Mandatory military enlistment can often be a big hurdle in a male idol’s career, but WOODZ has seen his popularity skyrocket during the time he was serving. I can’t remember such a huge enlistment-era glow-up happening before, and WOODZ seems eager to capitalize on the surge. Ahead of a new album, he’s released new song … Continue reading
AHOF debuted with a splash earlier this month, quickly winning music shows and my own playlist with their fantastic Rendezvous. The rest of their mini album is more subdued than I’d like, but the strength of its title track has me revisiting the b-sides more often than I usually would and every one of them … Continue reading
2025 has been the year of rookie boy groups spawned from survival series. NouerA, AHOF and Close Your Eyes have led the charge, each delivering great music that feels unique to them. Next up is SEVENTOEIGHT, emerging from SBS’s series SCOOL, which concluded late last year. Confusingly, there are six members of this new group, … Continue reading
Last week, EPEX teased their new album with pre-release Picasso — a track so confrontational and unpleasant that it seemed to put a curse on the entire industry. Seriously, every new song released in its wake has struggled to reach the high quality of July’s first half! Now, the group is grateful for our collective … Continue reading
By 2025 standards, The Boyz’ excellent VVV did everything it could to buck the year’s most regrettable trends, turning its energy way up, adding a great series of catchy melodies and stretching the track to nearly four (!) minutes to accommodate multiple musical goodies (a bridge! a dance break!). No wonder it’s one of the … Continue reading
As is often the case with J-pop singles, ENHYPEN’s Shine On Me has been available for a few weeks now, but today it’s finally paired with its half-animated, half-live action music video. As a straight-down-the-middle ballad, the song offers a different texture for the group. This style of lovelorn summer ballad rears its head every … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in … Continue reading
Rather than contain my “Risers and Fallers” feature to a single post in June, I’m going to share a bite-sized version at the end of each month. This will let me account for more songs and make a nice lead-in to the monthly round-up post. I anticipate most of these ratings adjustments will be negligible: … Continue reading
Before we get going with the dreaded Signal Song competition, we’ve got a few more introductory performances to get through. Week Two of Boys II Planet is again giving us two separate episodes — one for K and one for C. Please, please tell me this will not be the norm going forward. I can’t … Continue reading
When talking about girl group vocals I love, Woollim Entertainment’s Lovelyz often comes up. The group is home to some of my favorite vocal tones in K-pop, and Ryu Sujeong is certainly one of them. Since Lovelyz went on hiatus she’s developed an indie-pop solo career, most of which I haven’t written about here. However, … Continue reading
iKON’s Jay made his solo debut back in 2023 with a smooth R&B sound that was high on style but low on the kind of addictive melodies that usually make my ears perk up. He’s set to release a new album next week, and prior to that he’s dropped pre-release track We Can’t Explain. This … Continue reading
ASC2NT debuted last year and caught my attention with their strong vocals. Neither of their songs so far have fully taken advantage of this asset, but I can tell the group could do great things with the right material. New single Don’t Move gets closer to fulfilling that potential, offering an addictive electro thump. We’ve … Continue reading
Starship Entertainment is having a busy year, first debuting new girl group KiiiKiii and now new boy group IDID. IDID won’t have their official debut until September, but like so many other rookies they’re testing the waters with a pre-debut track. It’s a horrible feeling to be very excited about something only to have that … Continue reading
There have been many pre-release tracks this week, a strategy that K-pop seems to be very fond of lately. Yves has an album scheduled for next month and gives us an early taste with White Cat today. Her previous work has delved into hyperpop influences, no doubt inspired by the huge success of Charli XCX’s … Continue reading
ZEROBASEONE’s post-2025 future remains undecided, but they’re finally set to give us a full album on September 1st. Weeks before that, they’re back with pre-release Slam Dunk — an uncharacteristically hip-hop dance track. In K-pop, there’s often this urge to throw many different concepts and styles at a group rather than let them settle into … Continue reading
We’re back with the second bunch of 80 trainees on “Planet C.” I looked it up and this group is indeed meant to be centered vaguely around China, but there seems to be a bit of looseness around the “K” and “C” planets. One thing I didn’t mention last episode if that I hope ZEROBASEONE’s … Continue reading
Apart from the K-pop ecosystem we all know and love, there’s a thriving trot industry in Korea that most foreign listeners may never be exposed to. I don’t often write about trot music, as it’s its own genre with unique quirks and vast history. However, sometimes a song crosses over in a way that embraces … Continue reading
Prior to this group comeback, One Pact released an EP of solo tracks. I wrote about my favorite one here. Those songs are included on the new album alongside a few new group tracks. Yes, No, Maybe acts as the title and offers a new concept for the guys. Though I wasn’t initially won over, … Continue reading
Apart from his activities with BTOB and undeniable presence at events like Waterbomb, Lee Minhyuk has developed a solo career under the moniker “Huta.” I can’t say that much of his solo music has appealed to me, but I appreciate how it sounds so different from that of his group. New title track Bora is … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 