Just like last year, I wanted to share my top twenty most-viewed posts for 2025. I find this list an interesting gauge of which acts are popular or buzzy at the moment (at least among netizens who read reviews). There aren’t many surprises, here. The list is dominated by a couple of the most popular … Continue reading
Tag Archives: hybe
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of December 2025
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. December 2025 Overall Thoughts Well… I hate to say it but there are no “top three … Continue reading
2025 MBC Gayo Daejejeon: Recap & My Top Performances
It’s the last year-end festival of 2025! MBC’s Gayo Daejejeon is synonymous with the new year, as it also acts as a new year’s eve celebration (except for last year when it was postponed). As I always say, this adds a welcome sense of ceremony to the proceedings and makes it a special I look … Continue reading
The Top 50 J-Pop Songs of 2025: 10-1
I don’t write as many full J-pop reviews as I used to, mostly because I haven’t been as enamored with the industry as I was before, but I continue to spotlight new releases each and every Sunday. This countdown is a culmination of that feature, rounding up my fifty favorite singles (or promoted b-sides) of … Continue reading
The Top 50 J-Pop Songs of 2025: 30-11
I don’t write as many full J-pop reviews as I used to, mostly because I haven’t been as enamored with the industry as I was before, but I continue to spotlight new releases each and every Sunday. This countdown is a culmination of that feature, rounding up my fifty favorite singles (or promoted b-sides) of … Continue reading
The Top 50 J-Pop Songs of 2025: 50-31
I don’t write as many full J-pop reviews as I used to, mostly because I haven’t been as enamored with the industry as I was before, but I continue to spotlight new releases each and every Sunday. This countdown is a culmination of that feature, rounding up my fifty favorite singles (or promoted b-sides) of … Continue reading
2025 Music Bank Global Festival: Recap & My Top Performances
Last year, Music Bank’s Global Festival was interwoven into KBS’s year-end festival. This year, they’ve chosen to broadcast it separately but I thought I’d cover it anyway because (like last year) parts of it were stronger than many of the proper year-end stages. This year’s theme was “The Golden Path” and the show was held … Continue reading
Year-End List Recap: The Best Overall K-Pop Comebacks of 2025
Before I move on to my J-pop and global pop countdowns over the next few days, I like to sum up the K-pop lists that have filled the past few weeks. The title of this post should technically be called “The Best Overall K-pop Comebacks & Debuts of 2025,” since not every album on this … Continue reading
The Top 10 K-Pop Choreography of 2025
It’s time once again for someone who knows next to nothing about dance to rank his favorite dances of the year. As usual, I tend to prefer quirky, iconic moves to technically difficult material. The thing is, the vast majority of idol choreo has become so polished that it’s hard to choose which routines are … Continue reading
The Top 10 K-Pop Music Videos of 2025
For a moment, I debated whether or not to go forward with this particular countdown this year. Yes, K-pop music videos are generally great, but to be honest I just don’t watch them as intently as I used to. I’m much more familiar with the music than the visuals, which threatens to turn this list … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (December 28, 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
2025 SBS Gayo Daejeon: Recap & My Top Performances
After KBS’s festival-that-didn’t-really-feel-like-a-festival last week, it’s time for the celebration to truly begin with SBS’s Gayo Daejeon. This is the show that airs every Christmas and usually features a ton of festive stages. It’s also held in a big venue with tons of artists in attendance, so it makes for a nice seasonal gift for … Continue reading
The Top K-Pop Albums of 2025: Mini Albums
This year, I’m breaking my “Top Albums” list into two: one focused on full-length albums and one focused on minis. For the mini album category, things get a bit repetitive because many of the year’s strongest acts released multiple projects and I don’t limit myself to spotlighting just one. As far as qualifications, I consider … Continue reading
The Top 10 K-Pop Artists of 2025
Though rookie groups defined this year in K-pop for me, that doesn’t mean there weren’t great things coming from the industry’s established artists as well. As usual, my criteria for these artists is built around these three factors: Quality of work Quantity of work Influence of work on the industry The first criteria far outweighs … Continue reading
2025 KBS Global Song Festival: Recap & My Top Performances
I’m back with a recap of K-Pop’s year-end festivals. As always, we’ve got events from KBS, SBS and MBC in that order. However, I wasn’t aware that KBS was saving their “Music Bank in Japan” special until December 30th so I’ll probably write about that one too. Honestly, I thought they’d just mash it together … Continue reading
The Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2025 (Day Five: 10-1)
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, … Continue reading
Song Review: Zico & Lilas (YOASOBI’s Ikura) – Duet
Zico has returned with a duet project, which isn’t unusual for him. Most of his recent success has been through pairings with female artists. Duet links him up him with YOASOBI’s Ikura (credited as Lilas) and straddles the line between K-pop, J-pop and global pop. In other words, it should be right within my wheelhouse! … Continue reading
The Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2025 (Day Four: 20-11)
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, … Continue reading
The Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2025 (Day Three: 30-21)
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, … Continue reading
The Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2025 (Day Two: 40-31)
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, … Continue reading