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
K-pop is getting its summer started early, with a few seasonal releases during a period usually reserved for April showers. First we had RIIZE’s excellent Impossible, and now we’ve got a summery pre-release from ZEROBASEONE. Sweat arrives about three weeks before the group’s newest album and delivers the kind of energetic dance pop perfect for … Continue reading
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
Thus far, ZEROBASEONE have found a style that matches them and songs just diverse enough to be both consistent and adventurous. Their Korean title tracks have proven to be big growers on my own playlist, and now it’s time to transpose that onto the Japanese market. Yura Yura is their first original J-pop single. As … 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
One of the unique features of The Bias List is its “buried treasure” write-ups. I try my hardest to comb through every major K-pop album released each year and when a song catches my ear I highlight it on the blog. This countdown is an encapsulation of those write-ups, ranking my top 40 b-sides and … Continue reading
By now, Bias List readers know that I wasn’t thrilled with this year in K-pop, and part of that rests on the strength (or lack thereof) of albums. I could barely find any full K-pop albums I loved this year, meaning the structure of this countdown has changed a bit. I still think it’s unfair … 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
As per tradition, the next few weeks on The Bias List will be stuffed with all sorts of year-end countdowns, mostly concerning the year in K-pop but also encompassing J-pop, global pop and even Japanese dramas! Basically, it’s a chance for me to take stock of my year in fandom and celebrate the things I … 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
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 2023 Overall Thoughts For the purpose of this blog, November marks the end of 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
ZEROBASEONE’s Crush has grown on me a lot over the past few weeks, so much so that I hardly notice the momentum-shifting chant at its centerpiece. But for those who would prefer something a little smoother, the group has released a music video for the album’s opening track, Melting Point. This is much more in … Continue reading
A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. 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 guess there’s an unspoken rule … Continue reading
Though it took awhile to really hit me, ZEROBASEONE’s In Bloom proved to be one of the year’s most refreshing boy group tracks. Better yet, its accompanying album laid out a consistent style and vibe for the group, merging upbeat pop with hazy, subdued production. Remnants of that sound remain on new single Crush, but … Continue reading
This year’s KCON will live in infamy for a number of reasons: outrunning the remnants of a rare hurricane on my way home, testing positive for covid a day after, etc etc. However, this craziness doesn’t mean I don’t have highlights and commentary to share! For the first time, KCON LA’s concerts extended to three … 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. July 2023 Overall Thoughts This July was characterized by several things, but on this blog it … 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
A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. 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 a packed week for … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 