At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by k-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there’s a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade.
March 2018 Overall Thoughts
Well, March certainly didn’t pan out the way I had expected.
If you would have asked me four weeks ago who would release my favorite song of the month, I’d have confidently answered “TVXQ,” with Wanna One, NCT Dream and UP10TION having an outside shot. To give you a sense of just how underwhelming March was, my top song was actually first released all the way back in January.
It was a month of build-up and disappointment, with several big-name acts returning with subpar material. And now, it feels like we’ve reached a perilous spot. By this time last year, three of my top ten songs of 2017 had already been released. 2018 has given us a couple possible dark horses, but it’s been a case of many solid comebacks but few absolute standouts. As much as I believe that k-pop is slowly working its way out from many of last year’s bad habits, I fear that messy verses and unnecessary trap breakdowns are becoming a 2018 trend.
And one more thing: I’m more inclined to enjoy the music released by boy groups, but even I was left wondering… where were the girl groups in March? This is the first time that there is absolutely no female representation in either my top three or my honorable mentions. There simply wasn’t much to choose from.
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.6
(compiled by averaging the scores of every k-pop review from this month)
J-Pop Worth Your Time
Bullet Train – A Kind Of Love (review)
FTIsland – Hold The Moon (review)
Honorable Mentions
Monsta X – Jealousy (review)
NCT Dream – Go (review)
Samuel – One (ft. Jung Ilhoon) (review)
Seventeen BSS – Just Do It (review)
TVXQ – The Chance Of Love (review)
Wanna One – I.P.U. (I Promise U) (review)
TOP THREE SONGS
3. NCT 127 – Touch (review)
2. Stray Kids – District 9 (review)
1. Golden Child – Lady (review)
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of February 2018
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of January 2018
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of December 2017
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of November 2017
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of October 2017
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
I’m surprised that April’s “The Blue Bird” didn’t squeeze onto your list! I can see where the not-so hook would fade from one’s memory, but I guess the overblown production (like last year’s “Take My Hand”) won me over.
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The Blue Bird was one of those songs that faded really quickly for me. I still enjoy it, but rarely feel like returning to it. Take My Hand was much more my speed.
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Are these just for groups, and no soloist acts?
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Nope, it can be anything that was released this month. Unfortunately, there weren’t any soloists that made it onto my list this March except for Samuel.
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I dare to suggest you SOLID, Into The Light / Here Right Now. They’re really good songs even if they went completely under silence (although AllKPop had been skinned with a promo banner for days).
As for your Hidden Treasures’ reviews, UP10TION Finally and FORESTELLA You Change My World could definitely deserve a mention. 🙂
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I would say Mamamoo’s Starry night was a strong march release for women and it seems to be quite popular. I understand it isn’t your style though with an anti-chorus and a drop as opposed to something sweeping and melodic.
I think they’re doing a 4 mini album year with each one reflective of a member and this first mini was Hwasa’s (yellow album, she was yellow in the Paint Me video) so hopefully one of the other releases will tickle your fancy.
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