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Ranking 2020 Kpop debuts (1 Viewer)

Darkseid

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I haven't listened to all rookie debuts this year- especially most of the boygroups, still this is a list based on which debut stood out the most to me.

1. StayC


Black Eyed Pilseung's group StayC immediately got me with this catchy debut, great vocals and amazing visuals. They've actually charted pretty decent for a rookie group too (only Aespa has done better), and already sold 18K plus on Hanteo in a month. Big potential.


2. Weeekly


Weeekly came as a breath of fresh air- offering innocent but high energy teen pop with a more fresh image in today's Kpop scene oversaturated with edgy/badass concepts. The girls are all really skilled with an amazing vocal and dance line, and they have some great B-sides too esp "Hello". They were my #1 but follow up single Zigzag wasn't as good, still I see good things lying in wait for them.


3. Cignature


Cignature is interesting, the most experimental sound of any rookie group in 2020- you can find traces of Itzy, but also cutesy girl groups that sing in really high pitches. Sometimes it feels like too many things happening at once but it somehow works- anchored by Jeewon's charms and YeAh's strong vocals. In terms of consistency tho, they're def #1- Nun nu nan na was followed by the even better Assa, and then the amazing Arisong. They need more promotions and visibility but they're on the right track.


4. Enhypen


I didn't watch I-Land and Idk any of the members, but this is a fairly solid debut. Nothing too unique, gives you TXT Runaway vibes- which is a good thing, but it's not enough to stand out from the rest of the BigHit groups. The weird BigHit vocal processing is also there, but the song/melody is pretty catchy and just about avoids going into emo/moody territory pretty well.


5. Aespa


The most anticipated debut of the year, initially I was a little underwhelmed but it was almost impossible to live up to those expectations. Upon a few relistens and watching some lives it's grown on me, there's nothing bad about Black Mamba. As a standalone track, it's actually pretty good but doesn't really convey Aespa's musical identity that well. It seems their promotional stuff and MV had more effort put into it in that regard. But I'm Ningning trash and also appreciate Karina visuals lol, and they'll no doubt be huge in the future.


6. Treasure


The group I was most hyped for, knowing how insanely talented they are and all their predebut stuff (including the amazing Going Crazy), but they had to take them down the typical YG path, which really isn't a good fit for the boys imo. Boy is still catchy enough, but the 10/10 verses and prechorus are let down by the same ol' underwhelming hook you've come to accept from a YG track. The follow up singles weren't much better in that regard, although Mmm was a lot more consistent. The boys have everything required to break out, they just need that song/concept that most fans have wanted and they'll be set.

I didn't rank soloists like Yooa, Woodz, Ryu Sujeong and others, or subunits of already established groups like WJSN Chocome.

Tags: @Treasure Maker @My @AnotherKpopTrash and others lol.
 

Xeulgi

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the only ones I liked from the list are Aespa and StayC
 

Darkseid

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the only ones I liked from the list are Aespa and StayC
As long as you love StayC it’s all good, they’re all so pretty and talented :sj_weary:


omg i already forgot about cignature :yolk:
SAME :yolk:
I feel bad because they’ve only released bops this year and been consistent af but the lack of visibility hurts :yolk:
 
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Weeekly is about it for me.

Aespa i like the kids and the ayayaya part is memorable.
 

Darkseid

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Weeekly is about it for me.

Aespa i like the kids and the ayayaya part is memorable.
I thought you liked Black Mamba lol.
I do like the chorus where they sing the Kwangya part, although it's not exceptional but pretty catchy. And the hate ma-ma-ma-mamba part lmao.
 
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From your list I like aespa's debut the best. STAYC' debut was also nice. My faves are the following:

My favorite debut (which was also by far the most unique this year in my opinion) was CRAXY's "ARIA". It's weird in the best way, I love it :nekolove:



I also really like BLASTAR's debut "ONE WAY", it's really catchy:



Another interesting debut was XUM with "DDALALA":



Since I love trot I'm also going to mention Byulzzi's "BBIBBO BBIBBO". I wish there would be more trot girl groups, there are just a few unfortunately :umjicry:
 
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I thought you liked Black Mamba lol.
I do like the chorus where they sing the Kwangya part, although it's not exceptional but pretty catchy. And the hate ma-ma-ma-mamba part lmao.
I didnt dislike black mamba but , its not something i look up to watch.
 

Darkseid

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From your list I like aespa's debut the best. STAYC' debut was also nice. My faves are the following:

My favorite debut (which was also by far the most unique this year in my opinion) was CRAXY's "ARIA". It's weird in the best way, I love it :nekolove:



I also really like BLASTAR's debut "ONE WAY", it's really catchy:



Another interesting debut was XUM with "DDALALA":



Since I love trot I'm also going to mention Byulzzi's "BBIBBO BBIBBO". I wish there would be more trot girl groups, there are just a few unfortunately :umjicry:
Bruh Craxy is pretty interesting, it's on my playlist and Idk, some parts I REALLY love, and the other parts and some of the transitions make me go wut lol. But there's nothing quite like it, true. And main vocalist Swan seems crazy talented.
XUM I have mixed feelings about- I was one of the very few Neonpunch enthusiasts and really loved their general sound. So to see them have to effectively disband and rebrand as a trio with yet another girl crush concept was kinda off putting. That being said, XUM really nails what it's going for and is a great dance song that gets you hyped, so it accomplishes what it set out to. But I'll miss stuff like Moonlight.

 

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I liked black mamba and boy. I agree about boy in a way but since I listen to so few yg songs it doesn't really bother me
My complaints with Boy came back again in I Love You and that really soured me lol. Mmm was an improvement I guess, although Boy with an actual chorus would've been really good.

So I'd probably put Tag Me first and Black Mamba second maybe. But also I haven't listened to EnHyphen
Tag Me is pretty good, it's nothing groundbreaking but knows what it's going for and nails it, I like that :sanapray:
Enhypen I think since I had no expectations at all, it kinda helped. It sounds very much like a BigHit song, for better or worse.
 

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