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 BLOCK B’s placement on the ULTIMATE ARTIST RANKING page!

BLOCK B: A Career In Song Ratings

The Breakdown

Highest Rated Songs

H.E.R

Lowest Rated Songs

Shall We Dance

Imperial Phases

Freeze -> H.E.R (2011-2014)

Slump Phases

None

Rating Average: 8.43

Overall Trendline:

4 thoughts on “BLOCK B: A Career In Song Ratings”

H.E.R is that involuntarily pleasurable track in K-pop: whether you like it or not, the melody gets stuck in your head. A definite classic

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nillilli mambo is such a fun song from the MV to the energy of the track itself, so good

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These rankings are too generous lmao.

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Ah, Block B for a while were my favorite indie snot nosed punks. Self producing, truly.

“Tell them” aka “Let them know” is the first Zico-penned song to be released, followed by “Nalina” and Nillilli Mambo and so on.

After those singles, the group sued their agency and won – how often does that happen? They started their own agency – the money is commonly believed to have been from PO’s family. The next single “Be the Light” is the rebirth relaunch song. THEN they hit their peak with Very Good and HER as an indie group – how often does that happen?

What I like about this era of Zico songwriting is that he soundscapes the songs so that the singing and the rapping match in intensity and purpose. Each of the unique voices in the group have their place and their moment in the songs. To highlight just one example, the earliest “Let them know” has the rappers on the verses and then a great chorus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybl8dgpUfL4

Also for a rapper who sings, he can really craft a melody for proper singer-singers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OXjJqMk-DA

But really, my favorite song from Block B is the B-side “Mental Breaker”. The lead vocal Taeil does something we don’t hear often – harmonizes live with himself the backing track. Darling daughter used to have me play this song and “Mind Control” from TST in carpool on exam days.