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
Tag Archives: illit
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from November 23 – 29
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
Song Review: ILLIT – Not Cute Anymore
Sometimes it takes a few songs for a group’s sound to totally click with me. I enjoyed ILLIT’s 2024 megahit Magnetic as much as anyone, but it wasn’t until this year’s fanciful Do The Dance that I totally understood what the group could be. Lately, their music has veered closer to third-gen groups like Lovelyz … Continue reading
Grading the K-Pop Agencies 2025: HYBE CORPORATION
It’s that time of year again! While December is filled with year-end countdowns, I like to take a look back at some of K-pop’s biggest agencies during November. Before reading (especially if you’re new to the blog), it’s helpful to know that my grading focuses most heavily on music releases and how comebacks are managed … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from November 2 – 8
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from August 31 – September 6
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (September 7, 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
Song Review: ILLIT – Toki Yo Tomare
ILLIT made a sneaky Japanese debut with a soundtrack song, though their 2024 mega-hit Magnetic was also omnipresent in Japan. Like fellow HYBE artists TWS and BOYNEXTDOOR, their sound feels tailor-made for J-pop so it’s nice to hear them leaning into that on new single Toki Yo Tomare. After being somewhat hesitant about ILLIT last … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from August 10 – 16
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (August 17, 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
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from July 6 – 12
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
Song Review: ILLIT – Jellyous
When deciding which song off ILLIT’s newest album to feature as a “buried treasure,” I waffled between Oops and Jellyous. I’m glad I chose the former because now I get to write about the newly-promoted Jellyous as well. This is also another chance to wax poetic about how much Do The Dance has grown on … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of June 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. June 2025 Overall Thoughts We’re now at the midpoint of 2025, which means I’ll be publishing … Continue reading
K-Pop Risers & Fallers: June 2025
Rather than contain my “Risers and Fallers” feature to a single post in June, I’m going to share a bite-sized version at the end of each month. This will let me account for more songs and make a nice lead-in to the monthly round-up post. I anticipate most of these ratings adjustments will be negligible: … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from June 15 – 21
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
Buried Treasure: ILLIT – Oops!
A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. 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. When listening to ILLIT’s new mini … Continue reading
Song Review: ILLIT – Do The Dance
If NewJeans first popularized the subdued style of girl group pop/R&B that currently has a stranglehold on K-pop, ILLIT took that baton and added a chirpy, ‘beep beep boop’ type of chorus that has now become just as ubiquitous. Taken together, these trends have delivered a lethal blow to my own personal taste. To put … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from June 1 – 7
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
Song Review: ILLIT – Little Monster
It’s been a very slow week in K-pop, so a surprise pre-release from ILLIT saves me from digging in the archives and writing about something old today. Their comeback is slated for later this month with title track Do The Dance, but prior to that they’ve debuted the “brand film” for album opener Little Monster. … Continue reading
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (February 16, 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