This is deforestedmusic’s The Quarter Report. Every quarter, we present the newest trends, innovations and the top records that defined the past 3 months.
Enjoy the lists for the top Artists, Albums, Songs, B-sides, Music Videos, Performances, TrackScore of the quarter. Plus, a fun new prediction segment, which projects Award Season nominees (only for Daesangs) for the year. Enjoy!
Overview
Another quarter has ended yet again. However, this year’s third quarter was rather lukewarm than previous years. We have seen the greatness of one of SHINee’s members yet again; this time, Kibum, known as Key, has dominated the frontier for Korean music and is a big contender leading towards the award circuit. Other good acts in this quarter were ONF, Brave Girls and ONEUS. Together they have somewhat managed to elevate this middling quarter into something more profound.
In other places of the global scene, Japan has faced some problems in its output. While standout releases have come from Hey! Say! JUMP, KinKi Kids, and Miyavi. There have been few middling records, like KAT-TUN featuring AK-69, Kis-My-Ft2, and much more. It is really fascinating to see a trend of mediocre and generic content in this quarter. However, it is certainly far from the worst quarter, as Thailand and some ABC countries have given us certified smash hits. Songs like IXO, My Universe, Love Should Have Two People, Never Have I Ever, and Supercharged seem to keep things perfectly in the center.
This quarter is in the middle between a weak opener of the year and the strong frontload of the summer.
Quarter Rating: 76
Top Artists
1. Brave Girls
2. ONF
3. ONEUS
4. AKMU
5. Key
6. Golden Child
7. Baek Yerin
8. ITZY
9. TXT
10. VERIVERY
Top Albums
1. Imaginary (Miyavi)
2. Next Episode (AKMU)
3. Game Changer (Golden Child)
4. Bad Love (Key)
5. SERIES ‘O’ Round 2: HOLE (VERIVERY)
Top Songs
1. Bad Love
Korean, Electronic – Produced by KENZIE; Written by KENZIE & Adrian Mckinnon (SM)
2. LOCO
Korean, Hip-Hop – Produced by GALAKTIKA; Written by GALAKTIKA (JYP)
3. New Gravity
Japanese, Rock – Produced by Jeff Miyahara, Johnny Litten, MIYAVI, Yung Spielburg; Written by Jeff Miyahara, Jun, MIYAVI, Leonard Skolnik, Seann Bowe (Sony)
4. After We Ride
Korean, Pop – Produced by JS; Written by Brave Brothers, Maboos, JS (Brave)
5. Baptism of Blues
Korean, Rap – Produced by SCARYP; Written by Lee Gyeong-min, SCARYP (Luminant)
6. FreezyVogue
Korean, Alternative – Produced by LUPANG NOISE; Written by 2TAK, Pinscher, Chivee (THR MUSIC)
7. Gallery
Korean, Pop – Produced by Gusten Dahlqvist; Written by Kebee, Tenzo, PAPERMAKER, Christian Fast, Gusten Dahlqvist, Jes Meinertz (Maroo)
8. Dimples
Korean, Pop – Produced by Lee Gyuho, Woosung; Written by Lee Gyuho, Woosung (Sony)
9. Trigger
Korean, Hip-Hop – Produced by Strong Dragon; Written by Strong Dragon, Cho Yoon-gyeong, So Eunjeong, Harold Philippon (Jellyfish)
10. Close Your Eyes
Korean, R&B – Produced and Written by STARDUST (Chrome)
Top B-sides
1. Fanfare
Artist: Golden Child
2. night flight
Artist: OnlyOneOf
3. Hey Kid, Close Your Eyes
Artist: AKMU
4. Heart Attack
Artist: VERIVERY
5. Yellow Tape
Artist: KEY
Top Music Videos
1. LOCO
Produced by: Na Hanul; Directed by: Yoon Rima, Jang Dongju (ITZY)
2. LO$ER=LO♡ER
3. After We Ride
4. Hey Kid, Close Your Eyes
5. Thunderous
6. New Gravity
7. Love Peace
8. Rather Be
9. Permission To Dance
10. Popping
Top Performances
1. Nemohamo Rumor
2. New Gravity
3. Baptism of Blues
4. Bad Love
5. Popping
6. LOCO
7. FreezyVogue
8. Love Peace
9. LO$ER=LO♡ER
10. Take Over
Top TrackScores
1. Bad Love
Score: 94 – Universal Acclaim
2. Popping
Score: 92 – Universal Acclaim
3. Gallery
Score: 90 – Universal Acclaim
4. Red Lipstick
Score: 89 – Widespread Acclaim
5. Dimples
Score: 88 – Widespread Acclaim
6. Life is Beautiful
Score: 87 – Widespread Acclaim
7. Trigger
Score: 87 – Widespread Acclaim
8. After We Ride
Score: 87 – Widespread Acclaim
9. Mega Punch
Score: 87 – Widespread Acclaim
10. After Midnight
Score: 86 – Widespread Acclaim
Deforested Music 
As you said in the Discord forum, you are quite Loca for Loco lol. Most surprisingly, it beat Lover=Loser for the MV, but I am glad that you still love that track.
I thought Hey Kid, Close Your Eyes, was a single. But nonetheless, it deserves to be high wherever it is!
For performance, AKB48 certainly did good. However, I’d put Miyavi’s b-side Warrior as my top pick. The guitar is absolutely gorgeous.
Also, who was so harsh to After We Ride that it fell so far?!
Also, Bad Love lovers unite!
(that would sound great out-of-context)
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Well. Thanks for being here commenting! I really appreciate this.
As you said, ITZY has been a grower. Like a tumultous one. It was so big of a wave that even BRAVE GIRLS, ONF and many acts had to step down and bow to ITZY. They really nailed it this time, and the fact that I didn’t see this coming is a shocker to everyone. Yes, I was astonished too.
HKCYE, is a single yes, but it can be a bside (because I wanted to lmao). AKMU has done major things in this quarter and that can only be paid by giving homage to it! Yes we need more AKMU on lists.
Warrior is very impressive. But not to take the amount of hardwork, dedication and sheer sharpness of AKB48’s impeccable performance. If you watch the performances with the kids you’ll be blown away. It was like a carnival of talent, skills and just pure choreographical excellence. It is brilliant nonetheless. But Warrior is a forgotten one.
Speaking of forgotten, BTOB was forgotten here, I should have put it here. My bad. I’m sorry.
After We Ride was my favorite girl group single of the year and probably this quarter, but LOCO is going loca over me. I have no choice. I was at gunpoint /s /j.
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Glad you are so enthusiastic for Loco! Hopefully, it wil continue to grow for you.
BTOB is great too!
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