Favourite K-pop Debuts of 2022

Hello

안녕하세요

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

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Normally I would mention my favourite rookies in my Top Albums post, but because 2022 had so many group and solo debut that I loved, I decided it was time to make it into a separate post, so today I have 6 solo debuts and 9 rookie groups to share with you that had me in love.

Groups

Kep1er

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I loved Kep1er's debut, I thought their title track was really catchy, and while I never watched Girls Planet 999 that created them, I'd watched Bahiyyih's cam's and I loved her voice. Their title tracks and mini albums are pretty good as well as catchy.

WA DA DA

Owned by Swing Entertainment

Kep1er

TEMPEST

Google Images

I loved TEMPEST's debut and I was really happy to see Hanbin debut, I thought he was adorable on I-LAND.

Their debut track Bad News was really catchy and I loved that they included their group name in the lyrics. Each of their albums and title tracks have been really good so far.

Bad News

Owned by Yuehua Entertainment

Stone Music Entertainment

ILY:1

Google Images

I've really liked ILY:1 since their pre-debut performance of AZELEA on Simply K-pop, I'm not normally a big lover of girl groups, but these have had me hooked from since their pre-debut release. I've loved their 4 songs so far and I have my fingers crossed for their future.

AZELEA

Owned by FC ENM

ARIRANG K-POP

BLANK2Y

Google Images

BLANK2Y were another group I was excited to see debut because Youngbin from I-LAND would debuting as a member and I loved their debut song and album, and I loved that we also got an English version of their title track, Their debut album is so good and versatile.

Thumbs Up

Owned by Keystone Entertainment

BLANK2Y

VIVIZ

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For me VIVIZ had my favourite group debut of 2022, both their mini albums are really good and catchy and seeing them live really was the cherry on top. I was heartbroken to see GFriend disband in 2021 as I'd been following them since their debut. I can't wait for more releases from them.

Bop Bop

Owned by Big Planet Entertainment

BPM Entertainment

TRENDZ

Google Images

For me TRENDZ had such a good debut mini album, I was hooked from the first listen.

TNT (Truth&Trust)

Owned by Interpark Music Plus

TRENDZ(트렌드지)

LE SSERAFIM

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While I loved LE SSERAFIM's debut title track, it was their 2nd mini album that made me want to listen to them, their 2nd mini album is just full of bops.

Antifragile

Owned by Source Music

HYBE LABELS

NINE.i

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I've loved both of NINE.i's albums, their songs are really catchy and really made an impression.

Parallel Universe

Owned by FirstOne Entertainment

NINE.i OFFICIAL

&TEAM

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Even though this wasn't really a K-pop debut, I have to mention &TEAM because it saw the debut of I-LANDERS K, Nicholas, EJ and Taki.

Under the Skin

Owned by Hybe Labels Japan

HYBE LABELS

Lee Chaeyeon

Google Images

While I know that Chaeyeon was a member of IZ*One, I can't say I was an avid follower of the group, I liked some of their title tracks and new some of the members, but I never really payed attention to them. But I had to check out Chaeyeon's solo debut and I'm glad I did, her mini album for me sounds nostalgic and sounds like something I listened to when I was younger, her title track was really catchy too.

Hush Rush

Owned by WM Entertainment

LEE CHAE YEON

Kihyun

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I loved Kihyun's debut single album, I absolutely love Kihyun's voice, so I was happy and excited to see him finally having his solo debut. Each of the tracks really showcase his voice, so much so that I didn't think I could fall in love with his voice all over again.

Voyager

Owned by Starship Entertainment

starshipTV

Yuju

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One of the main reasons why I loved Yuju's solo debut was that it was something new, being a Gfriend fan and already loving her voice (she was one of my biases), hearing her sing something that we wouldn't necessarily hear her sing in Gfriend, for me it definitely had a darker edge and the more I listen to this album, the more I think Source Music were holding back her vocal talents.

놀이 (Play)

Owned by Konnect Entertainment

KONNECT Entertainment

Xiumin

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I think people often get how underrated Xiumin's vocals are, so him finally getting a solo album made me happy and I think his first album is perfect to what we see of him on stage.

Brand New

Owned by SM Entertainment

SMTOWN

Im Nayeon

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Nayeon's solo debut had to be mentioned because I love how catchy each of the tracks are on her mini album, I don't think there is a song on this album that I don't sing along to.

I definitely recommend checking out this album.

POP!

Owned by JYP Entertainment

JYP Entertainment

Seulgi

Google Images

I love Seulgi's voice and for me out of the members of Red Velvet, Seulgi has the most versatile voice. Her debut solo mini album is definitely one of my favourites for 2022, each track shows off her vocals perfectly and allows us to see a different side to her talents.

28 reasons

Owned by SM Entertainment

SMTOWN

So there we have my favourite group and solo debuts of 2022, I can't wait to see what 2023 brings for the new groups and hopefully we'll see more solo releases and debuts this year.

Who were some of your favourite group and solo debuts in 2022?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye

GFriend - Time For The Moon Night

Hello

안녕하세요 

(Annyeonghaseyo)

こんにちは 

(Konnichiwa)

你好

(Ni Hao)

If you have been a regular reader of my K-pop posts then you'll know that it's been such a long time that I've had a post about GFriend since they released their 4th mini album The Awakening, which I posted about over a year ago, I'm going to be honest with my reason and that's because I stopped buying their albums as I was a little disappointed that they released something different with Fingertip and then they returned again back to their previous sound and concepts. I felt like that instead of growing as a group musically they were returning to what was popular for them and got them more sales etc. That was until I saw the teasers for 밤 (Time For The Moon Night), and here we are now with their 6th mini album of the same name.

On the 16th of April 2018, a time for the moon night teaser image was released.

On the 17th of April 2018, the teaser images titled Concept Photo 1 was released for all the girls as well as a group image.

Sowon

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 Eunha

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Yuju

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 SinB

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 Yerin

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 Umji

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On the 19th of April 2018, a second set of teaser images were released titled concept photo 2 of the all girls as well as another group image.

 Umji

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 SinB

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 Yuju

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 Eunha

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 Yerin

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 Sowon

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On the 23rd of April 2018, Teaser 1 was released for title track 밤 (Time For The Moon Night).

Owned by Source Music

여자친구 GFRIEND OFFICIAL

On the 24th of April 2018, a third set of teaser images were released titled concept photo 3 of the girls.

SinB

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Umji

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Eunha

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Yuju

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Sowon

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Yerin

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On the 26th of April 2018, a third a final set of teaser images were released of the girls and as a group titled concept photo 4.

 Yerin

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Eunha

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 Umji

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 Sowon

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 Yuju

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 SinB

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On the 27th of April 2018, the Time For The Moon Night Highlight Medley was released.

Owned by Source Music

1theK (원더케이)

On the 28th of April 2018, Teaser 2 was released for title track 밤 (Time For The Moon Night).

Owed by Source Music

여자친구 GFRIEND OFFICIAL

On the 30th of April 2018, the M/V for 밤 (Time For The Moon Night) was released a long with the physical and digital release of their 6th mini album of the same name.

Owned by Source Music

1theK (원더케이)

On the 1st of May 2018, the dance practice was released for 밤 (Time For The Moon Night).

Owned by Source Music

여자친구 GFRIEND OFFICIAL

Time For The Moon Night. set a new record for GFriend, taking the top spot in 10 countries around the world on iTunes, debuting at No.1 on top Download, Album and Social Chart on Korea's top chart Gaon and selling more than 76,000 copies in Korea. The following week, it was reported the the group tied with Girls Generation and Twice as the girl groups with the most entries in the Top 10 of the Billboard World Albums Chart, with 5 entries each.

밤 (Time For The Moon Night) won a total of 10 music show trophies, with 1 win through The Show, 2 wins through Show Champion, 1 win through M Countdown, 2 wins through Music Bank, 2 wins through Show! Music Core and 2 wins through Inkigayo.

Time For The Moon Night peaked at No.1 on the Gaon Albums Chart, No.63 on the Oricon Albums Chart, No.1 Five-Music Albums Chart and No.6 on the Billboard World Albums Chart.

Gaon Sales:

83,197+

Oricon Sales:

1,170+

Giving the album so far a total sales of 84,367+

*YouTube views correct at time of writing post*

So far through GFriend's Official YouTube channel 밤 (Time For The Moon Night) has gained 3,301,249 million views, while through YouTube channel 1theK the M/V has gained 40,977,333 million views, giving the M/V so far a total view count of 44,278,582, with the views increasing each day.

Time For The Moon Night is set out in a hardback book style case, contained inside a card slipcase. The album was released in 3 version - Time, Moon and Night. All 3 versions have different album designs, covers and colours and all versions come with Cd, photobook and 2 random photocards, the First Pressed albums also came with a bookmark and a coaster.

The Time version photobook contains pictures of concept photo 1, the Moon version photobook contains pictures of concept photo 2 and the Night version photobook contains pictures of concept photo 4.

Track List:

Intro (Daytime)

밤 (Time For The Moon Night)

Love Bug

휘리휘리 (Flower Garden)

틱틱 (Tik Tik)

Bye

별 (You Are My Star)

밤 (Time For The Moon Night) (Inst.)

I fell in love with 밤 (Time For The Moon Night) as soon as I heard it, while it wasn't the sound Fingertip had, it's definitely different from their other previous releases, which made me want to buy the album and I'm glad I did. I was in love with each track from the first listen, I love that like Dreamcatcher they always have such amazing intro's that start off their albums, the only way I could describe the intro for this album is that it's very dreamlike, it makes me think of the times I've had fun with my friends. I think while each song is different from the previous, the album blends so well together, letting them be creative and trying new styles while still having something that gives it that GFriend flair. GFriend are known for their flawless and difficult choreography, especially for a girl group but I also love that we get tracks like Bye and 별 (You Are My Star) that showcase their vocals, I also think that both of these tracks are perfect K-drama songs. Even though this album was a summer release, it gives me strong winter feels and for the first time in a while it's made me excited on what the future holds musically for GFriend and it makes me feel happy to be a Buddy again. I have the Night version and bought it without packaging so while I didn't get the photocards, I did get the first pressed items which is the coaster and the bookmark, both of which will remain in the album so that they don't end up damaged. I love the pictures, they're stunning and the colours are really pretty. I will be trying to buy the other 2 versions as I loved all the teaser images we got for the concept photo's.

Intro (Daytime)

MelOn Music Channel

밤 (Time For The Moon Night)

ARIRANG K-POP

Love Bug

더스타 / The STAR

휘리휘리 (Flower Garden)

Jaeguchi

Jaeguchi

틱틱 (Tik Tik)

MBCkpop

Bye

setsu29

별 (You Are My Star)

스싄비비

Yuju and Umji still remain to be my favourite members of GFriend and it's nice that Umji continues to receive positive comments. I've noticed she's a lot a bit of weight in her face but I just hope that she's done it to be happy within herself and not for the people that tried to put her down in the past. I hope GFriend continue to experiment with their music and show that they're not just stuck to one type of song or concept.

Were you a fan of 밤 (Time For The Moon Night)?

Do you have a favourite track from the album?

Do you want them to continue experimenting?

Let me know in the comments below.

See you soon!

안녕

(Annyeong)

さようなら

(Sayonara)

再见

(ZaiJian)

Bye