Music is, at the core, a subjective jigsaw puzzle. A good song means taking a dozen disparate parts– melody, harmony, strings, brass, synths, bass, vocals, guitars, woodwinds, marimbas—and arranging them in just the right way. Complicating matters is the fact that everyone has a favorite piece, and no one can agree on what should get top billing, or even a slot in the lineup. However, if there is one element that everyone can agree on as a needed component, it would probably be the bassline.
The bassline is the foundation of a song; it’s what everything else builds upon. Without a solid base, a track can feel flimsy and unanchored. Moreover, they just don’t sound right. A good bassline, on the other hand, can truly make a song; turn it from something fun into a gotta-dance moment or stick in your head where it otherwise might have vanished. So, here’s a playlist of some of K-pop’s most banging basslines. Are there any killer basses I’ve left out? Leave them in the comments!
