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
Tag Archives: moonbyul
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
Song Review: Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – ICY BBY
It’s a day of pre-releases, as Mamamoo’s Moonbyul joins the fray with a teaser of her new album. She had a very strong slate of 2024 releases, including several standouts in a variety of genres. With this as a comparison, ICY BBY is a definite step down and feels much more indebted to current K-pop … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from February 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
New & Noteworthy J-pop of the Week (February 9, 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: Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – Aurora
Mamamoo’s Moonbyul impressed with a series of strong singles last year, taking her solo music in directions I wouldn’t have expected. Now, she’s extending that victory lap to new markets with her first Japanese single Aurora (ほしあかり). The song sees her playing in relatively safe genre spaces, especially given Japan’s love for this style of … Continue reading
Unwrapping 2024’s K-pop Holiday Tracks: Keep Or Return?
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. Unfortunately, there was a lot of coal in the … Continue reading
The Top 10 K-Pop Artists of 2024
Now that I’ve taken a look at the new acts that dominated 2024, it’s time to focus on their established counterparts. Though my favorite group of the year was a rookie, most of my favorite music came from artists who debuted in years prior. As usual, the criteria is built around these three factors: Quality … Continue reading
2024 Year-End K-Pop Recap (& Honorable Mentions)
The next few weeks on The Bias List will be stuffed with all manner of end-of-year countdowns. From K-pop to J-pop to global pop to dramas, it’ll all be covered. This is a fun way to tie a bow on the year and celebrate all the things I loved in 2024. These countdowns kick off … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of August 2024
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. August 2024 Overall Thoughts Over the past few years, the month of August has trended toward … Continue reading
Song Review: Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – Is This Love?
Across her solo career, Mamamoo’s Moonbyul has proven to be one of the more versatile members of the group, tackling a hodgepodge of genres and concepts with her trademark energy. Last winter’s double shot of Think About and Touchin&Movin was more effective than I’d expected, and now she’s returned with a repackage of that album … Continue reading
K-Pop Risers & Fallers: March 2024
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
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of February 2024
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 2024 Overall Thoughts Due to its positioning in the dead of winter and the cancelling … Continue reading
Song Review: Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – Touchin&Movin
Moonbyul’s pre-release Think About was a very nice surprise, reinventing her as a funky pop diva with the frothy melodies to make it stick. With Touchin&Movin — the title track of her first full album — she’s further deepened this sound and crafted a real gem. I’ve never been a huge fan of Mamamoo’s solo … Continue reading
Song Review: Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – Think About
Mamamoo’s Moonbyul is gearing up to release her full album at the end of the month, and like so many others she’s kicking off with a pre-release track. Pre-releases usually go one of two ways: either the artist teases with their strongest material, relegating the actual title track to an afterthought, or they shine spotlight … Continue reading
Song Review: Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – Present
I’ve been picking and choosing which holiday releases to write about this month. When it comes to offering criticism, it’s difficult to find new variations of “I guess the sleigh bells are nice?”. I plan to touch on the tracks I’ve neglected during a holiday wrap-up post on Christmas day, but before that we have … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of April 2022
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 2022 Overall Thoughts In a paradoxical trend, the average song rating on this blog has … Continue reading
Song Review: Moonbyul – C.I.T.T (Cheese in the Trap)
Though retro trends still have a vise-grip hold on K-pop, the industry has started embracing punky, guitar-led sounds as well. This is in line with global trends, and may just be “the next big thing.” Whether Mamamoo’s Moonbyul is a soothsayer or not, her newest solo single C.I.T.T (Cheese in the Trap) rides the wave … Continue reading
Song Review: Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – Lunatic
Mamamoo’s Moonbyul has been teasing her newest album for weeks, and pre-released the fun throwback track G999 last month. That song hinted at new directions for her music, and Lunatic further fulfills that promise. But while G999 benefited from a laidback groove and focused arrangement, Lunatic feels all over the place. Judging by its title, … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of December 2021
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. December 2021 Overall Thoughts After spending the past few weeks counting down everything under the sun … Continue reading