I generally consider myself a pretty positive, optimistic person and really want this blog to be a space that focuses on the good, but 2026 has been a uniquely challenging year when it comes to K-pop releases. I can’t remember a year where I wrote as many negative reviews, so I’m going to try something a little different and do a mid-year round-up of my least favorite K-pop songs. I know some readers will probably hate this and others will love it, but it’s a bit of a one-off either way. Consider this a purge before we (hopefully) move on to brighter skies during 2026’s second half!
What are your thoughts, readers? Leave your own picks in the comments!
10. NAZE – People Talk
The worst kind of toothless whitebread pop melody. (full review)
9. Everglow – Code
Further proof that their agency has no idea what to do with them. (full review)
8. Katseye – Pinky Up
I absolutely despise the chorus. (full review)
7. AHOF – Sugar High
It’s not that this is the worst song I’ve ever heard. The verses are actually okay. It’s that it comes from a group who has made spectacular music up to this point and Sugar High represents agencies’ worst instincts to saddle their acts with “hard” hip-hop singles even when it doesn’t match their concept. But yeah, that chorus is horrendous. (full review)
6. CORTIS – Acai
The fact that they can come up with something as good as REDRED makes a song like Acai even more unforgivable. There’s just no excuse for this crap. (full review)
5. Queenz Eye – Y2K
Can this finally put the nail in the coffin of the Y2K trend? It’s a lame novelty track filled with lamer references. And somehow, it sounds nothing like actual Y2K music. (full review)
4. BTS – 2.0
Yeah, even legends of the game aren’t immune to a place on this countdown. The sheer monotony of 2.0 makes my eyes glaze over. It’s like a flat line that goes nowhere. (full review)
3. Young Posse – Visa
Noise pollution. I admire its confrontational energy but this is literally painful to listen to. (full review)
2. VVS – BOTTLE$
You might as well just place VVS’s entire discography on this list. I’m still convinced they’re some sort of deliberate parody act. How else do you explain a song like this? (full review)
1. LE SSERAFIM x ILLIT x Katseye – Iconic By Mistake
This represents everything I hate about K-pop right now: bratty “clapbacks” at haters, chanted, non-melodic catchphrase songs, pointless braggadocio and a horrible misuse of the performers at the core of the track. You can’t tell me an industry behemoth like HYBE couldn’t find better material for three of K-pop’s top girl groups? (full review)