As K-pop is one of the big pop-culture trends in the world today, and there are a lot of good albums we have in our library collection, I would like to share the artists and songs I have liked since I started listening to K-pop as a teenager! I hope you will enjoy this music genre and culture as much as I do!
The first K-pop artist I would like to introduce to you is 빛나는샤이니: SHINee! SHINee is a Korean boy group formed by SM Entertainment and debuted on 22 May 2008. The original group members included Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho, and Taemin. All the members had been trainees for around two to three years and received a lot of training in singing, dancing, and RAP before their debut. Their fan club is named 샤이니 월드 (SHINee World), with fans calling themselves Shawols or S.W. Their official colour is Pearlescent Aquamarine (Hex code #79e5cb, for anyone who wants to theme their Tumblr dash appropriately!).
SHINee debuted with the title song “Replay (누난 너무 예뻐)” from their first mini album “Replay.” They have gained a lot of attention since gaining the title of ‘Rookie Grand Slam’ following their debut. Defined as a “Contemporary group,” SHINee’s main music style is contemporary R&B, but they also have challenged musical boundaries by incorporating various music genres like Hip-Hop, EDM, and Deep House into their style. I personally like their pop ballad songs the most (my top three: Jo Jo from 2009, Year of Us, Don’t Let Me Go from 1 Of 1, and Symptoms from Everybody). Moreover, they always received a lot of compliments for their live performances because of their powerful vocals, exceptional choreography, and perfect synchronisation.
Today, the members of SHINee are focusing on their solo activities while waiting for the youngest member, Taemin, to complete his military service in early March 2023. Leader Onew is doing his solo concert in Japan and has been cast in several musicals, and Key is doing a lot of variety shows and has released his second full-length album “Gasoline” last August, while Minho has finally released his first solo mini album “Chase” with his new drama “The Fabulous” premiering on Netflix last December! Although member Jonghyun passed away in 2017, he was always one of SHINee’s most talented members, and his songs still have the power to heal us now (End of a Day).
We are lucky enough to have some of SHINee’s albums in our CD collection (editor’s note — do the kids still listen to CDs these days? Anyway, they’re free to borrow this year!), so check out some of my favourite picks below!
SHINee albums we have at the library:
Sherlock is SHINee’s fourth mini album which was released in 2012. The title song “Sherlock (Clue + Note)” is a “hybrid remix” of two songs, which are both from the same album: the second track “Clue,” and the third track “Note.” World-famous choreographer Tony Testa has done the choreography work for the title song and “Sherlock” has become one of SHINee’s masterpieces (Sherlock, Everybody, and View are always mentioned when we talk about SHINee’s outstanding and unique performances).
My personal picks:
–The Reason
–Honesty
Dream girl : the misconceptions of you ; Why so serious : the misconceptions of me / SHINee
In January 2013, SHINee announced that they were coming back with their third full-length album. The first chapter “Dream Girl – The misconceptions of You” was released in February with the title song “Dream Girl” and chapter two “Why So Serious – The misconceptions of Me” was released in April with the title song “Why So Serious”. Chapter 1 contains more happy and delightful songs, while Chapter 2 has more dark and gloomy songs. The complete album, The Misconceptions of Us, was released in June with an additional two new songs.
My personal picks:
Chapter 1 “Dream Girl – The misconceptions of You”
–Spoiler
–Girls, Girls, Girls
–AsideChapter 2 “Why So Serious – The misconceptions of Me”
–Excuse Me Miss
–Sleepless NightThe misconceptions of Us
–Selene 6.23
–Better Off
Odd is SHINee’s fourth full-length album released in 2015 with the deep house genre title song “View.” The lyrics are written by member Jonghyun and describe how love intensifies people’s senses. It has received a lot of good reviews because of Jonghyun’s beautiful and sophisticated writing.
My personal picks:
–Love Sick
–View
–Farewell My Love
–An Ode To You
–An Encore
Ace : the first mini album / Taemin
Ace is SHINee’s member Taemin’s first solo mini album which was released in 2014. He is also the first member of SHINee who starts a solo career. With the title song “괴도 (Danger)”, Taemin has proved that he is not only good at dancing (he is the lead dancer in SHINee and well known as one of the best dancers in Korea) but also good at singing as well. Ace had received many good reviews in overall and Taemin has continued his solo career along with the group activities since then.
My personal picks:
–Ace
–Pretty Boy
Base : the first mini album / Jonghyun
My favourite member, Jonghyun released his first solo mini album, Base, in 2015. He was the second member after Taemin to start his own solo career. As the lead vocalist in SHINee, Jonghyun had always been praised for his singing skills, as well as his songwriting skills since his debut. He wrote all the lyrics for this album (not only this album but also all his solo albums that had been released after Base) and cooperated with other composers to write the music. This album explores various genres, including R&B, ballad, and soul.
My personal picks:
–Déjà-Boo
–Hallelujah
–Mono-Drama
That’s a wrap for my over-sharing about SHINee! Tell us in the comments below if you’ve found your favourite SHINee song on our list!
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