If there’s one overriding trend in K-pop marketing this year, it’s double title tracks and pre-releases. It seems like every major idol group has several promoted tracks from their newest album. IVE released HEYA several weeks ago to great success, but we all knew Accendio was lurking just around the corner to satisfy fans who … Continue reading
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. IVE will be releasing a music … 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. April 2024 Overall Thoughts K-pop years aren’t always frontloaded, but January was so strong that its … Continue reading
IVE have quickly established themselves as one of this generation’s representative girl groups, unleashing hits that stay on the charts for months (I Am is still in the top 50 more than a year after its release). With their previous EP, they began branching in new musical directions. This had the potential to be exciting, … Continue reading
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
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
English-language songs and Western artist collaborations are commonplace in today’s K-pop market, but this feels like one of the industry’s more random products. IVE have teamed up with American rapper Saweetie for a cover of Swedish duo Icona Pop’s 2013 hit All Night. Here’s the thing… I would love if K-pop’s girl groups started making … Continue reading
Now that I’ve finished all my K-pop related countdowns of the year (yay!), I liked to take a macro view and determine which specific comeback or debut was my overall strongest of the year. There are always some personal surprises here, but the numbers don’t lie. As before, I took five categories and gave them … Continue reading
To be honest, this year I tended to watch most K-pop music videos one or two times before moving onto the song and leaving the visuals behind. The water mark for music videos has become very high, with the industry churning out cinematic, big-budget works every other day. While many videos could comfortably slot into … Continue reading
2023 was a weird year for K-pop choreography. There didn’t seem to be too many iconic point moves, even as TikTok challenges continue to necessitate catchy, easy-to-replicate routines. As usual, this is not a ranking of the most technically impressive performances of the year. Instead, here are ten routines that caught my eye in 2023. … Continue reading
Following a tradition first established in 2020, I’m celebrating the holidays today with the opening of gifts. These packages come in the form of seasonal K-pop tracks not yet reviewed on the blog. Like last year, I’m either keeping the gifts or planning to return them. Nothing this year is objectively bad, but I only … Continue reading
One of the unique features of The Bias List is its “buried treasure” write-ups. I try my hardest to comb through every major K-pop album released each year and when a song catches my ear I highlight it on the blog. This countdown is an encapsulation of those write-ups, ranking my top 40 b-sides and … Continue reading
Now that I’ve taken a look at the new acts that colored 2023, it’s time to focus on their established counterparts. For me, most K-pop years are defined more by their rookies than older artists, and 2023 was no different. As usual, the criteria is built around these three facets: Quality of work Quantity of … 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, … Continue reading
Tomorrow, I’ll post a year-end recap and my ten honorable mentions before launching into my Top 50 K-pop Songs of 2023 countdown on Monday. But in the spirit of my monthly “Risers and Fallers” feature, I thought it would also be fun to take a look back at the top tens of last year’s countdowns … Continue reading
Before I take a brief look at many of K-pop’s smaller agencies, there are a few that I have more to say about. Consider these “bonus” write-ups — shorter than the “big four” but longer than a paragraph or two could cover. As usual, the thoughts below are my own and aren’t privy to any … Continue reading
It’s not often that K-pop releases collaborations between its major agencies, but Nobody sees representative artists from SM Entertainment, Cube Entertainment and Starship Entertainment come together to deliver a theme for Busan’s bid to host the World Expo 2030. I didn’t know these things warranted a theme song, but I’m glad to have Nobody regardless … Continue reading
IVE’s singles run has been pretty bulletproof so far, but the lead-up to their first EP has underwhelmed at every step. Starship Entertainment opted to promote three new tracks with music videos, which would be awesome if each one was on the level of an After Like or I Am. Instead, pre-releases Either Way and … Continue reading
IVE’s I Am remains a triumphant 2023 highlight, raising expectations for how the group’s music will evolve. Their new EP will be out in a matter days, and we’ve now heard two of its tracks. Pre-release Either Way wasn’t designed to be a knock-your-socks-off showpiece, but even within its genre I found the song pretty … Continue reading
Last time IVE pre-released a song, I initially dismissed it as too noisy and repetitive. Kitsch has gone on to become one of my biggest growers of the year, proving the power of this ascendant group. This time around, Either Way is the first of two pre-release tracks leading up to IVE’s first EP next … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 