With it still technically being the holiday season, there isn’t much in the way of news for us British K-pop fans, so we going to do a series of 2012 roundups to see the best of K-pop over the last year – enjoy!
chAOS – “She Is Coming”
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chAOS are comprised of five members aged 19-25; Park Tae Yang, Hyun Seon, Hee Jae, Dong Min and Doo Hwan. ‘She Is Coming’ is an upbeat pop track with strong vocals, although, their Music Video Stylist’s wardrobe choices are slightly questionable…Nevertheless it’s a fun track that will get you bobbing your head along.
4Heaven – “I’m Sorry I Love You”
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4Heaven are a four member ballad group, under both Bridge Entertainment and Padox. Bridge manages their Korean activities whilst Padox manages their Japanese activities, having debuted in Japan shortly after debuting in Korea. They seemingly don’t have a music video for ‘I’m Sorry I Love You’, but above is one of their performances. If you don’t like ballads, I wouldn’t recommend them but if you do, then this is a track for you.
B.A.P; “Warrior”
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B.A.P hardly need an introduction, being voted by you all as the most popular rookie of 2012 in the UK. But for those that may have missed the memo, B.A.P are a six member group made up of leader Yongguk, Daehyun, Youngjae, Himchan, Jongup and super tall maknae; Zelo. Warrior is as powerful a track as the title suggests it would be. We actually previously reviewed Warrior here. If you like hip hop, or songs with heavy beats this is ideal.
Paul Kim – “My Love”
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Paul Kim is a soloist who previously appeared on American Idol. His track ‘My Love’ is an upbeat ballad, it sounds extremely ‘K-drama OST’. Whilst this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, not everyone appreciates the cheesy romance of a drama OST! If you are one of the people that do, check it out.
Speed – “Lovey Dovey Plus”
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Speed are the male counter-part to 5Dolls and are the male members of Co-Ed. Made up of members Taewoon (Block B’s Zico’s elder Brother), Yoosung, Yoohwan, Taeha, Jongkook, Sejoon, and Sungmin the group released ‘Lovey Dovey Plus’, their version of labelmate T-ara’s ‘Lovey Dovey’ early last year with former T-ara member Hwayoung featuring in the MV. Personally, I like Speed’s version more, the rap interjections give it more depth as a song and keeps it from being simply a repetitive pop song – although admittedly, I do love those.
John Park – “Falling”
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John Park is another ballad soloist that appeared on American Idol, albeit he seems slightly more well known than Paul Kim, having often appeared on variety shows prior to official debut due to his appearance on Superstar K. Falling is a dream like ballad, and the music video certainly reflects that. All in all both music video and song are beautiful and definitely worth checking out.
NU’EST; “Face”
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NU’EST are another well known rookie group here in the UK. They debuted with their single ‘Face’ and received a lot of praise for the song’s anti-bullying message. The song is a dance track with a dubstep break, so if you’re not a fan of dubstep – steer clear. Otherwise, you should definitely check out ‘Face’. NU’EST is made up of members Aron, JR, Ren, Baekho, and Minhyun. Member Baekho bears a striking resemblance to Super Junior member Kangin, which perhaps instantly made me a fan…
2BiC; “I Made Another Girl Cry”
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2BiC are an R&B/Ballad duo. Not much is known about the members Ji Hwan and Jun Hyung, except for their names. You don’t need to know anything else really, other than that they have amazing vocals. You can easily see why their debut song was a hit in Korea.
BTOB – “Insane”
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Yet another ‘insanely’ popular rookie group here in the UK. BTOB debuted under Cube with both ‘Imagine’ and ‘Insane’, but with ‘Insane’ being the more popular track, I chose to include that instead. BTOB were originally criticised for their similarities to BEAST, but as the year has progressed, they’ve definitely defined their own style since debut. Another track to check out would be ‘WOW’.
EXO – “MAMA”
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EXO’s debut was the highly anticipated and highly teased debut of the year, with the teasers beginning late December and even two ‘prologue’ songs before EXO’s official debut. Whilst it secured EXO’s place as a popular group in Korea, even seizing the rookie award at the MAMAs – the irony that the debut song had the same name as the award they received! – EXO haven’t managed to become the most popular rookie to UK fans. They did come a close second, beat out by their fan-proclaimed rivals B.A.P. I’m not sure quite how to describe MAMA, so you’ll have to check it out yourself with the Korean version above.
VIXX – “Super Hero”
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Made up of N, Leo, Ravi, Ken, Hongbin and Hyuk, VIXX debuted in May of last year with ‘Superhero’. It’s an upbeat electro-pop sort of song, sure to get anyone dancing. Although ‘Superhero’ is their debut song, VIXX are better known for their song ‘Rock Ur Body’.
JJ Project – “Bounce”
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Last but not least in part one of the male debuts of 2012 is JJ Project. JJ Project is a duo under JYP Ent made of members JR and JB who were first revealed to the public via Dream High 2. After the end of the drama, JJ Project made their official debut with ‘Bounce’. If you thought ‘Superhero’ was upbeat, wait until you hear ‘Bounce’.
cr; kpoplists, sumandu
NOTE: This article does not contain every rookie debut of the first half of 2012.
