Every year at this time, I like to look back at which of my posts received the most views. If nothing else, it’s a good gauge of artist popularity. I know there are readers who take a look at everything I post, but there are also a lot of people who come to the blog … Continue reading
Author Archives: Nick
Looking Back at Last Year’s K-Pop Resolutions — Did 2023 Deliver?
I’ll be making my 2024 K-pop resolutions tomorrow, but in true Bias List tradition I’d like to rewind one year first. I usually set my wishes pretty high, and 2023 was a weird year for K-pop. But now that the dust has settled, how did I do? Make sure to look back at 2023’s resolutions … Continue reading
Song Review: tripleS NXT – Just Do It
2023 may nearly be over, but fear not! The ever-expanding tripleS project won’t let the year end before unveiling another sub-unit. tripleS NXT is composed of members Park ShiOn, Lynn, Jeong HaYeon, and JooBin, each in their teens and debuting with the sprightly Just Do It. This song was revealed earlier in December, but today … Continue reading
Year-End List Recap: The Best Overall K-Pop Comebacks of 2023
Now that I’ve finished all my K-pop related countdowns of the year (yay!), I liked to take a macro view and determine which specific comeback or debut was my overall strongest of the year. There are always some personal surprises here, but the numbers don’t lie. As before, I took five categories and gave them … Continue reading
The Top 40 Pop Songs of 2023 (20-1)
Though The Bias List is first and foremost a K-pop review blog, each month I spotlight a handful of “global pop” tracks that have been on my playlist. This culminates in a countdown of my favorite forty tracks of 2023. This year, I’m doing things a little differently. Rather than focus solely on singles, I’ve … Continue reading
The Top 40 Pop Songs of 2023 (40-21)
Though The Bias List is first and foremost a K-pop review blog, each month I spotlight a handful of “global pop” tracks that have been on my playlist. This culminates in a countdown of my favorite forty tracks of 2023. This year, I’m doing things a little differently. Rather than focus solely on singles, I’ve … Continue reading
The Top 10 K-Pop Music Videos of 2023
To be honest, this year I tended to watch most K-pop music videos one or two times before moving onto the song and leaving the visuals behind. The water mark for music videos has become very high, with the industry churning out cinematic, big-budget works every other day. While many videos could comfortably slot into … Continue reading
My Favorite Live Set of 2023
In between The Bias List‘s more sprawling countdowns, the end of the year is a great time to spotlight some things that don’t quite fit into my established posts. And sometimes, these things arrive at the very end of the year. Buzz Rhythm Live ’23 was a three-day festival in early November, tied to a … Continue reading
The Top 10 K-Pop Choreography of 2023
2023 was a weird year for K-pop choreography. There didn’t seem to be too many iconic point moves, even as TikTok challenges continue to necessitate catchy, easy-to-replicate routines. As usual, this is not a ranking of the most technically impressive performances of the year. Instead, here are ten routines that caught my eye in 2023. … Continue reading
Song Review: TVXQ – Rebel
TVXQ are celebrating their twentieth anniversary with the release of their first Korean album in five years. There are few active K-pop acts I’d consider “royalty,” but TVXQ are legends among legends. It’s always exciting to have them back with new music, even if a lot has changed since 2018’s New Chapter #2: The Truth … Continue reading
Unwrapping 2023’s K-pop Holiday Tracks: Keep Or Return?
Following a tradition first established in 2020, I’m celebrating the holidays today with the opening of gifts. These packages come in the form of seasonal K-pop tracks not yet reviewed on the blog. Like last year, I’m either keeping the gifts or planning to return them. Nothing this year is objectively bad, but I only … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (December 24, 2023)
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
The Top 10 K-Pop Producers of 2023
Each year, this countdown becomes more difficult to compile. Increasingly, K-pop songwriting has become a team activity. This makes it hard to suss out who exactly is responsible for what, and it also tends to flatten musical perspective and quirk. Even so, I’ve combed through the credits of my favorite 2023 music to find ten … Continue reading
The Top 20 J-Pop B-sides & Album Tracks of 2023
Now that I’ve counted down my top 50 J-pop songs of the year, I wanted to briefly spotlight my favorite tracks that weren’t selected as singles. Technically, I guess some of these could be called “singles,” but I’m sticking with Bias List rules and putting anything without a proper music video on this list. TOP … Continue reading
Song Review: Jimin (BTS) – Closer Than This
I wasn’t sure whether to write about Jimin’s Closer Than This or not. These fan songs and nostalgic behind-the-scenes videos skirt the line between “single” and “b-side,” but he seems too big of an artist to ignore. This style of track tends to follow a familiar template, making it hard to have a strong opinion … Continue reading
Song Review: NCT 127 – Be There For Me
It’s become a tradition for at least one SM Entertainment artist to release winter-themed material each year. Sometimes, the whole agency gets in on the fun, but this year it’s NCT 127’s turn to deliver the holiday cheer. Be There For Me is broad enough to work as a “normal” single, but its cozy video … Continue reading
The Top 50 J-Pop Songs of 2023: 10-1
Today is J-pop day on The Bias List and I’m counting down my fifty favorite songs of the year! You’ll want to start with the honorable mentions and work your way up to the best of the best. HONORABLE MENTIONS SONGS 50-31 SONGS 30-11 SONGS 10-1 2023 YEAR-END MASTERPOST 10. Snow Man – Tapestry Snow … Continue reading
The Top 50 J-Pop Songs of 2023: 30-11
Today is J-pop day on The Bias List and I’m counting down my fifty favorite songs of the year! You’ll want to start with the honorable mentions, but this post will cover songs 30 to 11. HONORABLE MENTIONS SONGS 50-31 SONGS 30-11 SONGS 10-1 2023 YEAR-END MASTERPOST 30. 7ORDER – Who I Am An early-2023 … Continue reading
The Top 50 J-Pop Songs of 2023: 50-31
Today is J-pop day on The Bias List! I’m dropping fifty of my favorite songs from 2023 in one day. You may want to check out the honorable mentions first, but if you’re looking to dive into the proper countdown at once, you’ve found the right spot! Here are songs 50 to 31, presented with … Continue reading
The Top 50 J-Pop Songs of 2023: Honorable Mentions
Tomorrow is J-pop Day on The Bias List, with my top 50 songs of the year unveiled throughout the day. Before that, I thought I’d compile some honorable mentions. It was a very strong year, so there’s a ton of music that didn’t quite make the cut for the main list. I settled on twenty … Continue reading