What does казино (kazino) mean in Russian?

I posted the first part of this list yesterday and it seemed like people were into it, so here's the second half, leading right up to numero uno. Again, to be clear, I'm nobody, I just like writing about music and I got super into K-pop this year so I thought I'd share with all of ya'll and hope it starts some good conversations.
So here it is, the twenty five best K-pop singles of 2020 according to some rando on the Internet who spent way too much time on this.
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25\. ONE (Lucid Dream) - Golden Child
Some of the sounds here might feel a little outdated - take for instance, that distorted Skrillex-y bass wobbling its way through the first verse - but the arrangement Golden Child puts together here stays fresh with its impeccable melodic composition that demands karaoke sing-alongs. It's been a while since I've enjoyed something in pop that's this indebted to late 2000s era dubstep, but Golden Child just executes here. As soon as Joochan's ridiculous falsetto hits and the instrumentation backs off in the chorus, there's no more use holding this track at arm's length.
24\. Monster- Red Velvet (IRENE & SEULGI)
No two people in Kpop sounded better together vocally in 2020 than Seulgi and Irene. The production on this track is complicated and baroque, but still, it's Seulgi and Irene's interplay off each other that shines brightest. It's a sexy, twisty song in a sea of bubblegum, dark and convincing in its sinister intentions.
23\. Kick It - NCT 127
Take the corny swagger of peak Bon Jovi, smash it with vintage 90s boy band vocal harmonies and a 24 hour marathon of Enter the Dragon, and you'll have arrived at something like this high energy track from the NCT 127. It's a masterful piece of pop maximalism, all swaggering bravado, even in its crooning R&B inflected bridge. If you don't like loud things, don't sign up, but for everyone else, "Kick It" is one of 2020's most iconic singles.
22\. Make A Wish (Birthday Song) - NCT U
SM struck gold with yet another strong offering from the boys of Neo Culture Technology. The whistled hook is a vicious barb that will worm its way inside your brain the moment you hear it and the acapella prechorus - "I could do this all dayyyyyyyy" - is straight fire. "Make A Wish" offers you a groove and sweeps you away for four minutes of thrilling, pitch perfect pretty boy pop.
21\. Why Do U Say (feat. MOON & ASH ISLAND) - Way Ched
Kicking off with a strong, hollow beat and some spacey, plunking notes Way Ched's production sets the stage for a gorgeous trap-influenced track where MOON and ASH ISLAND trade verses like a couple sirens out in the grimy distance. It's a sound that evokes nostalgia while sounding as futuristic as anything that SM put out this year. The rapping here is laid back and more than a little mournful. Solid example of emo pop rap here.
20\. Not Shy - ITZY
Some have complained that ITZY's brand of extreme, high energy girl power pop is too noisy or too messy to stand the test of the time - and maybe they're right. But in a year where I could barely step outside for fear of catching something that might kill my grandma, "Not Shy" is a the exact blitz of optimistic bubblegum I needed, and it stayed bouncing around in my brain for months. It's a pure, uncut shot of the will to live. Huge brass samples, charismatic, playful vocals, the exact right formula of builds and drops, "Not Shy" is like a night with Stefon in NYC - it has everything. Essential 2020 listening for anyone with a remote interest in pop music or feeling awake.
19\. God's Menu - Stray Kids
No one, and I mean no one, in Kpop swung for the fences harder on a single track than Stray Kids on "God's Menu". The opening verse is an onslaught of blasting bass and taut rapping so outrageous it dares you not to grin. The chorus, with its gunshot lead-in, keeps the energy high, and the vocal interplay between the group on the high and low ends of the scale are dynamic enough to create drama within the audio which otherwise must be totally blacked out. In less capable hands it's easy to imagine this track being practically unlistenable - a compressed mess of shouts, slaps, and drops - but here, it's pristine, pulling back and surging forward at all the right moments.
18\. Girls - NATURE
Let's get this out of the way: the English-language rhyming scheme in the chorus here isn't great, it's corny in a way that doesn't work with the ghost story atmosphere of the rest of the song. That said, those rhymes stick out only because of how superior the quality of the rest of this track is. With an enormous tropical beat, add a touch 00s era Guetta EDM production, and some haunting vocal performances against a lush backdrop of harp strings, NATURE has given us something really special here. Offering one of the year's harder hitting bridges and a stupidly catchy pre-chorus, "Girls" was an instant fav that I never took out of rotation.
17\. Who U Are - KANG DANIEL
2020 had no shortage of murky, sadboy crooning going on in the Kpop scene, and few did it better than KANG DANIEL on this thumper. This is music for the montage of a hot night that kicks off a bad relationship. With its subterranean beats and submerged soundscape, "Who U Are" is the perfect foundation for KANG's pretty voice to dance just under the surface, popping up now and then for a breath of bracing cold air.
16\. Villain - Stella Jang
The whole arrangement here kicks so much ass. There's a strong sense of irony underneath the whole track, blending sounds of cabaret, polka, anti-folk, and chamber pop as a backdrop for Stella's bright, shimmering voice to dance around questions of moral ambiguity. The production is so layered, and yet so open. The structure pivots on these repeating vocal lines that clear space for improvisational fills from the piano, the guitar, and even a triangle here and there. Blissful stuff.
15\. Misfit - NCT U
There's no question, NCT was an absolute dynamo in 2020, and while this is definitely not the consensus pick for the best of the bunch from the SM boys, "Misfit" is their most surprising and endearing release of the year. A totally unabashed homage to early 90s b-boy hip hop, "Misfit" sounds like just a whole bunch of good hearted bros being good hearted bros. It's silly, it's light, and it's a whole heap of fun. This is pre-game hype playlist stuff at its very best.
14\. EVITA! - DeVita
Even in a year where 80s New Wave revivalism had an uninterrupted string of moments, DeVita's lead single from her EP, CREME, stands out. The lyrics are exhausted in the way we all felt this year, but cool and collected in the way we all wish we had been. Along with the period perfect drum machine, DeVita serves up some funky bass lines and shrouded sax breakdowns that she sings in and out of, weaving her way through the fog machine soundscape.
13\. Sacrifice - HAN SEUNG WOO
With Sacrifice, Han Seung Woo pulls off something that very few other men in the Kpop scene were able to this year - deliver a catchy, sexy r&b single that didn't just sound like a Weekend rehash. The soaring vocal melody in the chorus is nothing short of iconic and the verses slip in and out of crooning and rapping with casual ease. The production on this track is fine, but it's really just set dressing for Han Seung Woo's magnetic voice - it's impassioned but not desperate, entrancing but not affected. A hugely impressive debut from this Victon alum.
12\. Naughty - Red Velvet (IRENE & SEULGI)
It feels a little like cheating placing this single so high on the list because, for me, I can't separate that amazing tutting video from the song itself, and my god, what a fucking video. Even so, "Naughty" is one of those songs that feels like a throwback and a look into the future at the same time. The girls' voices are perfection together over their monotone chorus. It's bouncy and clinical at the same time, like a rave in a decontamination chamber. I feel like Death Grips could sample this track and it wouldn't feel out of place.
11\. ECHO - KATIE
KATIE isn't exactly a product of the K-pop idol system - she's working here completely in the English language and her brand of trancey r&b inflected electropop is about as far from a Blackpink track a you could get, but she still deserves a place on this list among the other titans of Korean pop. "ECHO" uses KATIE's low-slung vocal performance to build out an utterly enchanting sound, accented by 90s electric guitar licks and some vocal backing tracks processed to illegibility. So yeah, if you're new to Kpop and coming from an American alt r&b angle, KATIE is a solid entry point - and if you've been stanning idol groups for years, stretch your legs a little to see if what KATIE's serving here suits you. It's gorgeous stuff.
10\. LALALILALA - April
With the lead single of their 7th mini-album, April shows off all the confidence of a veteran girl group reaching their peak. "LALALILALA" is one of those tunes that dazzles without having to do anything particularly new or innovative - it's a masterwork of pure pop execution. That sing song chorus against an overwhelming wall of shimmering synths is as addictive a listen as anything else in 2020, and the pew pew build up to the pre-chorus drop hits like a Sailor Moon transformation. This is how I wish all radio pop sounded.
9\. Mayday - VICTON
VICTON offers up my favorite opening verse in Kpop this year with a dramatic, eerie instrumental atop which they arrange a mournful set of earworm vocal lines that is so strong, the rest of the song is more or less variations on that theme. And oh my word, does that theme just work. The rap verses here are surprisingly well suited, given the sad boy power ballad sound of the track, and that chorus is chef's kiss probably my favorite single melody in 2020. And when they close the bridge out with that last, piercing high note, you might find yourself wondering defensively, like I did, who hurt these perfect boys to make them hurt me like this?
8\. Apple - GFRIEND
GFRIEND had a massive year including two hard pivots from their earlier conceptual wheelhouses. Gone is the cute, bubbly innocence they built their reputation on, and in its place with "Apple" is something decidedly witchier. The soundscape here occupies a queasy mid-tempo, midrange pitch that the girls of GFRIEND float within like ghosts in the back garden. The simple melody of the chorus' front half transitions to the drawn out spookiness of the wordless vocalizations of its back half while the synth instrumentation wheels in circles behind. A masterclass in earworm atmosphere, "Apple" is easily one of the years most interesting tracks.
7\. Mmmh - KAI
As a member of legendary third gen boy group, EXO, the hype for Kai's debut was high, and with "Mmmh", a painfully sexy example of pitch perfect pop r&b, he rose to the occasion. The approach to production here is relatively spare through the verses and bridge, putting all the focus on Kai's silky voice. Clearly Kai's confident in the effect his voice has, the chorus is mostly just him humming, but he's right to be confident because hooooo boy. My dude has whatever the vocal equivalent of bedroom eyes is on this track.
6\. Back Door - Stray Kids
Though the intensity here is somewhat less than the near-parodic heights of "God's Menu", this second lead single from Stray Kids is the more compulsively listenable tune. This track is an immediate success with its infectious bass melody and the boys' high energy rapping. They just sound like they're having a blast here and would like nothing more than for you to have a good time with them. "Back Door" is an invitation, not just to the world of Stray Kids, but to the whole sparkling world of K-pop in general, and Stray Kids sound like K-pop's great democratizers. And while you might not be able to dance or sing or rap or any of the other many talents your average K-pop idol group has mastery of, "Back Door" is here to let you know that doesn't matter. You're enough.
5\. I CAN'T STOP ME - TWICE
Given how late in the year this track dropped, the fact that it ended up in my top ten most played should give some indication of how absolutely compulsive, infectious, and addictive this lead single from Twice's second (second!) full length album in 2020 is. Like a runaway train of arpeggiating Moog synthesizers, "I CAN'T STOP ME", which must always only be typed in all caps, is a breathless, accelerating popsplosion. The brilliant rhyme scheme in the chorus and Nayeon's sky high pitch are the aural equivalent of a bag of kettle corn salted with crack. But it's the rap line after the second chorus, with Chaeyoung's "risky risky wicki wicki" kicking it off and Momo's beat switched whispers at the close, that best capture the shining personality writ large across the whole track. It's a miracle of modern sound engineering, global pop alchemy, and state-of-the-art craftsmanship that showcases how, sometimes, art really is a science, and "I CAN'T STOP ME" deserves the fucking Nobel prize.
4\. Pporappippam - Sunmi
One of the things I love about pop music in general, and Kpop in particular, is how a syncretic approach that borrows liberally from different eras, movements, and subcultures can occasionally produce something really magical. Sunmi does just that with this massive single. Building on sounds from genres as diverse as disco, 00s synthpop, hair metal, and even vaporwave, Sunmi adds pan flutes and a brass section to the mix before laying down one of 2020s most charismatic vocal performances. She's a dreamer wandering through endless romantic memories here - or maybe you're dreaming and she's wandering through yours. Either way, Pporappippam is a certified B-A-N-G-E-R that, better than anyone else in 2020, summed up this year's love affair with the sounds of the 70s and 80s.
3\. Dumhdurum - Apink
Maybe it's the influence of the glossy magazine look of the music video, but this song is how I imagine wealth would sound like if it was a three and a half minute pop song. "Dumhdurum" is Apink inviting you to their garden soiree with peacocks and champagne. An energetic, busy instrumental hook ushers you through the song while the girls' voices alternate between huge, belted notes and breathy sighs. There's an almost bored effortlessness to this song that is almost insulting, given how good it sounds, how baroque the arrangement is, and how urgent the searing synthesized melody sounds at the close. It's like the best ice cream you've ever tasted, but you're honestly too above it all to acknowledge it as anything more than what you deserve. All that from a song whose chorus is literally just the sound you make when you hum to yourself.
2\. Dream of You - Chung Ha
A lot of the songs on this list are there to make you bob your head, but on "Dream of You", Chung Ha is reaching out directly through your headphones to move your fucking body for you. Absurdly confident, brilliant in its charisma, Chung Ha is a bona fide star in every way that word matters. Chung Ha finds a million ways to drop your jaw on this track - the easy earworm of the two-part chorus, the hummable, boppable ascending and descending bass lines, the soaring breathlessness of the drop from her prechorus to that first hit of the chorus, that offer of whiskey, gin, and lingerie. It's all magic. She could do no wrong this year, and with "Dream of You", Chung Ha put virtually everyone else in her rear view mirror. Try to catch up.
1\. Kazino - BIBI
"Kazino" instantly grabbed me the first time I heard it back in the Spring, and I haven't stopped listening to it since. BIBI's trademark vocals are at once silky and gravelly, autotuned at just the right moments, and then switched over into some of the most ferocious sounding rapping from South Korea all year. It's a fearless track that walks out with the confidence of someone who couldn't even imagine a hater. The beats here are captivating and lay the perfect foundation for BIBI to apply a bewitching mix of vocal harmonies and electronic effects to make something that's both catchy as fuck and weirdly unsettling. When she sings "risk it risk it til the last dime" you get the sense she means it - she's putting a lot on the line in an industry that is still pretty conservative in its attitudes toward the kinds of performances that women should have the space to pursue, and BIBI sounds from start to finish like being out there on the edge of what may or may not fly is exactly where she thrives the most. And the risk pays off huge here with 2020's best K-pop track.
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And that's it ya'll. It was a fuckton of a good music. Happy New Year!