East Beat: Your Guide To Asia’s Best Pop Songs Featuring MAMAMOO & Monsta X

Jacques Peterson | June 24, 2017 3:11 pm
East Beat: NCT 127 & Perfume
Your guide to the week's best Asian pop songs featuring NCT 127 and Perfume.

The world of pop music moves fast, especially for those who enjoy the sounds of the East and the West. Keeping up with the Hot 100 is hard enough, let alone knowing what’s going on in Japan and the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it K-Pop scene. To help you stay on top of Asia’s hottest pop music, I’ve put together East Beat — a handy guide of the best K-Pop and J-Pop (and beyond!) songs of the week.

The biggest new K-Pop hit of the week is MAMAMOO’s “Yes I Am,” which recently beat BLACKPINK’s new track to the top of the Korean charts. With powerhouse vocals and disco-tinged dance production, it’s the ultimate diva anthem. It would make a great Christina Aguilera comeback single, too!

Speaking of BLACKPINK, the foursome also returned with a new single, “As If It’s Your Last.” The Teddy-produced synth-pop jam is a little outdated compared to the more creative stuff coming out of K-pop these days, but if you’re a fan of 2NE1’s older stuff then it should definitely hit the spot.

An edgier girl-group worth checking out are Nine Muses (who, hilariously, are down to just four members now). The sexy quartet’s latest, “Remember,” is a real pop knockout. It opens like a moody ballad before exploding into surging electro-pop on the chorus. It’s a nice change of pace from the cute and colorful K-Pop groups that are so popular right now.

For the boys, rising stars Monsta X returned with “Shine Forever.” They usually stick to a cluttered hip-hop sound, but on this track they mix it with some trendy future-bass which is a much better fit for them.

Over in Japan, E-Girls are back with their 19th single, the energetic “Love Queen.” The group have built up quite a strong international following because their music encompasses the bright and cheerful sound of Japanese idol pop, but their image is much more fashionable and mature than the innocent school girls that usually fill the genre.

The last girl group of the week is Taiwanese quintet Twinko, who just dropped their latest single “Touch Me.” The track starts out like a sexy jazz-pop number, but it’s let down by a Disney-ish chorus that’s nowhere near as saucy as it needs to be. Honestly, it’s not the best song, I just really like the music video!

What are you into this week? Let us know below, or by hitting us up on Facebook and Twitter!