On December 8, Wednesday, famous magazine TIME published its list of "the best k-pop songs and albums of 2021". The magazine wrote, "Like in any other year, K-pop in 2021 can’t be defined by a single sound or message. Soloists and groups continued pushing the bounds of genre within Korean pop music as they experimented with influences from rock to Latin, RB to electropop. But if there was one theme that emerged more than others in the lyrics of this year’s top releases, it was a shared reflection on the passage of time, the formation of memories and holding onto hope through it all."

In no particular order, the 20 best K-pop songs and albums of 2021 are as follows:

SONGS:

Cinema by CIX

Love So Sweet by Cherry Bullet

Fever by ENHYPHEN

After School by WEEEKLY

Advice by Taemin

Pirate by Everglow

Feel Like by Woodz

ASAP by STAYC

Rock With You by Seventeen

Savage by aespa

ALBUMS:

Waterfall by B.I.

Querencia by Chung Ha

Atlantis by SHINee

NOEASY by Stray Kids

End Theory by Younha

The Chaos Chapter: Fight or Escape by TXT

Lilac by IU