After taking a look at SM Entertainment‘s 2020 progress, it’s now time for YG Entertainment to take the spotlight. 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 articles is to determine how well K-pop … Continue reading
Tag Archives: winner
Song Review: Mino (Winner) – Run Away
Mino made his official solo debut back in 2018, though he’s been releasing solo music since Winner’s debut in 2014. I still consider his I’m Him an underrated gem. But overall, he and I are on two different planets, musically. I appreciated the ambition and creativity of 2018’s Fiancé, but didn’t have much urge to … Continue reading
Looking Back: The Top Three K-Pop Songs of August 2013
Since the start of The Bias List in January 2016, I’ve always looked back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists each month. Now, it’s time to look even further into the past, one month at a time. And, yes, the top three rankings count toward The Bias List’s personal artist scorecard! August … Continue reading
Looking Back: The Top Three K-Pop Songs of July 2013
Since the start of The Bias List in January 2016, I’ve always looked back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists each month. Now, it’s time to look even further into the past, one month at a time. And, yes, the top three rankings count toward The Bias List’s personal artist scorecard! July … Continue reading
The 100 Best K-Pop Songs of All-Time: Honorable Mentions
In celebration of The Bias List’s fifth year anniversary, I’ve embarked on my most ambitious project yet. After years of hemming and hawing, I’ve finally ranked what I consider to be the best 100 songs in K-pop. There will never be a definitive list of this nature, because it’s impossible to rank something that’s inherently … Continue reading
Buried Treasure: Winner – Serenade (Hoony solo)
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. Winner’s latest album is unusual in the fact that its greatest … Continue reading
Song Review: Winner – Remember
After almost six years of music, Winner’s third full album Remember arrives just as the group is set to go on hiatus. It’s also on the heels of member Jinu’s military enlistment, essentially ending this era of Winner. And, what a turbulent, musically diverse era it’s been. The group first debuted with a solid, sophisticated … Continue reading
Song Review: Winner – Hold
I fondly remember watching YG’s Who Is Next variety show back in 2013. At the time, I was a supporter of Team B, who would eventually go on to become iKON. But, when Winner debuted in the summer of 2014 I was completely won over. Their first album had a more subdued energy than their … Continue reading
The Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2013 (Day Four: 20-11)
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
The Top 40 K-Pop Album Tracks & B-Sides of 2019 (Part One: 40-21)
This is always a difficult list to form. After all, there are way more b-sides than singles to choose from each year, and with K-pop’s love of promoting genre trends, the most interesting music is often hidden within albums that not every listener bothers to check out. Today and tomorrow, I’ll be counting down my … Continue reading
Grading the K-Pop Agencies 2019: YG ENTERTAINMENT
After taking a look at SM Entertainment over the long weekend, it’s time to move onto an agency with very different activity in 2019. Prepare yourselves, friends. It’s YG 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. … Continue reading
Song Review: Winner – SOSO
If you were to peruse any of my unfavorable reviews of the past few years, you’d likely find mentions of song structure, energy and momentum. For me, these are some the most important building blocks of a good pop song, and this era’s trends so often misuse them. How many times has a non-chorus let … Continue reading
Song Review: Jinu (Winner) – Call Me Anytime (ft. Mino)
I first gained interest in Winner via a solo release. In fact, it happened before Winner was even a thing. Back in the summer of 2013, Kang Seung Yoon dropped the brilliant pop rock of Wild & Young. As I watched the group debut a year later, I hoped that he would continue releasing solo … Continue reading
Looking Back: The Top Three K-Pop Songs of August 2014
Since the start of The Bias List in January 2016, I’ve always looked back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists each month. Now, it’s time to look even further into the past, one month at a time. And, yes, the top three rankings count toward The Bias List’s personal artist scorecard! Which … Continue reading
Random Shuffle Review: Winner – Empty
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
2019 in K-POP so far: Risers & Fallers
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
K-Pop’s Top Songs of Summer (2012-2018)
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
Top Three K-Pop Songs of May 2019
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. May 2019 Overall Thoughts After an underwhelming April, the month of May began to right the … Continue reading
Buried Treasure: Winner – Mola
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 was thinking about it the other day, and realized that … Continue reading
Song Review: Winner – Ah Yeah
When Winner first debuted in 2014, they seemed poised to become YG Entertainment’s answer to K-pop’s more “grown up” side – not exclusively ballad-centered, but not striving to compete with teenage hip-hop either. A lot has changed since then, and ever since 2017’s mega-hit Really Really it seems like the group has been stuck in … Continue reading