This particular countdown tends to be polarizing. How do you judge a “best artist,” after all? To be clear, this isn’t an objective list. It’s not based on facts and figures. Nor is it a straight-up bias list, though bias definitely plays a big part. My criteria for this category is simple, and encompasses three … Continue reading
The end of the year countdowns are finally here! As always, things 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
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. There are so many K-pop introduction tracks that I wish were … Continue reading
Over the course of their two-year history, Stay Kids’ releases have existed as a pair of trilogies. Last year, the I Am series opened with the dramatic District 9 and concluded with the more subdued I Am YOU. Though the genre elements have changed, the group’s 2019 Clé trilogy has followed almost the same trajectory, … 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. November 2019 Overall Thoughts While November was not the blockbuster month that October was, it offered … Continue reading
After taking a look at SM Entertainment and YG Entertainment earlier in the week, it’s time to move onto another of K-Pop’s leading agencies: JYP Entertainment. As usual, the thoughts are my own and aren’t privy to any insider information. I’m not taking into account things like profits and stock value. The purpose of these … Continue reading
Stray Kids’ Astronaut arrives nearly a week after it was originally scheduled, and several weeks after the departure of the group’s main vocal Woojin. I’m honestly surprised that they were able to release it as early as they did, given the inevitable re-recordings and edits needed to accommodate Stray Kids’ new eight-member configuration. Ironically, 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. October 2019 Overall Thoughts Well, friends, we have finally climbed out of the murk! October was … Continue reading
Over the past few months, Stray Kids’ experimentation with electronic influences has transformed their music into a vital, trend-setting part of the K-pop landscape. It’s easy to forget that, at their heart, the group thrives on a more straightforward hip-hop style, anchored by their trio of composers/producers 3RACHA. Personally, I prefer when Stray Kids pull … Continue reading
With another year of KCON behind me, I’m feeling recharged. This is something I needed after a lackluster K-pop summer. Though KCON seemed a bit cursed at the beginning (both ONEUS and Chungha had to cancel, following Everglow who pulled out weeks earlier), it turned out to be a great year. It’s my fifth KCON … Continue reading
Reviews are only a snapshot in time, which means that many of the songs I write about will rise or fall as the months go on. I tend to be pretty moderate in my reviews, so none of these following selections have moved drastically from my original thoughts, but the first half of 2019 definitely … Continue reading
So far, 2019 has been an odd year for K-pop. If I were to sum it up, these first six months have pinballed between “thrilling” and “frustrating.” Taken as a whole, I think 2019 easily usurps 2018 at this same point. But, many of my favorite songs were released in close proximity to one another … 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. June 2019 Overall Thoughts Well… June happened. The K-pop gods giveth and they taketh away, and … 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
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
MBC brings us the last end-of-year festival of 2018, and K-pop’s final music show before the new year. Even when it’s not the best of the three gayos, I’ve always enjoyed MBC’s format. It has a more intimate feel to it, with the audience close to the performances and fellow idols looking on in the … Continue reading
Just like last year, my K-pop Christmas present is the kick-off to the year-end music festivals. First up is SBS’s Gayo Daejun, which is typically notable for its star-studded, primarily big-name line-up that includes artists from YG Entertainment. Coming in, I wasn’t all that excited about the year’s Gayo because most of my favorite songs … Continue reading
2018 was a fantastic year when it came to album tracks. In fact, many of them were stronger (and more interesting) than their title track counterparts. This makes for a very competitive top 40 list. Check out yesterday’s first part of the countdown, and read on for the top twenty of the year! NUMBERS 40-21 … Continue reading
Unlike the past few years, no rookie really caught my attention in 2018. There were a few high-profile debuts, but most new acts came from very small agencies. Instead, this was a year where 2017’s rookies really got a chance to shine. In many ways, 2018 felt like the year of the project group — … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 