Though rookie groups defined this year in K-pop for me, that doesn’t mean there weren’t great things coming from the industry’s established artists as well. As usual, my criteria for these artists is built around these three factors: Quality of work Quantity of work Influence of work on the industry The first criteria far outweighs … Continue reading
Tag Archives: zerobaseone
The Top 50 K-Pop Songs of 2025 (Day Four: 20-11)
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
2025 Year-End K-Pop Recap (& Honorable Mentions)
Tomorrow, The Bias List‘s comprehensive end-of-year countdowns will officially kick off with the first ten songs on my Top 50 countdown. Over the course of the next few weeks, you’ll get round-ups from every angle of K-pop: rookies, artists, b-sides, etc. I’ll also continue my tradition of recapping the industry’s year-end music festivals. In other … Continue reading
Grading the K-Pop Agencies 2025: UNCORE / WakeOne / Woollim
After taking a look at K-pop’s biggest agencies, I’d like to turn my attention to the smaller (but still important) players in the K-pop game, three at a time. Disclaimer: As with my write-ups on K-Pop’s biggest agencies, this is written from an outsider’s perspective. I’m not privy to any business-related financial information beyond what … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of September 2025
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. September 2025 Overall Thoughts We’ve hit the rare (?) double-header in K-pop with two back-to-back underwhelming … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from August 31 – September 6
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
Buried Treasure: ZEROBASEONE – Star Eyes
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. ZEROBASEONE’s last two mini albums were … Continue reading
Song Review: ZEROBASEONE – Iconik
With the end of ZEROBASEONE’s contract looming in the (very near) distance, fans are concerned this might be their last comeback — at least in their current iteration. It’s impossible to know for sure what the future holds, but the guys are no doubt throwing everything they have into their first full album and the … Continue reading
K-Pop Risers & Fallers: August 2025
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
KCON LA 2025: Recap & Review
I’ve been attending KCON LA since 2015, so with pandemic-closures in 2020 and 2021 that makes this year my eighth time at the event. Over the years, I’ve watched it change and grow in both good and bad ways, and those changes were certainly on display this year. It was going to be difficult (impossible?) … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of July 2025
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 2025 Overall Thoughts In the context of this year, the past two months have been … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from July 20 – 26
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: ZEROBASEONE – Slam Dunk
ZEROBASEONE’s post-2025 future remains undecided, but they’re finally set to give us a full album on September 1st. Weeks before that, they’re back with pre-release Slam Dunk — an uncharacteristically hip-hop dance track. In K-pop, there’s often this urge to throw many different concepts and styles at a group rather than let them settle into … Continue reading
Top K-Pop Albums of 2025 (So Far)
Similar to last year, 2025 so far has been a singles game rather than a series of excellent albums. I have even fewer on my list than I did this time last year, and only one of them is a full album — though that classification is getting murkier as time goes on. There are … Continue reading
Top K-Pop Songs of 2025 (So Far)
This is a strange era for K-pop… at least when it comes to my own experience. On one hand, there are a handful of acts I feel more invested in than ever, which is the feeling everyone wants as a fan. In some ways, I’m more interested in K-pop than I have been in awhile, … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from June 22 – 28
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
Buried Treasure: ZEROBASEONE – D-DAY
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. ZEROBASEONE have been racking up OSTs … Continue reading
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
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from May 25 – 31
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
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from February 23 – March 1
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