TIME Magazine Announces Their 5 Best K-Pop Songs And Albums Of 2022

On December 13, TIME Magazine released a list of what they consider the five best K-Pop songs and the five best K-Pop albums for the entire year of 2022. It may seem impossible to narrow down the best releases to just five choices, but they managed to do it, with the only restriction being that albums had to be full-length to be included. In no particular order, here are their top five choices for the top K-Pop songs and albums from the past twelve months!

Songs

1. “BTBT” by B.I & Soulja Boy (ft. DeVita)

“BTBT” was first released as a pre-release single on May 13, then on B.I’s Love or Loved Part.1 album on November 18. The album sold 29.5k copies, and the music video for the song has 15.3 million views!

Singer-songwriter B.I collaborates with Soulja Boy and DeVita on this groovy track that seduces with its smooth melodies as much as it does with its inviting lyrics. ‘You say you need a true love / someone to kiss and hug you/ you feigning for some touching / I could be all that and above,’ B.I croons.

— TIME Magazine

2. “GingaMingaYo” by Billlie

“GingaMingaYo” was released on Billlie’s The Collective Soul and Unconscious: Chapter One album on February 23. The album sold 89.4k copies, and the music video for the song has 29.1 million views!

With its chirpy chants, boisterous beats, and Billlie singing almost too enthusiastically about the uncertainties of adulting—gingaminga means “not sure” in Korean—”GingaMingaYo” is entirely weird. But also weirdly brilliant.

— TIME Magazine

3. “HELLO” by TREASURE

“HELLO” was released on TREASURE’s The Second Step: Chapter Two album on October 4. The album sold 567.1k copies, and the music video for the song has 56.3 million views!

You won’t want to say goodbye to TREASURE’s “HELLO.” The song is at once nostalgic and futuristic. Nostalgic because of its composition that’s reminiscent of early 2010s pop, futuristic because there’s something about TREASURE’s delivery—in particular, the rap verses from Choi Hyunsuk, Yoshi, and Haruto—that’s so snazzy.

— TIME Magazine

4. “Hype Boy” by NewJeans

“Hype Boy” was first released as a pre-release single on July 23, then on NewJeans’ New Jeans album on August 1. The album sold 679.5k copies, and the music video for the song has 41.2 million views!

When NewJeans made its debut earlier this year—the group was formed by ADOR, a subsidiary of HYBE—its music was characterized not by a fiery intensity but by laid-back subtlety. But that does not mean NewJeans’ songs lack energy.

— TIME Magazine

5. “Love Dive” by IVE

“Love Dive” was released on IVE’s Love Dive album on April 5. The album sold 817.9k copies, and the music video for the song has 177.1 million views!

Though Yujin opens the song with, ‘I am really curious about you,’ it’s IVE that immediately piques our interest with “Love Dive.” A delicate ‘ooh’ from Leeseo enchants from the electropop track’s first moments, and “Love Dive” only becomes more captivating as IVE’s rich voices glide over dreamy synths.

— TIME Magazine

Albums

1. Lowlife Princess: Noir by BIBI

Lowlife Princess: Noir was released with the title song “BIBI Vengeance” on November 18. The album sold 18.0k copies, and the music video for the title track has 8.0 million views!

She calls herself a weapon (“Blade”), and declares herself ‘a bad bitch’ (“BIBI Vengeance”). But the artist doesn’t only communicate her threat level through lyrics. BIBI’s voice, smoky and husky, is one that tells a million stories.

— TIME Magazine

2. Sector 17 by SEVENTEEN

Sector 17 was released with the title song “_World” on July 18. The album sold 1.70 million copies, and the music video for the title track has 60.5 million views!

SEVENTEEN’s album Face The Sun, released in May, is an artistic feat. Connected by the theme of heat and passion, the nine tracks blaze a sonic trail from the hip hop-based “HOT” to the rock-heavy “Don Quixote” to the pop-embracing “Shadow.” But it’s the act’s repackaged album released in July, which contains the songs in Face The Sun in addition to four new ones, that is superior.

— TIME Magazine

3. INVU by Taeyeon

INVU was released with the title song “INVU” on February 14. The album sold 243.3k copies, and the music video for the title track has 48.2 million views!

If INVU is a canvas, Taeyeon is the master painter who splashes it in all the hues and shades of her voice. Her silvery and poignant tone is arresting, whether she’s fiercely belting high notes or gently singing in falsetto.

— TIME Magazine

4. I Never Die by (G)I-DLE

I Never Die was released with the title song “TOMBOY” on March 14. The album sold 254.9k copies, and the music video for the title track has 190.7 million views!

Across eight tracks, (G)I-DLE impresses not just with performance but with production: Every song has writing credits from Soyeon, Minnie, or Yuqi. And while the group begins to challenge stereotypes in the lead single “TOMBOY”—where they refuse to become a “blond barbie doll” to meet societal standards—(G)I-DLE builds upon the rebellious energy in the tracks that follow.

— TIME Magazine

5. Indigo by RM

Indigo was released with the title song “Wild Flower” on December 2. The album sold 664.5k copies, and the music video for the title track has 28.2 million views!

And the BTS leader’s meditations are always at once specific and universal. We may not be the same type of artist that RM is, but we’re humans searching for our voice, our place of belonging, our personal ‘flower field.’

— TIME Magazine