(Part 2) Best K-Pop Music Videos of 2024
A ranking and review of this year’s best releases from Korean artists!
Check out part one here!
A reminder: “…” means it is an excerpt from a longer review, which is linked to where it says “Read all about the corresponding album here!”
#25: CRAVITY, “Love or Die”
CRAVITY’s willingness to dabble in different sounds suits the “Love or Die” music video’s sense of unpredictability. Anguished rapping and a fast BPM rate exacerbate the high stakes the group sings about feeling. They insist they’d “rather die than live without love,” a declaration with a starkness that meets its visual match in the unnerving setting. Sinkholes in the sand, menacing winds, and black crows make it look like their surroundings could become even more ominous any minute now. Some potential symbols of silver linings appear, like a change into all-white outfits, but those moments quickly fade (a downpour starts soon after they wear that representation of a clean slate). EVERSHINE is a high-quality album, but what makes this CRAVITY era particularly well-done is “Love or Die” and the ways the video reflects the song’s urgency and uncertainty.
#24: TXT, “Deja Vu”
“Since some things are precious, but invisible to the eye, we forget them as life passes by,” reads the text on the screen at the beginning of the video. It is a reference to The Little Prince, the story upon which this TXT era is based, and it alludes to the wonderfully expansive, imaginative lenses through which children see the world. “Deja Vu” visually represents the world through those innocent lenses, but it also does so through the lenses of present-day TXT. The ways in which the lines between those views are blurry speaks to one of the main themes throughout the album: struggling to grow up while keeping one’s inner child close. Symbolic choices throughout the video relate to that tension, including a shimmering, mysterious image of, presumably, a mother; a scene inside what can be viewed as a jungle gym or sets of jail bars, infused with a mysterious, purple haze; and identical scenes that occur in both the past and present. In terms of both cinematography and narrative, “Deja Vu” does a fantastic job. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#23: YENA, “NEMONEMO”
In YENA’s signature kids-TV-show-like style, she puts a creative spin on a basic topic: shapes! “NEMONEMO” derives from the Korean word for “square,” and YENA describes relationships as having a confusing mix of smooth sides and sharp corners. She would rather romances be like simple “round balloons,” hence her irritation in the music video at not being sure whether she wants to run from her crush or towards him! YENA also shows a preference for heart shapes, brainstorming how to handle her crush while using a writing utensil with a heart-shaped topper, singing about wanting the universe to give her a sign while dancing under heart-shaped fireworks, and witnessing Earth go from a cube shape to a heart shape! YENA lets out her frustration by punting a cube at the head of her crush, one of the many people wearing a cardboard box over his head! Squares also represent YENA’s sources of annoyance in smaller ways, like the ice cubes she angrily chews while preparing to confront her box-for-a-head crush! YENA’s quirky, fictional music video realm continues to expand with this shape-themed chapter.
#22: SAAY, “DOMINO”
SAAY conveys relatable feelings through an analogy about falling dominos that heightens its lyrical effectiveness with visual applications. Flexing her natural ability to suddenly change pitches, she describes herself as in the path of falling dominos, while those who wish her the worst take pleasure in watching them fall. Her palpable resentment is conveyed well through the interpretive dance routine, as others play the role of the dominoes at times and just pure antagonists at others, ones who literally pull SAAY in multiple directions. In some scenes, her enemy appears to be all of them, but it appears to be just one person in others; the choreography at times involves a large group and at times just a duo. Further representing SAAY’s feeling that people are out to get her no matter how the circumstances change are the lighting and outfit changes, none of which ease tension. While the usual sultry swagger SAAY brings to R&B songs does not take its usual form in “DOMINO,” it is still felt through her piercing, unforgiving gaze. “DOMINO” comes from a clearly authentic place while channeling emotions in original, artful ways.
#21: Solar, “But I”
“But I” starts out like a ballad before turning into a fiery ode to independence, and Solar goes from solemnly playing the piano to smashing it! The music video ends with her slipping on some shades and confidently striding away from a fire she has set, a sign of both the new fire lit within her and the burning away of her past (comparatively) meek self. Solar’s choices of colors and their contrasts are effective magnifiers of her message. She makes her presence memorable and incapable of ignoring while in a red dress playing a black piano, while riding a white horse while wearing black, and while literally letting her hair down to rock out with a band! The point is to keep a commanding presence regardless of changing circumstances, something both this video and the corresponding mini-album have in common. Read all about that album here!
#20: TAEYONG, “TAP”
The story starts with TAEYONG in an empty closet. He spends the day looking for something without finding it, but when he goes back home and re-opens the closet, tons of plastic balls tumble out. Since the setting is Japan, these plastic capsules bring to mind gachapon, a type of Japanese toy found in coin-operated machines (similar to gumball machines). The potential gachapon containers in the closet are empty, but that doesn’t matter to TAEYONG. Nor does it matter that he spent a full day searching for them, only to find some back where his day started. It turns out that the actual “prizes inside” are the memories he has made! Another symbolic detail with the same takeaway: the white coat he wears, which seems to have a light source built into it. TAEYONG has lit his own way the whole time; the source of his joy has come from himself, rather than a specific object. “TAP” puts a surprising spin on the classic “It’s about the journey, not the destination” life lesson. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#19: BABYMONSTER, “SHEESH”
The spooky castle in which most of the “SHEESH” music video is located is transfixing, with shadows of bare trees spread across the walls and a primary source of light being periodic lightning strikes. Viewers are first reeled in with BABYMONSTER’s commanding presence and the dramatic setting, and then they are kept feeling trapped in the story with the maze images that appear sporadically before suddenly appearing everywhere. There are two other particularly attention-grabbing details in the video. One is a blink-and-miss-it transition from a close-up of a red candle to a ring of fire that outlines an inky-black pool. The fire and pool resemble a giant eye from an aerial view. The second particularly striking visual is when individual members appear in different windows. They show off their riches and pose while saying the hushed bridge (“B-A-B-Y-M-O-N / Tell a friend, tell a friend, tell a friend”) like an incantation. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#18: WENDY, “Wish You Hell”
Borrowing from Red Velvet’s mix of fairy-like and spooky aesthetics while adding her own punk twists, WENDY bids farewell to her old self. A dark version of WENDY attends the funeral of a dolled-up version, but later scenes show that the dolled-up version of WENDY is alive and well. This could mean that the funeral scene is out of place chronologically to emphasize how strongly memories of “the old WENDY” linger, but it could also represent how real rebirths are never absolute. WENDY does not entirely abandon her old self while becoming a new one; she takes and changes elements of her older self. Her varied wardrobe and decision to display opposite facets of her personality speak to the messiness of an authentic personal transformation. Regardless of deep interpretations, though, the video is a must-watch for its unpredictability and Wonderland-esque qualities, such as toying with the size proportionality of props. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#17: SEVENTEEN, “Spell”
Every rewatch of “Spell” can lead to new discoveries! SEVENTEEN’s natural skill at telling detail-oriented, engaging stories through everything from camera angle choices to color palettes remains evident. They continue to show their ability to send messages via myriad methods, and their method in “Spell” is through playing cards! Much of the action unfolds within playing card backgrounds, but much also unfolds outside of the cards, creating a layered story in ways both literal and metaphorical. The members repeatedly do something akin to breaking the fourth wall, moving out of the frame created by the cards to interact with the larger environment. The blurring between dimensions is just one of the many variables that not every artist can pull off effectively. They also utilize dance moves, props, on-screen text, and costumes to lay out ambiguous yet on-brand story threads. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#16: JxW, aka JEONGHAN X WONWOO, “Last night”
The story of “Last night” is so intricate that telling it requires more than a traditional music video, which is why it is also told in an “audiobook version.” It is a fascinating set of videos that grapples with major philosophical questions. The videos prompt the audience to reflect on how unreliable memories can be, why that unreliability scares people, and what happens when one stops trying to recreate the past exactly as it was. They also turn viewers into detectives, theorizing over when a scene takes place in a dream world and when it occurs in the “real” one. The ease with which one turns into the other is another thought-provoking aspect of the story. What truly distinguishes the line between “dream” and “real” categories? THIS MAN and its main track, “Last night,” give a voice to different answers, characters, and perspectives, speaking to the complexity of its themes and making JxW’s debut project an impressively far-reaching endeavor. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#15: CHUU, “Strawberry Rush”
This comeback is as cute as it gets! CHUU plays a perky superhero, singing while blasting at animated enemies, riding through the galaxy, and cloning herself to become a whole cheerleading squad! The story starts and ends in the same diner, only at the end, the wall has new framed photos up, snapshots of her galaxy-crossing, cartoon-filled adventures! Some of these adventures are made possible thanks to the gentle giant from the “Howl” video, who is responsible for ushering CHUU into a surreal setting after exposing a rip in the “real world.” The role of the friendly monster is now more of a sidekick’s, while CHUU plays the down-for-anything main character. This is a reversal from CHUU’s time as a timid follower of the monster’s in “Howl;” she maintains a friendship with the monster but no longer relies on him to believe in her dreams enough to make them real. Dreams unfolding in front of CHUU is the overarching theme of Strawberry Rush, and the music video sticks to that theme in adorable ways!
#14: NCT WISH, “WISH”
NCT WISH play Cupid-like mischief-makers, aiming their crush-inducing radar gun at people. One interesting aspect to the angels’ hijinks is that their most effective ones are the ones that do not go according to plan. For example, one member misfires and causes his target to fall in love with a tree instead of a man! Separately, when one of them hits a dog with the love-triggering radar gun, the dog runs toward a potential new love interest for its owner. When the group tries to meddle in relationships more directly, they fail, but when they meddle in a more roundabout way, they succeed! One possible lesson from that is to embrace unconventional problem-solving, a skill the members ought to hone for their future adventures. After all, the plot outlined in a pre-debut short film hints at many magical, mysterious adventures to come for these cute rascals!
#13: tripleS, “Girls Never Die”
This tripleS comeback is defined by constant juxtapositions. Just to name a few from the “Girls Never Die” video: Two girls in dark angel wings cheerfully play hand-clapping games while standing on top of a skyscraper, which they abruptly jump off of; a black bird appears to be dead in some scenes and alive in others; the girls enjoy some “typical” youth hobbies uninterrupted, like doing each other’s makeup, while others take a sinister turn, like when ants crawl over a live-streaming gamer’s hand; and the girls face many dangerous scenarios, but they stay near-fatal. The innocent and the morbid undercurrents are never far behind each other and are sometimes intertwined. Overall, <ASSEMBLE24> and “Girls Never Die” take unconventional routes to tell a powerful story of resilience, as well as what happens when one tries to build a future out of both old and new parts. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#12: KEY, “Pleasure Shop”
KEY offers a vivid demonstration of the ways pleasure and happiness are not the same thing. The “Pleasure Shop” depicted in the music video casts KEY in the role of a cyborg who sells humans contact lenses that offer a rose-colored way to see the world. The title track repeats the phrase “You’re welcome” a lot, which is also a line in the album’s final song, “Novacaine;” KEY’s character assumes that all of his customers are profoundly grateful to him for selling them happiness, without those customers realizing that KEY has only sold them sources of short-term pleasure… Slowing down and thinking more deeply about KEY’s character would lift the wool over customers’ eyes. First of all, why should they trust a “seller of happiness” who is a robot and therefore cannot fully understand what happiness feels like?! Second of all, the rose-colored lenses and hallucinatory drinks he offers just change how things look, not how they really are; they do not tangibly improve their lives. Third of all, the use of holograms and other futuristic technology gives away the game: KEY’s character is capitalizing on age-old human instincts while repackaging artificial snake oils as trendy new solutions. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#11: IVE, “Accendio”
The “Accendio” video is both literally and metaphorically magical! The aesthetics are top-tier, from the giant jewelry the members pose in to the hip summer vacation house in which most of the action unfolds. The video is just as strong narratively. The members gather around a magic wand that one of them has retrieved, and the backstory behind that retrieval is shown in the video’s second half. That flashback reveals that she snuck away with the magic wand as IVE’s dark alter egos were conducting a ritual with it. Flexing new magical abilities, the “good versions” of IVE conjure up a portal into a different world, presumably one without their supernatural circumstances. They inexplicably store the magic wand in a fridge in a kitchen in this “normal world” on the other side of the portal. The video ends with a little girl finding the magic wand somehow out of the fridge and washed up on the beach. She picks it up and excitedly runs to go show her mom what she has found. What happens next remains up in the air, but one interpretation is that the little girl represents fans of IVE. IVE have used an outer source of magic to find their inner sources of it, and now they want to pass the torch - in this case, pass the wand! - to enable their fans to do the same. Through a quirky example, IVE generate a ripple effect of empowerment to counteract people’s darker and more doubtful sides. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#10: SEVENTEEN ft. DJ Khaled, “LOVE, MONEY, FAME”
As detailed here, “LOVE, MONEY, FAME,” reiterates the messages in the corresponding album’s trailer and B-sides, by using various props and mediums to celebrate each SEVENTEEN member’s individuality; by using Easter eggs to celebrate their collective identity and its unchanging nature; and by giving abstract themes, like camaraderie and insecurities, concrete applications by which viewers can be inspired. The video is as true to SEVENTEEN as it gets!
#9: ENHYPEN, “Brought The Heat Back”
“Brought The Heat Back” is a madcap horror-comedy hybrid! Long story short, the hijinks stem from the members turning on each other in the quest for a coveted missing cat. The cat remains elusive for many reasons, including a habit of growing giant before shrinking and vice versa. The coffin sizes are also unreliable, sometimes big enough for several members to chill in at the same time and sometimes only fitting one average-sized cat! The members can trust neither their surroundings nor each other. The latter point is made extremely obvious when HEESEUNG hits SUNOO with his car, and when NI-KI leaves some members literally frozen! Lots of moments when it looks clear where the second plot is going, like them turning into cats themselves, or them going in an “It was all just us filming a home movie” direction, appear to be just fake-outs. The final twist is a mirroring effect, when a shadow-filled scene is flipped vertically. While the ROMANCE : UNTOLD era obviously focuses on romance, “Brought The Heat Back” is a welcome and wild exception! Read all about the corresponding album here!
#8: RM, “Come back to me”
As detailed previously, the songs on Right Place, Wrong Person and the corresponding music videos have the ultimate takeaway of “Ready or not, here life comes!” “Come back to me” is no exception. It shows RM revisiting memories from different ages with a blank stare on his face, re-revisiting those memories with a big grin, and then appearing as if both the apathy and the joy were staged. The final zooming-out of the camera at the end reveals RM is in a diorama of sorts, with the connected rooms in a building having no or only half-finished ceilings. “Come back to me” is really two stories in one. The first is about what RM can learn or reflect on from trips to the past, and the second layer of reflection comes from recognizing the ways the future is still in his hands. One way to view this story is one of inferiority, with RM being like a figurine in a giant’s play set. On the other hand, the DIY-ed, incomplete setup RM is inside of could be seen as a symbol of him still having time to control how the rest of his story unfolds. “Come Back to Me” is a thought-provoking song with the music video to match.
#7: SEVENTEEN, “Cheers to youth”
As detailed here, “Cheers to youth” excels at reinforcing the messages underpinning the corresponding album, 17 IS RIGHT HERE. It creatively gives examples of SEVENTEEN’s values in action: being a shoulder to cry on, seeing the power in small acts of kindness and compassion, cultivating an inclusive environment where everyone feels free to be themselves, and prioritizing camaraderie.
#6: IU, “Love wins all”
While an apocalyptic video premise is nothing new, the “Love wins all” music video stands out thanks to two key symbols. One is a massive clothes pile. As IU and her lover (played by V of BTS) run from the presumed source of the ongoing apocalypse, they move past this pile. At the end of the video, their clothes fall from the sky and are added to it. The second key symbol is a video camera, one they use to literally see the world through a new lens. When holding up the video camera, their surroundings look downright festive compared to the current dystopia. These symbols have a fascinating juxtaposition: While the clothes are a physical form of memory preservation, the camera is used for memory alteration. The clothes left behind are a means of keeping the past in the past, leaving it untouched. Conversely, the video camera revisits memories in an attempt to rewrite the past, making it appear rosier than it might have really been. “Love wins all” is a clever representation of the power of love and the simultaneous urges to revisit and close previous chapters of it. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#5: A.C.E, “My Girl”
Playing “PETFLIX” startup founders, the members of A.C.E express dissatisfaction with office life. They hit the big time but are still berated and belittled at work. What gives them a much-needed reminder of their worth is their girl, and they go from feeling grief to giddiness at the thought of finding “the one.” After slow-motion running and jumping out of their office building, they smash through a sign that spells out “PROFESSIONAL,” so nothing remains of it except pieces of confetti, symbolically covering their suits. As the members rise into the sky with angel wings and harnesses on, someone loses a shoe, and the others freeze with exaggerated reactions on their faces. The over-acting is followed by a quote on the screen attributed to Charles Chaplin: “That’s all any of us are: amateurs.” My Girl : “My Choice” has a deeper message about chasing dreams and an ego boost underneath its unassuming top layer, and the “My Girl” video’s comedic, over-the-top antics remind people that even those who appear to be outwardly thriving the most end up just as humbled by life’s curveballs as everyone else!
#4: Red Velvet, “Cosmic”
The enchanting, Midsummer-themed “Cosmic” video includes animated imagery at the beginning, middle, and end, as if the scenes between them are reenactments of what happens in a classic fairy tale. A whimsical afternoon spent getting dolled up and then singing and dancing in a field involves notable details from past Red Velvet eras, like a “Cat’s Cradle” game and an allusion to at least some of the scenes being just a dream. Also on-brand are the ways they show their “red” side in addition to the “velvet” one! Some scenes seem more ominous when stopping to think about them, like seance-type moments and how one member’s journey begins after falling from the sky! Other ominous undercurrents are in the era’s opening trailer (“Love is COSMIC”), which goes from being about an unassuming summer road trip to showing the members standing in darkness, gazing up at a mysterious door into an alternate universe. The text on the screen at the start of the “Cosmic” video is French for “Remember the last summer on this planet,” implying a grand old time but the last one of its kind. “Cosmic” has both Red Velvet’s fairytale charm and hidden dark sides, making the video fit the group’s layered image perfectly. Read all about the corresponding album here!
#3: Stray Kids, “Chk Chk Boom”
The music video for “Chk Chk Boom” is even more meta than usual for Stray Kids, and they make the news in more ways than one! It starts with a broadcast hosted by Ryan Reynolds, who introduces himself as such… despite being dressed as Deadpool. Reynolds’s real-time coverage of unfolding phenomena is dependent on what Stray Kids do… The video ends with the Stray Kids members casually sitting at and around Reynolds’s desk. He nervously asks them if they’re in need of a new, “older, less agile member,” before giving the camera a thumbs-up.
This scene has much more to read into than what meets the eye! First of all, Stray Kids’s love for Deadpool goes back years; the group had a Deadpool-themed performance on the show KINGDOM in 2021. This year, there has been extensive cross-promotion, with Stray Kids contributing to the Deadpool & Wolverine soundtrack, Reynolds making the music video cameo (Hugh Jackman also has a brief cameo, dressed as Wolverine), and Stray Kids participating in the movie’s South Korean press junket.
This context about the pre-existing connections between the Stray Kids members and stars of Deadpool compounds the fact that Stray Kids’s lives outside of their music videos are always incorporated into those videos. They do not leave their status at the door when telling a new fictional story. While it would make more sense for Stray Kids to either be only addressed as such in the video or only addressed as the troublemaker characters within the news broadcast, they choose not to do that, hence why Reynolds implies their status as “Stray Kids the band” with his question about becoming a member. It is equally meaningful that Reynolds introduces himself as Ryan Reynolds while in his Deadpool costume; he could have easily had a cameo either entirely as himself or staying clearly in Deadpool’s universe. Everyone keeps a foot in several worlds, intentionally keeping it unclear how deep the “show within a show” format goes. Read all about the corresponding album and Stray Kids’ storytelling style here!
#2: CHO YONG PIL, “It’ll Be Okay”
“It’ll Be Okay” is mesmerizing, momentous, and deeply moving. To say that one scene flows into the next one is an understatement, which speaks to the video’s “Life goes by in the blink of an eye” message.
The main character is a woman who appears different ages at different times. Countless times, her firsthand experiences suddenly appear as if they are just a program on TV, or vice versa. The characters change just as suddenly. For example, a woman who offers to take a family picture after the main character’s kids’ school play is suddenly a nurse advising the woman via hospital room television. The gestures change contexts completely, like when a close-up of the mom wrapping a scarf around her daughter’s neck before sending her off to survive the apocalypse turns into a mom doing the same thing on an average day in their lives. The objects also change contexts, like a smiley face, which is all of these things: a face on a child’s balloon, a toy hovering above a baby’s crib, a carving a teenager makes into the moon’s surface, and the moon that the “mom” version of the main character stares up at and smiles. The characters, the settings, the props, the plots, the visual formats… everything is always in flux. Even moments that seem relatively consistent suddenly change, like when a TV stays airing home footage for a while, but that footage quickly turns from showing a little girl in a Cinderella costume to a grown woman at her wedding.
The list of meaningful but fleeting images goes on and on. “It’ll Be Okay” is a prime example of when pictures are worth a thousand words. Each moment speaks volumes and contributes to what the video leaves viewers in thought about: the tangled and enduring influences of past selves on future ones, the implications of routines and habits that span generations, the slipperiness of memories, and what it truly means to be present in one’s own life.
#1: RM, “LOST!”
Interpretations of “LOST!” and the other music videos associated with RM’s Right Place, Wrong Person vary widely, but the underlying message is that life often feels the way RM depicts it: like something being constructed in real time. Life cannot be fully planned out; life happens simply as one lives it, like how RM’s video scenes unfold as he roams through them. Forging connections is similarly unable to be planned out in advance, hence why many video characters’ reactions have questionable sincerity, why the line between RM enjoying and merely tolerating others’ company is often disputable, and why RM’s thoughts pertaining to each song’s subjects are tangled balls of emotions. A display of all these takeaways is “LOST!,” which shows what happens when an event unfolds both according to plan and the opposite.
“LOST!” has a show-within-a-show format. RM is the special guest on The Lost Show Starring RM, a late-night talk show co-hosted by someone who appears genuinely giddy to see RM in person and someone who introduces RM through gritted teeth. In one scene, RM literally sees himself in the latter; his face replaces the reluctant host’s. RM watches himself physically pop up in various settings during his late-show performance, and his literal name pops up (“Namjoon’s Brain”) on name tags spread out across a table. Miniature figurine versions of himself also proliferate. With all this in mind, viewers are left contemplating who really “runs the show” that is RM’s life. His name is everywhere, implying he is a big star, but the show bearing his stage name is hosted by other people. One of these people seems inclined to be a positive stand-in, protecting RM’s public image, but the other seems inclined to either represent RM negatively, without RM being able to defend himself, or, at best, speak for RM in a resigned way, just saying what the teleprompter says. All the name tags reinforce the fact that RM being a public figure makes people feel confident speaking on his behalf, some with pure intentions and others not. RM does not have control of his own narrative.
RM’s name is everywhere, but his true sense of self is what is lost, and he seems compelled to make others feel just as out-of-sorts. He pushes lots of elevator buttons and literally climbs up a group of people to travel through the air ducts, among other antics that force those he comes across to be thrown for a loop not unlike his internal one. Whether putting himself in a place where he cannot evade others (like the elevator) or totally fleeing them (via air ducts), the goal seems to stay the same: maintain a shared state of confusion! RM tries to abandon the scripts others try to write for him at all costs.
Out of the handful of music videos corresponding to RM’s 2024 album, no video captures the inexplicable yet profound essence of it better than “LOST!” Read all about that album here!
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