Of all the scheduled kpop releases this March, GOT7’s Fly was by far the one I was most looking forward to. The group had an incredible 2015, releasing two of the year’s best singles and finally cementing a versatile, melodic hip-hop sound for themselves. I expected Fly to be the capper on that success, sending … Continue reading
Though Sistar are undoubtedly one of Korea’s leading girl groups, they’ve barely released enough singles to fill a top ten list. Still, quality over quantity, right? Throughout their career, they’ve explored three distinct genres. Debuting with an attitude-infused electro pop sound, they segued into sultry/sexy before eventually winding up as the queens of summertime pop. My … Continue reading
Like label-mates CNBlue, FTIsland has done a nice job balancing their Korean and Japanese success. Given their status as an idol rock group, their sound has an easily-slotted place within the vast world of j-rock, though the direction of their Japanese material hasn’t always been to my taste. However, I was incredibly impressed with frontman Hongki’s solo … Continue reading
KAT-TUN are a seminal band for me. Along with label mates News, they were the group that got me interested in j-pop, and I think that’s down to their international-minded pop/rock sound and incredible catalog of songs. They’ve been around for a decade, which means there were many, many singles to choose from. I had … Continue reading
For better or worse, when it comes to Hyomin’s solo material, she’s become known as much for her body as her music. This began with 2014’s controversial Nice Body, and now continues with the sensual Sketch and its downright raunchy music video. Now, there’s nothing wrong with a salacious image, as long as it’s connected to … Continue reading
Red Velvet’s Dumb Dumb was one of the best kpop tracks of last year and, along with Ice Cream Cake, helped to build tremendous good will towards the girls. Because of this, I’m utterly bewildered by SM’s decision to release the tepid, downtempo One Of These Nights as their new single. Part of me wants … Continue reading
My interest in jpop group Kis-My-Ft2’s releases has been pretty hit and miss over the years. I’ve loved some (mostly Perfect World), but found others to be too generic and overly processed. Still, they’re a group that I feel that I should like, given that they’re one of the more kpop-sounding boy bands in Japan, so I approach each … Continue reading
As a fan of unbridled pop melodies, I don’t usually listen to all that much straight-up hip hop. For a song of this genre to really stick with me, it needs to have two qualities. First, the track has to possess a strong, memorable hook. But even more important than that, the song needs an addictive beat. … Continue reading
As popular as Jessi has become for her rapping and, well, general persona, it’s sometimes easy to forget that her real forte is as a vocalist. She’s reminded us of this through solo releases here and there, but those songs have generally been pretty forgettable when compared to her work as part of hip-hop group Lucky J … Continue reading
Most of the time, a kpop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-sides deserve recognition, too. In the singles-oriented world of kpop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. For those of us who love the polished Sweetune pop sound, … Continue reading
With such a cheesy and unnecessarily gendered group name, Boyfriend’s image isn’t likely to entice many outside the pre-teen girl bracket, and that’s a shame because they have one of the strongest discographies among the poppier realm of k-pop boy bands. Working with Sweetune more often than not, I sometimes think of them as the younger, … Continue reading
From time to time, it’s just not enough to write about individual singles. In the case of jpop group News’ Quartetto, I wanted to take a deep dive into several tracks. And, given the fact that I’ve already reviewed most of the album’s singles, it just made sense to take a look at the entire … Continue reading
2016 is going to be known as the year of cross-company duets. It feels like SM artists have been collaborating with everybody, and now even smaller agencies are at it. Cherish is a duet between Yuju of girl group GFriend and Sunyoul of boy group Up10tion. Both are known as main vocalists in their respective teams, … Continue reading
After debuting with a synth-driven, cutesy track, Cosmic Girls released a second music video for follow-up Catch Me. This one is clearly designed to be a showcase for dance skills and attitude, as the song is far more hip-hop influenced. It’s an interesting counterpoint to MoMoMo, proving the girls’ versatility but bringing up questions as to … Continue reading
The Bigbangification of Beast continues with Guess Who, their new Japanese single. They began to veer toward this more hip-hop influenced sound with last year’s Yey, but that song grew on me the more I heard it. I’m not sure Guess Who will share the same fate. There’s just not as much to hold onto … Continue reading
No matter what concept they’ve come back with, I’ve always found JJCC’s songs to be pretty middling. Maybe it’s their connection with Jackie Chan (hardly a music taste maker), but I’ve never been able to take them very seriously as a kpop group. That said, the Duble Sidekick-composed ToDay is a big step in the right direction. … Continue reading
Fiestar are on the cusp of renewed interest, thanks to notable variety show stints from members Yezi and Cao Lu. It comes as a bit of a surprise, then, that Mirror continues the sultry, midtempo sound of last year’s not-so-successful You’re Pitiful rather than opting for a reinvention (or return to the fun sound of One … Continue reading
Lee Hi has always seemed to be stuck in a time loop. I mean this in the best way, as her style (both vocally and production-wise) looks back at the soul and jazz of the past rather than towards the trends of the day. And though this approach will never appeal to me as much … Continue reading
Of all of YG Entertainment’s active artists, Lee Hi has been denied a comeback the longest. Though she’s collaborated with others more recently, it’s been since 2013 that we’ve heard solo material. A wait like this does nothing but build expectations sky high. With Seoulite, she’s returned with two title tracks. Do either of them … Continue reading
When I first got into kpop, I was convinced that Miss $ were some sort of sub-unit of miss A. This was based on nothing more than ignorance and name confusion, though for as little recognition as the group has now, Miss $ actually debuted two years earlier than the much-more-popular miss A. Even today, … Continue reading
