Ranking All Baekhyun Solo EPs

I’m bored and I’m not sure anyone’s done this so why not rank all of his EPs and describe why:

1. Bambi - 100/10 - I’m not sure there’s a better introduction to Kpop than this album (edit: in that it shows the variety of the genre). I could gush about it all day long but everyone knows how good it is.

There’s not a single miss on the entire album, starts with an incredible intro, and finishes so strong as well. And yet. The middle is the best part!

Love Scene is so perfect as an intro with how calm, low, sultry/groovy his singing is before transitioning into Bambi, and the high notes on All I Got are to die for.

Amusement Park is straight up the best Kpop song of all time. Probably just my favorite song ever generally speaking. It’s the perfect listen to calm down or to get happy or even just to stay sad, basically for any mood give it a listen I guess.

I won’t bother saying more this is probably the worst description I’ll write because everyone should have listened and should understand. Privacy is massively underrated though btw

2. City Lights - 10/10 - I don’t think there’s a single miss on City Lights just like on Bambi, but the average song quality feels slightly worse so it’s lower. But UN Village for a long time was my favorite Baekhyun song so idk.

This is actually the album that made me a Kpop fan to begin with so I might be biased here 🫣 but wow, this being a debut solo EP is insane.

UN Village is such a perfect intro song, combining English and Korean singing so well (unlike some other songs ie Chocolate…), he’s not hitting crazy notes but his tone, humming, and the production is to die for.

Stay Up I know is controversial because not everyone is a fan of the Beenzino feature, which I get, but I think a rap portion fits the vibes of the song and beat. I get that Beenzino’s rapping isn’t incredible or anything, but he fits the vibes so I don’t really care. And Baekhyun’s singing is 10/10 as always so it’s a great track.

Betcha might be the most catchy track he’s ever released. It’s not a mind blowing song or anything but it’s catchy and fun which is enough. Probably the weakest link though

Ice Queen is a song where I love the chorus (pre and post too), but I’m not in love with the rest of the song. I mean there’s like two verses though so that’s fine, and my god the chorus is good, but still there’s so much potential I think was a bit wasted.

Diamond is sooooooo good and reminds me so much of Call Me Baby with the “come here baby” and I realize it’s on purpose after thinking for two seconds, I’ve somehow only just realized... but anyways, this might be the only song where I hate Baekhyun’s random falsetto singing though. Otherwise it’s great, from start to finish. And as a side note is this song even talked about? If not it should be, I’d rank it as like a top 5-10 or so Baekhyun solo song.

And my thoughts on Psycho are the exact same as that one tweet 🫪 2nd or maybe even the best song on this EP

3. Delight - 9.5/10 - Honestly I used to not like this album. Probably because the first time I listened I found Candy super overrated so I didn’t give it a serious chance. But Candy is such a catchy song I’m not sure how I ever hated it…

R U Ridin? Is the most “fun” and groovy song he’s ever made. And oh my god when he sings “You got a way” 🥹🥹🥹 I kind of die. The second verse is so boring luckily it’s short though. Otherwise a 10/10 song.

Ok I lied, Bungee is the most “fun” song he’s ever made. This song is a journey. This song is perfect. I have no nitpicks or flaws, because it’s just so good. Best chorus on any of his songs, I’ll sing “Jogeumssik beonjyeo I will be violet” and the rest of the chorus to myself randomly more than anything else.

When I was studying my arse off in uni before finals, Underwater was the song I always listened to. Im not even sure why it’s not like it’s an incredible study track but this deserved a mention. But otherwise, it has maybe his best ever (?) pure singing, incredible backing vocals, incredible production, just a 100/10 song.

I’ve been glazing most of this album so far, but it’s 4th place because even though I think the first 4 songs are incredible I’m just not a fan of Poppin. But the four song EP of Delight is perfection. And the last two songs are very good as well (Ghost a bit less so, but Love Again is 10/10). The six song EP is just as good if not better than Bambi (maybe not better) but Poppin bumps it down a bit. Such a meh song 🫩

4. Hello, World - 9.25/10 - Like with Essence of Reverie I can vividly remember how hyped I was for its release. Unlike Essence of Reverie it lived up to my expectations. It’s 4th so far yes, but the first four solo EPs are all so good there’s barely any differences between them in quality. It’s moreso about the bad songs than the good ones this one too, as I’ll get to later that dock it.

I haven’t read into this so correct my if I’m wrong, but Hello, World is purposefully a computing reference and Good Morning is the perfect start for such an album. Maybe a bit too on the head starting with “Hello World” but it establishes the melodic vibes which I’m a fan of, and otherwise is just a great song and great introduction to an album.

Pineapple Slice I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, it’s such a good song and such a continuation of the “electric” vibes, and The beat is soooooooo good as well I could listen to just the electronic bass (?) notes in the chorus alone for days. On the other hand I cringe at these lyrics. But then again reading Kpop lyrics is always a terrible idea so I won’t be too harsh. But seriously what is “I ain’t just any little boy in a fairytale” what are we doing here.

Rendez-Vous is a song where I think the execution is better than the idea. On paper this is a boring and repetitive song but somehow it actually works? Idk why but I’m happy about it.

Where the first half of the album is upbeat, happy, and exciting, Cold Heart is the start of the more somber and emotional half. Is what I’d say if Woo didn’t exist. Ok just like Poppin for Delight, Woo ruins the album but arguably to an even worse degree. Cold Heart and Truth Be Told are such a perfect fit together, both far more emotional songs than the first three, with soulful singing. And in between them is Woo? Woo? Are we serious? Ignoring the fact that the song itself is mid, why is it here????? I’ve never understood.

5. Essence of Reverie - 6.5/10 - I was so hyped for this EP, because I love every other of his EPs (Japanese one doesn’t count!) and he had the most writing influence on this one, but I really think it’s a massive disappointment. Hating on this EP is a large part of why I wrote this post. I think he sings well but generally speaking the songs are boring, and it’s pretty repetitive in terms of style and topics, within songs and across them. It felt more than a little lazy to me. Do we really need “You’re my chocolate” and “You’re like a lemonade” as food references for love? Why is he doing this, when we already have Candy as (I think) his most popular song!

Chocolate in particular I hate this song. Every single element of a bad Baekhyun song can be reflected in Chocolate ie being repetitive, bland, and boring, with repetitive references and analogies. Even the rapping is a little boring, though it’s the most fun part of the song. And why do we need Chocolate when Candy exists? Just create Lemonade at least it’s a different type of food reference if you really need one! This song exemplifies why I think this album is so lazy. Such a disappointment mods please don’t remove the post for this rant 🙇‍♂️

Lemonade is groovy, but I’m not a fan of two food reference songs it feels lazy. But the song itself is good so I’ll forgive him slightly. I just could never add it to a playlist and listen to it constantly though, it’s only good not great. And is a bit lazy for similar reasons to chocolate though not as much so.

No Problems I cannot remember in the slightest so I’m not gonna comment on it. I forgot it was on the album. I gave it a listen again and still remember nothing it’s so forgettable.

Late Night Calls is just mid. Sometimes Baekhyun sings well in English but not this time. It’s so boooooooring. No other comments

There are some really good songs on the album like Elevator, Love Comes Back, and Black Dreams, which are interesting and not too repetitive. Well maybe Love Comes Back sounds too much like it should be on Hello World, but that’s fine because that album is a banger. But overall this EP almost feels soulless compared to his first four. Idk if this is an unpopular opinion or not

6. Baekhyun (Japanese) - 6/10 but this doesn’t count if I’m being fair since I don’t listen to it enough - I don’t have much to say on this one honestly; I like a few of the songs, I just don’t think he sings as well in Japanese as Korean… but Get You Alone is always a banger. I also don’t listen to it much so yeah… not much to say