Weekly K-Pop Music Chart 2012 - July Week 2

f(x) spent another week on No. 1, their third in a row, with “Electric Shock.”  This week is somewhat a lucky win for f(x), as Music Bank’s K Chart was not updated this week before of a special show.  That affects our 2^nd place song this week, SISTAR’s “Loving U,” as it was not included in that ranking yet.   It would have been a very close battle.

Speaking of “Loving U”, it is also our highest top 10 entry of the week, jumping 14 spots to No. 2.  Sistar won the first half top song of our chart with their previous No. 1 hit “Alone”.  Now the girls are releasing a summer special album.  “Loving U” is very different from their usual hardcore electronic dance hits.  It is a pop number with brass and guitar sounds tailor made for summer. The song is about the sweetness of falling in love.  This song should have a good chance to move up to No. 1 next week, but will face other big name challengers.  More on that later.

After School remains at No. 3 with “Flashback”.  The strength of this song is on airplay where it is No. 1.  It is also No. 2 on M!Countdown and No. 3 on Show Champion.

There are two other new entries in the top 10 this week.  At No. 6, rookie female artist Juniel has her first top 10 hit with “Illa Illa”.  Juniel is in the same record company as FT Island and CN Blue, and her music style is also pop rock.  She is also following the same footsteps as CN Blue by debuting in Japan first and then coming back to Korea.  “Illa Illa” has been released for five weeks.  It started very low on the chart but gaining momentum each week and finally makes into the top 10 this week, a very good sign for a new artist.  With her pure and innocent image, Juniel is already labeled as the next IU in Korea.

Our highest chart debut this week is at No. 10, where one of the top K-Pop male groups is coming back.  Super Junior is releasing their 6^th album.  The title song “Sexy, Free & Single” is of the soulful house genre with trendy arrangements. It has an easy and addictive chorus about sexy and free single men.  This song will definitely move up fast next week and will be a No. 1 challenger.

There are two other songs outside of top 10 worth noticing: T-Ara’s “Day By Day” at No. 17 and 2NE1’s “I Love You” at No. 20.  Along with Sistar and Super Junior’s new songs, it will be a four way battle for the top spot next week, something we haven’t seen for a while.  All four artists are regularly topping music charts with all their hits.  But this time they are releasing their new songs at the same time and there is only one No. 1.  Who is going to win next week?  Stay tune!

1. (–) f(x) – Electric Shock ***3rd Week @ No. 1***
Score: 920
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Joachim Vermeulen Windsant, Maarten Ten Hove, Willem Laseroms / Lyrics: Seo Ji Eum
Album: F(x) Mini Album Vol. 2 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

2. (+14) Sistar – Loving U
Score: 824
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Ichiro Suezawa, Chance / Lyrics: Ichiro Suezawa, Chance
Album: Sistar Summer Special Album | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

3. (–) After School – Flashback
Score: 702
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Saint Binary / Lyrics: Saint Binary
Album: After School Maxi Single Album – Flashback | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

4. (-2) Wonder Girls – Like This
Score: 685
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Park Jin Young / Lyrics: Park Jin Young
Album: Wonder Girls Mini Album – Wonder Party | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

5. (+3) Verbal Jint – 충분히 예뻐 (You Deserve Better (feat. Phantom’s Sanchez))
Score: 654
Genre: Hip-Hop

Music: Verbal Jint, Kiggen / Lyrics: Verbal Jint
Album: Ten Years Of Misreading 1 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

6. (+8) Juniel – Illa Illa
Score: 629
Genre: Pop Rock

Music: Kim Do Hoon, Lee Sang Ho / Lyrics: Han Sung Ho
Album: Juniel Mini Album Vol. 1 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

7. (–) Busker Busker – 정말로 사랑한다면 (If You Really Love Me)
Score: 552
Genre: Rock

Music: Jang Bum Joon / Lyrics: Jang Bum Joon
Album: Busker Busker Vol. 1 – Completion | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

8. (-4) Big Bang – Monster
Score: 550
Genre: R&B

Music: G Dragon, Choi Pil Kang / Lyrics: G Dragon, T.O.P
Album: Big Bang Special Edition – Still Alive | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

9. (-3) Teen Top – To You
Score: 527
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Brave Brothers / Lyrics: Brave Brothers
Album: Teen Top Mini Album Vol. 3 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

10. (new) Super Junior – Sexy, Free & Single
Score: 493
Genre: Pop/Dance

Music: Daniel Klein, Thomas Sardorf, Lasse Lindorff / Lyrics: Yoo Young Jin
Album: Super Junior Vol. 6 | Purchase this Album
Watch: MV

YESTERDAY ONCE MORE:

Papaya – 내 얘길 들어봐 (Listen To Me)

Genre: Pop/Dance

Album: Papaya Vol. 1 (2000) Track 4

Comment: Papaya was originally a five membered female group debuted in 2000.  Their original members were Go Na Eun, Jo Hye Kyung, Joo Yeon Jung, Hwang Yoon Mi, and Kang Kyung Ah.  The latter two left the group after the first album and Papaya became a trio.  Like many group artists around the time, Papaya’s popularity was short lived.  At that time, K-Pop music is just starting to get popular and record companies created many groups, more than the market can absorb.  Papaya broke up after the second album in 2001.  Go Na Eun becomes an actress and is the only Papaya member still active now.  “Listen To Me” was Papaya’s debut song in 2000.  It was an electronic dance hit with a good intro and additive rhythm.

About the Soompi Music Chart:

Soompi Music Chart is unlike any other music charts or television rankings.  It takes into account rankings by various major music charts in Korea and airplays of each song, making it an unbiased and objective tally of what’s going on in the world of K-pop.  Our chart is composed of the following sources:

Air Monitor Chart – 15%

GAON Music Chart – 15%
Various Internet charts (Olleh, Bugs, Melon, Soribada, Naver, Daum) – 15%
Billboard Korea – 15%    
SBS (Inky Gayo Take 7 + voting list) – 10%
MBC+ Show Champion Chart M – 10%
KBS Music Bank K-Chart – 10% 
MNet M!Countdown Chart – 10%

Thanks to Mardi09 for helping on this week’s internet chart research.