Welcome to Fan Chant, a weekly column for K-pop fans, stans, and newbies alike. Each week, I’ll be rolling out interviews, lists, and all kinds of content to keep you in the loop on the latest and greatest from our friends in Seoul and beyond. Also, make sure to subscribe to my companion newsletter!
Friends, believe it or not, we have almost reached the time of year when Spotify’s data collection period ends and the streaming service begins assembling the beloved Spotify Wrapped. It might feel super early, but the official deadline is the end of this month, October 31st. The company then spends November preparing the yearly breakdown to roll out at the start of December, which, more often than not, sends me into a yearly breakdown of my own.
The thing is, when I love something, I love it entirely, which is a feeling I know a lot of K-pop fans in particular will understand. This typically means that my Spotify Wrapped paints me as a truly unhinged figure: “Sorry Not Sorry” by Demi Lovato was my most-played track two years in a row. Then, in 2020, I was shown the date I first heard my most-played song, followed by the date I listened to it for the hundredth time, and it was a mere two days later. Two! Two (2) business days — 48 hours.
Yes, it was “Dynamite” by BTS; thanks for asking.
PORTRAIT OF A GIRL IN CRISIS pic.twitter.com/D4ecfKClBi
— Mary Siroky (@marysiroky) December 2, 2020
I’ll hyperfixate on a song sometimes, let it make its way into my On Repeat playlist (which ends up being played in the background of most of my workdays), and the song will then live there for the remainder of the year. In 2021, it was “Rebel” by CIX, a definite b-side that never had a music video and is nowhere close to one of the group’s most popular songs. Not the case in my Spotify Wrapped — No. 2 for all of 2021, baby.
There are some tracks I become semi-ironically obsessed with and then am terrified are going to land on my end-of-year roundup; last year, I was bracing myself for “Agatha All Along” from WandaVision, and this year I wouldn’t be surprised if “Yerushalayim,” the viral sensation from a 2008 performance by the Miami Boys Choir, makes its way in. (Please tell me someone else is on that side of TikTok, my family and friends are growing concerned.)
The thing is, I adore seeing everyone’s Spotify Wrapped posts. Maybe I’m just nosy — I lurk to see what’s at the top of my friends’ On Repeat playlists all the time — but I really do think things like the annual reports paint such a fun portrait of people’s listening habits. Post them all! Let me see your 2022 Top 5 and the many ways Spotify roasted you this year.
All this to say, if anyone else is in the same boat as me and has any interest in trying to maintain some semblance of normalcy for the public, we have a couple of weeks left until that October 31st deadline. It’s not too late for Taylor Swift’s Midnights to make a dent of its own…but will it be enough to dethrone “Willow,” which I listen to at least three times a day for some reason? Probably not.
I’ll see you all back here first week of December. In the meantime, keep reading for more K-pop news from this week.