RIIZE are part of a vanguard of fresh fifth-gen acts that are making this year’s K-pop quite exciting. Pre-release Impossible remains a certified mega-banger, while Love 119 just may be 2024’s biggest grower. So far, they’ve managed to keep the quality remarkably high despite traversing various genres. New title track Boom Boom Bass marks the … 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
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
Well, what a nice surprise! Not only have RIIZE released three new b-sides from their first mini album, but they’ve recorded behind-the-scenes music videos for two of them. In both sound and execution, One Kiss and 9 Days are definitely not title tracks, but I still think they each deserve a mini-review. Compared to One … Continue reading
Well, what a nice surprise! Not only have RIIZE released three new b-sides from their first mini album, but they’ve recorded behind-the-scenes music videos for two of them. In both sound and execution, One Kiss and 9 Days are definitely not title tracks, but I still think they each deserve a mini-review. First up is … 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
I have this odd trend of under-rated RIIZE’s title tracks when they’re released, only to end up loving them in a few week’s time. This was especially true with January’s Love 119 — a 2024 highlight whose chanted chorus put me off big-time when it first came out. New single Impossible will not have 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. January 2024 Overall Thoughts Well, what a nice surprise this month has been! After many years … 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
Rather than debut with a mini or full album, RIIZE have blitzed the market with digital singles. While it’s nice to promote music more often, I firmly believe that — during the first year of a rookie’s debut — every song needs to be a stone-cold classic. Like… one mega-hit after another to quickly cement … 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
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
Before I take a look at K-pop’s established artists, it’s time to spotlight this year’s fresh crop of talent! While 2022 was stuffed with girl group debuts, 2023 was dominated by boy groups. The ratio itself is pretty staggering, and much of this is likely due to the various spin-offs from MNET’s Boys Planet series. … 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
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
While I don’t really watch any Korean award shows anymore, this year’s Melon Music Awards had a more exciting line-up than MAMA so I had to at least check out the performances. As expected, there were a few real standouts. Apart from this list, I also liked the new stage mix for ZEROBASEONE but didn’t … Continue reading
MAMA used to be such a big deal in K-pop, but I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t even know when it was happening this year! The hype definitely seemed underwhelming. So rather than slog through the entire show and its meaningless awards, I hopped on YouTube and watched the performances. Here are the three that … 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
Before the end-of-year countdowns next month, I like to take a look at many of K-pop’s biggest agencies and see how their year went. Obviously, 2023 is not over yet so any upcoming changes to an agency’s grade will be reflected next year. We’ve got a lot to pick apart over the coming weeks, so … 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 2023 Overall Thoughts Though it boasted a more exciting line-up of big-name comebacks, October felt … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 