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 2019 Overall Thoughts Well… June happened. The K-pop gods giveth and they taketh away, and … Continue reading
It’s that time of year again. The sun comes out, the temperature climbs, and K-pop goes tropical! Well, it wasn’t always this way. A few years ago, summer didn’t instantly mean tropical pop music, and I hope we’re working our way out of this persistent trend. But tropical or not, many of my top K-pop … Continue reading
JYP artists must have the most demanding schedules of any K-pop agency. Between Korea and Japan, it feels like they’re just constantly releasing material (GOT7 and Twice, especially). This endless supply of music makes it hard to keep the quality up, and it’s usually the J-pop songs that fall by the wayside. Most of GOT7’s … Continue reading
Stray Kids are a difficult group to decipher, and I’m starting to think they like it that way. March’s Miroh was a watershed moment for them, and remains one of 2019’s finest singles. By bolstering their hard-hitting hip-hop sound with equally impactful EDM influence, the song seemed to spark a newfound ambition in the group’s … Continue reading
Paired with the more uncharacteristic Breakthrough, Happy Happy is one half of a double-sided blitz from Twice’s upcoming Japanese promotions. The two songs come together to represent contrasting moods for both hot summer days and steamy summer nights. As you might have guessed from its title, Happy Happy is dedicated to fun-in-the-sun excitement, and falls … Continue reading
With a title like Breakthrough, you better have the goods to deliver. Thus far, Twice’s Japanese material has ranged from fair to frenetically frustrating. Last year’s BDZ hinted at some musical progress, but their immense popularity doesn’t exactly spawn motivation to change. More than a breakthrough, the group needs to take a sledgehammer to their … Continue reading
With over 2,600 songs on my iPhone’s “K-Pop Singles” playlist, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of unpredictability to my song review posts. So as a result, we have the “Random Shuffle Review” feature. The rules are simple. I fire up my playlist, press “shuffle,” and whatever song plays first gets … 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. It’s been almost three years since I featured a GOT7 album … Continue reading
JYP Entertainment has been on such a roll lately. Their all-killer, no-filler 2019 singles run has been strong enough that they even had me excited for new GOT7 music. If you’ve been reading The Bias List long enough, you’ll know that GOT7 have often become the punching bags for my trend-related complaints over the past … 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 2019 Overall Thoughts After a March that included some of my favorite songs of the … 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. I’ve gotta say, I’m fully embracing this subtle Twice transformation. As … Continue reading
The month of April has been unusually slow for K-pop releases, punctuated only by new music from some of the industry’s leading acts. BLACKPINK and BTS have already delivered their comebacks (to varying degrees of musical success), and now it’s time for Twice. I’ve always enjoyed Twice’s music, but it rarely finds its way to … Continue reading
With over 2,600 songs on my iPhone’s “K-Pop Singles” playlist, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of unpredictability to my song review posts. So as a result, we have the “Random Shuffle Review” feature. The rules are simple. I fire up my playlist, press “shuffle,” and whatever song plays first gets … 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 2019 Overall Thoughts After a slow start to 2019, March finally seemed to kick things … Continue reading
At the end of last year, I picked Stray Kids as my top rookie of 2018. However, that was largely based on the incredible strength of their March debut. By the end of the year, I’d fallen a little out of love with their music. Part of me was afraid they’d begin to get lost … Continue reading
With over 2,600 songs on my iPhone’s “K-Pop Singles” playlist, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of unpredictability to my song review posts. So as a result, we have the “Random Shuffle Review” feature. The rules are simple. I fire up my playlist, press “shuffle,” and whatever song plays first gets … Continue reading
If there’s anything I’ve learned from covering pop music for over a decade, it’s that songwriters and collaborators are just as important as the artists themselves. Though they often work behind the scenes, this feature is a chance to shine the light on some of k-pop’s most innovative and accomplished producers and composers. DAVID AMBER … Continue reading
After the success of JJ Project, it’s time for GOT7 to spawn a second sub-unit. JUS2 is formed by members Yugyeom and JB, and comes after a year in which the group took more creative control of their sound. Focus On Me is again co-composed by the guys themselves, and builds on aspects of their … 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. February 2019 Overall Thoughts We’re deep in the winter doldrums, and that’s exactly what February’s K-pop … Continue reading
In a year already flush with debuts, JYP Entertainment’s ITZY are easily the highest profile yet. Not only do they hail from one of the big three agencies, but several of its five members have already made their name on variety shows like MIXNINE and The Fan. With agency peers Twice leading the girl group … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 