The 2021 Kpopalypse end of year survey – THE RESULTS!

Welcome to the results of the Kpopalypse 2021 end of year survey! Read on for the trufax!

Thanks to all readers who participated in the traditional end of year survey content! Here are your results!

Question 1: What is your favourite k-pop song for 2021?

If the Kpopalypse’s favourite songs of 2021 list was a reader choice list, here’s how it would have went! As can be expected, Kpopalypse readers generally have excellent taste!

The colours in this chart and the below charts show how each reader choice matches up to the Kpopalypse choices.

Pink = #1 best
Green = somewhere in the top 30
Blue = honourable mention
White = not in any list
Orange = dishonourable mention
Red = somewhere in the bottom 30

Everything was on the positive side… except Aespa’s “Savage“, and even that song is pretty fucking good after a few edits are applied:

Question 2: What is your least favourite k-pop song for 2021?

Here’s how the Kpopalypse 30 worst songs of 2021 would have looked if they were reader picks! As you can see the list is skewed much more heavily in favour of the bigger artists than my own list. I guess it was popular artists repeatedly pumping out shit that really grinded readers’ gears over 2021. Given that the list is a collation of votes from hundreds of readers, and some high-profile songs tend to be very divisive, this means that some songs were able to make appearances on both reader lists!

Question 3: What song will be #1 on Kpopalypse’s favourites list for 2021?

Readers were more on-point than ever when attempting to guess the Kpopalypse favourites list, and many of you guessed the #1 pick correctly! This wasn’t surprising of course, given its outstanding quality and absolutely gayness.

Question 4: What song will be #1 on Kpopalypse worst of 2021 list?

It was of course harder for readers to guess the worst list, as it always is – there’s just so much crap out there. However Kpopalypse readers still put in an impressive showing, with many correct picks! Not a single person guessed the actual #1 worst, and it’s probably just as well that we all quietly forget that song exists at all. What song? Sorry, don’t know what you’re talking about, too busy listening to Lovebites.

Question 5: What amazing k-pop track that kicked ass this year will Kpopalypse shit on for no clear reason?

Kpopalypse readers were mainly able to breathe a sigh of relief this year, as I didn’t shit on that many of your faves…

Question 6: What complete bullshit dicksucking k-pop song will be riding high on Kpopalypse’s favourites list just to annoy you?

… but bugging the shit out of you with songs that you hate, well, that’s another story! NCT 127’s “Sticker” was by far and away the clear winner in this category, polling 8 times higher than the next nearest entry! Many of you were certain that I’d bug you with this song and you were right, so please bask in your correctness and enjoy the following videos!

Question 7: If you have requests for the “clearing house” post for songs that missed roundups, put them here! I get a LOT of song submissions to try to restrict yours to songs that DEFINITELY haven’t been covered already in roundups, and that people might reasonably give a fuck about! No b-sides without videos! Thank you!

Your clearing house suggestions ended up in the clearing house post. Well, actually only about 0.1% of them did, because most of you broke the rules and sent me a bunch of shit that wasn’t eligible, that I’d already covered, or long-ass lists that I barely had time to do more than skim-read and cherry-pick.

Question 8: If you have anything else to say, you could put it here if you wanted. Or if not, then don’t. Have a great Christmas and New Year, caonima!

Some selected feedback:

Please pet your cat for me. Thanks for all your hard work, happy holidays!

It’s been a rough year and I guess you can tell by how a lot of song this year sucked major ass, I can’t even tell if the good songs sound good because they’re really good or I just lowered the bar

Yeah 2021 wasn’t a great year. 2013 still takes the award for the worst year however… at least for now.

Thanks for helping me be less of a sheeple and scrutinize my kpops more than usual. I also know you’re busy being a working adult, so I really appreciate you posting regularly, especially now that I’ve recently discovered the joyous chaos of your livestreams. I was that person earlier in the year who got into the car accident with the brain injury. Even though I’m back to normal, your posts and opinions have become a comforting part of that normal for me this year, a voice of reasonable absurdity in these absurd times. Nuanced realness is a breath of fresh air. Hope you have some happy holidays! I’ve extremely enjoyed diving with you into this niche hobby that is kpop.

Thanks!

What does kpop get right more than western music?

The clothes.

i am sure no one will give two shits about this but i will say it anyways. Y’ALL READ THE NUGU ALERT. i will be the first to admit that i have genuinely enjoyed your writing and the songs in nugu alert way more than in most roundups, especially when you focus on good songs. episode 56 and nugu alert november are amongst my favourite releases in terms of kpopalypse 2021 contents so thank you kpopalypse oppar sir for introducing me to some neat songs that would’ve went under my radar otherwise. happy holidays and a happy new year! 😀

Even though it’s shockingly unpopular, and probably a main reason for the steady decline in traffic to my site, I will continue to stand by nugus! There will be more Nugu Alert in 2022, whether people like it or not, but I’m glad some of you do!

honestly, it’s beyond me how you have the nerves or the endurance to put up with so much bs each week with the roundups. don’t get me wrong, i am grateful because it gives me a good laugh and occasionally introduces me to song that i would’ve missed otherwise. lastly i want to use this chance to thank you because i don’t think i ever did that. 6 years ago when i finished high school and started college, i was in my most depressing and miserable state which, as you can imagine, is not the ideal time to be pulled down the kpop rabbit hole. quitting college, starting to work and discovering your blog have had tremendous impact on me being in a better place now. i know i am just a faceless, nameless stranger to you but still i wanted to properly thank you, at least once. i wish you all the best and hope the next year will be kinder to you than these previous ones have been.

I don’t know how I tolerate it either sometimes. Pointing and laughing helps! Thanks for your readership, glad I could assist with enhancing your life quality!

I’m always excited to read your end of year posts because there’s always some great music that I’ve overlooked! V interested to see if Butter takes top worst spot since Dynamite was debated last year out of sheer boringness and Butter is somehow blander. Or permission to dance. Or life goes on. Do you count My Universe (had Coldplay, but they sung in Korean) cuz that one is pure dogshit. Rough year to be a BTS fan lol. Anyways idk if omicron is bad in Australia yet but stay safe!

“My Universe” was definitely eligible, and it was definitely boring, but I didn’t feel it was any more boring than what BTS usually do, as they tend to sound as boring as Coldplay with or without Coldplay on the actual track. Note that “Life Goes On” was released in 2020 and found its way into the worst list for that year!

how tf do you play asteroids i keep dying this game sucks fuck eunji

Git gud, noob.

I’m still jerking it to TXT and NCT. I must say I used to harbor quite a purist mentality regarding the perception of k-pop idols. But then I began to realize calling a 28 year old man “My precious little baby!!!! uwuwuwuwuu” wasn’t all that hot either. Jacking off hasn’t exactly alleviated my kpop obsession (although I have expanded my musical horizons), but it sure has helped me enjoy it more!

Also want to give a huge thanks to you for your quintessential contributions to the English speaking kpop interweb! Your blog has offered me a respite from the day to day mundanities and tribulations of such a tumultuous year. Time will only tell if Omnicron will inflict as much havoc, but I suppose it doesn’t hurt to maintain a sense of chipper optimism. I hope your straight cock experiences only the strongest of orgasms when masturbating or partaking in classy sexy consensual funtimes with your gf! Happy holidays and new year!

Thanks!

suk a dog dik u fat cvnt

Thanks for your feedback!

At this point, I only allow your opinions because you enjoy LOONA, but you need to stop slandering dreamcatcher, sunmi, and yukika, also if you actually enjoyed sticker i hate you

Someone light a candle for this person.

Hi! I’m the person who linked you to that article/art event about fandoms in one of your streams (it’s okay if you don’t remember lol).

I wanted to tell you that this year I’ve become involved with a blog/platform made by a group of people in the fringe of the arts world called donotresearch.net. They are centered on forward thinking art, writing and generally weird shit/extremely online shit that flies under the radar of social media and is rejected by the mainstream (it is hard to explain, just take a look at the posts published to get an idea of the variety of themes), and as a long time caonima I think your writing and experience would be a good fit for a submission (guidelines here)

I don’t mean it in the sense of talking about how insane kpop fans are on the internet and having your stuff banned from the kpop mainstream for being too crass and lurid, but in the sense that through kpop you genuinely make an effort to force people to develop critical thinking, to not swallow down whatever corporate bullshit they’re fed, to be introduced to artists of extreme genres they would never listen if it weren’t for you and to have opinions of their own, and that’s something that I don’t see too much anymore in the internet.

If you’re not interested that’s fine, but if you have friends that could be interested in submitting something, do tell them! it’s hard to get the word out there because the blog keeps being shadowbanned in social media lmao

Thank you for reading and thank you for all the amazing writing put out this year. I wish a nice holiday season for you and your kitty and can’t wait for the end of the year lists! Cheers!

This looks interesting – I don’t know if I would contribute, I agree that there’s some commonality here in how we think, but I think I would find their format perhaps a bit limiting? Also I barely have the time to do what I already do so branching out to something else unrelated is really unappealing. I did like the site however! Maybe a collaboration that didn’t involve me writing out a ton of text about some stuff that would probably be better just placed on my own site anyway, that might be the way to go. Something for me to think about. Thank you!

would you believe me if i told you i just had a guy nut in me and i’m in his bathroom filling this bullshit form out

Actually from my readership, yes I would definitely believe this.

Never throw away any unique screws, you will need them eventually. Or not, in which case it’s fine to bin them. (applicable to other things as well)

Good advice for 2022, thank you!

This google form sucks dick on mobile. Anyways, I had classes that were in person this fall semester and I actually improved my grades by full letters so go me.

Thanks for doing all this good shit, you’re one of the only k-pop websites I read anymore. I’ve been a loyal reader since 2015, I’ve submitted questions for Qrimole, etc, and the quality is always consistent. Seriously, every day my faith in k-pop drops into negative levels I thought I’d never seen before, so to actually have a voice of rational sense in this god awful mob of people who can’t formulate thoughts beyond “my fave pretty pretty the sexy the HOT, fuck off if you disagree, they can do no wrong”, is a very welcome thing. The music theory posts are great, the games are great, the podcasts are great, this is SUCH a great blog. Keep kicking butts caonima, because if this blog dies one day, I’ll be incredibly sad losing a small piece of enjoyment in my daily life.

Yeah Google forms isn’t always great but I sure do get less complaints about it than the other software I used to use. Thanks for your support! Don’t worry I plan to be continuing for a long time to come!

Don’t know how long you will keep doing this blog, but I’ll be here for every dang post you got, man. Love it!

Also I want to take this extra time to say, “PTT.” That song *sighs* just ruined LOONA for me, like so hard, that I have yet to recover this year. Starseed helped, Hula Hoop’s ok, but imma need better songs to get me out of what has been a canyon of a rut when it comes to LOONA. It was like enjoying a fine meal (their discography) but then I’m hit with an unexpected crunch (PTT), the kind of crunch where there shouldn’t be one.

I mean, I wasn’t a fan of their prior comeback singles post-Butterfly (though their b-sides like Star were places I could take refuge), but PTT was the tipping point.

I feel like a Weezer fan, where LOONA is Weezer and I’m the Blue Album/Pinkerton (High High/Butterfly) fan that can’t get into all the albums (again, just the comeback singles for me) after Pinkerton (Butterfly) because those just sucked; like, they weren’t up to the snuff Weezer (LOONA) had before. I don’t even listen to Weezer, but this Weezer fan’s experience was so on point for me that I just had to let go of the animosity of constantly saying, “Fuck PTT”. It was what it was, and I hope it remains a foggy memory so that I can enjoy LOONA’s songs again.

Here’s hoping BBC gets a cash injection to hire a producer and A&R director with some vision, instead of getting Ryan Jhun (who I shouldn’t really fault, because he has highs like OMG’s Dun Dun Dance + My Doll, Weeekly’s After School, etc — but his lows were PTT… and Not Friends, which just didn’t help with the LOONA recovery ugh lol). Also, I feel like he just rehashed PTT for IVE’s debut,. They’re, like, in the same realm… whatever, that’s just gonna make me go back to that ol’ hatin’ unproductive headspace. Maybe these Kpop companies make songs to get hate views? Nah, I don’t think there’s a— whatever.

I hope the season’s treating you fair.

I’m good, thanks for your feedback!

Fu Yaning is apparently releasing a song this month we stan a true kpop queen

Please keep me posted if I miss this. Hopefully it’s something upbeat and interesting.

You hate my favs but I still adore your corny mean-spirited and frankly far too opinionated ass

Thanks for reading!

I continue to appreciate the work you devote to this nonsense week after week. Its the only way I follow Kpop and without you id be forced to look at reddit or some shit to find songs worth paying attention to and lord knows no one wants that. Bless you. Truly. Thank you.

Thank you! If I can spare just one person from having to resort to k-pop reddit, it was all worthwhile.

This year, i have listened to the entire discography of Within Temptations. I really liked it, but I noticed one thing. It requires times and effort to listen to an album and to be able to appreciate it. Some of my favorite songs were ones that I didn’t like at the first listen, and now, I can live without them. I don’t know how critics do to be able to analyse an album in one day, its too hard for me.

I wish you merry holidays and I hope you will continue this blog for a long time. I like to read it ! Thank you for your hard work 😀

Yeah I generally don’t review albums just because of time constraints (plus k-pop albums generally suck anyway). If I do one album, people will then want me to do every album, and… I just don’t have the time. I’m exceptionally time-poor, especially since after COVID became a thing, there is just no way.

IDEK, I don’t keep up with k-pop any more except for your end of year lists. I came here to say thanks for those lists and also FUCK YOU CUNT FOR ALWAYS SHITTING ON CSJH THE GRACE YOU MEAN BALD OLD FUCKING CUNTFUCK

I don’t know what you’re complaining about, “always shitting on CSJH” geez, apart from this response in this very post, I haven’t written a single thing about CSJH since at least 2019, I’ve just been ignoring them like every other person on the planet. Hey, if you get some vague sense of joy from listening to that fucking garbage, more power to you. I wish I had your intestinal fortitude. Thanks for reading anyway, I appreciate it.

Your blog is the best k-pop blog ever , thanks for making my weekends more joyful.. 🙂

It’s all about joy at the end of the day.

My cat is sitting next to me and she was trying to walk across the keyboard, making this hard to write. Could you post pictures of your cat more often? Cats are important.