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.
November 2024 Overall Thoughts
Well… how are we all doing?
Given the news of the past few days I feel like we’re living through the K-pop purge. My heart goes out to fans of the affected groups. Hopefully they can all find success under new agencies if they wish. It’s certainly not the news you want to hear at the end of a year.
Speaking of “the end of a year,” November is the last month I count toward eligibility for my year-end K-pop countdowns. It’s usually a pretty busy time but this November felt quite slight in comparison. I’ve been a weekly Music Bank watcher for the past decade and I often judge the state of the industry based on how many random trot/ballad singers they feature on any given episode. An overabundance of these performers usually means there aren’t enough idol comebacks to fill a show. Suffice it to say, I’ve sat through many a ballad and trot banger this month.
In my mind, quality of releases has been on a steady decline since this June’s fantastic slate. November was the worst yet, though the month was capped by two songs I genuinely love so it didn’t feel as dire as it actually was. The problem is, I didn’t find much to love beyond these two releases. I couldn’t justify moving any of my honorable mentions into a top three slot (they’d just be filling space), so for the first time in BIAS LIST history, I don’t have a number three choice. I don’t mean to make this a trend, but there just wasn’t anything to fill that third spot. I’m already cheating a bit by including a song that wasn’t promoted with a music video.
So, let’s focus on the positive! I like my top two songs more than anything released in the past couple of months. For the first time in awhile, I have that excited feeling around a K-pop release. Please please please let this momentum continue into the new year. It feels like the industry forfeited the second half of 2024 and that’s been pretty depressing to watch.
Instead of suffering through dull new releases, I’ve ensconced myself in K-pop history. I hope you’re all enjoying the new “Back to K-pop’s First Generation” feature. It will probably become more sporadic as we move into countdown territory next month, but I appreciate the chance to add important historical context to the blog. I’ve always been fascinated about how different eras and influences fit together.
J-pop also had a less-than-stellar month, though there were a few highlights. I’ve been replaying Ryugujo’s new album as I knew I would, and I haven’t even had a chance to write about my favorite J-pop single of the month since it only came out a couple days ago (it’ll be in the round-up tomorrow).
On another note, this November has become the highest-viewed month in Bias List history! Thanks to everyone who came to commiserate about new releases, flash back to K-pop’s first gen, listen to me bitch about agencies, take a GFriend deep dive or let your voice be heard in the comments. And on the topic of “letting your voice be heard,” don’t forget to participate in the first ever Bias List Reader Survey to leave feedback about the blog and the K-pop industry overall. Oh, and if you happen to be over at Bluesky, I made an account for the blog this month.
On to the year-end countdowns next month!
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.8
(compiled by averaging the scores of every K-pop review from this month)
J-Pop Highlights
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week One
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Two
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Three
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Four
TOP J-POP SONGS OF THE MONTH
3. IMP. – Michishirube
2. Ryugujo – Urashima (review)
1. A.B.C-Z – Hiri Hiri
K-POP
Honorable Mentions
ENHYPEN – No Doubt (review)
EPEX – Universe (review)
ICHILLIN’ – Official (review)
IVE – Supernova Love (with David Guetta) (review)
Jin (BTS) – Running Wild (review)
JYP (J.Y. Park) – Easy Lover (review)
Lovelyz – November (review)
Minho (SHINee) – Call Back (review)
NCT Dream – Flying Kiss / When I’m With You (review / review)
Primrose – Steal Heart(review)
WayV – High Five (review)
Yves – Viola (review)
This Month’s Risers and Fallers
This Month’s Global Pop Round-Up
TOP THREE SONGS
3. None
2. G-Dragon – Home Sweet Home (ft. Taeyang & Daesung) (review)
1. TWS – Last Festival (review)
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of October 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of September 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of August 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of July 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of June 2024
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Thanks a lot for listing TWS – LAST FESTIVAL as your number 1 song for NOVEMBER !! We’re so grateful for that!
LikeLike
The “3. NONE” left a chill down my spine, for all the wrong reasons. And the fact only three songs made it above 8.5 and one fell is quite disappointing. Man, this month was so-so, quite weak as compared to the excellent June. *sigh* I wish those highlights from Jan and June scattered around so we’d have gotten at least one highlight a month. But for me, I still managed to find a few highlights, but a matter of preferences and personal tastes, ig :p
Anyways, my top 3 are:
1- Official (ICHILLIN’)
2- Universe (EPEX)
3- Last Festival (TWS) (all 8.75)
(Running Wild and Home Sweet Home were close calls, and yes, the former grew back to an 8.75 for me, even though I still waver back to an 8.5)
For J-Pop, I haven’t explored the genre for a while (thanks to being too lazy + college being a pain in the ass), but I liked PG’s Wa Bi Sa Bi. It’s a bit Kidz Bop-ish, but also quite fun (ironic since they are literally kids and seeing them makes me feel old and I’m barely an adult myself!)
LikeLiked by 1 person
And man, while the music was fine, all the events were a… shitshow of all sorts, to put it at the very least. I just hope NewJeans win their case, Bongo chokes on a sausage (wishing the same for Lee Yonghak, that 143 CEO), HYBE crashes and burns (same goes for 143), Gaeun gets her justice. On the plus side, yay for Seunghan solo debut, but I know SM is gonna be absolute ass at managing and promoting him (if they can fumble Lee fucking Taemin and countless…), so fuck SM too ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
November was very boring. I hope that over time (or rather, I hope by mid-2025) K-Pop will change this impression of “average sounds”. But it all depends, either K-Pop will be exciting in the 1st semester or it will be exciting in the 2nd semester, in other words, it’s either one or the other
Honorable Mentions
Sungjin – Check Pattern
Yesung – It’s Complicated
EPEX – Universe
Dayoung – Love Wave
Jay B – Crash
Kino – Everglow
3. EPEX – Closer
2. Kave – Stone
1. Jeon Woong – Pixel
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.6
53 songs released this month (of course, at least the ones I rated… there are songs here that Nick didn’t rate 🤷)
I had to add songs that didn’t have good promotion and also sounds from bands 🙃. By the way, the songs I highlight here are rated 8.25, 8,5 and so on, not ‘8’. If not, I accumulate my folder a lot…
LikeLike
Omg! Kave!!
I just discovered them this month, and I have been OBSESSED with You. I have yet to listen to the 2nd mini album, but their sound is exactly the kind of sound I would listen to.
I’m so happy is discovered them!!
LikeLike
Glad to see you on Bluesky; just followed you. I deleted my Twitter after the election and will never return there.
LikeLike
Thank you for informing me of it this. I was actually going to ask whether he had considered doing BlueSky.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I’m hoping the NewJeans saga is quickly over and we can get new music for them. I was thinking maybe they (along with Min Hee-jin) can sign to like an American label that’s willing to fight for them in court and let them do their own thing.
LikeLike
I think having no number 3 is ridiculous. The top 3 is the top 3 for the month and sometimes they’re just going to be weak, you’re doing too much
LikeLike
He wasn’t feeling it and doesn’t have to lol. It’s his blog.
LikeLike
I felt the same (except the you’re doing too much part).
LikeLike
So did Power not have lasting power? I remember you rated it very highly. Talking about awards, I thought it was interesting that for MMA, they gave Supernova a cinematic orchestral score? Reminds me of that elusive version of Mirotic that had that string instrumentation
I play this at least once a month. What I would’ve done to have attended that concert 😭
LikeLike
For anyone interested, here’s a link to the playlist with all the performances https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kAPtkqjrcUMv10gRtkTNTZdOYM8Rkvgmc&si=W4eWiFvV16L0TRSa
LikeLike
Power was included in October’s round-up.
LikeLike
Time is not real. I thought I remembered it as being released this month???
LikeLike
It was released on the last day the month so you weren’t far off!
LikeLike
Last Festival has definitely come around for me over the last week, I think it’ll play really well as we head into winter.
I still think you could have placed most any of the songs from Käärijä’s new album in your number 3 spot 😄 They’ve all got the pop and production k-pop should be striving for, and they even a lot of that growly rap bravado k-pop boy groups keep trying at!
LikeLike
i forgot to say this on thursday but happy belated thanksgiving
LikeLike
Official by Ichillin and Last Festival by TWS are up there for my top picks. I also like No Doubt by Enhypen but the fact that it’s made by Johnny Goldstein puts a bad taste in my mouth that I can’t rinse out.
LikeLiked by 1 person
These are the few songs that I enjoyed:
Dreamies -Flying Kiss / When I’m With You
EPEX- Universe / Closer
KAVE- You
13FOUND- Domino
not sure who they are but I watched a music show performance and found them different, plus the song got stuck in my head
ACE – Piñata
once I got over the shouty part of the chorus, I found some good stuff in there including instrumentals, vocals, and engaging performances by the guys.
LikeLike
the fact that there was only a top 2 says a lot about this month…
LikeLike
I listened to Urashima because of your review of it! It was an impulsive decision but something about your review made me want to listen to it and I’m glad. I really liked it
LikeLiked by 1 person
I agree with your top 2 even though TWS’s sound is a bit too cutesy for me. The quality is there even if it’s not my taste! I would add Mytro because I spent yesterday looping their songs, really enjoying the group!
the first gen throwback is a fantastic addition to the blog! I know nothing about it, and it’s so much fun to go through your posts, plus they feel written with so much joy!
LikeLike
I’ll be so honest right now, I kind of fell off this month and only listened to a few releases once. However, Sungjin’s entire album has been on repeat since it came out. I’m obsessed with his vocal tone, and I think all of the songs suit him so well.
Check Pattern is my number 1!!
LikeLike
We did a cheap chinese noodle place somewhere in the middle of London. The whole soundtrack was recent girl groups kpop, the last month or three, plus recent GD as the only boy representing. Strung back to back, and loud, it made sense in the context, all the noise and clanging, but after the dinner I was ready to be done. It also sounded the same, the same timbre voices, though I knew I hear a good 6 or 8 different groups.
November: I have KAVE ft Gaho. Awesome rock with an awesome singer.
I bought a bunch of QWER because I needed a shot of quirkiness. They have done super well on the Korean kpop charts this year, but we here in the international kpoppers have largely ignored. They have actual personality, possibly authentic or close enough.
Also the latest Forestella “Apocalypse” and Bol4 (Bolbalggan 4) “Bloom” is a good happy sweet dance track, both technically late October.
LikeLike
Last Festival has emerged as the top song for me as well. Although, No Doubt rose quite a bit unexpectedly though.
LikeLike
kep1er – tipi-tap
a-plus – error
illit – tick-tack
LikeLike