YELLA D

covers of Korean R&B tracks

12 Underground Korean R&B Tracks You Should Listen To This Fall

As the days get shorter and the nights get longer during the fall, what better music to listen to than chill R&B that hit you right in the feels? So dig out the scarves and the sweaters or bundle yourself up in blankets and listen to these 12 R&B tracks by (mostly) underground Korean artists.

Listen to the entire playlist: Underground Korean R&B (12 songs):

https://youtube.com/watch?v=iMa79_7grfw

  1. offonoff – bath (00:00)
  2. BEVY MACO – Bad Dreams (ft. Summer Soul) (04:21)
  3. TAEK – 보내주오 (09:34)
  4. YELLA D – 가고있어 (14:19)
  5. Jeebanoff – Uncomfortable (18:36)
  6. Punchnello – Null (Black) (21:27)
  7. OFFONOFF – Mind (25:00)
  8. YESEO – Fill With Love (26:52)
  9. YELLA D – YSBTF (29:33)
  10. TAEK – Liar (33:48)
  11. LILMONEY – hcilu (ft. Lym en) (36:57)
  12. S a y – Slowdance (40:57)

1. offonoff – bath

Club Eskimo artist offonoff (comprised of singer Colde and producer 0channel) released their first official track “bath” to much fanfare. Korean artists from Crush and Dean to BTS’ Rapmonster all recommended this song through social media and it’s easy to see why. Colde’s vocals and 0channel’s beat blend perfectly to create a mesmerizing and moody song about missing that certain someone. Check out the film/visual for “bath” here.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=P059pwl7SxI

2. BEVY MACO – Bad Dreams (ft. Summer Soul)

Airy, dreamy, ephemeral. Three words I’d use to describe BEVY MACO’s new track with Summer Soul. It’s a quiet song but what it lacks in punchiness it makes up for in feeling. After all, less is more. BEVY MACO (formerly known as DATMRCO) is part of the house on mars crew with jeebanoff, doko, ovcoco, nöair, lennon, and giiana.

3. TAEK – 보내주오

I don’t know too much about TAEK but he debuted this year and released two tracks that are absolutely marvelous. When I close my eyes and listen to “보내주오”, it makes me feel like I’m being carried away to another planet.

4. YELLA D – 가고있어

Grandline Entertainment’s YELLA D is a triple threat. He’s a rapper, singer, and producer – not to mention he wrote, arranged, mixed, and mastered everything for his newest double single album YSBTF. You might recognize YELLA D from his previous single “GoalKeeper” with Hanhae or even his feature on one of the songs from Monsta X’s show “No Mercy”, but I much prefer this style from him.

5. Jeebanoff – Uncomfortable

Crewmate of BEVY MACO, Jeebanoff collaborated with a pretty prominent artist in 2LSON earlier in the year with “Look Into My Eyes” and released his EP so fed up a few months ago, but I still like “Uncomfortable” the best. His feature on producer BRLLNT’s “Go Deep” is also fantastic.

6. Punchnello – Null (Black)

Another Club Eskimo artist on the list! Can I just say that they’ve been killing it this year? Dean, Crush, Punchnello, OFFONOFF…which other member is going to make waves in the Korean hiphop/R&B scene next? Punchnello usually raps on more upbeat songs (s/o to my fav song, “Birthday”) but with “Null (Black)” he proves that he can hang with the best in R&B. It also helps that it was produced by the mega-talented Miso (also of Club Eskimo/HIGHGRND).

Bonus: Playlist of my favourite Punchnello songs.

7. OFFONOFF – Mind

Is it OFFONOFF or offonoff? They use the capitalized version in all their old songs but use lowercase on “bath” and on Melon (멜론). Regardless, “mind” is my favourite song from their older releases. The music video encapsulates the mood of this song so well. Definitely expecting big things from offonoff in 2017 (or later this year *crosses fingers*). As an aside, HIGHGRND is mad smart for poaching all these Club Eskimo members for their label and I’m glad they’ve been getting the exposure they deserve.

8. YESEO – Fill With Love

Singer-songwriter YESEO is multi-talented – she writes/produces/composes all of her own tracks. I’m keeping a close eye on her as I think she’s going to be the next Neon Bunny (except maybe a little more R&B and a little less electropop). Also, her soundcloud is bomb. “Fill With Love” probably has my favourite beat out of all the songs on this playlist – I love the layering of the sounds on the chorus.

Bonus #2: Playlist of my favourite YESEO songs.

9. YELLA D – YSBTF

“YSBTF” is the other song YELLA D released on his double single album. I’m diggin’ the asian influence in the instrumental (starting around 00:33) and the whole vibe of this song. He’s 2 for 2 on his latest releases! Can’t wait for an album to eventually drop.

10. TAEK – Liar

“Liar” was TAEK’s first official release back in April. Although I prefer “보내주오”, this song fits the aura I was going for in this playlist. The sign language segment featured in the music video is pretty cool too.

11. LILMONEY – hcilu (ft. Lym en)

Both LILMONEY and Lym en have released/featured on tracks that I’ve been really diggin’ lately. E.g. Kim Seung Min’s “Untitled #3” and Lym en’s “Wonderland”. In “hcilu”, I love the echo they used with the vocals. It makes me feel like I’m floating around in LILMONEY’s head while he’s singing these lyrics, making it a touch more personal.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=IjE9wdtzax4

12. S a y – Slowdance

Unfortunately, I don’t really have any additional information on S a y. She only has three songs posted on her Soundcloud, one of which is just a cover of a Red Velvet song. Nevertheless, “Slowdance” is a gem and her soft vocals really work well with the relaxing beat.

Daniel is the admin for undergroundkpop on Tumblr and runs “danielions music” on YouTube.