My top 21 songs of 2021

 I admit it, I stole this idea from YouTuber Jeff Avenue who I watch frequently.  He did a list of his top 21 songs from 2021 and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  Now, he limited himself to k-pop songs that came out in 2021 that were album title tracks.... and I do NOT intend to limit myself like that.... however, that being said, do be aware that 2021 was BEYOND k-pop heavy for me - so expect a majority (almost all) of the songs on this list to be from the k-pop genre.

Spotify wrapped of course gave pretty good insight into which songs got the most play from me on that service, but that doesn't take into account my non-spotify listening or the songs that might not have gotten as much airplay even though I like them more.  Let's face it, songs released earlier in the year had more chances to get repeated plays after all.

So then - my top 21 songs of the year 2021

21) Zombie (English Version) by DAY 6

Release date 5/21/2020

This song really captures how I felt through a good portion of the year - so in that way, it's sort of the perfect anthem of the year.... it's just that I didn't discover it until recently so I don't feel comfortable putting it any higher in the rankings of my top songs of the year.  If the pandemic continues to impact my life this next year as it did in 2021, expect to see this song much higher in the rankings next year.

20) My Universe (SUGA's Remix) by Coldplay X BTS

Release date 10/18/2021

As much as I utterly LOVE this song, I haven't put it any higher on the list because I don't think it's a good representation of my entire year.  It's a FANTASTIC song for the months of May, October, November, and early December - but not so much for the rest of the year.

19) 좋아해서 미안 (Sorry, I Love You) by Stray Kids 

Release date 8/23/2021

I pretty much love every single track off of the new Stray Kids NOEASY album, but there is something beautiful and special about this song.  When the album first came out, I thought it would be The View that would become my favorite track - but as time went by, it became eclipsed by Red Lights and this track.  The thing is, even though I love Red Lights a lot - Sorry, I Love You just touches me different.  It's soothing somehow.

18) DAMAGE by JUST B

Release date 6/30/2021

I discovered this track after the YouTube channel Form of Therapy did their reaction to this song.  Because it's the debut track of the group, it's also how I was introduced to JUST B.  I haven't looked back.  It's such a fun song to clean or drive or work to.  This is a song I used for a while as my wake up alarm song.  It only lost the alarm job because I started incorporating it into my dreams instead of waking up to it.

17) libidO by OnlyOneOf

Release date 4/8/2021

This song made waves when it came out because several critics in the k-pop community found the choreo too adult and explicit and didn't think it should be televised. The controversy made me look up the choreo and I fell in love with the song.  It just slaps!  It has yet to lose its place on my daily playlist since I discovered it and I'm never not in the mood for it.

16) Winter Flower (Feat. RM of BTS) by Younha

Release date 1/27/2020

I can't actually explain why it is that I love this song so much - but I've now been listening to it on a regular basis for almost 2 years.  I'm still not tired of it.  It's my standard for when I'm doing my hair or makeup or crafting - basically any time I need to concentrate, stay awake, and stay calm all at the same time.... which is more often than you might think.

15) THATS WHAT I WANT by Lil Nas X

Release date 9/16/2021

I love this song.  It resonates so deeply with me.  It's only been out for about 3.5 months, but it DESERVES to be in my top 15.  It's just so damn good.

14) FEVER by ENHYPEN

Release date 5/19/2021

Hoooooo boy!  Enhypen has been ALL OVER my playlists this year.  Border: Carnival and Dimension: Dilemma were both great albums released this year - but while songs from both albums popped on and off my daily playlists, it was FEVER that never left and had the staying power to be there all year.

13) 맛 Hot Sauce by NCT DREAM

Release date 5/10/2021

I admit that when this first came out, I didn't really dig it that much.

It GREW on me.  Boy howdy did it ever.  After my trip to Virginia in July, it's been on regular rotation nearly daily for me.  It makes me bop, and it makes me remember my niece grooving to it in the middle of a museum and grinning with pure joy and fun.  As such, it is now a song that just makes me happy.

12) Anyone by SEVENTEEN

Release date 7/23/2021

This was the B-side track off of the Your Choice album, but I loved it so much more than the title track of Ready to Love.  Don't get me wrong, I listened to Ready to Love a lot as well... but Anyone is just so much more of a groove for me.

11) Pretty Please by Jackson Wang & Galantis

Release date 9/3/2020

This has been on regular rotation on my daily playlist all year.  I'm still not tired of it.  It still makes me bop and dance along as I work.  I just love it.

10) 나란히 (Side By Side) by THE 8

Release date 4/13/2021

Spotify calls this my #14 song of the year, but what the algorithm doesn't factor in is that there was a Chinese Language Version of the song that was released as part of the Single and I listened to both Korean and Chinese versions of the song equally as often.  The Korean version feels more laid back and the Chinese version feels brighter to me for some reason, so I listened to a different version depending on the mood I was in at the moment.  At any rate, I love the playfulness of this track and it makes me smile.

9) Warrior 逆燃 by SEVENTEEN (Joshua, Jun, The 8, Mingyu, Vernon)

Release date 7/2/2021

Spotify claims that this is my #67 track of the year.... oh how wrong that is!  This is a Chinese language song that was done for the Official Soundtrack of a C-Drama called Falling Into Your Smile which... I devoured.  I bought this track for myself and listened to it TONS offline - sometimes several times in a row (which may be why the Spotify algorithm didn't calculate accurately since it doesn't always count multiple back to back plays of a song).

8) Blueberry Eyes (feat. SUGA of BTS) by MAX 

Release date 9/15/2020

This song introduced me to MAX as an artist and I've discovered that I enjoy several of his other tracks as well, even ones that he didn't do as collaborations with SUGA.  For quite a while, this song was how I would start my work days as a way to wake up and put myself in a good and upbeat mood.

7) Trivia 轉 : Seesaw by Suga of BTS

Release date 8/24/2018

Second in the Min Yoongi block, this is off of the LOVE YOURSELF 結  'Answer' album. Suga's blend of low smooth singing, speak singing, and rapping in this track was a calming combination for me on stressful days.

6) 대취타 (Daechwita) by Agust D

Release date 5/22/2020

This may have been released in mid 2020, but it was an absolute head banger for me all year whenever I had to clean, or cook, or shop, or do any sort of menial task that I had trouble finding the motivation to tackle.  Spotify might claim that it's my #15 song of the year..... Spotify is WRONG.  This was my go to song when I needed to motivate myself to do anything I didn't really want to do - and MAN is that a powerful thing!

5) 神메뉴 (God's Menu) by Stray Kids

Release date 6/14/2020

In 2020 my top Stray Kids track was Back Door which is off the same album, but something about the gritty-ness of this track more suit my mood in 2021.  For a while, I was even using this song as my alarm to wake me up in the morning.

4) LO$ER=LO♡ER by TOMORROW X TOGETHER

Release date 8/20/2021

I fell in love with the punk/emo style of this track from TXT.  It was a great follow up/evolution of 0X1=LOVESONG (I Know I Love You) feat. Seori which was the title track predecessor of LO$ER=LO♡ER.  Now, Spotify would like you to think that this was my top song of the year... but Spotify is wrong.  I firmly believe that no matter how many times I listened to this, it really does belong at #4 on my list.

3) Butter by BTS

Release date 5/20/2021

This debuted while I was on vacation in Walt Disney World.  Everyone else in the hotel room was fast asleep and I was dealing with insomnia and surfing YouTube with headphones when the music video dropped.  I have no idea how many times I've played the song.  Besides the original, I've super enjoyed the Cooler Remix, Hotter Remix, and Holiday Remix versions of the song.  I think it's the number of remixes that mess with the Spotify algorithm.  There's no other reason why Spotify would call this my #5 song of the year.  The way things are going ..... this song may feature on my top 22 of 2022 as well.  I'm still not tired of it.

2) Spider by Hoshi

Release date 4/2/2021

Spotify claims that this was my #3 song of the year, but it has no idea how many times I watched the music video or performance videos of this song.  Oh my goodness, I could NOT get enough of this one.  This was Hoshi's solo debut and boy did he do it with STYLE.

And my #1 top song of 2021 was....

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1) ひとりじゃない by SEVENTEEN

Release date 4/18/2021

I watched performances of this song sooooo many times on YouTube.  I bought the song on iTunes and listened to it on repeat in the car more times than I care to admit.  This was absolutely the song of the year for me.  It lifts me up every time I hear it - and let's face it, that's the kind of song that was needed this year.

There you have it - my 21 top songs of 2021.

I might have to do another list of my top non k-pop songs of the year, just to prove that I did listen to other music this year - but we'll see.