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 2025 Overall Thoughts
While this year in K-pop has not wowed me yet (not even close), I feel like each month is getting progressively stronger. I can get behind that pattern, and with many of my favorite acts on the slate for the next few months I hope it continues.
The same trends that marked January and February persisted through March. I continue to find K-pop’s boy group material much stronger and more varied than the girl groups at the moment, though I must say that STAYC’s Bebe has grown on me immensely and is my dark horse number four pick this month. Their songs always grow on me and I really want the bombastic sound of Bebe‘s dance instrumental to be emulated on stronger songs later this year.
My top three songs are a bit of a grab bag. Two of the artists have appeared multiple times in my top threes before while another has never come close. All three songs are quite different, yet each references sounds that I would consider strengths of K-pop in general. I truly love my number one pick and need it to become a template for more work going forward.
On a more depressing note, this month marks the second time in a row where my ultimate group Infinite had to settle for an honorable mention. Honestly, I barely listened to their album after its initial release. I’ve kind of made my peace that they’re unlikely to reach the musical heights of their past work again. I’ll be happily surprised if they ever do, but I’m certainly not going to expect it.
For the first time ever, I’m not going to bother with a “top three J-pop” of this month. Nothing stood out to me at all. There were some songs I liked, but nothing that warranted more than a couple plays here and there. It seems silly to choose any of these as a “top three” when I barely even listened to them. Of all the music markets I actively follow, J-pop feels the most dull at the moment. It’s funny because just two years ago I was thrilled with Japan’s output. I guess everything’s cyclical and there’s still time for 2025 to make up for lost time. On the other hand, my all-time favorite J-pop group Kis-My-Ft2 finally released all their music (300+ songs!) onto streaming. I did a detailed overview of their catalog here and here, so check it out if you’re in the mood for some bombastic, anthemic dance and rock music. They have my highest recommendation.
With the onset of April, we’re entering my favorite time for new music. April through August tends to be quite fruitful and I really hope 2025 delivers. I’m very much looking forward to TWS’s comeback later this month, and on the Japanese side I can’t wait to see what &TEAM comes up with. With that said, I’m sure there will also be highlights that come from unexpected places.
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.6
(compiled by averaging the scores of every K-pop review from this month)
J-Pop Highlights
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week One
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Two
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Three
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Four
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Five
TOP J-POP SONGS OF THE MONTH
Taking a break this month. There really weren’t any notable highlights.
K-POP
Honorable Mentions
Dragon Pony – Not Out (review)
Infinite – Dangerous (review)
izna – Sign (review)
Just B – Chest (review)
LE SSERAFIM – Hot / Come Over (review / review)
NMIXX – Know About Me (review)
Say My Name – ShaLala (review)
Seulgi – Baby, Not Baby (review)
SF9 – Love Race (review)
STAYC – Bebe (review)
Tempest – Unfreeze (review)
Ten – Stunner (review)
TNX – For Real? (review)
Xdinary Heroes – Beautiful Life (review)
Yeji – Air (review)
This Month’s Risers and Fallers
This Month’s Global Pop Round-Up
TOP THREE SONGS
3. NTX – Over N Over (review)
2. The Wind – Only One (review)
1. The Boyz – VVV (review)
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of February 2025
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of January 2025
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of December 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of November 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of October 2024