I love how Sweetune made like 2.76 songs this year and they still end up at #2 on this countdown. Girl’s Day – I’ll Be Yours, Thirsty, Kumbaya, TruthĮssay incoming (I feel strongly about my kpop producers!): VAV – Venus (Dance With Me), ABC (Middle of the Night), She’s Mine In between, his 80’s-tinged pop was always a treat, offering shots of pure pop melody during a year more focused on trendy instrumentals. He started strong with the incredible My First and Last, and was responsible for 2017’s biggest viral hit Pick Me. Jhun has been composing fantastic material for years now, but his star power really blew up in 2017. Top Secret – She, Mind Control, Something Special, It’s Good, Up and Down Snuper – Back:Hug, Star of Stars, Dear, Hide and Seek, My Girl’s Foxġ00% – Sketch U, One Day, Interpretation, Gorgeous, Meet Me Yesterday I’d still like to see them work with some of k-pop’s a-list acts again, because right now they’re consistently churning out some of the industry’s most under-appreciated gems. Thanks to their work with Snuper, I’d argue that they had an even better year in 2017. Good old reliable Sweetune were in this same position last year. They’re responsible for Wanna One’s trademark song and Pentagon’s re-emergence as a creative force. The only debut on this countdown, Flow Blow and Pentagon’s Hui burst onto the scene with the mega-hit Never, and didn’t look back from that point on. They’ve proven themselves to be masters of the Big Pop Chorus, expertly melding European influences to k-pop’s idiosyncratic sound.

In addition to being the composers of the gargantuan summer hit Red Flavor, Lindell and Caesar brought their punchy pop style to some of Korea’s biggest acts. Their burgeoning discography may be small now, but I’m excited to see where they go from here.

One of k-pop’s most promising new production duos, 1Take and TAK’s glitchy electronic style breathed new life into 2017’s trendy output. Nu’est W – Where You At, Just One Day, Paradise, Good Love, With Seventeen – Don’t Wanna Cry, Clap, Without You, Lilili Yabbay, Trauma, Flower, Rocket, Hello, Campfire, If I, Swimming Fool, My I, Crazy In Love He’s driven the work of all three of the agency’s heavy hitters, crafting a trademark sound that embraces trends without feeling beholden to them. LOONA – Love and Live, Valentine Girl, Love Cherry MotionĮlris – We, First, Pow Pow, You and Me, RoopretelchamĪs its artists have risen to k-pop-conquering fame, Bumzu has been Pledis Entertainment’s most valuable asset. ONF – On/Off, Difficult, If I Dream, Original, Cat’s Waltz They composed ONF’s incredible debut mini album, helped steer the LOONA project, and dipped their feet into the work of SM Entertainment’s a-list artists. Monotree were everywhere in 2017, producing more songs than anyone else on this list. They still don’t get to work on nearly enough title tracks, but they were prolific on 2017 girl group albums.Īpril – April Story, Take My Hand, Ding, Lovesick This year they also branched out to work with other agencies, leading to Astro’s mature reinvention.Į.One have refined their synthy space-age sound to tremendous effect. Though not quite as active this year as they have been in the past, LDN Noise remain one of SM Entertainment’s most reliable production teams. Working within the poppier side of k-pop, they crafted some of my favorite b-sides of the year.Īstro – You Smile, Because of You, With You, Run Glory Face is one of those reliable album track producers. + Make sure to check out the rest of the year-end countdowns here! Last year, I counted down the top five producers, but I’m doubling that in 2017 to shine focus on some of the incredible talents that crafted this year in k-pop. Producers and composers are the fuel that keeps k-pop going, and they’re the very first album credit that I check when a new project is being teased.

Artmatic kpop producers