Weekly K-Pop Ranker: Top 5 K-Pop Releases from the 1st Week of September

Welcome to Kpopmap’s brand new weekly series, “Weekly K-Pop Ranker” where we rank the top Korean music releases of the week. This includes music released by any and all artists such as K-Pop groups, soloists, bands, K-Hip Hop artists, indie artists and more. It also includes foreign language releases from K-Music artists as well as OSTs.

The timeline considered for each article will be 7 days from Fridays to Thursdays. The Weekly Ranker article will be published every Friday. In the case of this article, we will look at releases from 2 September 2022 to 8 September 2022.

Note: This ranker will not be based solely on the commercial success or popularity of the releases. However, we will open a poll at the end of each article where you can vote for the best release of the week. The best releases from each week will be compiled into a monthly article based only on your votes.

Here are the top 5 K-Pop releases from the 1st week of September!

BTOB’s ChangSub is coming in strong this week with an amazing new special single, ‘Surrender’, his first solo release in over 3 years! ‘Surrender’ is an excellent entry into the synthwave K-Pop genre, drawing from some classic nostalgic sounds juxtaposed with modernity. This is the type of song that gets stuck in your head until you find another ChangSub special to obsess over.

Kim JaeHwan has a go at rock in ‘Back Then’ and we have to say, it’s really exciting. The vocals on this song are flawless and the impact it leaves is solid. There’s a familiar feel to this song, perhaps because it’s reminiscent of pop rock bands like 5 seconds of summer, but there is a sentimentality here that is truly incomparable. After all, this is Kim JaeHwan we’re talking about, and he’s always extraordinary.

3. ONEUS – ‘Same Scent’

Trust ONEUS to deliver bop after bop because ‘Same Scent’ is the tropical dance track we needed this season. With all the strengths of a memorable K-Pop song, ‘Same Scent’ will have you grooving in no time. It’s powerful, romantic and energetic, while the lyrics are quite heartbreaking – classic duplicity! Special appreciation is due to the rap line which really turns this song into a unique ONEUS piece combined with the beautiful vocals.

YoungSeo lets his golden voice shine in all its glory in ‘The Letter’, a poignant ballad that plays out just as the name suggests. It is personal, deeply moving and heartfelt. It’s a wonder how this is YoungSeo’s first ever solo project, especially since he sounds so impressively experienced and more importantly, effortless. We can’t wait to hear more from him as he further explores his personal musicality.

Chuu’s ‘One And A Half’ is a remake of the popular song of the same name by TWO TWO. Not only is the song perfectly suited for Chuu, but she also brings a whole new charm to it. Her rendition has a patient pace and a quiet but youthful elegance. It almost sounds like she’s singing OST for a campus romance drama! We just can’t get enough of her soft voice!

Kpopmap