A day after ranking my favorite rookies of 2020, it’s time to look at K-pop’s more established artists. This year, the criteria is the same as it’s always been: Quality of work Quantity of work Influence of work on the industry As usual, the first criteria far outweighs the next two, and is entirely subjective. … Continue reading
The end of the year countdowns are finally here! As always, we’ll kick off with the big one: The Bias List’s top 50 songs of the year! Each day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the year’s best, until number one is revealed on Friday. To be eligible for this top 50 list, songs … Continue reading
The end of the year countdowns are finally here! As always, we’ll kick off with the big one: The Bias List’s top 50 songs of the year! Each day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the year’s best, until number one is revealed on Friday. To be eligible for this top 50 list, songs … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there’s a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade. September 2020 Overall Thoughts Back in late winter, my reviews were often besieged with comments stating … Continue reading
In an alternate reality, A.C.E’s Favorite Boys (도깨비) acted as the follow-up to their excellent 2019 single Under Cover, and I hailed it as an epic one-two punch. Instead, we had to suffer through Savage to get here. But, the journey was worth it. Favorite Boys is the dramatic, bombastic successor I’ve been hoping to … Continue reading
In celebration of The Bias List’s fifth year anniversary, I’ve embarked on my most ambitious project yet. After years of hemming and hawing, I’ve finally ranked what I consider to be the best 100 songs in K-pop. There will never be a definitive list of this nature, because it’s impossible to rank something that’s inherently … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there’s a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade. June 2020 Overall Thoughts This may not seem like much within the context of 2020’s continual … Continue reading
A.C.E had the unlikely honor of releasing one of my favorite songs of 2019 and one of my least favorite songs of 2019. Apart from that, they’ve been a remarkably consistent group – at least when it comes to quality. Their release schedule has been anything but consistent. However, it looks like we’ll be getting … Continue reading
The end of the year countdowns are finally here! As always, things kick off with the big one… The Bias List’s top 50 songs of the year! Each day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the year’s best, until number one is revealed on Friday. To be eligible for this top 50 list, … Continue reading
This May, A.C.E released one of 2019’s most thrilling title tracks: the rock-tinged, attitude-driven Under Cover. The guys seemed to have found their niche, taking the intensity of their debut-era material and fusing it to a complex, inventive instrumental. Their new release Savage (삐딱선) proves why I’m so adamant about idol groups finding the right … Continue reading
As I impatiently wait for some of my favorite acts to make long-overdue comebacks, it made me wonder how long the longest K-pop hiatuses have been. So, I did some research! The following statistics are rounded by month rather than specific days, unless there was a tie between two acts. I’ve kept my focus to … Continue reading
So far, 2019 has been an odd year for K-pop. If I were to sum it up, these first six months have pinballed between “thrilling” and “frustrating.” Taken as a whole, I think 2019 easily usurps 2018 at this same point. But, many of my favorite songs were released in close proximity to one another … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there’s a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade. May 2019 Overall Thoughts After an underwhelming April, the month of May began to right the … Continue reading
Most of the time, a k-pop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, 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. With NCT 127’s Superhuman hearkening back to second generation K-pop sounds, … Continue reading
A.C.E spent much of their 2018 on hiatus in Korea, touring the world with only a handful of songs to their name. I was lucky enough to see them twice last year, but as much as I love the guys, I have to admit there are only so many times you can hear the same … Continue reading
2018 was a fantastic year when it came to album tracks. In fact, many of them were stronger (and more interesting) than their title track counterparts. This makes for a very competitive top 40 list, as well as a host of honorable mentions. Honestly, I could’ve tripled the amount of honorable mentions and still had … Continue reading
If there’s anything I’ve learned from covering pop music for over a decade, it’s that songwriters and collaborators are just as important as the artists themselves. Though they often work behind the scenes, this feature is a chance to shine the light on some of k-pop’s most innovative and accomplished producers and composers. LEEZ Years … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by k-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there’s a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade. June 2018 Overall Thoughts After two and a half years, it finally happened. June’s cumulative rating … Continue reading
I had the pleasure of attending A.C.E’s first global fanmeet last month, and beyond marveling at their talent, my biggest takeaway was that this small group from an even smaller agency has been able to galvanize a dedicated international fan base with only three songs under their belt. New single Take Me Higher comes at … Continue reading
For me, the arrival of rookie groups can often be more exciting than the work of their established peers. I love nothing more than discovering a new artist and witnessing their potential unfold as they grow. 2017 was a year without any major agency debuts, making the rookie field much more competitive. Like last year, … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 