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 RESCENE’s placement on the ULTIMATE ARTIST RANKING page!
RESCENE: A Career In Song Ratings
The Breakdown
Highest Rated Songs
Lowest Rated Songs
Imperial Phases
None
Slump Phases
New World -> Heart Drop (2024-2025)
Rating Average: 7.77
Overall Trendline:
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Oof, they really had it good back in 2024. UhUh and Love Attack showed such a promising sound for them but alas, they went for basic subdued gg sound. And the fact that their 2nd highest rated song is a cover is depressing 😭 hope Love Attack’s success pushes them to pursue that sound but I doubt it.
I’d give Deja Vu an 8, UhUh an 8.75 and Love Attack a 9.25 though. Rest is fair enough
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ahhhh Pinball so low pains me to see. I consider that one of the greatest girl group songs ever, which makes it an easy 10/10 in my book. It’s beautifully composed and arranged with harmonies and melodies more thought through than the vast majority of kpop songs. Whoever wrote the main hook put some crack in there, it sticks in the mind in the best possible way
Pinball aside, Love Attack, would probably be the only other 9+ rated single with Glow Up, Bloom, Heart Drop, and Runaway all being high 8s. I adore The Muse’s composition and songwriting team, they have some true musicians over there.
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heavy on pinball love. it was the first song of theirs that came up on shuffle and it immediately stuck to me afterwards. such a lovely track
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I wish I could hear what others do in that song. It does very little for me and I’ve tried multiple times to get into it.
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they did the subdued go thing better than most. Like most readers of this blog I prefer the approaches of uh uh bloom and love attack, but im definitely much higher on their discography as a whole. Pinball, new world, yoyo and deja vu are definitely enjoyable while being subdued
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Hey, Nick. Been noticing you’ve been doing some newer groups A Career in Song ratings already (Riize, Young Posse, ZB1, BND, Rescene all debuted in 2023-2024) but I have a suggestion for you. Maybe wait till they have a little years under their belt. Since the average kpop contract is 7 years, it would make sense to wait until about Year 5 or 6 to see the average rating of songs over a more accurate chart. I know some groups disband in 1-2 years or don’t have long contracts, but the point I’m trying to make is to try waiting until a bit later for the newer debuted groups. I don’t know your thought process and if you just want to get all these groups done as soon as possible, but I feel like that would be fitting since it would actually be the group’s ALMOST FULL/FULL career in song ratings.
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Your point is well taken, but I’m also updating these graphs every time an act releases new music, which affects their placement/overall rating. It’s kind of fun to see where they move as their career develops. Think of these as initial placements that will change — especially if an artist has limited output.
With that said, I’m trying to give two years before I add any artist to this feature, which means we’re looking at debuts before the summer of 2024 at this point.
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Oh cool! I see what you’re doing as this is only a piece of the bigger picture. And yeah, you’re right. I’m curious to see how TWS/AHOF is going to do in the long run as they both had good debut years and maybe even some newer groups have their imperial phases later on and rise to the top.
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Yeah, it’s a tricky prospect when comparing newer groups to those who have lived out their entire career already… especially since for most acts “imperial phases” often seem to be frontloaded to the beginning of their career. I imagine tomorrow’s entry will be especially eye-raising for many folks, but keeping in mind that this process is constantly in flux helps me understand my own intention behind it.
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AHHHHH NICKKK!! THE SUSPENSE!! guess I’m going to have to wait until tommorow 🥀🥀
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i wonder what you think of groups like finkl and baby vox considering they have little mention on your blog
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They’ll get their graphs eventually, but yeah I’m not the biggest fan of the music (which is why you don’t see it appear much here)
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