Weekly K-Pop Music Chart 2014 – April Week 1

There is a major upset on top of the chart this week. Veteran male soloist Lim Chang Jung’s “Ordinary Song” is anything but ordinary as it moves up 20 big spots and leaps over many top idol artists to No. 1 this week.  “Ordinary Song” just edged out last week’s No. 1 2NE1’s “Come Back Home” by four points.  Congratulations to him.

Lim started his singing career in 1995, and reached a peak in the early 2000’s.  Nearly all his album title songs reached No. 1 on the chart back then. He abruptly quit singing after releasing his 10th album in 2003 to focus on his acting career.  In 2009 Lim came back to the music scene and released his 11th album.  He regained a lot of popularity last year with the song “About Me.”

“Ordinary Song” is the title track of Lim Chang Jung’s 12th album, his first full length album in nearly five years.  It is a vintage Lim Chang Jung style sad ballad in which he sings about the internal turmoil of a man. The sorrowful string melody and Lim’s heart-wrenching voice increase the sadness of this song.

Rounding out the top three is 4minute’s latest hit “Whatcha Doin’ Today,” moving up 10 spots to No. 3.  This is the title song from 4minute’s fifth mini-album and refers to greetings between good friends. The song was created by Brave Brothers and has an additive upbeat melody.  “Whatcha Doin’ Today” won on M!Countdown this week and will be a serious contender for our top spot next week.

There are two other new songs in the top 10 this week.  Moving up 24 spots to No. 8 is Hong Dae Kwang’s “Thank You My Love,” his second top 10 song this year.  From his mini-album “The Silver Lining,” “Thank You My Love” is a sweet and romantic ballad about what it is like before a date. Hong Dae Kwang did a good job singing about the joy of being in love.

There is also a surprise new entry to the top 10 at No. 9 this week. Unheralded rapper Loco scores his first top 10 hit “Hold Me Tight.” Loco was the winner of the hip-hop survival program “Show Me The Money” and subsequently made his debut in 2012.  “Hold Me Tight” has a listener friendly melody and easy to remember lyrics that successfully crossover to mainstream. This week it moves up 13 spots to No. 9.

About the Soompi Music Chart:

Soompi Music Chart is unlike any other music chart or television ranking. It takes into account rankings by various major music charts in Korea and the airplay of each song, making it an unbiased and objective tally of what’s going on in the world of K-Pop. Our chart is composed of the following sources:

GAON Music Chart – 20%
Various Internet charts (Olleh, Bugs, Melon, Soribada, Genie) – 15%
Billboard Korea – 20% 
TV Music Show charts (SBS Inkigayo, KBS Music Bank, MBC Music Core, MNet M!Countdown)  – 45%