Jessi’s presence transforms any typical variety show into appointment TV. Her mix of fiery charisma and genuine, approachable sweetness feels so refreshing within an industry often known for its strict adherence to idol-like behavior. Watching Jessi terrorize the ultra-earnest TXT on her YouTube series is one of my personal K-pop highlights of 2021. Get her … Continue reading
This week, we’re journeying back half a decade to look at K-pop’s best releases of 2015! 2015 was a prime year for K-pop. It saw the return of industry royalty, as Bigbang blitzed the market with no less than seven singles. It acted as the launchpad for many of today’s top acts (Twice, Seventeen, GFriend, … Continue reading
What a difference a year makes! This time in 2020, I struggled to cobble together a mid-year list worth celebrating. I ended up finding five songs, though one wasn’t technically a single. This year, I’ve got a whopping fourteen tracks! That’s quite a turnaround, and a testament to 2021’s strength. Because of this, I’ve scrapped … Continue reading
Since the start of The Bias List in January 2016, I’ve always looked back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists each month. Now, it’s time to look even further into the past, one month at a time. And, yes, the top three rankings count toward The Bias List’s personal artist scorecard! February … 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. March 2021 Overall Thoughts I’ve heard whispers around social media lamenting that 2021 has been a … Continue reading
Since its release last summer, Jessi’s Nunu Nana has grown on me immensely. And, I suspect I’m not alone. After all, the song became a huge 2020 hit, and recemented her as the queen of K-pop attitude. It remains to be seen if new single What Type Of X (어떤X) will enjoy the same successful … Continue reading
Of the three year-end song festivals, I’ve always considered MBC’s to be the most intimate-feeling, as well as the one with the most diverse line-up. Plus, it’s got the added celebratory nature of New Year’s Eve. In 2020, none of these strengths could really be capitalized upon. It’s hard to create that intimate feeling without … Continue reading
A couple weeks after the MAMA Awards showed the potential of an audience-less, pre-recorded stage show, KBS went far less ambitious. Now, it could be argued whether this broadcast should have happened at all given K-pop’s surging Covid cases, but the producers opted to cobble together what they could. I’m curious why this year’s Gayo … Continue reading
The theme of this year’s MAMA Awards was “New-topia,” which sounds a bit chilling in a weird way. But, things were definitely new here. This was unlike any MAMA yet, lacking a live audience. But even though everything was accomplished on soundstages, I think the producers did a great job making this still feel like … 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. October 2020 Overall Thoughts After a fantastic September, October was another strong month. And, it was … Continue reading
Forget retro or trap or EDM or whatever trend you want to highlight. Yoo Jaesuk has become the year’s most reliable purveyor of mega-hits – at least on the Korean charts. His series Hangout with Yoo has transformed itself into a delivery method for K-pop unit groups. First we had SSAK3 with their summer smash … Continue reading
I’m going to try hard not to compare Dawn to G-Dragon throughout this entire review, but there are too many similarities to ignore. G-Dragon was one of my entry points into K-pop, and still one of my absolute favorite artists, so this comparison is definitely not a dig. And, it’s clear that Dawn seeks to … Continue reading
With few exceptions, a title like “Nunu Nana” tells me exactly what to expect from the song. It’s unlikely to be the kind of melodically robust pop track I tend to gravitate toward. Its chorus will almost certainly be a repetitive jumble of nonsense words tied to a rhythmic beat drop. And in this regard, … Continue reading
So far, PSY’s P-Nation label has emerged with a whimper instead of a bang. After his own album was postponed from its original July release, the agency made an inauspicious debut with Crush’s Nappa. That song was fine, but par for the course when it comes to Crush releases. Despite doing well on digital charts, … Continue reading
Since the start of The Bias List in January 2016, I’ve always looked back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists each month. Now, it’s time to look even further into the past, one month at a time. And, yes, the top three rankings count toward The Bias List’s personal artist scorecard! Which … Continue reading
Over the course of her career, Jessi has had a chameleon-like persona as an artist. She’ll release a stark, emotional ballad only to follow it up with a hard hitting hip-hop track. Her larger than life personality has often overshadowed her versatility, but she’s also suffered from material that hasn’t always felt very original. For … Continue reading
Ever since her high-profile resurgence with 2015’s Unpretty Rapstar, Jessi has struggled to convert her immense charisma and variety show talent into a broadly successful music career. Though many pigeonhole her as a rapper, Jessi’s heart seems to lie in her more vocal-driven material. Over the past year, she’s released a few solid (if not … Continue reading
The k-pop career of American-born Jessi has been full of twists and turns. Beginning as a solo dance-pop artist over a decade ago, she then became the vocalist of hip-hop trio Lucky J before gaining massive notoriety as a rapper on the variety show Unpretty Rapstar. But throughout all her transformations, it feels like the … Continue reading
As popular as Jessi has become for her rapping and, well, general persona, it’s sometimes easy to forget that her real forte is as a vocalist. She’s reminded us of this through solo releases here and there, but those songs have generally been pretty forgettable when compared to her work as part of hip-hop group Lucky J … Continue reading
I remember when I first heard of Lucky J in the summer of 2014. It was when they were promoting Can You Hear Me, and among all of the other music around that month, I couldn’t help but think it sounded tremendously American — especially that charismatic female vocalist. Then, Unpretty Rapstar became a … Continue reading
