For as insular a world as kpop is, I’m surprised that these cross-company collaborations don’t happen more frequently. I mean, it doesn’t take a genius to realize that EXO’s Baekhyun + miss A’s Suzy = $$$. Because of this, the two of them could have sung the phone book and been a major success, which … Continue reading
LuHan’s been releasing a lot of material over the past couple of months, and the quality has definitely varied. The bulk of his stuff has a sparely produced, American hip-pop feel, which isn’t something I naturally gravitate to. Luckily, the strength of his personality and celebrity helps cover some of the qualms that I have … Continue reading
It seems fitting to kick off my ongoing “Legendary Song” feature with what I believe to be the best kpop song of all time. To be honest, for me it’s not even a contest. The Chaser goes beyond simple pop song and traverses into uncharted territory. It’s simply an audio blast from another planet — so perfectly crafted and utterly thrilling … Continue reading
Dal Shabet isn’t a girl group that I’ve followed with any real regularity. I did love their B.B.B. from 2014 but thought last year’s Joker was pretty weak. This year, they’re the first big idol group to make a comeback, though they’re down to a four-piece (there used to be six). They’ve also enlisted super … Continue reading
I’ve watched a handful of Running Man episodes, but not enough to be super familiar with every cast member. Because of this, I come into Lonely Night without any bias towards Gary as a television personality (except feeling that “Gary” is a horribly boring name for one of Korea’s most successful rappers). This allows me … Continue reading
2015 was a year in which almost every major kpop group and soloist made at least one comeback. So who had the most influence over the kpop landscape? Who were the ultimate trend groups of the year? It’s impossible to answer with 100% accuracy, but I’m going to try my best! Male Group: BTS There … Continue reading
I feel like I need to begin every Infinite review or post by reminding everyone that they are my ultimate bias group, and although I’ll try to be somewhat objective, I’m going to like pretty much everything they do. That being said, Can’t Get Over You is probably my least favorite single they’ve ever released … Continue reading
Okay, okay. When I say kpop, I mean mostly kpop, because there’s going to be some jpop and cpop in this list as well (some of it in very prominent positions), but “Top 50 K-Pop & J-Pop & C-Pop Songs of 2015” just doesn’t have the same ring to it! The only other criteria for … Continue reading
Okay, okay. When I say kpop, I mean mostly kpop, because there’s going to be some jpop and cpop in this list as well (some of it in very prominent positions), but “Top 50 K-Pop & J-Pop & C-Pop Songs of 2015” just doesn’t have the same ring to it! The only other criteria for … Continue reading
Oh, good old reliable MBC. Yet again, they have the most consistently good Gayo of the year. There wasn’t any performance as flawless as Infinite’s KBS one last night, but there were also very few stinkers. They do have a leg up from the start, with a more complete line-up and the New Year’s celebrations buoying … Continue reading
B1A4 are a five-member boy group who made their debut in April of 2011 with WM Entertainment. Depending on when you ask me, they’d fall between two and four on my personal bias list. They have a unique, energetic, poppy sound that really feels different to every other group out there. Much of this is … Continue reading
This track kind of passed me by until recently, but even though it’s not brand new, I still wanted a chance to talk about it because it’s become one of my most-played tracks of the month. For those who don’t know, LuHan used to be one of the Chinese members of EXO. He left the … Continue reading
It’s the week of the Gayos, culminating with MBC’s show on New Year’s Eve, which usually ends up being the best of the three. While SBS’s broadcast last Sunday was certainly messy, it’s unfortunate that KBS suffers from a different problem this year. Honestly, their Daechukje was mostly just kinda… boring. It was hindered a bit at … Continue reading
I have great respect for Jun. K’s work. In fact, his bonkers 2014 single Love & Hate is probably my favorite 2PM-related release ever, solo or otherwise. He definitely has a unique creative sentiment, which sometimes causes him to veer in all sorts of strange directions. Love Letter was originally a Japanese single and mini-album … Continue reading
December (particularly this year) is the time for Christmas songs in kpop. Now, I love me a good Christmas song, but the problem is that they naturally have an expiration date. Luckily, April’s Snowman is more of a winter single than holiday-themed. Despite only debuting a little over four months ago, the girls have already … Continue reading
Lately, I’ve been following the three ex-EXO members’ Chinese output more closely. It’s been a bit of a mixed bag, with (some of) LuHan’s material coming out on top for me personally. Kris was never my favorite EXO member, and he hasn’t released all that much material since he went solo, but even though his … Continue reading
It’s become routine for almost every successful kpop group to branch out into the Japanese market. Oftentimes the sound is quite different from their Korean material, which makes sense because the bulk of jpop is completely different than kpop. Some artists have a pretty stellar Japanese sound (Girls’ Generation, Myname, 2PM, Infinite), while others frustratingly lower … Continue reading
The annual Gayo Daejuns are one of my favorite times of the year for kpop. A combo of song festival and awards ceremony/gala, they round out December nicely by offering dozens of performances from the biggest artists of the year, often in remixed or reinterpreted versions. They’re reliable for providing some of the biggest and best … Continue reading
The second of iKON’s singles to be released on Christmas Eve (and presumably their last for awhile), What’s Wrong follows another classic YG template of anthemic rap-rock. This has brought us one of my favorite kpop songs of all time in G-Dragon’s Crooked, and was most recently heard in Bigbang’s Sober from earlier in the … Continue reading
This is iKON’s sixth single in the space of four months. They’ve really been cranking them out under YG’s new promotional strategy of just blitzing the world with singles before eventually releasing an album. On the plus side, it’s allowed the group to show a lot of different sides to themselves. On the other hand, … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 