K-Pop brought the boys out and they delivered. Some may surprise you some may not, but this is my list, and as with the females, only the last group/artist listed is ‘in order.’
So let’s get started!
SNUPER
Weird name, cute group. They’ve done a lot of promoting for their debut from such a small company, but they’ve got what it takes, and I’m rooting for them in 2016.
SNUPER is from WIDMAY Entertainment and debuted on November 16th with their debut mini album, “Shall We?” featuring their lead single, “Shall We Dance.”
McKay Kim
I LOVED the song “Month of June,” like overly unnecessarily loved it. Still love it.
However, he debuted a few months earlier in February on the 5th with “Angel 2 Me.”
Bastarz
Bastarz are Block B‘s first sub-unit, and yes, I was super excited that they debuted. Hell yeah, I love P.O. Second favorite member to ZICO.
I am Block B trash. Anyway, they debuted with “Zero For Conduct,” their debut mini album and title single on April 13th.
Tey (Mr.Mr)
Tey is my bias in Mr.Mr and of course I’m excited for anything they put out.
He released his single, “Dangerous” on January 30th, and it also appeared on the group’s album, “Out,” which was released on April 23rd.
G.Soul
G.Soul joined JYP when he was just a kid and trained for about 15 years, mostly in the US.
Even though JYP told him that he could make him famous in Korea, he opted to stay and train.
Boy did that pay off, huh? He debuted with “You” from his debut mini album, “Coming Home” on January 19th.
Jonghyun (SHINee)
This young man…./dramatically pauses/ ruins me. All the time. So I was really excited for his solo debut. However, I found his lead single, “Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)” a little less than exciting.
“Heaven” does it for me though, and so does his OST work for “Birth of a Beauty” and “Oh My Venus.”
“She” and “Beautiful Lady” are ALWAYS on repeat.
He made his solo debut with “BASE,” his first solo album on January 12th, and not including OST releases, came back with his second album “JONHYUN The Collection: Story Op. 1” on September 16th.
I love pretty much every song on the album.
iKON
Oh iKON. So many feelings about them. When they first debuted, despite the constant hype and how they’d be a hip hop unit, they debuted with “My Type” on September 14th. “My Type” is a slow-tempo K-Pop track with little emphasis on hip-hop.
Is there rapping? Yes. Would I classify this as hip-hop? No. However, I held out hope because my #1 boy band 1TYM also debuted with a less than hip-hop sounding song (namesake single, “1TYM”) and ended up being pretty great at hip-hop, even with experimenting with other genres (rock, pop).
So when they came back with “Rhythm Ta,” I was really excited and I was like, ‘see, I told ya!’ Their song “M.U.P” was another great hip-hop song from the album. Then they released the Bobby and B.I. duet, “Anthem,” and again, I was impressed, I LOVED the song.
But then they came back with “Dumb and Dumber” and “What’s Wrong” with “I Miss You So Bad,” the third new song for their final first album repackage.
The first two songs are less than impressive. They sound like they’re made for BIGBANG, and to be honest, if BB had released them, I probably would have liked them.
They just seem so…basic. However “I Miss You Bad” was the diamond in the rough for that group of new singles. Too bad it doesn’t have a music video though.
Seventeen
So, even though I didn’t listen to them too intently, I still LOVE Seventeen, and they’ve done pretty great this year.
“Mansae” even grew on me after a second listen. However, my love for their debut single, “Adore U” was immediate.
They debuted in Pledis with 13 of their originally 17 members when they released their debut mini album, “17 Carat” on May 28th.
Their follow up mini album, “Boys Be” was released a few months ago, but recently they collaborated with Ailee for the single, “Q&A,” and it FUCKING ROCKS MY SOCKS.
Romeo
You’re surprised it’s not iKON, right? So am I. I thought for sure that they’d take the #1 spot. But it’s actually Romeo.
Romeo are from C.T. Entertainment and debuted with “Love Sick” from their debut album, “The Romeo” on May 6th.
They then released their second mini album, “ZERO In” on November 5th.
I don’t know what it is, I guess it’s just this vibe they have with their music, it’s somewhat early 2000’s K-Pop-esque and I LOVE IT. Not to mention their vocals are on point and they’re not too shabby at dancing either.
And that’s it! That’s my list for favorite male rookies of 2015. Stick around for My Top 15 Favorite K-Pop Songs of 2015!
Ms. ThugBear 