If you haven’t already guessed by the title it’s me, Benner…and I’m going to be sharing my top 10 k-pop girl groups. I’m going to be including disbanded groups as well so be prepared!
1. Mamamoo
It’s only right that my number one k-pop girl group is Mamamoo and if y’all haven’t read my Radish Queens blog you should check it out to see why they’re the top dog. Long story short I absolutely love everything about them their vocals, sound, performances, personalities, concepts…pretty much everything.
Debuted: June 18th, 2014 with single Mr. Ambiguous
Company: RBW
Members: Solar, Moonbyul, Wheein, Hwasa
Bias: Moonbyul
Best Selling Album: Reality is Black (2019) – surpassed 70k sales in its first week. Top Billboard’s World Albums and World Digital Song Sales.
Best Selling Mini Album: White Wind
Best Selling Single: Interwebs says Starry Night but info hasn’t been updated so I’m going to go out on a limb and say Hip might have the top spot
Awards/Achievements: Won comeback tv show ‘Queendom’; 42 music show wins; 38 award wins – 146 nominations
Favorite Song: It’s too hard to choose just one!! I guess between Wind Flower, Hip, 4x4ever, Ah Oop & Piano Man
2. SNSD
Even though Mamamoo is my number one SNSD was the first k-pop girl group I stanned and they were the ones that introduced me to k-pop. Their songs have always been catchy and I have loved watching them on variety shows throughout the years because they’re all hilarious. They have contributed so much within the k-pop industry that it would be useless of me not to write about their accomplishments in a separate blog so stay tuned! I will continue to support them in their individual activities since they really aren’t promoting as a group anymore. Once a sone always a sone!
Debuted: 2007
Status: Indefinite Hiatus with members working on individual activities
Company: SM
Members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany (no longer with SM), Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung (no longer with SM), Yoona, Seohyun (no longer with SM)
Former Members: Jessica
Bias: Taeyeon
Best Selling Album: The Boys
Best Selling Mini Album: Hoot
Best Selling Single: The Boys
Awards/Achievements: Known as the “Nation’s Girl Group” super influential in the Hallyu wave helped bring awareness of k-pop to the world. They have hit over 100 million digital and physical record sales which makes them the second girl group in the world to do so behind The Supremes. I could go on and on about SNSD’s legacy but instead, I’ll save that for the separate blog!
Favorite Song: Goodbye, Oh!
3. Red Velvet
I have just recently started to stan Red Velvet but I’m hooked. They have incredible vocals and I’m disappointed that SM isn’t doing a better job of promoting them and treating them like they deserve (then again SM is a shit company). I really like their more recent stuff which has been more of a girl crush concept (I’m sorry to Red Velvet stans who have been following them since debut I’m just not all that into cutesy concepts which they had towards the beginning). I have especially enjoyed their trilogy The ReVe Festival and can’t wait to see what they come back with. Also super excited about Irene and Seulgi’s subunit I’m expecting great things (It’s out just haven’t listened to it yet but I’m dying to hear it)!
Debuted: 2014
Company: SM
Members: Irene, Seulgi, Wendy, Joy, Yeri
Bias: Irene
Best Selling Album: The Perfect Red Velvet
Best Selling Mini Album: Summer Magic
Best Selling Single: Bad Boy
Awards/Achievements: They’ve topped Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart more than once. 1st girl group in history to have 3 No. 1 albums on US iTunes.
Favorite Song: Bad Boy
4. Twice
Alright so I’ve stated my dislike for cutesy and yeah Twice is pretty cutesy but I don’t know what it is about Twice that makes cutesy ok. They have the bops and I can’t help but smile at how adorable they are! That being said I enjoy their songs but in moderation because they can be a little too sickly sweet for me. Even so, they’re always fun to watch on variety shows and were it not for adulting I think I would’ve become a Once (Still on the fence though but I feel myself tipping towards Once-dom I just have no time *sadness*). I am super glad I got to see them perform live at Kcon it was the best!! (Sandra was jealous!)
Debuted: 2015
Company: JYP
Members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, & Tzuyu
Bias: Chaeyoung & Sana
Best Selling Album: Twicetagram
Best Selling Mini Album: Twicecoaster Lane 1
Best Selling Single: TT
Awards/Achievement: Twice officially holds the title of top-selling k-pop girl group of the decade surpassing SNSD’s The Boys. They are currently the 3rd best-selling k-pop artist of 2019.
Favorite Song: Feel Special & BDZ
5. Apink
I actually started following Apink since their debut, they’re one of the only k-pop girl groups I have followed since the beginning! I stumbled upon Apink News and right away was captivated by the girls. Their personalities were intriguing so I grew fond of them, unfortunately, a lot of their older songs were too cutesy for me so I kind of took a step back from their music for a while. I still followed the girls on variety shows though and watched dramas they appeared in. Recently I have gotten back into them and absolutely love their new concept! The last few songs they’ve released are bops and can’t wait to see what else they release! Fun fact: member Eunji is also well-known for her acting, find out more over on our blog about idol actors!
Debuted: April 19th, 2011 with single Mollayo
Company: Plan M Entertainment
Members: Chorong, Bomi, Eunji, Naeun, Namjoo, & Hayoung
Bias: Bomi
Best Selling Album: Pink Memory
Best Selling Mini Album: Pink Luv
Best Selling Single: My My
Awards/Achievements: With the release of Dumhdurum during their 10th year of promotions the girls scored an all-kill on Korea’s 5 major music charts. They have been nominated for 92 awards taking home a total of 34 wins as well as multiple music award wins.
Favorite Song: Dumhdurum
6. T-ara
T-ara is hands down the girl group (other than Mamamoo & SNSD) who I am most attached to. They would’ve ranked No. 3 but I haven’t really put much effort into following them in a couple of years so they’ve been bumped down. I do like almost all of their songs and get pretty nostalgic when I listen to them, but I haven’t in a while. I might just have to get back into them as I really do love T-ara but right now I’m busy following the active k-pop girl groups.
Debuted: July 2009 with single Lie
Disbanded: 2017
Company: MBK
Members: Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin, Jiyeon
Former Members: Jiae, Jiwon, Hwayoung, Areum, Boram, Soyeon
Bias: Jiyeon
Best Selling Album: Funky Town, which is the repackaged version of Black Eyes
Best Selling Mini Album: Black Eyes
Best Selling Single: Roly Poly
Awards/Achievements: Apart from winning multiple music awards on music shows and end of year shows T-ara had a huge international fanbase. By international, I mean a huge Japanese and Chinese fanbase which you don’t see much with k-pop girl groups, well at least I haven’t seen a group with such a huge Chinese fanbase in a while. In 2011 T-ara took the title of 2nd biggest girl group in Korea. Their We Were in Love was ranked No. 2 on Billboard Korea K-pop Hot 100. They were also ranked No. 17 on Top 40 Power Celebrities.
Favorite Song: Omg I don’t know there’s too many!! I really like Number Nine, Sexy Love, & Cry Cry
7. 4Minute
After SNSD, 4Minute is the 2nd girl group I listened to and I absolutely love their music especially Volume Up! It’s unfortunate that Cube wasn’t able to give them the attention and push they needed to keep from disbanding. I also hated how towards the end the group became mostly about Hyuna and her solo activities outshined the other members in the group. While I do like Hyuna I think she’s slightly to blame for the group’s disbandment but I think it was mostly Cube’s mismanagement of her activities that led to issues.
Debuted: June 2009 with Hot Issue
Disbanded: 2016
Company: Cube Entertainment
Members: Jihyun, Gayoon, Jiyoon, Hyuna, Sohyun
Bias: Jiyoon & Hyuna
Best Selling Album: 4Minutes Left
Best Selling Mini Album: Volume Up
Best Selling Single: Volume Up
Awards/Achievements: Their single What’s Your Name ranked No. 1 on Billboard KpopHot 100 Chart. Crazy reached No. 1 on Billboard’s World Albums Chart. Their Watcha’ Doin’ Today? was even able to beat k-pop girl groups, SNSD and 2NE1 on Inkigayo showing the popularity the group had garnered.
Favorite Song: Volume Up & Crazy
8. Girls Day
I didn’t learn about Girl’s Day until I stumbled upon their single Something which I thought was great. Not only were they showing a sexier side of kpop girl groups that wasn’t usually seen but they had great personalities as well. I know I keep talking about groups’ personalities but that’s just a part of what makes me stan groups, whether they’re goofy and can make me laugh when I watch them on variety shows. Girl’s Day obviously passed the Benner stan test! I was also obsessed by the group’s love of eating especially Hyeri would just stuffed her face with zero fucks given! I’m so glad I got to watch them live at Kcon before they disbanded I nearly cried seeing Hyeri I just love her so much!!
Debuted: 2010
Disbanded: 2017
Company: Dream T Entertainment
Members: Sojin, Yura, Minah, Hyeri
Former Members: Jihae, Jisun, Jiin
Bias: Hyeri
Best Selling Album: Love
Best Selling Mini Album: Girl’s Day Everyday #4
Best Selling Single: Something
Awards/Achievements: Nominated for 46 awards with 21 wins. In 2013 the group was appointed honorary ambassadors for the Plan International Korea campaign, “Because I Am a Girl”. They did volunteer work in Thailand with Sojin and Yura going to Cambodia as well. The proceeds of their 2014 concert were also donated and used to support a campaign for girls’ birth registrations in developing countries. Before this, I had no idea they had been involved in these types of campaigns but I think that’s super awesome that they were!
Favorite Song: Expectation
9. (G)I-DLE
(G)I-DLE reminds me a lot of 4Minute which comes as no surprise as they’re both from Cube. That being said I love their music and was instantly hooked since their debut! I especially fell in love with them because of Yuqi’s unexpectedly deep voice. I was completely thrown off by the stark difference between her visuals and her voice which was not at all what I was expecting. It was because of this that I instantly fell in love with her along with the bops that the group was releasing. Can’t wait to see more of them in the future!
Debuted: 2018
Company: Cube Entertainment
Members: Miyeon, Minnie, Soojin, Soyeon, Yuqi, Shuhua
Bias: Yuqi
Best Selling Mini Album: I Trust
Best Selling Single: Oh My God
Awards/Achievements: 1st and only girl group with 8 Rookie awards. They also have multiple music awards and are the only rookie group with 2 youtube videos surpassing 1 million views. While this is all very impressive we can attribute their success to talent, yes, but they are also part of Cube Entertainment which is one of the bigger entertainment companies in Korea. That being said their company has given them a push towards their success even so I still think their music is awesome and have enjoyed all their music.
Favorite Song: Senorita
10. Dreamcatcher
When I first saw the teasers for Dreamcatcher I knew I would like them! They’re sound is just so unique compared to other k-pop girl groups that I couldn’t help but stan them. Their nightmarish rock concept is just so appealing to me because of my love of dark humor that I can’t help but fangirl over them! I also think it’s incredible how many tours they’ve already gone on and how big their international fandom is. I’m definitely looking forward to their next release and love how much they stand out from the rest!
Debuted: re-debut 2017 (They originally debuted under the name MINX)
Company: Happy Face Entertainment
Members: Jiu, Sua, Siyeon, Handong, Yoohyeon, Dami, Gahyeon
Bias: Dami
Best Selling Album: Dystopia: The Tree of Language
Best Selling Mini Album: Alone in the City
Best Selling Single: What
Awards/Achievements: They’ve been on Billboard’s World Albums chart a couple times. They’ve also held tours in Europe, Latin America, the US, Brazil, and Asia which I think is incredible considering they’re 3 years old and you don’t see k-pop girl groups touring the world too often.
Favorite Song: Red Sun
I hope this helps you all discover some new girl groups to stan! Give them a listen, you won’t be disappointed!
