Hundreds (if not thousands) of songs are released each year in Korea, but only a fraction receive full title track promotion. This leaves behind many buried treasures in need of a spotlight. Here are forty of 2017’s best: + Make sure to check out the rest of the year-end countdowns here! 40. TWICE – 24/7 A … Continue reading
Artist of the year countdowns are controversial by nature, and if I was re-creating this list based solely on commercial success and impact on the k-pop industry, it would look very different. But there are enough of those countdowns floating around (and the consensus is usually pretty even across-the-board). This is a countdown for the … Continue reading
As I was looking back in preparation for this countdown, I realized that it’s actually been quite a strong year for mini and full albums, even if 2017 as a whole seemed to lack impact compared to past years. Quite a few solid albums failed to make the cut due to this heavy competition, but … Continue reading
The end of the year countdowns are here! We’re kicking things off with the big one… the 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 must have had … Continue reading
Since SM Station’s inception, some of its biggest beneficiaries have been the guys of EXO. The project has often paired the members with unlikely collaborators or simply let them go solo, but many of the resulting tracks have ended up to be quite boring. I understand the desire to break EXO out of the glossy … Continue reading
Two weeks after releasing the supple funk of I Need U, Lay has returned with the worst k-pop-adjacent track this year (and that’s saying something, since his most recent competition is Jackson’s Papillon). Sheep (羊) is what happens when a song is so desperate to become meme-worthy that it loses any other sense of purpose … 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 2017 Overall Thoughts September is oftentimes underwhelming, since it marks the point in the year where … Continue reading
Though Lay is still technically part of EXO, he didn’t participate in their new album or repackage. Understandably frustrating for fans, his absence is the byproduct of continual Chinese promotions. With that in mind, his upcoming second Chinese solo album will see him dipping feet into both markets. He’s still signed with and supported by … Continue reading
With the exception of last year’s Lotto, EXO‘s repackaged title tracks have always been stronger than the release that preceded them. This trend continues with Power, even if the song is ultimately too tame to rank among their absolute best material. Most fans will likely be discussing this comeback’s hyper-colorful, self-referential music video more than … Continue reading
Last year, I marked the halfway point of 2016 by looking at some tracks that had either grown better or worse with time. This year, I’m a little late — but better late than never! As with 2016, the vast majority of my reviews still reflect my thoughts about a song, but sometimes it’s impossible … 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. ANDREW CHOI … 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. July 2017 Overall Thoughts July is always the month I look most forward to when it comes … Continue reading
Most of the time, a kpop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-side tracks deserve recognition, too. In the singles-oriented world of kpop, I wanted to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. Thank god for EXO-CBX. Even when EXO itself veers toward … 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. DEVINE CHANNEL … Continue reading
Most of the time, a kpop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-side tracks deserve recognition, too. In the singles-oriented world of kpop, I wanted to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. If the executives at SM Entertainment had put me in … Continue reading
Unfairly or not, comeback tracks by top-of-the-pack artists like EXO will always be held to a higher standard. K-pop moves so fast, with each month stuffed full of releases big and small. Within that framework, there are a handful of acts that command attention across the entire k-pop spectrum. This sets expectations sky-high, but throughout … Continue reading
So far, the 2017 “season” of SM Station has been pretty underwhelming. Even when bigger name artists have gotten involved, it’s usually been in the form of a ballad or forgettable mid-tempo. What we need is a good pop song, and as soon as Xiumin and Mark were announced as the next Station artists, it … Continue reading
EXO’s CBX sub-unit was one of last year’s best surprises, giving us a collection of bright, classic pop when many of their peers were going dark and/or trendy. Seven months later, they’ve returned with a debut Japanese mini-album. EXO has enjoyed quite a bit of success in Japan despite never releasing an actual album in the country. … Continue reading
We’re officially in spring overload. And with that, I have to apologize for my continued lack of enthusiasm over many of the “springlike” songs released lately. More than almost any other country, Korea is obsessed with supplying an unending series of inoffensive seasonal tracks so light and unassuming that they just kind of fizzle into … 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. RYAN S. … Continue reading
