Pentagon made their bid for a summer hit with last month’s Humph, but my feelings about the song could basically be summed up by its title. I hate to see the group succumb to retreads of 2018 hit Shine at the expense of new sounds. Their one-two punch of Cosmo and Sha La La hinted … Continue reading
Most of the time, a k-pop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, 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. Ever since 2017’s Move, Taemin’s solo material has largely followed the … 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 2019 Overall Thoughts How do I adequately describe just how much of a crippling disappointment … Continue reading
Since venturing out into solo territory, SHINee’s Taemin has split his discography equally between Korea and Japan, maintaining a consistent level of quality regardless of the language he performs in. This is good news for fans, as it means we get new Taemin music regularly. His effortless charisma draws attention no matter what sound he … Continue reading
TVXQ have been busy in both Korea and Japan since both members were discharged from the military in mid-2017. But so far, nothing they’ve released has quite matched their pre-enlistment material in my opinion. Yunho’s recent solo album brought back some of those old-school TVXQ vibes to great success, and will hopefully act as a … Continue reading
Fans of Monsta X are very lucky. Hardly a month goes by without some kind of release from the group or its members. They tour constantly, including a hefty amount of international stops. From the point of view of someone who’s been waiting nine months for a damn Golden Child comeback, this regularity of content … Continue reading
As popular as BTS are around the world, I’m surprised that their Japanese-language material hasn’t felt more essential. For me, the best thing to come out of their J-pop discography isn’t Japanese at all. Instead, it’s the galvanizing ‘Stadium Remix’ of Korean single IDOL (ie: my now-definitive version of the track). Barring a couple of … Continue reading
