Throughout the month of December,
we brought you our list of the best and most important K-Pop songs of 2012. Now, we’re pleased to present the best K-Pop music videos of 2012!
Read on to find out where your favorites rank in our list- Today, we bring you the top twenty five.
25. HyunA “Ice Cream”
Label: Cube Entertainment
Release Date: October 21, 2012
HyunA‘s solo comeback with “
Ice Cream”
was certainly one of the most talked-about of the year. Pre-release,
the video was teased as being super sexy, and had most people
anticipating that it would get banned by broadcast stations or MOGEF
itself. However, the video manages to stay just shy of crossing the
line, and was never penalized further than a 15+ age restriction. “Ice
Cream” takes the comic book goofiness of 2011′s “
Bubble Pop”
to a whole new level, dropping in on some kind of Batman-related rally
to deliver ice cream to an angry crowd. In return for HyunA’s cameo in “
Gangnam Style“,
Psy makes an appearance as an ice cream thief in the beginning of the video. After the release of “Ice Cream”, the video
raked in views at an unprecedented rate, catapulting it to
YouTube‘s Most Viewed charts and earning mentions on major music sites like
Billboard.
24. Eru ft. Junhyung of B2ST “I Hate You”
Label: YMC Entertainment
Release Date: August 7, 2012
Emotional break-ups and dramatic love triangles are staple storylines
in all forms of media, including music videos. As such, these stories
can feel a bit tired and overdone.
Eru‘s video for “
I Hate You” manages to avoid this problem by using an unusual split-screen filming style (
15& later used a similar technique in their debut video “
I Dream“) and a surprise twist at the end keeps things both interesting and memorable.
23. John Park “Falling”
Label: Music Farm
Release Date: February 21, 2012
John Park‘s “
Falling”
is a beautifully shot video that uses a shipping container to
demonstrate the different stages of a doomed relationship- an
unconventional choice, but one that works to great effect. The singer
begins the video sitting inside of a cargo container on an airplane. As
he sings about confessing to the person he’s falling for, the container
is ejected from the plane. It freefalls from a high altitude through the
clouds, allowing John Park and the contents of the container to float
around inside the container as if they’re flying. The good feelings
don’t last forever, though, as the container crash-lands in the ocean,
knocking Park out cold as the box slowly fills with water. The video
ends on a hopeful note, as the container washes ashore and Park escapes,
having the opportunity to start all over.
22. Hello Venus “What Are You Doing Today?”
Label: Pledis Entertainment
Release Date: December 13, 2012
Set-based videos don’t have to be boring, and
Hello Venus proved just how effective this kind of video can be with “
What Are You Doing Today?“.
Armed with nothing but a few set pieces and some cup-and-string phones,
the video makes use of a cute color scheme and simple-but-little-used
effects that make the girls appear to be sliding past the camera on
conveyor belts. They even make fun of the common music video trope of
having one love interest for multiple band members by ending the video
with their love interest looking confused and exhausted, tangled up in a
pile of cup-and-string phones. “What Are You Doing Today?” proved that
it’s totally possible to make simple, low-budget videos that are still
interesting and engaging, which is something we hope to see more of in
K-Pop’s future.
21. MBLAQ “This is War”
Label: J.Tune Camp
Release Date: January 9, 2012
This isn’t the first time
MBLAQ gave us a dramatic music video – they did it once before in “
Y“.
However, this time around they decided to take out the literally flashy
outfits and put in much more drama scenes than dance scenes, even
borrowing an idea from the comic and movie ‘
Wanted‘ . Member
Lee Joon takes
the role of the main character who isn’t afraid to use his gun first,
and thankfully as one of the rare idols who is praised for his acting,
takes us on a mini-drama trip. Even
Thunder seems to be acting jts fine. The only problem with this music video is that in
J.Tune Camp
seems to be recycling concepts – Lee Joon’s girlfriend cheating on him,
Lee Joon beating up a fellow member who ends up with said girlfriend
(it was
Seungho before
it was Thunder), Lee Joon shooting at people, and even Lee Joon buying
plane tickets he doesn’t end up using was all seen before in “Y”.
20. Lumi-L “Popopo”
Label: OTWO Entertainment
Release Date: August 1, 2012
Adorable ’93-liner and Fine Arts major at School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Lumi-L popped onto the scene earlier this year, promising to be a “stream of light” in the K-Pop industry. Her debut video, “
Popopo“,
certainly lived up to that title, and probably takes the cake as the
most brightly-colored video of 2012. The video features a neon,
watercolor cartoon of Lumi-L who walks and dances through a kaleidoscope
of sets that grow more and more fantastical as the video progresses.
Back in October, Lumi-L announced on
her official Facebook page that she’d finished recording a comeback song, and we can’t wait to see what new and interesting things she has for us.
19. Seo In Young “Let’s Dance”
Label: CJ E&M Music
Release Date: October 18, 2012
Some fans were a bit disappointed with
Seo In Young‘s first 2012 comeback, “
Anymore“.
The video had potential to be interesting, but got lost in trying too
hard to be quirky. All was forgiven, however, when her follow-up, “
Let’s Dance“,
took us on a trip all the way to outer space, in search of the elusive
Planet of Diamonds. The video blends modern elements with campy, 70′s
sci-fi TV shows and movies, if those shows and movies took place at a
disco.
18. UV “I Want to Live With Her”
Label: MUZIE SOUND
Release Date: September 4, 2012
I don’t know if
UV
made the song just so they can film the music video, but in the end the
product was quite genius. The music video pokes fun at almost every
aspect of Korean dramas – the cheesy love video calls, the dramatic
poster, the mother who always seems to be against the relationships, a
water-splashing-on-the-face scene, and the son who defies his mother to
follow his love. They even provide hilarious subtitles for those who
don’t speak Korean such as “
Ah!!~ (screaming)“. Every one who
watches K-dramas have to admit – these scenes are always in dramas. And
in the end, if that wasn’t enough, they even parody Star Wars. However,
the best line in the ‘drama’ has to be this: “
I’m not calling you ‘mother’ anymore. Grandmother!!“.
17. EXID “Every Night”
Label: AB Entertainment
Release Date: October 3, 2012
The girls of EXID brought us a dark comedy with their sexy video for “
Every Night“.
We know something sinister is afoot when the girls mix up a bright red
elixir, which appears to be a poison intended for an ex who’s wronged
one of them. The girls show up in combat gear and gas masks at a
super-swanky party and throw glass vials of their “poison”, which turns
out to be made from the concentrated juice of red peppers. The vapors
from the juice cause everyone at the party to sneeze champagne all over
the guy- a mostly harmless, but still pretty gross and embarrassing-
method of retaliation.
16. Yoseob ft. Junhyung “Caffeine”
Label: Cube Entertainment
Release Date: November 27, 2012
Yoseob‘s “
Caffeine” tells the story of a guy whose ex-girlfriend is “
like a [sic] caffeine“,
keeping him awake when he should be sleeping. In the video, the further
Yoseob gets from the relationship (and, therefore, the longer he goes
without sleep), the further he gets from reality. At first, he imagines
himself breaking away from the laws of gravity and being chased by
shadows. Later, he imagines his ex giving his heart back to him and then
pictures her happy with another man. Things don’t end well for Yoseob-
he imagines himself burning the luggage she left with- perhaps so she
wouldn’t be able to leave- as well as photos and other memories of her.
However, much like what happened in
2AM‘s “
I Wonder if You Hurt Like Me“, as Yoseob erases the memory of his ex, he also erases himself.
15. Epik High “Don’t Hate Me”
Label: YG Entertainment
Release Date: October 19, 2012
Anyone who’s worked in retail or customer service can probably relate to the boredom and frustration that the guys of
Epik High face in “
Don’t Hate Me“. It’s a video you can watch over and over and find something new every single time, as it’s
packed full of gags and puns and some of the cutest little monsters you’ve ever seen in your life. After the very trying times that
Tablo has gone through since their last release, it’s a real relief to see that the members haven’t lost their sense of humor.
14. Taetiseo “Twinkle”
Label: SM Entertainment
Release Date: April 30, 2012
Girls’ Generation‘s powerhouse subunit got to show off their diva sides with their glitzy debut video, “
Twinkle“.
The story was simple- the girls arrive early for an event and are
photographed by the paparazzi on their way in. We follow them as they
get ready for their performance, and finally watch them take the stage.
The paparazzi wait outside to catch them leaving, but the girls send out
a decoy and laugh at the photographers’ disappointment. It’s a simple
story, but because the girls are constantly moving from room to room and
extras keep moving in and out of frame, the video holds on to your
attention. Keep an eye out for cameos from members of
EXO, particularly
Chanyeol. In the Japanese version of Girls’ Generation’s “
Genie“,
he played a celebrity being surrounded by Girls’ Generation as the
paparazzi- this time around, he’s one of the members of the paparazzi.
13. Orange Caramel “Lipstick”
Label: Pledis Entertainment
Release Date: September 11, 2012
Orange Caramel‘s “
Lipstick”
draws from a couple of sources for inspiration. Combining the worlds
of competitive table tennis with video games and shoujo anime with
neon-colored square dancing costumes may seem like a recipe for
disaster, but the magicians at
Pledis Entertainment
managed to fit it all together into one of the most addicting music
videos of 2012. In the first level of the “game”, the girls feign
ineptitude at ping-pong so that their crush will teach them how to play.
Once they’ve finished their lesson, they see their instructor lose to
an obnoxious opponent, so the three of them conspire to get revenge by
beating the guy so badly at ping pong that he’d be too embarrassed to
return. Upon accomplishing this goal, they find that their instructor is
actually engaged, which brings them to the boss level of their game- a
tournament against the bride-to-be. As the girls gear up for the final
round, the video comes to a close, leaving us all to wonder who won in
the end.
12. Dal Shabet “Have, Don’t Have” (“Don’t Have” version)
Label: Happy Face Entertainment
Release Date: November 13, 2012
It’s not often that we see music videos that take place out among
regular people in the real world, so setting their video in a Korean
farmer’s market made the “Don’t Have” version of
Dal Shabet‘s “
Have, Don’t Have”
stand out from the crowd from the start. The video takes things a step
further by parodying a popular Korean documentary series, “The Human
Theater”, by displaying the members’ names, ages, and their lines on the
screen the same way that the documentary would. It’s a lot of fun to
see the culture clash of idols in stagewear hanging out with normal
people, but it’s even more fun to see the people at the market playing
along with them. While
the “Have” version of “Have, Don’t Have” is a more standard K-Pop video, it’s still pretty cute and definitely worth checking out.
11. Naul “Wind Memory”
Label: Santa Music
Release Date: September 19, 2012
Naul‘s “
Wind Memory”
was one of 2012′s biggest hits, and it brought us one of the year’s
most epic music videos. It’s so beautiful and is filmed on such a large
scale that it seems a little strange to call it a music video- it’s more
like a mini-movie set to music. On the surface, the story is about a
little girl whose father saved her from being killed
by asteroids falling from the sky. When she is older and getting ready
to marry her Prince Charming (played by
Lee Ki Woo),
she thinks back with gratitude to her father’s sacrifice. However,
because the story is cut so short to fit the length of the song, it
leaves some things (such as the fish drawing) to viewers’ imaginations.
The prevailing theory seems to be that the video is a metaphorical
retelling of the Christian story of salvation, which makes sense as Naul
is reportedly a devout Christian. However, until Naul himself reveals
the answer, we’ll never truly know what story he was trying to tell.
10. B.A.P “Warrior”
Label: TS Entertainment
Release Date: January 25, 2012
Usually, the traditional dance-in-a-box music videos aren’t creative – in fact, they’re boring and unoriginal. However,
B.A.P
knew they had to make a huge impact in an industry that was already
saturated with male idols. Despite the format that we’ve seen over and
over in K-Pop, B.A.P made their music video work in a
graffiti-overridden, tattered back alley. Instead of traditional songs
about love, the boys sang about breaking free, and reflected that by
pulling their chains, reaching from behind bars, and destroying cars to
have them go up in flames. The music video never leaves the watcher
bored for even a moment, from the start up until when the puppeteer
Zelo is killed at the end by his own puppets.
9. Nell “The Day Before”
Label: Woollim Entertainment
Release Date: April 9, 2012
Mental illnesses, such as depression, are largely taboo in South
Korean culture- a large contributing factor to why that country has one
of the highest suicide rates of any country in the world.
Nell‘s “
The Day Before”
broaches the topic of what it means to lose a loved one to suicide,
such as how survivors are often left wondering what exactly went wrong
and what they could have done differently to prevent it. In this video,
the man with the camera (played by
Song Jae Rim) imagines a final conversation with his friend (played by
Lee Min Ki),
seemingly based on the things in his friend’s diary or suicide note.
The cinematography of this video is brilliant, reflecting the style and
themes of the book which Min Ki is seen reading (“
And Our Faces, My Heart, Brief as Photos” by
John Berger,
which deals largely with the idea of “the lens [as the] secret of
narration” and how that applies to the way we understand people who have
passed away). As is most often the case in real life, we never find out
the reasons behind what happened. Also mirroring real life, judging by
the length of the conversation, the reasons are too complicated to
simply explain away. Unfortunately, all of the imagining in the world
can’t bring someone back, which is why the camera man can only sit and
watch as his friend fades away. While the story is left somewhat
open-ended, there are hints that Jae Rim is able to come to terms to
some degree with Min Ki’s death- for example, through his glass of wine
and leftover toast on the table, as wine and bread are used in Christian
communion as symbols of remembrance and forgiveness. It was a brave
choice on Nell’s part to make this the topic of their first comeback in
four years, and to have dealt with it in such a sensitive way makes “The
Day Before” one of the most powerful music videos of 2012.
8. Block B “Nillili Mambo”
Label: Stardom Entertainment
Release Date: October 16, 2012
The boys went to Vietnam specially to film the music video and their
individual teasers, and the result was an incredibly fun music
video. The
Block B boys steal diamonds and run away with gambling money, and play a group of pirates under Captain
Zico. The music video is full of randomness:
Kyung chases a chicken around with a frying pan even though he has a just-sharpened knife,
Taeil never loses his lollipop even though he’s in a gun-chase,
P.O cares more about his hair than getting shot in the head, and
U-Kwon
is missing bullets in his gun, not to mention everyone in the music
video chooses to use their fists instead of the guns they have. However,
that’s exactly the point of the music video – just some crazy, random
fun with a loose story. Not only that, but the music video takes the
Vietnam’s scenery to the fullest extent and features some of the best
cinematography in a music video for 2012.
7. G-Dragon “Crayon”
Label: YG Entertainment
Release Date: September 26, 2012
There was never really a question as to whether or not
G-Dragon would be on this list- it was more of a question of which of his videos would make the cut. While “
One of a Kind” was fun and “
That XX” was beautiful and an interesting new direction for G-Dragon, nothing really stood up to the unabashed zaniness of “
Crayon“.
The G-Dragon we’d been seeing up to this point was more reserved than
ever before, and while that’s certainly understandable, fans missed
seeing the fun, goofy personality, and the off-the-wall ideas he uses in
his videos. “Crayon” also seemed like a celebration of not only his
career, but his life, as he invited a number of his friends to make
cameos in the party scenes. G-Dragon may have taken time to reflect and
grow as a person before making a comeback, but he’s still G-Dragon, and
that’s good to know.
6. Ga In “Bloom”
Label: LOEN Entertainment
Release Date: October 4, 2012
While it was certainly unexpected to hear
Ga In take on a song that sounds like it could have been sung by
IU, it was no surprise to see her framing K-Pop’s view of female sexuality in an entirely new way- something that the
Brown Eyed Girls
are no strangers to doing. While it’s not that unusual to hear boy band
members croon about how their girlfriends are attractive even when
they’re not trying to be, it’s not often that we see this played out on
screen- yet here we have Ga In, in frumpy sweaters and baggy jeans, and
her boyfriend can’t keep his hands off of her. She juxtaposes many
different ways in which female sexuality is portrayed, from the merely
suggestive (lying in a bed with all-white linens next to a freshly
bitten apple, swinging around a pole), to the straight up demonstrative
(touching herself in the kitchen, the sex scene). What makes this video
unusual is that the sweet and innocent scenes are directly inter cut
with the more scandalous ones, presented not as two contradictions that
need to be reconciled or as a progression from one thing to another, but
as a few of the many facets of one woman and her relationship with her
body. Even better, Ga In’s not being wrist-grabbed and dragged off
against her will or just going with the motions because it’s what her
partner wants- she and her partner are equals in the relationship, and
she’s clearly a willing and happy participant in everything they’re
doing. Aside from all the girl-power awesomeness that’s happening, the
cinematography is gorgeous, and the special effects fit the video
perfectly.
5. K. Will “Please Don’t…”
Label: Starship Entertainment
Release Date: October 10th, 2012
K.Will‘s
music video is quite possibly one of the most-talked about music video
of the year. In an interview, K.Will revealed that the twist was put in
because he thought otherwise the music video would be too generic. And
he was right – without the twist at the end, the music video would be a
boring story of a man pining after a woman taken by his friend that has
been told millions of times. However, the revelation at the end gave the
music video one of the most fresh stories of the year and shot rookie
model
Ahn Jae Hyun to fame. It is also one of the two big pop-culture products in 2012 that incorporated homosexuality (the other was
Reply 1997, which, coincidentally,
Seo In Guk
also featured in), signaling that the overly conservative Korea was
perhaps ready to start accepting the topic. Not only so, but it brought
an incredible number of people to the music video who left as fans of
K.Will after they realized just how great the singer’s voice was.
4. Big Bang “Fantastic Baby”
Label: YG Entertainment
Release Date: March 6, 2012
How do you find a VIP in a crowd? Say the word “
wow“, and
wait for someone to answer! Okay, so that joke isn’t very funny, but
it’s kind of true, and there’s something to be said for a song that is
so pervasive that it actually hijacks a word from your vocabulary and
changes the way that you think about it. Not only did “
Fantastic Baby” co-opt the word “wow”, it successfully brought back
“Boomshakalaka“
to a generation who were unaware of the word’s long and storied
history. The video was every bit as big and dramatic and exciting as
VIPs were hoping it would be. It featured the kind of disjointed imagery
that begs to be interpreted on a symbolic level, while maintaining a
level of self-awareness and humor that makes the video entertaining even
when taken at face value. “Fantastic Baby” was not just an epic return
to grace, but it was a way for VIPs to celebrate how far
Big Bang has come, while ushering the next era of their careers.
3. Sunny Hill “The Grasshopper Song”
Label: LOEN Entertainment
Release Date: January 12, 2012
“
The Grasshopper Song” was a fantastic song on its own, both lyrically and musically, but leave it to
Sunny Hill
to go above and beyond with an equally fantastic video. Every element
of this video- the sets, the costumes, props, choreography- adds to the
story already laid out in the song. While the original fable ends with
the grasshopper starving in the winter, “The Grasshopper Song” follows
the grasshopper out of the ant hill and back to her home community- a
glittery, colorful contrast to the ants’ spartan lifestyles. While the
ants are clearly efficient, effective workers, those who venture into
the grasshoppers’ realm can’t help but wonder if they should sacrifice
some of that productivity so that they can get more out of life now
rather than saving everything for the future. The filming style, with
sets that split, move, and tumble away to reveal the next “act” of the
performance, really help make the fantastical world of this story come
to life, and the incorporation of story and choreography in the same
scenes challenges conventional thinking on how stories are told through
music videos. Sunny Hill really delivered with “The Grasshopper Song”,
and set a high bar for the rest of 2012.
2. T-ara “Day by Day” and “Sexy Love” (drama versions)
Label: Core Contents Media
Release Date: July 2, 2012 and September 2, 2012
T-ara‘s latest two-part mini-movie music video is one of the most unique K-Pop has seen. It introduced us to
Dani,
T-ara’s soon-to-be-initiated new member, as the center of a story about
sisterly love and sacrifice. The video is dark and washed out,
punctuated with pops of color such as
Hyomin‘s
pink hair, Dani’s sometimes-blue eyes, and jewel-toned medical
supplies, giving it a gritty, graphic-novel-like feel. Unlike
conventional dramatic music videos- including a few in T-ara’s back
catalogue- “
Day by Day” and “
Sexy Love” eschew guns in favor of swords. Hyomin,
Jiyeon, and
Eunjung
are surprisingly convincing swordfighters, and their acting experience
shines through as they work through a story told almost entirely without
dialogue. While the set of videos couldn’t have come at a worse time
for the group (the infamous bullying scandal came to light not long
after “Day by Day” was released), which prevented these videos from
getting the kind of attention they deserved- however, they still stand
up as two of the most epic and beautiful videos to be released in 2012.
1. Psy “Gangnam Style”
Label: YG Entertainment
Release Date: July 15, 2012
We may not have named “
Gangnam Style”
the best song of 2012, but there was really no other contender for best
video. In all honesty, the song would not be anywhere near as big as it
is if not for the delightfully weird and self-deprecating video. Of
course, at first it looks like a load of randomness and fun, but the
song and music video actually have a deeper meaning by poking fun and
satirizing the Korean upper class facade. It is over the 1.2 billion
views mark as of this writing, over 375 million more views than it’s
closest competitor,
Justin Bieber‘s “
Baby“.
It’s certainly worth noting that “Gangnam Style” achieved this number
in just six months, while “Baby” has taken three years to reach its
count. We’ve never seen success like “Gangnam Style”, and we likely
never will again. This video is not only the biggest thing to happen in
K-Pop this year, but is the biggest thing that has ever happened in
K-Pop. Plus, it’s got a fun dance!
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