4 K-Pop Artists Make Billboard’s Top 100 Music Videos Of The 21st Century
The impact music videos have on the global music industry are immense, and K-Pop MVs have been a huge factor in the Hallyu wave.
Billboard’s staff picked the 100 greatest music videos of the 21st century and four K-Pop artists made the list!
92. “Gee” by Girls’ Generation (2009)
Claimed to be “one of the biggest K-Pop hits ever” by Billboard, Gee was the song that shot Girls’ Generation to stardom.
Directed by Cho Soo Hyun, their music video inspired a generation to wear brightly coloured skinny jeans and dance the choreography in the streets.
“The success of it led to the group releasing further videos that rank among K-pop’s all-time most recognizable, including “Genie” and “I Got A Boy,” but nothing will ever replace this 2009 music video for its critical spot in the genre’s history.”
— Tamar Herman, Billboard writer
67. “Blood, Sweat & Tears” by BTS (2016)
Blood, Sweat & Tears was BTS’s first step away from being “boy scouts” and showed the process of shedding their innocence by meeting with temptation.
Billboard makes note of the high-art references — “Cut to a museum filled with European Renaissance replications: Michelangelo’s Pietà explodes! Van Goghian sky swirls abound! V jumps off a balcony in front of a painting of the fallen Icarus!”
Caitlin Kelley, Billboard writer, states this music video was “ripe for fan theories” and made for “the thinking fan.”
48. “My Copycat” by Orange Caramel (2014)
Orange Caramel has always pushed boundaries from music to concepts to music videos.
The mind games used in the music video perfectly illustrate the mind games going on within the song’s lyrics.
Billboard writer C.K. notes “My Copycat represents the pinnacle of the trio’s out-of-the box thinking with its interactive game.”
12. “Gangnam Style” by PSY (2012)
Unsurprisingly, the music video that turned the world’s eyes to South Korea’s pop culture industry is the highest ranked K-Pop music video on the list.
It went viral for it’s “over-the-top antics”, “numerous cameos from local comedians and pop stars” and “its easy-to-learn equine choreography” — and was the first-ever video to hit 1 billion views on YouTube.
“Though it’s no longer the world’s most-viewed music video, the legacy of ‘Gangnam Style’ remains.”
— Tamar Herman, Billboard writer
