NewJeans’ debut song ‘Cookie’ named ‘Best Song’ by NY Times

‘Cookie,’ the debut song of NewJeans, who debuted in July and is considered one of South Korea’s leading fourth-generation girl groups, has been named one of the ‘2022 Best Songs’ picked by the New York Times.

Announcing Cookie as one of the 70 Best Songs on Wednesday, the New York Times said, “It is the best song in the debut album of the sensational K-pop girl group NewJeans.” Cookie is the only Korean song that makes this year’s New York Times Best Songs.

“The most amazing thing about Cookie is its beauty of moderation that is not excessive,” said Jon Caramanica, NYT’s pop music commentator. “The song presents the R&B genre, which was in vogue decades ago, through cheerful metaphors, and concludes with charming jersey club (electronic dance music genre that was in vogue in the 1990s).

This year’s Best Songs were selected by three commentators, namely Caramanica, Jon Pareles, and Lindsay Zoladz, who also singled out their favorite of the Best Songs. Caramanica picked female rapper GloRilla’s ‘Tomorrow 2,’ Pareles chose Puerto Rican rapper Residente’s ‘This Is Not America,’ and Zolad singled out American Indie band Hurray for the Riff Raff’s ‘Life on Earth,’ respectively.


Jae-Hee Kim jetti@donga.com