Post Malone once again has proved why he is the laconic young face of Hollywood after leading billboard awards with 16 nominations. His nominations include top artist, top rap artist, top male artist, and top streaming song artist. Most of his nominations come from the 2019 album “Hollywood’s Bleeding” which included three main songs “Wow”, “Circles” and “Goodbyes”. Sunflower, his record-breaking collaboration with Swae Lee from the Oscar-winning animated movie “Spiderman: Into The Spider-verse” is nominated for top streaming song and top rap song.
Many new K-pop and J-pop songs were released in November and here is the list of most repeated songs of the month on ListenOnRepeat:
10. Aespa 에스파 Black Mamba MV – (7K+)
Released on November 17, 2020, “Black Mamba” is the K-pop song from the girl group Aespa. SM Entertainment announced on October 26, that they will debut a new girl group which would be their first after Red Velvet in 2014. The members of Aespa were revealed from October 27 to 30 named: Winter, Ningning, Karina, and Giselle. A trailer consisting of all of the four members of Aespa was revealed on November 2 and the same day “Black Mamba” was announced to release on November 17.
Black Mamba is an interesting composition by Yoo Young-Jin, Omega, Ella Isaacson, Jordan Reyes, Gabriela Geneva, Shaun Lopez, and Scoot Chesak. The song was primarily described to be as K-pop by the reviewers but turned out to be a mixture of dance-pop, hip hop as well as electro-pop. The world-threatening lyrics go perfectly with the avatars of the girls while someone might feel horrified. Nevertheless, the song was a massive success with over 21 million views in just 24 hours of its release. It’s the highest by any K-pop debut group till now.
Watch Aespa 에스파 Black Mamba MV
9. Kaikai Kitan 廻廻奇譚 – Eve (8K+)
Kaikai Kitan 廻廻奇譚, a single by Eve, released on 3 October 2020 was one of the most anticipated Japanese songs and is finally here. The lyricist, composer, and singer of the song are Eve himself which was distributed by each music distribution service, their first release after 10 months. The music video features anime characters that build up an emotional atmosphere as the song proceeds through the lyrics. The chorus opening “Pay the darkness to pay the darkness” generates overall charm through the song leaving some understandable feelings on the way. Eve has done an amazing job with his perfectly matched vocals with the music. The song has over 10 million views on YouTube within just one week of its release.
Watch Kaikai Kitan 廻廻奇譚 – Eve
8. King Gnu – 三文小説 (10K+)
King Gnu’s三文小説 (Eng: Sanbun Novel / Sanmon Shosetsu) was released on October 30 and officially premiered on YouTube on November 6, 2020. Regardless of the few who were disappointed by the song, it has a pretty strong opening and gives good first impressions. Gnu’s specialty is he uses almost the same singing opening in most of his song compositions. Iguchi’s voice at the beginning has been stronger just like in the previous song and to be honest most of the recent bands have been producing high tone polished theme voices.
The music sound, guitar, bass, and drums go well with vocals and do not intervene in the sound. Sanbun Novel somehow feels to have an orchestral environment that builds up marching band style. King Gnu always produces artistic and creative music and he certainly hasn’t failed with Sanbun Novel. The song has over 10 million views on YouTube within its first week of release. The song teaches you how to face reality and find happiness in life.
Watch King Gnu –三文小説
7. BTS (방탄소년단) Life Goes On Official MV (17K+)
BTS’s Life Goes On was released on November 20, 2020, under the production of Pdogg, Chris James, Ruuth, RM, Antonia Armano, j-hope, and SUGA. As per BH Entertainment, the lead single “Life Goes On” is dedicated to everyone stuck due to COVID-19. “The world was running normal and suddenly the world was hit without any warning. Everyone is forced to live an abnormal life facing difficulties but no matter what, life goes on” is the primary message of the title of the track, said the BTS leader Kim Namjoon in a press conference. He also described the song to be a consolation and full of truth that no one can deny.
The song opens with Jungkook’s sweet voice and acoustic guitar in the background. “Life Goes On” is a beautiful classic ballad song with a composition of rap lyrics. The opening line “one day the world stopped without a warning” gives chills like Alan Jackson’s “Where were you when the world stopped turning”. One can also consider this song to be the most honest and relatable song given the current situation of the world and the video is just lovely.
Watch BTS (방탄소년단) Life Goes On Official MV
6. Yoasobi – Racing Into The Night (18K+)
Released on December 25, 2019 “Yoru ni Kakeru” (Japanese: 夜に駆ける, lit. Racing into the Night) is the first song released by Japanese music duo Yoasobi. The biggest J-pop hit paces a short story of death with an animated music video. Soon Yoasobi broke the top charts and was a matter of sensation nationwide on TV shows and music concerts. Racing Into The Night delivers upbeat vibes with lyrics about lovers killing themselves. Somewhere it feels like a supernatural fiction story and is a kind of source of inspiration as well.
The song is based on “Temptation of Thanatos”, a short story by Mayo Hoshino which was released online in the summer of 2019. The story begins with an alone man living in an apartment working at a labor company. He gets a message from his female that she is going to kill herself. When he rushes to her home, he sees she is on the top of a building ready to jump. He stops her and explains this is the fourth time she has tried to kill herself. The MV “Racing Into The Night” implies this story has beautifully written lyrics and the amazing voice of Yoasobi.
Watch – YOASOBI – Racing Into The Night
5. K/DA – More (20K+)
Virtual K-Pop Group K/DA’s recent single “The Baddest” was a super hit with over 30 million views on YouTube and over 160K repeats on ListenOnRepeat. Now they are back with “More” featuring Lexie Liu, Jaira Burns, and LoL champion and song producer, Seraphine. Lexie Liu is a Chinese rising star, who just joined K/DA for Riot’s new single ahead of the League of Legends World Championship Finals. K/DA’s EP All Out has released and features five tracks including The Baddest, I’ll Show You, More, Villains, and Drum Go Drum.
A few weeks back, Riot announced Seraphine’s entry in K/DA where she received positive support from fans while some said her design was quite similar to another LoL champion, Sona. However, that doesn’t change Riot’s mindset and they well defended their new champion as Seraphine makes her first virtual debut on “More”.
Watch K/DA – More
4. LiSAxUru – 再会(Produced by Ayase) / The First Take (20K+)
LiSAxUru “Produced by Ayase” was released on November 16th under the distribution label of “The First Take Music” on YouTube. On November 6, LiSA x Uru released their first song which was a collaboration with LiSA, Uru, and producer Ayase (who is the composer of YOASOBI) in charge of writing the songs. After the MV was officially released on YouTube, the video was an instant hit and achieved nearly eight million views within just 7 days. You can also get more information about the “The First Take Stage” where they release performances of different artists on their official website.
Watch LiSAxUru – 再会(Produced by Ayase) / The First Take
3. Blackpink – Lovesick Girls (25K+)
South Korean girl band Blackpink was formed in 2016 by production company YG Entertainment. It consists of four members who come from South Korea, Australia, and Thailand. Two of the members had prior experience, having been featured in various commercials and music videos of other artists of the same production company. The other two members were discovered through auditions. Their debut took place on August 8, 2016.
Blackpink’s Lovesick Girls follows their previous releases ‘How You Like That’ and Salena Gomez starring ‘ Ice Cream’. Jisoo and Jennie have put some incredible effort into the making of the MV and their outfits are amazingly eye-catching. The song is really good. However, it felt something was missing in the choreo but other than that the MV fits perfectly with the lyrics. The music video received positive feedback for the visual concept highlighting the fierceness and quirkiness that the group aspires to establish as their image. Lovesick Girls is also being featured by PUBG Mobile as their theme song at the moment and is attracting millions of PUBG fans.
Watch Blackpink – Lovesick Girls
2. LiSA 『炎』 -MUSiC CLiP (4K+)
LiSA released the single 『炎』(Eng: Flame; Read: Homura) on October 14, 2020, along with the album “LEO-NiNE”. The flame is also the title theme song of the anime movie “Kimetsu no Yaiba” which was released on October 16. The distribution of the song started on 12th October from her official site and soon LiSA’s Flame went to be a masterpiece with the addition of anime.
The song has a thrilling combination of sound and melody with stringed instruments and beats of acoustic guitar. A unique album overall that everyone can enjoy, the rich sounds and vocals expressions. The MV has received numerous positive compliments from LiSA fans. Also, LiSA staff writes “the MV exceeded 2 million playbacks within 24 hours of its release and is getting praise from other music directors and producers”. The song now has around 50 million views within its first month of release on YouTube and over 60K repeats on ListenOnRepeat.
Watch LiSA『炎』MUSiC CLiP
1. TWICE I CAN’T STOP ME M/V (50K+)
The brand new music video from TWICE, called “I Can’t Stop Me” already hit 10 million views on YouTube within the first 12 hours of its release. It is impossible to overstate the size of TWICE’s fanbase. It extends all over the world and, especially amongst kids; they are the group that commands attention, perhaps even more so than titans like BTS and Blackpink. Whatever the numbers, they are in the conversation, and that is special considering the success of K-pop as an expert all around the world. From Seoul to California, kids in playgrounds are more likely to speak about these groups than almost anything else.
With this release, they have also embraced a particular trend within K-pop, and more widely: synthpop, following other groups like EVERGLOW. It is the sound of the moment and takes the genre into still more experimental areas. There are a turbo-charged verse and a big moment chorus, which is a welcome return to the climax-lead tracks that K-pop made its name on (according to a popular review site, thebiaslist).
All that is left to talk about is the visuals, and there is no disappointment there (unsurprisingly). Color, fast dancing, impeccable outfits, a whole lotta attitude … It is original, quirky, and big. Everything we’d expect from a release of this magnitude. Get used to the sound if you aren’t already, this is the most-loved soundscape in the world right now, and it is here to stay.
Watch Twice – I Can’t Stop Me
