K-Bops in K-Pop

We’ve been getting a lot of rain lately where I live, and it’s made me more prone to spending the day inside curled up with a good book. Because I’m the type of person who needs a soundtrack to everything, I decided to create a playlist that would work as essential background music to all your sleepy cuddles and dreary days.

1. Rain – BTS

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this song is a masterpiece. I feel like it should play as you enter a museum or be its own exhibit because it is honestly art. It’s a quintessential rainy day song. I’ve literally listened to this song while riding in a taxi on a cold, rainy day and I can tell you there is no better song to be your background music for a day like that.

2. Night Rather Than Day – EXID

I think this is easily EXID’s best song, and I wish they would do more concepts like this one. Maybe it’s the city vibes of this album or the nighttime vibes of this song, but this track fits a rainy day so well. It’s got the jazzy elements that keep you awake and humming along without being disruptive to whatever you’re doing.

3. Sleepless Rainy Night – IU

I found this song on a chill Kpop songs playlist forever ago and I fell in love with it instantly. This song, despite its title, is the kind of song that plays through your head when the rain is clearing up and sunlight is starting to peek in through the windows. It’s the kind of song that’s almost deceptively chill and that makes you feel happy and energized without you even noticing.

4. Sentimental – WINNER

I’ll admit this one is a little more upbeat than most of the other songs on this playlist, but this song is such a mood for rainy days. The whole idea of being emotional in your room and staring at the ceiling is definitely one that I think most people can relate to when the weather’s bad. This song gets you out of your couch long enough to belt out the lyrics and maybe do one productive thing before going back to doing nothing.

5. Just Chill – Jonghyun

Jonghyun gave us nothing but classics and this song is no exception. I love so many of his songs for sleepy and lazy days, but this is one of my favorites because the title literally tells you to just chill. If nothing else puts you in a relaxed state for a day of doing nothing, this song will.

6. Galaxy – Ladies’ Code

I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about Ladies’ Code before but for good reason. This song is one of my all-time favorites. It’s so unique and ethereal. I’ve put it on every chill playlist I’ve ever made and I’ve never regretted it. It adds a little bit of the fantastical to your day and it makes even the raniest, laziest, most unproductive day seem magic.

7. Come Over – Dean

There are so many great Dean songs that are perfect for sleepy, rainy, lazy days so it was difficult to choose just one. However, I love Baek Yerin’s part in this. Her voice is so airy and light and it just pairs so wonderfully with Dean’s. It makes it so easy to fall into the song and wrap it around you like a blanket.

8. Make Up – Sam Kim

I only recently stumbled upon this song, but I adore it. Sam Kim is honestly one of the great vocalists of our generation and he does not get enough credit. This song is super sleek and sexy, and it features Crush which makes it ten times better. It’s one of those songs that makes you stop what you’re doing and sing along but it’s not fast-paced enough to disrupt your chill mood.

9. Beautiful – EXO

This is probably one of my all-time favorite EXO songs. It has this relaxing quality while also being simultaneously one of the songs that I always blare in my car. EXO has such wonderful vocals for songs like this that teeter on the edge between ballad and poppy, upbeat songs. I love putting this song on my softer playlists because it just fits those quieter moods so well.

10. Hello Tutorial – Zion.T

I love Zion.T. He has a beautifully unusual voice. This song came out not too long ago and I fell in love with it, especially since he sings it with Seulgi. All of Zion.T’s discography is arguably fantastic for rainy days because a good chunk of his songs are softer and slower and more intimate. However, this one has a lovely upbeat vibe that makes it so that you don’t relax so hard you fall asleep.

11. 247 – Junggigo

I think the first time I listened to it I was walking around Koreatown in New York and I Shazam’ed it inside a store. It was so good that I immediately downloaded it. This song features a bunch of Korean R&B powerhouse-vocalists including Zion.T, Dean, and Crush, so it’s smooth and sultry and effortlessly sexy. The song is calm and soothing without being too slow which makes it perfect background music for anything from reading to cleaning up the kitchen.