A couple years ago, I randomly clicked on this recommended YouTube video and subsequently fell into the endless abyss that is K-pop. Well, it’s more like falling into a black hole that turns out to be a wormhole to another dimension. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to do a TBR Playlist featuring some of my favorite K-pop artists. 

For this K-pop edition of TBR Playlist, I picked only books by Asian authors, not because there are no other books out there that I could pair with these K-pop songs, but because this feels like the perfect opportunity to talk about Asian artists all together. I’m always trying to diversify my reading and have only recently tried to do the same with my listening. So here’s a beautiful mashup of those two goals as it pertains to Asian artists!

“피 땀 눈물” (Blood Sweat & Tears)” by BTS: The Knockout by Sajni Patel

This is the song that really got me into BTS, which in turn led me to other K-pop groups and idols, so I wanted this to be the first song included on the list. The song is more about giving into a temptation that you know may be bad for you, while The Knockout is more about going for a dream despite damage it may cause. However, The Knockout and “Blood Sweat & Tears” both offer physical exertion and emotional longing as two sides of the same coin. 

In The Knockout, Kareena feels ostracized by her Indian community as she pursues an Olympic career in Muay Thai. At the same time, Kareena ends up falling for “the world’s most perfect Indian” Amit Patel, whose parents surely would not approve of a hardcore, scrappy fighter as their son’s partner. She fights for both things, even if it means facing her physical and emotional fears. 

“Queencard” by (G)I-DLE: I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee

Most of (G)I-DLE’s songs are all about confidence, femininity, and overcoming insecurities, which are exactly the themes of I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee. “Queencard” encompasses all of those things with a badass “I’m sexy and I’m not sorry about it” vibe.

In I’ll Be the One, Skye Shin enters a competition show to become the next K-pop star despite the fact that fat girls aren’t supposed to dance or sing or call attention to themselves. Despite the intensity of the K-pop industry’s beauty standards, the strange kind of fame that comes from reality TV, and the crush she develops on one of her competitors, Skye is determined to become a K-pop star in order to set an example for other plus-sized girls who have been told only what they shouldn’t do. 

“UNFORGIVEN (feat. Nile Rodgers)” by LE SSERAFIM: The Miracles of the Namiya General Store by Keigo Higashino 

This song by LE SSERAFIM is all about being outcasts, casting aside the stupid rules of society and doing it together. It’s about extending a hand to those who need it and encouraging people to be themselves. Which is why it fits perfectly with The Miracles of the Namiya General Store, a story full of magical realism, transformative kindness, and community with like-minded strangers. Three robbers hole up in an abandoned general store where a letter requesting advice is delivered. The trio pretend to be the former shopkeeper and offer advice to the letter writers, all the while looking deep into themselves and at humanity. 

“Anti-Romantic” by TOMORROW x TOGETHER: I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up by Kodama Naoko

Kodama Naoko’s yuri (or “girls love”) manga series is about working girl Morimoto, who is tired of her parents nagging her about getting married and settling down with a guy. Then her best friend comes up with the perfect solution: get married to each other. As you might expect, this fake marriage ends up becoming emotionally complicated. The reason I think this manga fits with “Anti-Romantic” is partially because Morimoto seems like a character that focuses on her career and shuns romantic love. The “hardworking career gal” type. Even though “Anti-Romantic” seems to be about someone who lost belief in love after a breakup, a lot of the song could apply to a situation in which practicality and emotions are at odds. 

“방화 (Arson)” by j-hope: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

In the description of this book, one particular sentence made me think of this song: “I refuse to be nothing…” In a retelling of the life of the Ming Dynasty’s first emperor, an orphaned girl takes on her brother’s identity, joins a monastery, and goes after the greatness foretold for him—eschewing the nothingness left for her. Both this song and this book are about going after greatness no matter the cost, though j-hope’s song focuses more on artistic greatness than political power. 

“Free Falling” by TOMORROW x TOGETHER: The Art of Prophecy by Wesley Chu

In The Art of Prophecy, Jian is the Chosen One: a hero prophesied to defeat a god-king and save his kingdom. However, Jian has grown up spoiled and coddled. War expert Taishi arrives to whip this unprepared boy into shape. With surprising kindness and strict training, Taishi takes Jian on a journey to become the person he was meant to be. This book pairs well with this song because it’s about taking a leap, trusting someone despite your fears, flying “farther, even farther, bit by bit … until we reach the sky.” 

(I was tempted to pair this song with the graphic novel The Star Seekers by HYBE since that’s what the music video is based on, but I didn’t want to be too obvious. However, The Star Seekers is also on my TBR!)

“D-Day” by Agust D: No-No Boy by John Okada

Even ignoring the WWII connection, these are two sides of the same story. “D-Day” is about the overcoming of hardships, slapping someone in the face and saying, “You can push down those barriers,” and believing in the philosophy of “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” No-No Boy is the part before you can look back, the part where the hardships seem to be over but you don’t know how to move on from them. Okada’s novel is about a Japanese-American “no-no boy,” someone who refused to fight for the U.S. Army in WWII while also standing by their Japanese heritage. This “no-no boy” spent two years in an internment camp and two years in prison, and now has to continue living life, whatever that means. The future might be okay, but the present is still a big question mark. 

“Mixtape: Time Out” by Stray Kids: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

Stray Kids created a perfect meandering pop rock song with “Mixtape: Time Out.” And while I still think this song would pair well with a road trip book, I do think its relaxed, “take time out to chill and live in the moment” vibe fits with this book. The book involves a cafė, time travel, and short glimpses into people’s lives and desires. It’s about going back to a single, short moment, just like the song is about living in that single, short moment, no matter how fleeting. It’s being present versus having regrets. Both hinge on the importance of a single moment, the former placing emphasis on joy and the latter placing emphasis on hindsight. 

BONUS:

• “Christmas Tree” by V: What You Are Looking for is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama 
  • Why They Fit: Emotional, appreciating the little things, expressing love
• “OMG” by NewJeans: Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan 
  • Why They Fit: Surprising and overwhelming love, women taking charge of their lives
• “You’re Beautiful” by The Rose: My Androgynous Boyfriend by Tamekou
  • Why They Fit: Beautiful couple, feeling lucky to be together
• “Stay Alive (prod. SUGA)” by Jung Kook: Wicked Fox by Kat Cho
  • Why They Fit: High stakes, holding each other’s lives in the balance
• “Alien (HAN)” by Stray Kids: 집에 있는데도 집에 가고 싶어 (I Want to Go Home Even Though I’m at Home) by 권라빈 (Kwon Rabin)
  • Why They Fit: Feeling like an outcast, making do with what you have and who you are
• “Hair Cut” by Xdinary Heroes: I Decided to Live as Me by Kim Suhyun
  • Why They Fit: Cut out the bad things in life, be yourself despite what society says
• “seoul (prod. HONNE)” by RM: The Girl Who Fell Beneath The Sea by Axie Oh
  • Why They Fit: Self-discovery, love-hate relationship with the place in which you end up

So… I intended to make the main “playlist” ten songs and the bonuses five, but I ran out of time (a.k.a. I was already a day late posting this and couldn’t make my brain work properly to form thoughts), so we’ll have to settle with an 8:7 ratio instead. In order to compensate for this, I added the tiny “Why They Fit” parts to the bonuses. 

I also did my best not to repeat artists, though you’ll probably notice a few solo songs by members of BTS… I can’t deny that I’m ARMY through and through. 보라해! (I purple you!) 

I’ll probably do another K-pop edition of TBR Playlist at some point, but here is the first installation of my K-pop TBR Playlist. I hope you enjoy and find something that piques your interest. 

Happy reading, and happy listening!

-Ryn PB

Note:
I used doolset lyrics for translations of BTS and BTS members’ songs. For others, I used Genius Lyrics as needed.