This list contains what the title suggests; the ten best K-pop videos in 2024. It’s important here to distinguish between best videos and best tracks, because sometimes unusually good album tracks will not receive any video treatment, or sometimes the Gesamtkunstwerk of the video will be stronger than the track itself. And of course looking at artifacts from a culture that has in recent years been as strong in its dramas and its pop music, we are often considering works which have the production values of blockbuster movies, but also conversely pieces that deploy lo-fi, glitchy or art house techniques for an increasingly sophisticated audience.
RM – LOST! A conceptual maze from quotidian to celebrity. How the whole thing works and locks together is a marvel which rewards rewatching again and again. All of the videos for RM’s second album show the fingerprints of Balming Tiger’s San Yawn, but this one is probably the best portal into their world. Dark, comic and deadpan surreal.
ARTMS – Virtual Angel. A kaleidoscope of tiny fragments which potentially could cause seizures, so Modhaus released a “human eye” version of it for viewers who can’t keep up with the pace. Wonderful to see Digipedi, who were responsible for many key LOONA videos, now working with ARTMS. Bleeding edge essential.
Balming Tiger – Buriburi / Pigeon and Plastic. Every Balming Tiger video is a small masterpiece, and while we could have chosen pretty much any one of them this year, the single tracking shot that threads through the whole video is beautifully realised. Unpredictable and manic.
ARTMS – Birth. Yes, another ARTMS video, but so very different in tone and style from Virtual Angel. Draws multiple graphic and video techniques into a heartstopping gothic edifice. Also incredibly beautiful.
Yves – Viola. Yves’ Viola draws on mid-century interior design arranged into puzzle-box sets of trompe l’oeil, and some stunningly ugly portraits of middle-aged white guys. But the whole is oddly compelling and unexpected.
YOUNG POSSE – XXL. All of YOUNG POSSE’s videos this year have played on one sort or another of retro computer game art as absurdist, hijinks comedy heists, but this one is probably the best of the pack. Hilariously WTF entertainment.
TAEYEON – Heaven. Even without the implied gore, cordon bleu excellence and bear slaying, TAEYEON herself is the very heart of uncanny in this video. Her costumes, her movements, and sometimes just a single blink of those huge eyes are terrifyingly poised.
LE SSERAFIM – CRAZY. While this is clearly the Fimmies video, House of Juicy Couture are *this* close to upstaging the girls at any point. Yeah, it’s voguing at its most absurd, and with several swerveballs thrown into the editing. This maintains the apparently effortless level we expect from these girls.
LISA x ROSALIA – NEW WOMAN. Vicious and stylish. LISA’s ROCKSTAR video was a close contender, but her clear chemistry with Rosalía makes you want to be part of their girl gang. Hilarious commentaries on masculinity and celebrity ensue.
G-DRAGON – POWER. There are parallels to be drawn between this and both the RM and Balming Tiger videos. Like Buriburi, the whole video is a single shot snaking though a studio set, like LOST!, the studio set is a maze. G-DRAGON proves himself to be the Charlie Chaplin of K-pop.