KSC | K-Pop

Wow, I can’t believe September is already over, but I have to say, September brought some FIRE bangers that were immediately added to my playlist.

However, there were ten tracks that have been on repeat, and dare I say, some of the best tracks released by K-pop boy groups and male soloists this month. And no, I don’t just mean title tracks or releases from the big three. Like, we’re going IN these albums.

So here are my top ten must-listen tracks released in September, in no particular order because ranking these gems would make a girl stressed. Let’s see if we have any of the same must-listen tracks.

1. “Like Fire” — 82MAJOR

When I tell you this hit my timeline one random day while I was scrolling, I have never gotten out of an app so fast to go listen to a song in my life. Not even exaggerating.

Hello vocals, hello vibe, HELLO performance.

I think it was just such a good sound and track, and in my opinion, something a little different from what we’ve been getting lately, so it felt refreshing. ESPECIALLY after “Sign,” which came out in April. Like, do NOT get me started on that one. “Like Fire” and “Sign” are literally cousins.

2. “Open Your Eyes” — CLOSE YOUR EYES

Listen, I am ALL IN when groups experiment and do something different. So walking into “Open Your Eyes” completely blind and hearing that jazz inspiration was basically a heaven-sent journey for me. I LOVE this song. Like, LOVE may not even fully cover how I feel about it.

I personally haven’t heard many groups venture into this kind of sound, at least not in my own music discovery journey, and that made it stand out even more to me. So this banger on repeat TILL THIS DAY.

It honestly pains me that CLOSE YOUR EYES is a temporary group, but while they’re still here dropping bangers like this, I will absolutely be living through them.

3. “Type X” — MONSTA X

I am a solid MONSTA X fan, okay. I am ALL in for the dark vibes, noisy hits, and hip-hop influences. What can I say?

And I was so stoked for The Phase. Like, a girl was deprived of MONSTA X while they were gone. Their last album, Unfold, was fire too. “Main Attraction” was on repeat. Sorry, honorary mention had to be said.

So when that intro beat for “Type X” hit, I was absolutely seated. Then Joohoney came in with that flow, and before I knew it, I was already bopping my head. But what REALLY sold it for me was that chorus. “Ain’t no chasin’ on this higher ground.” Yeah. That was me scrunching my face at how absolutely revoltingly good that switch-up was to me.

4. “Time 1.1” — MINHO

Listen, me and MINHO go way back to “Heartbreak,” okay?

So hearing “Make It Hot” was just SO GOOD to me. The overall vibe of that song is so freaking catchy that it might actually be embarrassing how many times it has been played in my house. Like, triple platinum.

But now you’re probably like, okay Gina, but this isn’t even the song.

And I KNOW. I know I said ten tracks, but I’m cheating the system and bringing it up because “Time 1.1” and “Make It Hot” were so close to each other in terms of how good they were to me. Cut a girly some slack.

“Time 1.1” had me SOLD from the intro, and then jumping straight into that beat and lyric rhythm? Ugh. So good for my ears. Then the freaking chorus hit and suddenly I felt like I was out somewhere in Miami Beach living my best life.

5. “Death of Me” — EVAN

EVAN, oh EVAN. THE star boy that you are.

I love The Weeknd. Literally one of my top five artists and one of the first artists I ever truly called myself a fan of, where every song just felt like hit after hit.

So hearing “Death of Me,” with that eerie intro pushing full force into his vocals and the instrumental, I was ASCENDING. Like, insert the SpongeBob floating meme because that was literally me. And I mean, I loved his whole album too. The songs feel very him. They feel very him, and you can already hear his influences and the kind of vibe he wants to bring into this new chapter as a soloist.

So hey, EVAN, if this is what you’re bringing to the table, count me in for the rest. I was not disappointed at all.

6. “Say Yes!” — ONEUS

Me and ONEUS have this special relationship where I leave for a while, rediscover them, and then fall all over again into the cycle of streaming their music. And “Say Yes!” reminded me exactly WHY I love them.

Look, there are some songs that are hard to explain because they don’t just sound good, they actually make you feel something. Like they trigger an emotion you weren’t even expecting. To me, this song does that from start to finish. The intro feels like curiosity, then the emotions start growing and getting deeper, until you hit this kind of epiphany where you’re feeling everything at once.

That’s one of the reasons why I love music so much. Music is completely up to the interpretation of the person listening to it, and a song can make you feel something entirely different from what someone else hears.

7. “I See You” — JUN

Speaking of songs being up to one’s own interpretation, there is NO way I could leave out JUN’s “I See You.” And yes, I know it’s technically not K-pop, but JUN is in SEVENTEEN, therefore it counts. Case closed.

This is another one where I have to give it to whoever was behind the production and that beat because, hands down, I think it captures this feeling of creating such a deep bond with someone that sometimes words can’t even explain the emotion, but somehow sound can make you feel it.

And because I was so curious, I literally had to Google the lyrics, and honestly, they lined up almost exactly with what the instrumental was making me feel. The song talks about that connection existing between your words, your eyes, and even your souls, where sometimes there really isn’t anything more that needs to be said. So yeah, FIRE addition there because the production and lyrics really feel like they’re telling the same story.

That’s genuinely one of my favorite things about music. Sometimes an instrumental can communicate a feeling before you even put words to what that feeling is. And I truly think the instrumental here has SO much potential to appear in a series or drama because it does such a good job of locking in that feeling. Like locking eyes with someone and suddenly everything just bursts around you. THAT kind of vibe.

JUN, hands down, this has been on repeat. Thank you for this gem. It might be an acquired taste to some, but girl, I’m jamming.

8. “Way to Zero” — VERIVERY

Synth vibes? HELL YEAH. Me and synths are basically best friends, so the second that intro hit, immediate add.

The build-up was also so good. I love that feeling of chasing the chorus, where the song keeps building and building, and then when it finally hits at full energy, it’s just so satisfying. So yeah, you can definitely find me dancing to this one in my room without a problem.

It’s catchy, and like I’ve been saying, it feels just a little different from what the current trendy sound is right now. And the ending where everything just blasts again, the vocals are VOCALING, and I’m just riding that high from the music? Ugh. Fab.

9. “Don’t You” — D.O.

On the softer side, but just as freaking good. D.O. has basically given me the perfect track for my evening chill vibes with this one. We all know D.O.’s vocals are good. Like, we are not questioning that.

But paired with this kind of sound? Ugh.

Look, I may be biased because I LOVE songs like this. Like yes, tell me the story through the lyrics. Let me feel the vibe of the song. Make me feel like I’m the person actually going through those emotions.

10. “Good Boy” — &TEAM

“Good Boy.” That hard intro? Then the chanting/yelling vibe? Yes, yes, and YES.

I also love that they’re still keeping their concept woven into their music. Werewolves? I might just be in Twilight, but I’m picking Jacob for this one.

I think one thing this track does really well is the flow switch-ups. It almost feels like three different songs that somehow flow into each other, moving from rap bars into vocals without completely losing you along the way. This one is definitely hitting the spooky playlists.

Anyways, those are my top ten tracks from September.

Did we have any of the same picks? And if you have songs with similar vibes, PLEASE send them my way because clearly I need more.