The Ringer: The Best K-pop Songs of 2021
6. Taemin, “Advice”
“I’ve written enough about Taemin,” I told myself, furiously swapping different groups into the last empty spot on my list. “Everyone already knows how I feel about ‘Advice,’ I called it a Haunted Girl Summer Anthem on every available platform. I should really give this spot to Enhypen or Aespa.”
[Record scratch; freeze frame.] I bet you’re wondering how we ended up here. Well, I am who I am (a loud and annoying SHINee fan), and Taemin is who Taemin is, K-pop’s most thrilling and ostentatious performer. There’s no one like him, and thank god he gave us this last absurd gift of a song before temporarily putting his career on hold for mandatory military enlistment. “Advice” (or “Beethoven’s 69th,” as I previously dubbed it) gives us Taemin at peak creature of the night. He pounds on a piano in full body paint, gyrates around in a slim checkerboard suit, and, most memorably, smashes through the final chorus in a cropped Supreme sweatsuit that may be the K-pop fit of the year. (2:32. Just trust me.) And this is all beyond the song itself—Taemin’s reputation as the industry’s best dancer is essentially set in stone, but his vocals and production have rarely been more reckless and riveting than on “Advice.” Apologies to Enhypen and Aespa, but I did not take my own advice.
1. Key, “Bad Love”
Has anyone had a better 2021 than the flashy, ever-entertaining Key? First, SHINee’s sassiest singer joined his group for their long-awaited comeback in February with “Don’t Call Me” and “Atlantis,” and he followed that with a year full of scene-stealing appearances on Korean variety show Amazing Saturday. But the highlight of Key’s 2021 came in September, when he released his retro-themed solo album Bad Love. Sure, maybe 2020 was the year of throwback, ’80s-inspired K-pop songs, but Key was in the military then, so he gets to have his vintage moment now. And what a moment it is! The blingy, bedazzled music video, an apparent nod to (and improvement on) 2019’s Joker, sees Key whirling his way through a chaotic talk show appearance and old-school movie sets. Jam-packed video aside, the real highlight of “Bad Love” is the funky choreography and that soaring, synth-heavy chorus. It’s hard to remember, as he belts his way through the outro at 2:53, that Key isn’t technically the main vocalist or the main dancer of SHINee—a real testament to the group’s depth. But Key can do it all, and he’s always flourished on his own terms, whether in 2018 with “One of Those Nights,” 2019 with “I Wanna Be,” and now with “Bad Love.” Key picked up his career in 2021 like he never left, and he’s thriving now more than ever. I, for one, can’t wait to see what he does in 2022.
https://www.theringer.com/music/2021/12/13/22828474/kpop-singles-key-weeekly-sunmi