If you got to make your own K-pop year-end awards show for 2024, who would win?

Music Video of the Year: Wife- I-DLE

Biggest Grower (the one I grew to like the most): Armageddon- Aespa

Artist of the Year: ARTMS

Nintendo Switch 2 Divides the Community as Doubts Rise Over Whether the New Console Truly Delivers on Expectations - Rude Baguette

This will be my last answer for 2024, so I’m going to use the opportunity to tag some people who I loved interacting with this year, just to thank them for the good times!

This post will definitely be pretty messy and spur-of-the-moment, but I hope y’all like it anyway, and if I’m still around here in 2025, maybe it can be a tradition!

Best Success Story (the big hit I loved to see become a hit): Supernova- Aespa

This Chinese Spacecraft Is Traveling to One of Earth’s Quasi-Moons - WIRED

Most Stellar Release (the most obviously Stellar-coded song): Cosmic- Red Velvet

Song of the Year: Virtual Angel- ARTMS

The crux of Seonghwa is his ability to be both the most intimidatingly beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my life…and the cutest. He absolutely delivered on both sides this year. Seonghwa’s confidence in his personal style has never been stronger; obviously he’s always been gorgeous, but seeing him so clearly come into his own and become who he wants to be just makes me happy to be alive. He was constantly appearing in fantastic androgynous looks and slaying all of them. The long black hair he had for the majority of the year is one of his absolute best looks, the silver hair he currently has is pretty great, and in the concept photos for Golden Hour Part 2, we finally got the long-awaited return of Pink Seonghwa! It was just a wig but he still looked as beautiful as ever.

Newspaper headlines: Spending Review 'renewing Britain' or 'reckless splurge' - BBC

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I really don’t need to explain why funeral wreaths are awful. As for AI, it can be used as a tool, I suppose, but it’s concerning that groups who are known for their stellar creative direction (ARTMS, Red Velvet, Billlie, Aespa, and Kiss of Life, among others) keep featuring AI art in their albums. AI servers use up obscene amounts of water, and it’s ultimately pretty wasteful when the “art” we get from AI doesn’t even look that good. When it comes to art, AI can never compete with what humans can do. And on that note:

ੈ✩‧₊˚ this could be the end of everything…

What disgusts you?

Best Song Ending: DIM- Yves

I’d say that, removed from my bias, Aespa is probably the best choice for Artist of the Year. In terms of visual/art direction, there was no artist more exciting than they were.

Le Sserafim in general were really overhated, but if I must single out a specific song, it’s Smart. As soon as they teased it, I saw a whole bunch of whining: “they’re doing afrobeats which is appropriation of African artists!” “they’re copying Tyla!” “LSRFM problematic!” And maybe this would’ve been valid…if not for the fact that just a few months later, Kiss of Life released Sticky, another afrobeats-inspired song, and people ate it up. It’s not to say that everyone has to love Smart or that Sticky is bad (I mean, Sticky is in my top 20 for the year and Smart is kinda whatever), but the difference in their reception really represents Le Sserafim’s hate train as a whole.

How did China invent gunpowder but it was the European nations that went out and “conquered the world using firearms”?

The bulk of the song’s maybe a bit too spare for me personally, but it’s worth it to get to that ending. It makes me feel everything.

Album of the Year: DALL- ARTMS

Storytelling, cool aesthetics, and cinematic visuals are great, but this was my favorite music video this year because it does so much with such a simple setup. It’s one of those rare videos where I saw it once and thought “man, people are going to talk about this for years.” It’s so silly and filled with pure personality. It also works really well for what the song is- they’re all dressed the same to show that they’re “wives” rather than people, but they’re constantly trying to break out of that mold and be their own people. Wife is weird as hell, but it’s addicting, instantly iconic, and suits the song perfectly. Hats off to I-DLE’s creative team for making this work.

How would you spank me if I had been sent home from a school camp because of my poor behavior?

Most Unnecessary Artist: Naevis

If you asked me at the beginning of the year who would release my favorite boy group song of the year, I probably would’ve guessed ten other groups before I guessed The Boyz. While I casually enjoy some of their songs, I never would’ve anticipated just how much Nectar would mean to me. The way that this song feels, I would like to feel all the time.

Most Improved Artist (the artist I grew to like the most this year): Kiss of Life

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thanks for everything, i’m glad y’all exist!

Biggest Disappointment: Taeil’s Existence

Best Kpop-Related Thing To Ever Happen in 2024: Aniteez

Hi everybody! I have been looking at posts on narcs and narc abuse on here and if has really helped me out a lot. I am currently struggling with my situation and need some advice/support. I met a narc last year, everything seemed to good to be true. Love bombing, always texting calling and taking me on dates. Everything changed when someone warned me about him out in public in front of him and who he is. This caused a conflict with us and the love bombing seized. he would tell me that everything is okay and i can come and talk. He would set a time limit on me and kick me out after that. he would then text me like everything was fine and we hung out again and after that he completely ghosted me for one week. He came back and texted me a week later laughing about the ghosting and acting like nothing had happened. he continued to text me ( not like in the beginning) make plans with me, then on the day of the plans he would just ghost me. One day he would act interested the next silence. i contacted him a month later and he acted like nothing happened. He was on a vacation and sent me a picture of another woman ( someone he allegedly met on the trip) to strike a reaction but i never gave him one. After the trip he came to my place and was extremely rude, accusing me of going on dates with a bunch of men. The next day he accused me of being an alcoholic and that he wanted nothing to do with me but said well maybe we can be "friends" then ghosted me i assumed at this point it was over and i would never hear from him again. He contacted me on the holiday a month later acting like everything was great. We ended up hanging out a month or so later and when we hung out it went well, i thought things were going in the right direction. after we hung out.. silence. I would try to text him and if he replied it would be very short then he just stopped replying. He ghosted me for almost three months. I thought he was done this time and of course he popped up again like nothing happened. At this point i was getting sick of if so i questioned him as to why he dissapeared and always does this. Of course he had some sob story about a injury and family member dying of cancer. I felt pity for him and he gave me an apology.. so i took him back stupidly. things seemed to be going smooth for a couple months, of course until his family member died and his injury got better he never contacted me and was distant. Menawhile, i was there for him during the difficult time for him. He lied to me about the funeral and never wanted to chat. I was chasing him and he would always claim nothing was wrong but when i said i thought he used me when he was down he could not handle it and would always tell me he didnt care and to go away. I would get so upset i would try texting him to work it out he would barelt respond and if he did he would not be nice about it. we did hang out a couple times after that, he would ignore me after. One day i was like hey i think you are seeing someone else, and i was like well ixam seeing someone so no problem if you are he said " buy bye good luck with your new guy stop contacting me" i was devastated and tried to get into contact with him for weeks then i just gave up and accepted it was over. He ended up contacting me a month later acting like everything was fine. He wanted to go out and have drinks i told him i would. He and i both seemed to have a great time. He ends up ignoring me again. I kept texting him trying to figure out what was wrong. He kept saying everything was fine and i said ok can we hang out again? He said maybe i was like why? He just kept saying maybe … our last conversation we had… i said what is wrong ? He said nothing is wrong everything is fine. I asked him why he keeps saying maybe. He said " maybe but i dont want to see you right now" i said why? He saix " im just not feeling it, if i wanted to date i would" i said why did you contact me less then a week ago wanting to go out? He said i didnt.. even though he did. So i said should i just move on or what? He said whatever you want to do. So i said that he was really confusing me and asked him if he had anything more to say before i move on? My messages were turning green so i panicked he blocked me and reacted irrationally. I said " omg did you block me? My messages are not going through. Even texted him on my work phone asking what was up. And called him twice ( please dont judge me i know it is pathetic i never was this type of girl before him) so he replied and said " Ok I'll block you now" then immedietly blocked me. He has never blocked me before since I have met him he will just ghost. Is this ths final discard aka " grand finale? Did i just push him too far? this has upset me so much its hard to even function.

Honorable mention to Supersonic by fromis_9 and DAY6 in general- I love both groups, so seeing them get more attention in Korea was well-deserved and satisfying.

The discussion surrounding “separating the art from the artist” is a complicated one and I think there’s a place for many opinions, but personally, I haven’t felt comfortable listening to NCT 127 because the monster in question is all over those songs and played a big role in my love for a lot of them. (Especially with NCT’s reputation for “hoe anthems”- I really, really do not want to hear a rapist singing those!) First and foremost, it’s a disappointment that he would genuinely violate someone’s entire existence, but it’s also a disappointment that one unspeakable action can singlehandedly ruin art that many other creatives worked on and that millions of fans found joy in.

Worst Trends of the Year: Funeral Wreaths and AI

Is it possible for the AfD to ever win the chancellorship in Germany?

Worst Song of the Year: Like Magic- JYPNation

Honorable mention to Woke Up In Tokyo by BabyMonster, which is probably objectively worse, but I’m likely going to forget about that song’s existence. Like Magic is doomed to rot in my head for the rest of eternity. I predict it will be like Permission To Dance, one of those songs where I know I hate it, but when I actually do hear it, I’m still flabbergasted by how bad it sounds to me.

This year’s been really, really good for Stellar-coded, starry songs, and while Cosmic wasn’t quite my favorite 2024 song in this niche, there really isn’t anything more on-the-nose ME than my favorite girl group making a starry synthpop song called Cosmic…except for, on this album, they also released a song called Night Drive. I have never felt more loved.

All the ways Apple TV boxes do—and mostly don’t—track you - Ars Technica

Bias of the Year (the idol I loved following most): Seonghwa- Ateez

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B-Side of the Year: Butterfly Effect- ARTMS

Most Overhated Song (a song that got more hate than it deserves, not overrated): Smart- Le Sserafim

Rot in hell, you bastard.

Biggest Pleasant Surprise: Nectar- The Boyz

In any other case, I’d find it pretty rude to call an artist “unnecessary,” but Naevis is not a real person so she won’t be hurt. I just want to know who asked for this. I’m sure there are people who are invested in the SMCU/Aespa’s lore, but did anyone seriously want Naevis to be treated as an idol? Did SM see the love people had for Welcome To MY World last year and think we liked it because we love Naevis as a singer? It’s ridiculous.

This isn’t a typical “awards show,” it’s just a fun way for me to sum up some of kpop’s other happenings this year. This is what kpop was like for me as a fan!

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Every single time a kpop group has put out mascot characters, I’ve adored it, and I always wanted Ateez to get their own mascots, but even with that, Aniteez exceeded all of my expectations. These little guys are angels. Nothing brought me joy like seeing pictures of the Aniteez characters (especially pictures of the members posing with their characters), and promptly sending them to my Atiny friends.

I could give the award to a song (Ateez’s two title tracks, along with Eenie Meenie by Chungha and Hongjoong- man I wish I liked that one more) or artist (BabyMonster and MEOVV, talented groups who are let down by YG’s stale producers) I found disappointing, but the biggest let-down I’ve ever had in kpop is Taeil. Waking up that morning and opening Reddit to the news that he had done one of the most indefensible things a human being can ever do absolutely horrified me and broke my heart. While I never called him a “bias,” I always loved his singing and thought he seemed like a nice, chill guy, only to learn that the opposite was true.

…so why don’t we go, somewhere only we know ੈ✩‧₊˚

Best Trend of the Year: Starry, Stellar Synthpop

I don’t think I need to explain any of this, go read my favorite songs of 2024 list if you haven’t! I would like to write an elaborate answer about how much I love DALL as an album. Maybe I’ll do that in 2025.

Song That Got Away (a 2023 song I didn’t hear until this year, but loved): In Bloom- ZeroBaseOne

But if you know me, you know I mostly stan him for the cute, soft moments, and as always, Hwa was very, very cute this year. He gave the world multiple Lego lives, adorable moments at fansigns, and the holy grail: the Orange Caramel dance cover he did at a fancon in July with Yunho and San! My guy was fully in it, and I was obsessed. I’m begging y’all to look the video up when you are sad.

I suppose I could pick ARTMS for this, since DALL was their official debut as OT5, but I’ll attempt to mix things up! I’m very, very happy with what Yves is doing as a soloist. Her current sound suits her perfectly, and I’m looking forward to what she’ll do next.

Again, see my big list, but it felt like a lot of the year’s fan favorite releases (such as those from ARTMS, Kep1er, and Red Velvet, among others) can be summed up as Stellarcore. I’m thankful.

Honorable mentions to Happy Ending by Kep1er, Rose Blossom by H1-KEY, LALALALA by Stray Kids, and Maniac by Viviz.

What’s most frustrating to me is that Naevis’s singing voice is AI-generated. With very few exceptions, I oppose the usage of AI in art, and from what I’ve heard of Naevis’s song, the vocals just sound absolutely abysmal. Even outside of that, it’s heartbreaking that SM artists like NCT Dream have very openly criticized the usage of AI, only for their company to pull this shit.

Best New Artist: Yves

The only thing with Smart that really deserves major criticism is the decision to give Eunchae the choreography, but that’s entirely on Source Music, not the girls themselves.

Honorable mentions to TWS for their consistency and Rescene for their boundless potential. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rescene releases a SOTY contender this coming year.

I know this is framed as an awards show, and I shouldn’t be rewarding behavior as heinous as what Taeil did, so here is his special “trophy”:

The only song I really loved from KiOf last year was Sugarcoat, although Countdown and Says It weren’t bad either. In 2024, however, I enjoyed the vast majority of their releases. Midas Touch and Sticky were fantastic singles, and Te Quiero and especially Chemistry are two of the year’s best b-sides. They were, along with ARTMS, the only group to show up in my year-end top 20 more than once. I think Igloo is probably my least favorite song they’ve put out this year (it’s just not personally my type of song), and even then, I think the hype it gets is fairly justified.

At first, I thought it was a disappointment in comparison to what a banger Supernova was, but that pre-chorus worked its way into my heart for sure.

Honorable mentions go to NMIXX and IU. NMIXX’s music has greatly improved and they are now in the good place I’ve always wanted them to be- distinct music that feels unique and suits their talents well. IU’s probably the artist I’ve grown to like most this year, but that’s more because I gave her discography as a whole a bigger chance rather than only her 2024 releases, and I think this award should honor the 2024 music that impressed me most.

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I really didn’t think I needed to care that much about ZB1 since I didn’t watch the show, but when I finally got around to listening to In Bloom, it really struck a chord with me. The ending is incredible. It just feels like they’re fighting so hard to prove themselves in the industry and establish a connection with fans, and that’s just really special. I don’t love every ZB1 song and there are still plenty I haven’t heard, but Sweat was one of my 2024 faves, so that makes sense!

We really, really needed a song like this to get this big. Supernova is larger-than-life, silly and campy in the way that many of SM’s classic releases are, and it’s just so catchy and memorable. It’s a reminder of why many people got into kpop in the first place. It’s too soon to tell if Supernova was a one-off or if its success will set any trends within the industry, but either way, it shows that deep down, the people yearn for maximalism and fun. Also the biggest song of the year says “stellar” in its chorus. I liked that!

Even as a diehard Seonghwa bias, my favorite is actually Sandeoki. She looks like San and is a precious purple cat. I adore all the designs though!

I don’t like being negative, and I likely wouldn’t have this category if I didn’t have something agreeable. I know most fans boycotted this due to JYP collaborating with Coca-Cola; I chose to listen to a reupload because of this. But even outside of the moral implications of the song, Like Magic is an atrocity on a musical level. A lot of the time, the worst songs are the catchiest, and that’s Like Magic. It’s awfully-produced and extremely annoying, and the most annoying part is that whenever I remember it exists, I end up with JUMP! JUMP IN! LKJSLKJLSKDFJLSKF MAGIC! looping in my head and I want to punch something.

twen Ahnn Meraki krystal zhang. Iona Craig na jieun lisah Melly Sticker Rose Phan Paromita Away With the Faeries SXNSHINE Bonnie starrxlexy also chrie and bluejinnie, who i can’t tag, and I’m sure I’m missing plenty of others

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