Yes, you read that title right. We are going back to 2024 for two nights with MBC’s (delayed) Gayo Daejejeon. This end-of-year festival was filmed on New Year’s Eve, but its broadcast was postponed after the tragic Jeju Air Crash. At the time, I assumed the festival would air a week — maybe two — … Continue reading
Author Archives: Nick
Buried Treasure: ZEROBASEONE – Firework
A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. Sometimes, b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. Every boy group worth their salt … Continue reading
Battle of the Title Tracks: Uhm Jung Hwa’s “Come 2 Me” vs. Nu’est’s “Good Bye Bye” vs. miss A’s “Hush”
As a spin-off to my Battle of the B-sides feature, I’m pleased to announce the arrive of “Battle of the Title Tracks!” In this feature, I’ll be pitting three K-pop title tracks/singles against each other and choosing a winner. These songs will mostly be from pre-2016 since I’ll try to focus on music I haven’t … Continue reading
Song Review: Minnie ((G)I-DLE) – Obsession (ft. Ten)
(G)I-DLE’s Minnie released her solo debut album last week, led by two promoted tracks that did little for me. However, the album grows stronger as it goes on, climaxing with its best song. That song has now been given its own video featuring WayV’s Ten, who duets with Minnie on Obsession. I can’t claim to … Continue reading
Song Review: Eunhyuk (Super Junior) – Up N Down
Super Junior’s Eunhyuk made his idol debut nearly twenty years ago. Across those decades, he’s been active in sub-units and even released a couple solo tracks. However, he’s never delivered a solo album. With the release of Explorer, he’s finally taken the plunge. And like any artist should, he’s taken this opportunity to develop a … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from January 19-25
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
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (January 26, 2025)
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
K-Pop Risers & Fallers: January 2025
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
Song Review: Jennie (BLACKPINK) – ZEN
New K-pop releases are usually telegraphed well in advance. Surprise drops are still relatively rare. BLACKPINK’s Jennie recently announced a solo album scheduled for March, but pre-release track ZEN arrives with no warning on a day and time artists don’t often release new music. It’s fun to be caught off balance for once — especially … Continue reading
Underrated K-Pop: Ranking Every Single by F-VE DOLLS/5Dolls
K-pop is littered with acts who – for one reason or another – didn’t get the full spotlight they deserved. I’ve spent plenty of time ranking and reviewed the industry’s biggest artists, but these underrated acts should never be forgotten. This feature will take a look at disbanded groups and rank/rate their entire singles run, … Continue reading
Song Review: CIX – Thunder
Sandwiched between Western and Lunar New Year, January has been pretty dry when it comes to new music. And, most of what’s been released hasn’t felt particularly noteworthy. In many ways, it’s as if we’ve simply kicked the start of 2025 down the road, finally ready to open the floodgates next month. If that’s the … Continue reading
Battle of the B-Sides: Sonamoo, Lee Hongki, LE SSERAFIM, U-KISS, Kang Daniel
K-pop’s title tracks might gain most of listeners’ attention, but many album tracks are worth equal spotlight. I call these “buried treasures.” Beyond this, K-pop’s albums deliver thousands of additional tracks that settle for a more limited audience. It’s these songs that will become a part of my “battle of the b-sides” feature. In this … Continue reading
Song Review: Minnie ((G)I-DLE) – HER
(G)I-DLE’s Minnie pre-released a song from her new album earlier this month and now its title track HER has been unveiled as she makes her official solo debut. She’s the fourth member of the group to venture out on her own, and rather than reinvent the wheel HER sounds like something you’d hear on any … Continue reading
Song Review: Genic – It’s Showtime
Mixed-gender group Genic have been one of my favorite J-pop acts for the past few years, and last year’s N_G album only cemented that. Unfortunately, since then I haven’t connected with any of their singles in the same way, making me worried for their upcoming album If. However, the splashy It’s Showtime gets us right … Continue reading
Song Review: ZEROBASEONE – Doctor! Doctor!
ZEROBASEONE are having a very busy start to the year. Days after their new Japanese single we have pre-release Doctor! Doctor!, to be followed by two EPs — one J-pop, one K-pop — in the near future. Judging by its exclamation-heavy title, you might expect Doctor! Doctor! to be some campy pop romp (at least, … Continue reading
Song Review: KickFlip – Mama Said
After years of waiting since their stint on 2021’s competition show LOUD, KickFlip unveiled their frustratingly repetitive pre-release Umm Great earlier this month. And with the release of their mini album today, they become 2025’s first major debut act. As I stated back in Umm Great‘s review, I had hoped this group would balk current … Continue reading
Song Review: GOT7 – Python
GOT7 has been a good model for how you keep an idol group going even after its members have moved on to solo endeavors. All seven left JYP Entertainment in 2021 but have managed to come back together several times with new music. We haven’t heard from them since 2022, making the release of Python … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from January 12-18
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
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (January 19, 2025)
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
Global Pop Round-Up: January 2025 Edition
The Bias List is a K-pop blog that also covers a fair amount of J-pop. But just like most music fans, I enjoy tracks from all around the world. So, I thought I’d start a monthly round-up of some of the non-K-pop songs that have caught my ear. No ratings — just highlights! February 2022 … Continue reading