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 2025 Overall Thoughts
The other day, I commented on Twitter/X that K-pop was struggling to find great songs lately, which spawned replies from many people who obviously don’t read the blog saying that I should just “listen to more artists” (usually followed by a list of their favorite acts). The irony, of course, is that I listen to just about every artist. This got me thinking: would my feelings around the current K-pop landscape be different if I only followed the acts that I reliably love?
Years ago, K-pop was in a place where I could follow just about every artist and be quite satisfied with the vast majority of output. Since then, the industry has grown and there’s just a lot more (for lack of a better word) crap out there right now. Sifting through all this dreck for the occasional highlight obviously colors my overall opinion.
The thing is… there were some great highlights in May. I have about five groups I consider my core anchors to K-pop right now (regular readers could probably guess who they are!) and several of these made comebacks this month. RIIZE’s album was a definite highlight, even if its best songs weren’t promoted as title tracks. I liked BOYNEXTDOOR’s album too, and its title track has grown on me. There was even an unexpected highlight from a new artist at the end of the month.
Beyond this, May didn’t offer many surprises. Several big-name comebacks failed to live up to their potential (Seventeen, Jin) and though it’s always nice to hear from SHINee again their special anniversary single didn’t do much for me either. Many smaller acts released forgettable (or downright bad) material, dragging down May’s cumulative rating.
I agonized over my top three choices this month, not because there was a ton to choose from but because I felt like I was splitting hairs between the songs. Then, an unexpected highlight emerged out of leftfield during the last few days of the month, knocking a few contenders to close runner-up spots. Basically, I’ve got a handful of tracks that are various shades of “8.75” (yes there’s been some revision in rating), with one having the best chance of eventually moving up to a “9.”
Whenever I’m unsure how to rank music, I fall back to what I consider to be the most important element in a song: melody. My top spot goes to a song that boasts some of my favorite melodies of the year so far. I’m prepared to be charged with several counts of flagrant bias for this ranking, which is one of the reasons why I labored over it so intensely. But, it is what it is. I can’t deny which song I’m most excited to hear when it comes on shuffle. To make this month even more confusing, I ended up pairing two songs together for a tie in the second place slot because having them exist as polar opposites somehow makes each one more effective on its own. I really consider them two sides of the same coin. I’m ready for the complaints, loyal readers! Bring ’em on.
J-pop continues to frustrate me this year. I think I added about one or two songs to my library in May, making it almost impossible to pick a top three. I’m committed to keeping up with my weekly J-pop round-up series, but I won’t lie… it’s become a bit of a chore lately. Beyond a standout here and there, the music just isn’t hitting me at all.
Summer is often K-pop’s time to shine, though that wasn’t the case last year. However, June of 2024 was an extraordinarily strong month so I’m eager to see if that repeats this year. No teaser or announcement has me feeling overly confident at the moment, but that can always change. (Please change, I beg of you!)
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.7
(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
3. Hinatazaka46 – Love Yourself!
2. BE:FIRST – Grit
1. Kento Nakajima – Hekireki
K-POP
Honorable Mentions
BOYNEXTDOOR – I Feel Good (review)
Chuu – Back In Town (review)
DAY6 – Maybe Tomorrow (review)
i-dle – Girlfriend / Good Thing (review / review)
Koi Kat – Wake Up Call (video)
Lim Sejun – Summer (review)
Red Velvet – Irene & Seulgi – Tilt (review)
SHINee – Poet | Artist (review)
TXT – Love Language (review)
This Month’s Risers and Fallers
This Month’s Global Pop Round-Up
TOP THREE SONGS
3. Fairy Mai – Light Please (review)
2. RIIZE – Bag Bad Back / Fly Up (review / review)
1. TWS – Lucky To Be Loved (review)
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of April 2025
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of March 2025
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of February 2025
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of January 2025
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of December 2024