We’re halfway through the year, which means it’s time to check in and see how K-pop is doing in 2026. If I were grading the year in comparison to others, we’d be in trouble. There have been brief spikes of excitement, but overall 2026 has been characterized more by its many missteps than its few successes. Some trends (club beats, rock guitar) hold a ton of promise but too many others (sing-talk, catchphrasey hooks, short song lengths) spell trouble for the industry’s output.
This year, I chose ten standout songs to post alongside a few honorable mentions. Not all of these songs have the juice to compete for a spot in my year-end top ten, but they’re the ones that have stood out most to me this year. As usual, I’ll post them in alphabetical order rather than rank them. Only title tracks or follow-ups/pre-releases with music videos are eligible.
Readers, what were your favorite singles during the first half of 2026?
TOP SINGLES
Honorable Mentions:
AND2BLE – Curious
Close Your Eyes – Pose
CORTIS – REDRED
STAYC – 2 L0VE
UNCHILD – UNCHILD
ZEROBASEONE – Top 5
ITZY – Motto
This boasts the kind of pinwheeling pop chorus we’ve heard so little of this year and offers an exciting new route for ITZY’s sound. (full review)
KickFlip – Eye Poppin’
KickFlip has developed a core sound that fits them so well. I’m loving their youthful pop/rock energy and this is another hit within that lane. (full review)
KickFlip – Twenty
Even better than Eye Poppin’, Twenty takes their sound in a more sentimental direction with a surging chorus that stands as one of their most potent musical moments. (full review)
NEXZ – Mmchk
A total revelation after Beat-Boxer‘s promise last year. NEXZ bring the funk and offer plenty of musical scope within this tight, hard-hitting pop package. (full review)
SHINee – Atmos
K-pop royalty returned with a new song that lives up to their many classics. This is such a rare occurrence and deserves all the praise one can muster. It’s the rare 2026 knockout, delivered with incredible panache. (full review)
TWS – All The Possibilities
Hazy house tracks have hardly been unique this year, but TWS continue to deliver the highest quality with this sneaky little earworm. (full review)
TWS – You, You
We’ve got a few repeat artists this year, and it’s no surprise that TWS find themselves on this list twice. You, You is an ebullient piece of dance pop with wickedly catchy hooks. (full review)
Xdinary Heroes – Voyager
A sprawling rock epic that makes most of 2026’s two-minute ditties feel like commercial jingles in comparison. Xdinary Heroes hit their stride by expanding their ambition to celestial levels. (full review)
XngHan&Xoul – Glow
Club music has been all the rage this year but Glow shows what happens when you tie a series of explosive melodies to chugging dancefloor production. (full review)
Yena – Catch Catch
A pitch-perfect throwback to a quirkier K-pop time with bubblegum hooks to spare and its tongue lodged firmly in its cheek. This feels like a breakthrough moment for Yena. (full review)
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
great list!!
my current favorites so far:
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Man, Atmos and Glow are definitely my top songs of this year. The albums are great too so it really helps. My ranking (so far) would prolly go like this:
1.Atmos
2.Glow
3.Mmchk
4.Voyager
5.Motto
Also, is it safe to say that the KickFlip songs and Catch Catch are a 9? Since your honourable mentions are all songs that got an 8.75, and your “main” mentions are all 9+ songs
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Oh wait, I’m dumb, it’s your top 10 songs of this year so far, I didn’t see that lol😭
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A very solid list considering how the years been going. At least we do have a couple good contenders for legendary songs.
Anyway, my top 10 as of now:
Atmos
Motto
Twenty
Catch Catch
Baby Flower
2 L0VE
Glow
Eye-Poppin’
Blackhole
Dead Man Walking
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A very solid list considering how the years been going. At least we do have a couple good contenders for legendary songs.
Anyway, my top 10 as of now:
Atmos
Motto
Twenty
Catch Catch
Baby Flower
2 L0VE
Glow
Eye-Poppin’
Blackhole
Dead Man Walking
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Top K-Pop Songs of 2026 (So Far):
none
I’m serious… I couldn’t find a single song I’d give a 9 to. At least not in K-pop. But honestly, I don’t think that really matters since I barely listen to anything outside of K-pop. Yep, I’m pretty niche…
I actually started going through a folder to rate a bunch of K-pop songs from the first half of 2012. And guess what? So many great songs! Man, what a rough time we’re living in
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I’m currently rewatching week-to-week Inkigayo episodes from 2012 and, though the industry wasn’t quite as prolific as it is now, the quality level was ridiculously high. What a golden age that was!
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I have like 2-3 songs that I’d give a 9, 1 is a ballad wrote by Hong Jinyoung by a former MelodyDay member Yeoeun – I Love You, I Love You.
Another is a idol-adjacent soloist also with a ballad Hwina – Hello, Sara.
And I guess you can call them a k-pop group, full of choreographers but they debuted this year and are too unknown for Nick to review them, in SAVVVY – Skidding.
But other than that it has been a very rough year for me, the music just doesn’t compare to back then. Last year I started a project to rank every single Girl Group debut ever and with 950 debut songs it has been a heavy project to do, but it took way more time just researching and finding the groups/songs than actually doing it. Anyway what I wanted to mention is that I have stats in the spreadsheet and 2012 is the year with the highest average of all the years in k-pop lol
Last year, I posted it on reddit a bit more incomplete than it is now but it’s a work in progress. If you or Nick or anyone want to see it, just search for my this name on reddit and on the 3rd last reply I did there’s a link to the spreadsheet. It’s quite controversial but it’s my opinion
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This year has been a bit slow for sure. First time I don’t have too much trouble choosing my top songs at this point. Here are mine:
ONF – Open The Door
8Turn – Bruise
Cravity – Awake
BND – Adios
KickFlip – EyePoppin
Nexz – Mchk
Cortis -RedRed
NMixx – Crescendo
H2H – Rude
XHeroes – Voyager
Honorables:
Xhan&Xoul – Glow
Xikers – Okay
Wishies – Ode To Love
Jihoon – Bodyelse
MonstaX – Heal
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The tops for me right now are
NEXZ – Mmchk
Baby Dont Cry – Bittersweet
But I’ve also enjoyed:
MEOVV – Hit ‘Em
STAYC – 2 L0VE
IZNA – Metronome
SHINee – Atmos
Taeyang – LIVE FAST DIE SLOW
XngHan – Glow
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Both title tracks and b-sides:
Twenty, KickFlip (Kpop/rock perfection)
Mmchk, NEXZ (this gave me pure Kpop vibes like VVV from The Boyz last year)
Atmos, SHINee (undeniably great)
Soar, RIIZE (sounds like it should have been on Odyssey)
Aura, AND2BLE (the best song on a solid debut)
Hotline, &TEAM (just a fun song)
Motto, ITZY (their best in years)
Mamihlapinatapai, ILLIT (dreamy)
Metronome, Izna (not as good as Racecar but I’ll take it)
Raw Flame, ALD1 (the dance practice convinced me even more that it should have been the prerelease over Formula)
The only two I feel fairly confident about for the end-of-the-year list are Twenty and Mmchk.
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The complication I have is that I have bought so little kpop compared to past years, that some weeks I haven’t even bothered to sync my ipods. In the car this year its CD’s or the radio. (Car being old enough to have a CD player) (Myself being old enough to own CD’s) (A lot of CD’s)
I have in some order:
SHINee Atmos + the whole album
nSSign Beautiful Monster
IVE Bang Bang + Black Hole
ONF Open the Door
and possibly others when I actually sync the ipods
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I know it already fell for you, but VIRAL going from 8.75 on release day to not making it to your favorite songs so far this year has me giggling
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KickFlip and TWS are my favourite groups from this generation, so hard agree on their output so far this year being great.
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My highlights from 2026 so far
BTS – Arirang (full album)
Shinee – Atmos (full mini album)
RIIZE – II (full mini album)
Hearts2Hearts – Lemon Tang (full mini album)
Zerobaseone – Top 5, Zero to Hundred
NEXZ – Mmchk
Rescene – Busy Boy, Runaway
Taeyong – WYLD
Taemin – Long Way Home, Permission
TXT – Bed of Thorns
NCT JNJM – Both Sides
n.SSign – Beautiful Monster
besides the first 4 albums on this list though, lots of my listening has been 2nd gen throwbacks, especially from SNSD, Shinee, F(x)
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NEXZ – Mmchk is my top song so far. Its fun, high-energy, and put together really well—its hard not to enjoy. I do wish some parts lasted a little longer, though.
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Are all of these top songs 9+ rated?
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Probably not
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can i ask which of those songs you consider as 9 or above and those that you think are slightly below that
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KickFlip – Eye-Poppin’
ENHYPEN – Knife
EXO – Crown
IVE – BANG BANG
Xdinary Heroes – Rise High Rise
RESCENE – Runaway
KickFlip – Stup!d
ILLIT – It’s Me
NCT WISH – Hello Mellow
KickFlip – Scroll
NCT WISH – 2.0
NCT WISH – ZONE
YENA – Catch Catch
AtHeart – Butterfly Doors
Heart of Woman – Told You So
SHINee – Atmos
ITZY – Motto
ILLIT – paw, paw!
Boy Next Door – ddok ddok ddok
FIFTY FIFTY – Genie Magic
tripleS – Baby Flower
STAYC – 2 L0VE
December gems:
WayV – Eternal White
WayV – Moment in Time
VERIVERY – RED (Beggin’)
MINHO – TEMPO
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Some favorites this year off the top of my head (I’ve had less time of late to write about or listen lately):
Nmixx – Crescendo & Heavy Serenade
Ive – Blackhole & Bang Bang
NEXZ – Mmchk
Cortis – REDRED
Kickflip – Twenty
Baby Dont Cry – Shapeshifter , Bittersweet
KiiKii – 4040 (New Era)
Say MY Name – UFO (Attention)
Rude! – H2H
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This year I have liked Catch Catch by yena, RUDE! by h2h, top 5 by zb1, big girls don’t cry by enhypen, baby flower by triples, wyld by taeyong. But my favorite is heavy serenade by nmixx, which is under glazed around these parts…
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Oh and REDRED how could I forget LOL
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MOYA. If you haven’t heard it, you’re missing out.
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my faves so far are:
my honorable mentions are lemon tang, heavy serenade, and t.o.p.’s studio54.
red velvet and nct 127 are supposed to have comebacks at some point this year, and i’m *REALLY* hoping they don’t disappoint since they’re two of my ult groups. wayv as well- according to one of the members who leaked it, they’re coming back in august.
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Nice! Those aren’t too far off from my own (though I am more likely to listen to the songs you rate more highly of course haha)
My top 5:
(Honorable mention for sixth place probably goes to Atmos?)
No other song came close to Voyager imo – probably still my favorite song of the year, K-pop or not (though I say that as someone who is also a rock (especially electronic rock) fan for transparency).
Also, Over It doesn’t even get an honorable mention?? Especially given that Kim Sungkyu seems to usually be a bias for you??
Thanks for the list!
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How about b-sides/album tracks? J-pop songs? Throw us a bone! 🙂
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yay TWS mentioned, anyway my top 10 2026 ver (TWS needs more recognition, pls ppl notice em their music never disappoints 😦 )
TWS – You You
TWS – ATP
TWS – Back to strangers
NCT WISH – Ode to love
ILLIT – Its me
H2H – RUDE
ENHYPEN – KNIFE
ENHYPEN – NO WAY BACK
NCT WISH – BOY MEET GIRL
KATSERALLIT – ICONIC BY MISTAKE
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Favourite K-pop singles (?) so far this year are something like this:
Hearts2Hearts – RUDE!
ITZY – Motto
KickFlip – Twenty
KiiiKiii – 404 (New Era)
KiiiKiii – Delulu
Lee Chaeyeon – No Tears On The Dancefloor
NMIXX – Crescendo
NMIXX – Heavy Serenade
STAYC – 2 L0VE
TWS – All the Possibilities
TWS – Dream With Us
TWS – You, You
Xdinary Heroes – Voyager
Yena – Catch Catch
I don’t care if Dream With Us doesn’t have a video, I need to mention it here somehow so
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my top kpop songs so far:
Yena – Catch Catch, 9.25 (9,10,9,9)
Itzy – Motto, 9.25 (9, 10, 9, 9)
Nexz – Mmchk, 9.25 (10, 9, 9, 9, it is SO damn catchy)
H2H – Rude, 9 (9, 9, 9, 9) took a lot to grow but it became more addictive
Aespa – Lemonade, 8.75 (8, 9, 9, 9), hated this at first but some of the parts are so iconic
TWS – You, You, 9.25, All the Possibilities, 9.25
Shinee – Atmos, 9.5
Kiikii – 404 (New Era), 8.75
STAYC – 2L0VE, 8.75 (why this being slept on, idk)
NMIXX – Heavy Serenade, 8.75 (in my opinion a pretty huge downgrade from the perfection that is Blue Valentine, but nonetheless it’s still a banger)
YOUNITE – Pose, 9.25 (10, 9, 9, 9) ughhh I love house tracks and that chorus is LETHAL.
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some more songs that I really liked:
Baby Dont Cry – Bittersweet
UNCHILD – UNCHILD
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cortis getting an honorable mention…..the hybe paid moles got to nick yall i called it
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Oh my god I WISH they were paying me. Seriously, someone pay me!
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ok serious mode now…..i lowk didnt listen to all that much kpop this year but from what ive listened to my favs r:
do the dance/d-d-done – riize (easily the best 2 songs theyve done so far n im proud to say i got the former on first listen idgaf🙂↕️ goes so unbelievably hard production wise *n stays that way the whole time!!!* in a way we barely hear from kpop these days like the second verse in d-d-done w that wobbly early dubstep bass UGGHHHHH)
switchblade – aespa (this is everything their tts after supernova tried n failed to be like this is that song on heavy ass steroids)
tbd – billlie
pandemonium – p1h (the vocal effect on the postchorus is one of the craziest things ive heard all year n completely makes this song for me)
you you/all the possibilities – tws
rage problem/yes we are – idntt
mungnyang – kiiikiii (sooooooooo much kpop gets called fx-esque these days but this is one of the few songs that actually deserves that distinction like r u hearing that chorus…..)
8 (wonyoung solo)/super icy (leeseo solo) – ive (same as what i said w riize abt the production esp for that first one like WHYYYYY havent they gone this direction for a tt yet…..some of the few songs this year to get “talking over a club beat” right just tune the lyrics for 8 out completely n ur fine)
catch catch/spring fever – yena
rude – h2h (that chorus is just so damn catchy theres no way u can dislike this)
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