Revisiting H.O.T.'s Masterpieces on Their 30th Debut Anniversary... Recommended Songs Picked by Music Critics

From their debut on September 7, 1996, until their disbandment on February 27, 2001, H.O.T. established the standard for K-pop idols by releasing five full-length albums during their period of activity of less than five years. According to media reports, eight music critics selected songs such as '빛', 'Candy', 'We Are the Future', and '아이야!' as tracks that well demonstrate H.O.T.'s musical color.

Critics highly evaluated the musical achievements of '빛', which is a self-composed song by Kangta and became a symbol of SM Entertainment, as well as '아이야!' and 'We Are the Future', which contain socially critical messages. Additionally, B-side tracks such as 'Natural Born Killer', a self-composed song by Tony An, and '후에…', composed by Moon Hee-joon, were revisited as masterpieces possessing original composition and completeness.

Experts evaluated the '99 Live in Seoul' album released in 1999 as an important historical resource that recorded the skills of idol concert sites at that time. They analyzed that H.O.T. left a significant footprint in Korean popular music history by going beyond being mere idols for teenagers and establishing a unique genre called SMP (SM Music Performance).

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