There are a number of acts who have debuted in the past few decades and have dozens of song ratings on this blog. I thought it would be fun to lay these ratings out in chronological order, line-graph style, and take a macro view of their careers so far. Then, similar to my “Underrated K-pop” features, I can average their ratings into one mega-score and place them in a pantheon alongside other acts.
As always, this feature has some rules of its own. I’m including any “Song Review” ratings as part of this graph, including Japanese releases and collaborations with one other artist. I’m not including Buried Treasures or solo/sub-unit releases. For the ratings themselves, I’m using the most current number on this blog, so if a song was part of a “Risers and Fallers” or “Legendary Songs Inauguration” post, that’s the rating you’ll see displayed here. That means there will still be a few ratings here and there I find slightly inaccurate, but it’ll mostly reflect my up-to-date feelings.
Finally, these scores are completely subjective. Feel free to agree, disagree and argue (that’s part of the fun!), but know that this chart reflects the opinion of only one person (me).
Check out IKON’s placement on the ULTIMATE ARTIST RANKING page!
IKON: A Career In Song Ratings
The Breakdown
Highest Rated Songs
Lowest Rated Songs
Imperial Phases
My Type -> What’s Wrong? (2015)
B-Day -> Killing Me (2017-2018)
Dive -> U (2020-2023)
Slump Phases
None
Rating Average: 8.26
Overall Trendline:
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
they have more 9s than I expected…
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unrelated, have you listened to nmixx’s ep yet? what do you think?
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Some songs are so iconic (or iKonic), that they’re an automatic 10. “Love Scenario” is such a song for me. Love it or hate it, it doesn’t care: it’s in the pantheon of K-pop greats.
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I remember that I didn’t used to like Love Scenario… but over time I came to appreciate the melody of the song more; it’s something unique to it, it’s truly unparalleled.
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Oh, they have way more songs than I expected in the 9s
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Very appropriate that But You was playing as I opened this post. For some reason I have difficulty actually associating their songs with them, but as a result every so often I get to remember how good their discography is!
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