Welcome to the K-pop monthly highlights! In this blog post, I have listed my favourite songs from May 2023. There were a lot of amazing songs this month. Therefore the decision is difficult about what songs to pick from May. This is the subjective viewpoint of my favourites. What K-pop favourites did you have in May?
If you are following me on my Youtube channel (thank you so much if you are!), you may have noticed longer pauses in the videos this month. I was travelling at the start of the month, and I also started a time-consuming but fun (!) music production course alongside my work, so time has been scarce in May for blogs and Youtube. Check out first impressions of new songs from my Youtube channel.
In K-pop, May was an exciting month as the girl group FIFTY FIFTY’s cute and melodic pop song “Cupid” rose on the charts worldwide during this spring. The song was released at the end of February. The members were part of creating their group’s musical style, and the marketing was done cleverly for a small company. Congratulations, and I am so happy for them for all the success!
Let’s hop on to May’s K-pop monthly highlights!
K-pop Monthly Highlights May 2023: Melodic and Summer Vibes
This month I have summer vibe tracks for you in the K-pop monthly highlights list. Something for everybody 😊
Tasty Beats and Melody: THE BOYZ “Delicious” (Single, IST Entertainment)
The first highlight song on this K-pop monthly list is THE BOYZ’s “Delicious“. THE BOYZ are releasing a 2nd full Japanese album on June 13th. I instantly liked the bass at the start, which got my attention, and the beat that started the song. The song develops into a melodic pop song with an excellent melody. The chorus is super catchy, and the song’s production and sounds fit well with the song from start to finish.
The music video has some variation with the themes from cute to edgy. The dance choreography has some cool moves too. There is no dance choreography video yet available, unfortunately. THE BOYZ is an 11-member boy group and they debuted in 2017. THE BOYZ are currently on tour in Asia if you want to check out their show.
Swanky Latin Dancefloor Mood: KARD “ICKY” (EP, DSPmedia)
KARD has been one of my favourite groups since I started listening to K-pop. I am slightly biased because their release will be monthly highlight for me. KARD has two female and two male members, which is rare for K-pop groups.
KARD released their sixth mini-album, “ICKY; the title track is by the same name. “ICKY” is a summery pop song for the dancefloors, with a reggaeton/ moombahton beat. The chorus is catchy, and the song has elements from Indian instruments (I guess?), which brings an interesting sound to this Latin-type song. The dance choreography is cool, and the music video fits the song’s mood!
I reviewed KARD’s pre-release “Without You” track in my April K-pop monthly highlights. Here is an extended interview with KARD by Daebak Show, where the host is Eric Nam!
A Sunny Summer Day in a Britpop style: 10CM “My Ultimate First Love” (Single, Magic Strawberry Sound)
My third favourite for May’s K-pop monthly highlights is 10CM’s “My Ultimate First Love” melodic pop-rock song. I love the melody and the effortless feeling of the song. The guitars are fantastic in this, and the production sounds retro 90’s style pop or indie rock. Also, the instrumentals have a Britpop sound, which is excellent! 10CM’s vocals are unique, and he has written the song. 10CM has been active since 2010, and it was a duo originally.
Melodic Summer K-pop Debut: BOYNEXTDOOR “But I Like You” (Single, KOZ Entertainment)
The debut band of this K-pop monthly highlights list is a six-member boy group called BOYNEXTDOOR, who released a single with three songs and music videos. All the songs are excellent: I picked my favourite, British-style pop song, “But I Like You“. This song has a superb melody and production.
The song’s vibe is very easygoing, which is extraordinary for a K-pop debut. I am happy that there is space for different musical styles. This direction, more melodic pop is coming to K-pop, I guessed at the start of this year, is coming in my January blog post. Perhaps we may be getting more melodic pop songs from the K-pop labels now. The other two excellent songs from the single are “One and Only” and “Serenade“, which also have music videos.
This Will Play in Your Head: (G)I-DLE “Queencard” (Album, Cube Entertainment)
The five-member girl group (G)I-DLE is back with an “I feel” mini album. I had to include the title track “Queencard” as a K-pop monthly highlight because it gets better after listening and is a fun song! With the lyrics, there are some quirky bits in the chorus, and this song continues stylistically where “Tomboy” last year was but in a different direction. This has pop-rock elements, like the electric guitars and rock attitude, but it’s a fun pop track with a lot of energy.
“Queencard ” is the catchiest song from their new mini-album and will undoubtedly stay in your head after listening to it. (G)I-DLE also released “Allergy“, a terrific pop song. The new mini-album (G) I-DLE’s members are part of the songwriting, and it feels like a cohesive EP.
B-side Hip-Hop Mood: iKON “RUM PUM PUM” (Album, 143 Entertainment)
For this month’s K-pop monthly hip-hop and b-side, I picked iKON’s “RUM PUM PUM” on their new album “TAKE OFF”. This track has an interesting intro with the drums and the string instrument, which brings a Korean vibe to the song. The track has a great dance vibe! I couldn’t find a music or dance practice video for this one at the time of the blog release. iKON originally debuted in 2015, and they are currently on a world tour if you want to see them live.
Summing Up May K-pop Monthly Highlights
What were your favourite K-pop songs for May? These were my K-pop monthly highlights: so many amazing songs were released this month. You can check out my playlist, which lists more songs I enjoyed this month. On this month’s highlights, these songs had various genres of K-pop, so reviewing these songs was fun!
I will have a summer holiday soon, but these blog posts continue. And I update here and on my socials weekly. Let’s listen to good music and K-pop this month, and I hope you have a fantastic week and month! Stay inspired, and I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post!
Until next time, health and happiness to you! ❤️
