Lately, I’ve been thinking about how “9+ rated songs” come to define a year for me. These are the songs that earn an “A-” or above on this blog, and they’re also the ones I go crazy over and replay throughout the year. This is not an exhaustive (or wholly accurate) way to measure the overall quality of a K-pop year. It’s simply one lens — but at least it’s a structured and consistent one.
So, I decided to run the numbers in my own music library and determine which K-pop year delivered the most 9+ rated songs – according to my taste, obviously!
In doing this, I’m going to start my ranking with 2011. Plenty of excellent music emerged prior to this year, but there were simply fewer songs released back then so the numbers are too heavily affected to feel accurate. The years 2011, 2012 and 2013 are affected in a similar way, but this actually makes their ranking more impressive!
And in case you’re wondering how 2023 is faring so far, I currently have… three 9+ rated songs in my library. Yep. It’s not looking great.
Number of 9+ rated songs: 28
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 31
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 37
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 39
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 39
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 43
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 47
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 53
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 55
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 59
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 61
Highlights:
Number of 9+ rated songs: 65
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