Top 100 K-pop music videos by girl groups (2009-2022)

Here it is: The list!

I’ve locked myself into the magical world of K-pop, and used the whole last month to binge-watch almost all K-pop music videos (by girl groups) in a way to figure out how the genre manages to get all eyes on itself, despite Korea being so “small” (50M inhabitants), and to figure out: Which is the best K-pop music videos (by girl groups)? And here’s the answer. (If you want to know what I learned about K-pop from watching it so much, read this text)

Why only girls, groups and after 2009?
I knew more about the girls (you dig where you stand), and there were too many solo artists for me to handle. And for the 2009 limit: K-pop could be described as all pop music ever from Korea, but it’s also a certain style that didn’t really exist before the late 00s, so I decided to draw the line at a point I felt could pretty well mark the birth of modern K-pop.

How do you decide what’s a good K-pop music video?
First I thought of K-pop as only eye-catching visuals in top quality to get your attention and keep it there forever, but the more I’ve watched the more I’ve got to appreciate the depth behind: The actual humans involved, the good vibes they spread and all the creative ideas! So a music video with strong personalities and unique ideas that just gives good feelings to me seems to be a win. Bonus points if it can stand the test of time and doesn’t get stuck in 2011 or whatever year was cool when the video was made.

And to make the list more diverse and fun, there’s a three video rule, which means no more than three videos per group, no matter how good they are!

Let’s go!

Contents:
100 – 81. Some kind of start of the list
80 – 61. A lot of different concepts
60 – 51. Things that look good, and bike helmets
50 – 41. Random fun stuff
40 – 31. Old and new
30 – 21. K-pop giants, and a few others
20 – 11. The standard formula done very well
10 – 1. Unreplaceable personalities and unique ideas

100 – 81. Some kind of start of the list

#100. F-VE DOLLS – 사기쳤어 (2013)

#99. miss A – Only You (2015)

#98. SATURDAY – BByong (2019)

#97. Weeekly – Zig Zag (2020)

96. TWICE – Like OOH-AAH (2015)

#95. Pink Fantasy – FANTASY (2019)

#94. GIRLS GIRLS – GIRLS GIRLS (2016)

#93. miss A – I don’t need a man (2012)

#92. Orange Caramel – Lipstick (2012)

#91. 9MUSES – Hurt Locker (2015)

#90. BVNDIT – Hocus Pocus (2019)

#89. MOMOLAND – BAAM (2018)

#88. Apink – Bye Bye (2017)

#87. EVERGLOW – Pirate (2021)

#86. fromis_9 – LOVE BOMB (2018)

#85. EXID – UP&DOWN (2014)

#84. APRIL – Now or Never (2020)

#83. Weki Meki – Crush (2018)

#82. Cherry Bullet – Love So Sweet (2021)

#81. ORANGE CARAMEL – My Copycat (2014)

80 – 61. A lot of different concepts

#80. cignature – Nun Nu Nan Na (2020)

#79. Crayon Pop – FM (2015)

#78. KARA – STEP (2011)

#77. gugudan – Chococo (2017)

#76. ITZY – ICY (2019)

#75. HOT ISSUE – ICONS (2021)

#74. DIA – Somehow (2015)

#73. SM STATION – SECRET (2016)

#72. SONAMOO – I Think I Love U (2017)

#71. MAMAMOO – 1CM의 자존심 (2016)

#70. EVERGLOW – LA DI DA (2020)

#69. OH MY GIRL – Listen to my word (2016)

#68. FIESTAR – We Don’t Stop (2012)

#67. MAMAMOO – Starry Night (2018)

#66. Pink Fantasy – iriwa (2018)

#65. gugudan – A Girl Like Me (2017)

#64. OH MY GIRL – Dun Dun Dance (2021)

#63. Apink – Eung Eung (2019)

#62. Rocket Punch – Ring Ring (2021)

#61. HELLOVENUS – WiggleWiggle (2015)

60 – 51. Things that look good, and bike helmets

#60. Crayon Pop – Bar Bar Bar (2013)

#59. SONAMOO – CUSHION (2015)

#58. REDSQUARE – Color Full (2020)

#57. gugudan – Not That Type (2018)

#56. EXID – L.I.E (2016)

#55. HELLOVENUS – I’m ill (2015)

#54. Billlie – RING X RING (2021)

#53. Dreamcatcher – YOU AND I (2018)

#52. LOONA – Why Not? (2020)

#51. STAYC – RUN2U (2022)

50 – 41. Random fun stuff

#50. T-ARA – Roly Poly (2011)

#49. Wonder Girls – I Feel You (2015)

#48. ORANGE CARAMEL – The Gangnam Avenue (2014)

#47. Cosmic Girls – SAVE ME, SAVE YOU (2018)

#46. Red Velvet – Dumb Dumb (2015)

#45. GFRIEND – Apple (2020)

#44. LADIES’ CODE – SET ME FREE (2019)

#43. COSMIG GIRLS – Secret (2016)

#42. EXID – I LOVE YOU (2018)

#41. Dreamcatcher – Scream (2020)

40 – 31. Old and new

#40. GWSN – Puzzle Moon (2018)

#39. woo!ah! – woo!ah! (2020)

#38. IZ*ONE – Secret Story of the Swan (2020)

#37. 4MINUTE – Hot Issue (2009)

#36. GIRL’S DAY – FEMALE PRESIDENT (2013)

#35. Girls’ Generation – Oh! (2010)

#34. Red Velvet – Peek-A-Boo (2017)

#33. STAYC – SO BAD (2020)

#32. aespa – Savage (2021)

#31. TRI.BE – RUB-A-DUM (2021)

30 – 21. K-pop giants, and a few others

#30. SECRET NUMBER – Fire Saturday (2021)

#29. MAMAMOO – HIP (2019)

#28. Brown Eyed Girls – Brave New World (2015)

#27. ITZY – Not Shy (2020)

#26. Red Velvet – Zimzalabim (2019)

#25. PRISTIN – WE LIKE (2017)

#24. Dreamcatcher – BEcause (2021)

#23. TRI.BE – DOOM DOOM TA (2021)

#22. AOA – Good Luck (2016)

#21. TWICE – SCIENTIST (2021)

20 – 11. The standard formula done very well

#20. Kep1er – WA DA DA (2022)

Some more cool-looking shit.

#19. BLACKPINK – AS IF IT’S YOUR LAST (2017)

See description of the other BLACKPINK video further down.

#18. Girl’s Day – Oh! My God (2012)

Cute and quirky video with a really great song, with a lot of dorkiness that doesn’t matter to make because the video gives me joy.

#17. IZ*ONE – Panorama (2020)

A typical K-pop video with a lot of dancing and cool-looking things.

#16. ITZY – SWIPE (2021)

Swipe swipe swipe swipe

#15. Stellar – Archangels of the Sephiroth (2017)

Nature, beautiful views and cool interior.

#14. LOONA – So What (2020)

Burn yourself.

#13. PIXY – Bewitched (2021)

An exaggerated and cool-looking dark-themed video. Chairs are burning, they are in a desert, etc.

#12. EVERGLOW – DUN DUN (2020)

Stunning visuals and a lot of variation.

#11. aespa – Next Level (2021)

Classic over-the-top K-pop excentricity and visuals.

10 – 1. Unreplaceable personalities and unique ideas

#10. Girl’s Day – I’ll be yours (2017)

Classy video that goes away from some generic cliches but uses some of them to its advantage.

#9. 2NE1 – Scream (2015)

A unique concept and style. Simple but innovative, with scenes and styles put together in a way I haven’t seen in other videos.

#8. BLACKPINK – BOOMBAYAH (2016)

See description of the other BLACKPINK video further down.

#7. 2NE1 – COME BACK HOME (2014)

Just a really cool and unique video and song.

#6. 2NE1 – DO YOU LOVE ME (2013)

Low production instead of the high production K-pop videos are known for, but the same rapid editing and fun content.

#5. Girls’ Generation – Holler (2014)

Gold, flashing lights and pretty girls. This video is nice.

#4. Gangkiz – Honey Honey (2012)

A long video of a long journey through Europe (I think?).

#3. Girls’ Generation – Catch Me If You Can (2015)

The backgrounds, the outfits. They speak for themselves.

#2. BLACKPINK – WHISTLE (2016)

Extremelly visually cool. Everything Blackpink does is top quality because they’re awesome and presumably have a big budget.

#1. 4MINUTE – Watcha Doin’ Today (2014)

Undisputable #1 from even before I started making the list. This video has verything good and cool about K-pop, and it’s just emitting happiness and energy.

Congrats, 4Minute. You won the prize!! Which is getting to visit my house and build an exact replica of the music video in LEGO together with me, followed by a big party into the sunset. Welcome, Jihyun, Gayoon, Jiyoon, Hyuna and Sohyun!

I've also made a top 100 songs list.

Main sources I’ve used to find videos:
best 2009-2022 kpop playlist! (YouTube playlist)
Obscure K-Pop 2: Electric Nugaloo (Rateyourmusic.com)
Most viewed music videos by Korean artists (kworb.net, a statistics website)

Golden emails