Old Kpop Song Recommendations (Girl Group Songs)

This is part 2 of my old Kpop song recommendations. This time we are only talking about girl group songs. Anyone interested in boy group songs, here is a link to part 1. Once again, here are some "old" Kpop songs mainly from around the 2000s to 2015. Unlike the first post, this post is more personal and I really go on rants about the groups. These are some words that I have bottled up in my heart and I really just want to share them with others, so please bear with me.

Similarly to part 1, let us start off with a first-generation girl group's song, Now, by Fin.K.L. This is the group that Korea's It Girl, Lee Hyori, debuted in. This song is just so catchy and their vocals are also really good. Also, girls in suits... I love. Here is a music show performance mainly because I love their outfits here.

Fin.K.L- Now

Next up is the debut song of the Nation's Girl Group, Girls' Generation. Into the New World is one of my favorite girl group songs of all time. This is a positive and uplifting song about not giving up despite the many struggles you may face. It reminds us to leave behind the darkness and follow the light into a new world. This song is a very fitting song for Girls' Generation's debut. Some background information about Girls' Generation. They are truly a LEGENDARY girl group. Debuting in 2007, they are credited as the lead female group that shifted the public's focus back to female idols after the Korean music industry experienced an influx of male idol groups from 2002 to 2007. If you look at the list of winners for Album of the Year at the Golden Disk Awards, you will find that Girls Generation is the first and ONLY girl group as of July 2020 to win Album of the Year with the album Oh!. They also won 3 Song of the Year. They are also the ONLY girl group to claim the title of "best selling album of the year." This is unheard of as boy groups tend to sell way more than girl groups. These achievements are just the tip of the iceberg of what Girls' Generation has achieved over the years. Similar to the lyrics in the song, regardless of whatever darkness or hurdles they had to jump over (ex. beating out some of the most legendary boy groups), they did not give up. As their name suggests, Girls' Generation literally impacted a generation of women (and others) with their music and influence. By achieving the impossible, they truly created a generation where girl group music could do as well or even better than male group music.

Girls Generation- Into the New World

With such positive lyrics, this is a very popular protest song. One such example is in 2016 the Ewha Women's University students sang this song during part of their peaceful protest against the university (information about the protest is in the video's description box), whilst facing 1600 police officers. Here is a clip of this protest. This clip moved me to tears.

(information about this song and Girls' Generation came from Wikipedia)

I feel like most people who are interested in Kpop have probably heard of the BOP, Gee. This is such a classic so even if you have not, you'll end up hearing it somewhere in the future so I am not gonna include a video here.

Next up is a girl group with so much potential but was ruined by their company's management. F(x) remains to be one of my favorite girl groups. During a time where most girl groups were either cute or girl crush, f(x) really broke that mold and were known as the experimental concept group. Musically, they were a very unique group in the market. Sadly, I don't have the proper terminology to explain their unique music so I do not even want to try because words like "it is unique and catchy and good" just do not do their music justice. As a group, they are very experimental. Just look at their fashion. They are always sporting colorful clothes with crazy patterns and textures. Also, especially during their rookie days, they wore more pants than skirts and dresses to perform which was pretty refreshing to see since most girl groups wore mini skirts to perform. Their leader, Victoria, is the first leader of Chinese nationality. Their main rapper, Amber, is the first "tomboy" in Kpop and first Kpop idol with an androgynous style due to her very short hair and wearing pants when the other members might wear dresses or skirts. In an industry and country that is so visually focused, girls were always expected to be a certain way. Amber really broke that stereotype and communicated the message that girls do not have to conform with certain societal standards. Even now as a solo artist she continues to be a voice against gender stereotypes and other issues. Please go support her. She is soooo beautiful and talented and seems like an amazing, genuine person. The other members are also very unique in their own ways. Krystal has a beautiful voice and has so much stage presence, so my eyes are always drawn to her. Luna is such an amazing vocalist and dancer. One of the members, Sulli, is now no longer with us. She committed suicide and passed away in 2019. She is a well-known feminist and was very outspoken about her thoughts on female stereotypes. She was also a victim of a lot of cyberbullying which is likely a cause for her suicide. Please be respectful of others when posting online. Words that may have taken you two seconds to type and send out might haunt others for the rest of their lives. In recent years, many popular Kpop idols such as Jonghyun, Sulli, Goo Hara, and so many more have committed suicide. One likely cause is cyberbullying. Just because someone is a public figure does not mean they deserve any less respect and privacy than other people. We are all humans and should all be treated with respect. There are many ways to voice your opinion, and hate comments and disrespectful language is not necessary to do so. Sulli and others who are now no longer with us due to cyberbullying, may you all rest in peace. The world was too harsh to you and I really hope you are now resting in a happy, peaceful place.

Despite being one of the groups who helped to spread the Korean Wave, f(x) was mistreated by their company in the sense that they did not have many comebacks and were not as promoted as other groups in the company. They don't even have an official lightstick for crying out loud! SM did not do my girls justice. Though they are now disbanded, I still wish all the best to all the members of f(x) with their solo activities. Thank you for having blessed us with so many amazing songs as f(x).

Chu is one of the first girl group songs that I really liked and has a very special place in my heart.

f(x)- Chu

Also, here is the masterpiece that is Red Light.

f(x)- Red Light

This next song is Bang! by the After School. This group has a graduation system in which new members can always be added and old members can graduate. This group has done so many concepts. They debuted with a Pussycat Dolls concept then went on to do many concepts such as marching band and pole dancing. The song Bang! is a marching band concept where all the girls sport sexy marching band uniforms and play the drums. This group is known to be a model group because its members are gorgeous and have very model-like figures and some members are actual models.

After School- Bang!

The next song is Kara's Step. This is a whole BOP that you should play 24/7. This song captures everything I LOVE about Kpop, especially 2nd generation Kpop. This song is super catchy, poppy, and upbeat. The music video is gorgeous and just an explosion of colors and all about having a good time. The vocals are amazing and the rap is just sooooo catchy. The members also dance their asses off here. Can we bring this concept back pls! If you are ever just feeling down and want a pick me up, this will have you smiling in no time. The girls are dancing and smiling and it just makes me so happy watching them. Sadly, one of the members, Goo Hara, is also no longer with us. She was also a victim of cyberbullying. Once again, please be respectful in real life and online. May she rest in peace and I will continue to remember her as the energetic idol that she was.

Kara- Step

The next song is my favorite Miss A song, Good-bye Baby. The song is about ending the relationship and saying good-bye baby to their past boo.

Miss A- Good-bye Baby

Now comes songs from one of my favorite years of Kpop, 2012. This is going to be a long list.

The first song is T-ara's Lovey Dovey. This song is super catchy and has a cute choreography full of shuffling. Remember LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem? Think the cute Kpop version of that. The music video is about zombies attacking the girls at a club while the girls continue to shuffle dance in the middle of the dance floor. I do not see anything wrong with that.

T-ara- Lovey Dovey

Whoz That Girl is the debut song of one of my favorite girl groups, EXID. Before Hani's fancam of her performing Up and Down went viral, the group did not always have a sexy concept. When they debuted they had 6 members. I loved them since their debut because of their strong vocals. Whoz That Girl is about them questioning their boyfriend "who is that girl?" aka a song about cheating. However, soon 3 members of the group left due to certain problems with the company. These girls later debuted under the group Bestie. Half a year later, EXID added 2 new members and came back with I Feel Good. Despite coming from a small company, EXID managed to make a name for themselves due to their sexy concept, strong vocals, and catchy songs. For more information about why the 3 members left or about EXID in general, please refer to my post, EXID.

EXID- Whoz That Girl

Aside from their summer hits such as Touch My Body and Loving U, they also released songs such as Alone which are more of a sexy concept. Alone was super popular for its leg dance. Even though the other members' vocals were great in this song, Hyolyn really killed this song with her velvety vocals.

Sistar- Alone

This next song is by an underrated girl group, Dalshabet. Each song they release is super catchy and has a nice point dance (memorable and easy to follow dance highlight) but for some reason, they just never had a hit song that made them super popular. This group really nailed the balance between both cute and sexy concepts. Their song Mr. Bang Bang is super cute with a bit of sexy concept. Their outfits are pink cowgirl uniforms. The plot of the music video is the members robbing a bank. 

Dalshabet- Mr. Bang Bang

Before becoming popular after NoNoNo and Mr. Chu, the girls of Apink released Hush. This is such an Apink song. It is super cute, packed with amazing vocals, and very pink.

Apink- Hush

Here is another underrated girl group. Two X debuted under J. Tune Camp which is founded by Rain and is the company that used to manage MBLAQ and Madtown. Double Up is their debut song and I honestly had high hopes for them. They had strong vocals and pretty good rap. However, they did a 180-degree concept change and went from more girl crush concept to a super cute concept then were inactive for many years until they released Over under another label. They disbanded shortly after. Regardless, thank you Two X for this amazing song.

Two X- Double Up

Here is another girl group with so much fucking potential that is now disbanded. Spica was a crowd favorite. Known for their amazing vocals, Spica was super popular. However, the group stopped having regular comebacks and fell out of the public eye. Sadly, they disbanded in 2017.

Spica- I'll Be There

Maybe some of you have heard of Two X because of their company, but I assure you unless you used to watch 24 hour Kpop religiously in 2012, you have probably never heard of this song or group. She'z debuted with the song, My Way. Once again, this is one of the rookie groups that debuted in 2012 that I really thought had potential but ultimately disappeared without a trace. This group marketed itself as a group with all the members being able to sing as well as a lead vocalist in another group. This song is super catchy and has really nice vocals. I feel if She'z and Two X did not debut in 2012 where literally every single song is a classic, they might have been more popular. 2012 was just an insanely competitive year where bop after bop was released and for some reason, a ton of groups debuted that year. To give you an idea of how competitive the market was, 2012 is the year that FANTASTIC BABY and a lot of other Big Bang and G-Dragon solo hits, GANGNAM STYLE by Psy, Electric Shock by f(x), Twinkle by Girls' Generation TTS, I Love You by 2ne1, Loving U by Sistar, Sexy Free and Single by Super Junior, Sherlock by Shinee, Beautiful Night by Beast, and etc, were released. Here is a playlist I found of Kpop songs released in 2012. You can see for yourself. Competition was FIERCE. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL72879C58787B578A Rookie groups that debuted in 2012 include AOA, BAP, BTOB, EXID, Crayon Pop, EXO, NU'EST, VIXX, and more.

She'z- My Way

I could go on about my favorite songs from 2012, but I am going to stop here so I can mention some songs from other years.

As I mentioned above, 3 members of the original line up of EXID left and redebuted in a group named Bestie. Here is one of their songs, Love Options. There are English subtitles! Please turn them on if you speak English. The lyrics are the cutest thing in the world. This song talks about why girls are single. Girls do not ask for much... just 100 roses, diamonds, a necklace, a ring, and a man that loves her. Yea... girls don't ask for much.

Bestie- Love Options

The next song is the song that shot Girl's Day into popularity. I liked Girl's Day before this song because I loved Twinkle Twinkle. However, I decided to include Expect instead because this is just such a classic. Here, Girl's Day underwent a concept change and switched from a more cute concept to a sexy concept. Their use of suspenders for their choreography was extremely popular. This song talks about a woman wanting to get the heart of a man who seems like a player.

Girl's Day

Before Big Hit debuted BTS, they actually debuted a girl group named GLAM. Similar to BTS' early concept, they went for the hip hop vibe. However, their career was short-lived due to a scandal revolving one of the members blackmailing a top actor in South Korea. Since then, Big Hit stopped accepting female trainees until recently. I really liked their music so it was pretty sad to see them disband over this scandal. I even tried to learn the choreography.

GLAM- I Like That

Let's wrap up this list with 4minute's Crazy. From just hearing the first second of this song, you know this will be a full-fledged BOP. This is such a catchy, sexy, powerful song. The energy these girls have is truly unbeatable. Also, they all look AMAZING. 4minute was often called Hyuna and Girls as a joke because Hyuna's popularity and charisma sometimes outshined the girls. This was a problem the girls struggled with for a really long time. However, in this comeback, all the girls had a moment to shine and to highlight their talents. No more Hyuna and the Girls... this is 4minute. This is not to say that in other comebacks the other members performed any worse than Hyuna or whatnot. All I want to say is that 4minute as a group really struggled a lot with the joke of Hyuna and the Girls and I am so proud that all the members found their strengths and talent and were able to really shine here. There was really no one person outshining the other here.

4minute- Crazy

There are soooo many more songs that I want to recommend but this would be such an exhaustive list. Here is a playlist that I have compiled of my favorite old Kpop songs. Please feel free to check it out! If you have any personal favorite old Kpop songs, please feel free to mention it in the comments down below.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7gEtxqF4AtCPz8UPuPzpYRpCoIuSUwRv