Girls' Generation's "Gee" Tops Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Songs in K-pop History

American music publication Rolling Stone released its list titled “The 100 Greatest Song In The History of Korean Pop Music,” with Girls’ Generation’s “Gee” taking the top spot.

According to the article released on Thursday, July 20, the entries were “crafted by a panel of music journalists and critics, both based in Korea and the United States.”

Ranking The 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music 🚨@BTS_twt, @BLACKPINK, @NewJeans_twt, and many, many more.https://t.co/xC4bizAysQ

— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) July 20, 2023

The list featured songs of various genres, and even those released from the 1920s.

Describing “Gee” as a “testament to the way love — and all of its indescribable ecstasies — can be translated through pop music,” Rolling Stone explained that it’s an “enduring hit” because of its “rapidly repeated syllables” and “dizzying, maximalist aesthetic.”

“Gee” served as the lead single of Girls’ Generation’s debut EP in 2009. Its music video saw the girls — in their iconic colored skinny jeans — harboring a crush on SHINee’s Minho.

When it was released, “Gee” set the record for the longest-running number one song on Music Bank with nine consecutive wins before Psy broke it with “Gangnam Style” in 2012.

“Gee” was also the first K-pop group music video to reach 100 million views — a feat it achieved in 2013, or almost four years after its release.

Trailing “Gee” are H.O.T’s “Candy” and IU’s “Good Day” in second and third place, respectively.

Rolling Stone wrote that “Candy” has “set the bar for every K-pop boy band’s sugary-sweet summertime earworms to come,” while “Good Day” has “emphasized IU’s bright, bold, and candied sensibility.”

The rest of the top 10 are: 4) BTS’ “Spring Day,” 5) Cho Yong Pil’s “Short Hair,” 6) BLACKPINK’s “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” 7) BIGBANG’s “Haru Haru,” 8) 2NE1’s “I Am the Best,” 9) Seo Taiji and Boys’ “I Know” and 10) Wonder Girls’ “Tell Me.”