boyfriend – Fin.K.L (1998)

87. Ring Ding Dong – SHINee (2009)

86. Dreams Come True – S.E.S (1998)

85. Psycho – Red Velvet (2019)

84. Ah-Choo – Lovelyz (2015)

83. Um Oh Ah Yeh – MAMAMOO (2015)

82. Through the Night – IU (2017)

81. T.O.P (Twinkling of Paradise) – Shinhwa (1999)

80. Very Nice – SEVENTEEN (2016)

From 79th to 70th place

79. I – TAEYEON (feat. Verbal Jint) (2015)

78. Really Really – WINNER (2017)

77. LOVE SCENARIO – iKON (2018)

76. Bang! – After School (2010)

75. Road – god (2001)

74. Boy With Luv – BTS feat. Halsey (2019)

73. Anysong – ZICO (2020)

72. It’s Raining- Rain (2004)

71. Alone – SISTAR (2012)

70. DNA – BTS (2017)

From 69th to 60th place 

69. Butterfly – LOONA (2019)

68. Brand New – Shinhwa (2004)

67. Invitation – Uhm Jung Hwa (1998)

66. Rough – GFRIEND (2016)

65. Energetic – Wanna One (2017)

64. Roly-Poly – T-Ara (2011)

63. Catallena – Orange Caramel (2014)

62. How To Avoid The Sun – Rain (2003)

61. Adult Ceremony – Park Ji Yoon (2000)

60. Dalla Dalla – ITZY (2019)

From 59th to 50th place

59. Please Look at Me – Deux (1993)

58. Warrior’s Descendant – H.O.T (1996)

57. Forever Love – Fin.K.L (1999)

56. TT – Twice (2016)

55. Rum Pum Pum Pum – f(x) (2013)

54. In Summer – Deux (1994)

53. View – SHINee (2015)

52. Secret Garden – OH MY GIRL (2018)

51. Gotta Go – Chungha (2019)

50. The 7th Sense – NCT U (2016)

From 49th to 40th

49. LION – (G)-IDLE (2019)

48. FIESTA – IZ*ONE (2020)

47. Crooked – G-DRAGON (2013)

46. Eyes, Noses, Lips – Taeyang (2014)

45. NU ABO – f(x) (2010)

44. Kung Ddari Sha Bah Rah – Clon (1996)

43. Bubble Pop! – HuynA (2011)

42. UP & DOWN – EXID (2014)

41. U-Go-Girl – Lee Hyori (2008)

40. 4 Walls – f(x) (2015)

From 39th to 30th place

39. Bloom – Gain (2012)

38. Get Up – Baby V.O.X (1999)

37. Fire – 2NE1 (2009)

36. MOVE – TAEMIN (2017)

35. Heartbeat – 2PM (2009)

34. Twenty-Three – IU (2015)

33. I Got a Boy – SNSD (2013)

32. Spring Day – BTS (2017)

31. CHEER UP – TWICE (2016)

30. Lie – g.o.d (2000)

From 29th to 20th

29. Couple – Sechskies (1998)

28. Gashina – Sunmi (2017)

27. Nobody – Wonder Girls (2008)

26. Bad Girl Good Girl – miss A (2010)

25. Blood Sweat & Tears – BTS (2016)

24. FANTASTIC BABY – BIG BANG (2012)

23. Be Mine – INFINITE (2011)

22. Wa – Lee Jung Hyun (1999)

21. I Know – Seo Taiji & Boys (1992)

20. Red Flavor – Red Velvet (2017)

From 19th to 10th place

19. Lies – BIG BANG (2007)

18. Mister – KARA (2009)

17. Candy – H.O.T (1996)

16. 10 Minutes – Lee Hyori (2003)

15. Good Day – IU (2010)

14. ‘Cause I’m Your Girl – S.E.S (1997)

13. DDU-DU DDU-DU – BLACKPINK (2018)

12. Sorry, Sorry – SUPER JUNIOR (2009)

11. Sherlock – SHINee (2012)

From 9th to 1st place

10. Mirotic – TVXQ (2008)

9. Tell Me – Wonder Girls (2007)

8. Abradacabra – Brown Eyeds Girls (2009)

7. I Am The Best – 2NE1 (2007)

6. Into The New World – SNSD (2007)

5. Gee – SNSD (2009)

4. Dynamite – BTS (2020)

3. Gangnam Style – PSY (2012)

2. Growl – EXO (2013)

1. No.1 – BoA (2002)

After being published, this list became a hot topic on Korean online forums. Accordingly, many netizens think that there are many shortcomings in the ranking of songs, particularly this chart seems to have an obvious bias towards SM artists. Many people also pointed out that BoA’s song ‘No.1’ ranking 1st place and EXO’s runner-up song ‘Growl’ are both hits and influential, but they weren’t able to change K-pop history like PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’ and BTS’s ‘Dynamite’.

On the other hand, many Knets are also upset when hit songs such as ‘Cherry Blossom Ending’ – Busker Busker, ‘Anysong’ – Zico, ‘Spring Day’ – BTS, ‘Cheer Up’ – TWICE, ‘Love Scenario’ – iKON,  ‘Lies’ – BIGBANG,… are low-ranked. Knets also wondered why many BIGBANG and BEAST (now Highlight)’s songs are missing from the list when these two boy groups actually have more influential hits than several songs in the top 100.

Some comments from Knets:

• All songs are good!!
• Just by looking at No.1 and No.2, I know what’s going on here haha!
• ‘Growl’ huh? 2nd place???
• Why is Busker Busker ranked so low?!
• Am I the only one who disagrees with this chart?
• Well, the intent is good, but I think it’s better not to do this ranking!
• What is this… There are so many songs from the same company!
• What’s wrong with the ranks of ‘Cheer Up’, ‘Anysong’, ‘Love Scenario’, ‘Spring Day’?!!!
• From the moment I saw ‘Cherry Blossom Ending’ – Busker Busker ranked lower than some other unworthy songs, I felt that this chart was absurd.
• Where are BEAST’s songs?!
• Are you sure more than half of these experts aren’t from SM?!!
• Why is SHINee’s ‘Sherlock’ ranked above BIGBANG’s ‘Lies’?!
• Hahahaha!  ‘No.1’ and ‘Growl’ rank higher than ‘Gangnam Style’ hahaha!!
• I don’t understand, please remove NCT’s songs and replace them with BIGBANG’s songs!!
• I don’t understand why NCT’s song ranks so high haha!!
• SM please, don’t be too obvious and humble even if you’re self promoting!!
• I guess it’s the ranking done by SM experts hahahaha!!!
• I really hate BIGBANG’s scandals, but in terms of music, it’s impossible that their songs rank so low and only a few are in the top.
• H.O.T’s ‘Candy’, BTS’s ‘Dynamite’ or PSY’s ‘Gangnam Style’, one of these 3 songs must be 1st place!

Congratulations to all the artists whose songs entered this chart!  Are you satisfied with the rankings of the songs? Please share your thoughts .