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.
June 2024 Overall Thoughts
It’s been awhile since I’ve said this, but K-pop is in a really fun place right now. There are a handful of fifth-gen groups consistently creating great music. And unlike past years, these acts are actually at the center of industry conversation, releasing popular songs. I don’t have to pray for content or worry about premature disbandment/hiatus. It reminds me of 2019, when a host of rookie acts offered fresh voices. That wave of quality didn’t end up persisting into the 2020’s, but I have higher hopes this time around.
June joins January as 2024’s strongest month, with a handful of 9+ rated songs powering my playlist. The year continues to underwhelm on the albums front, but this has been the strongest year for singles since early 2021. Because of this, my top three was ultra-competitive, with some excellent 9+ rated songs just missing the cut. Things may still switch around in the following months, but for now this is my snapshot of the moment.
At the start of this month, I had a long list of comebacks I was looking forward to. None totally crashed and burned, but some were definitely more successful than others. In general, rookie groups fared the best, with TWS and RIIZE leading the pack. In contrast, longtime favorites Infinite and Sunmi underwhelmed. Pretty much all of my “wildcards” (GHOST9, Everglow, AKMU, CSR, H1-KEY) also came and went without much fanfare. Though summer has technically just started, we haven’t seen a ton of explicitly summer-themed comebacks yet. I hope that changes as the season goes on. You all know how much I love my summer hits!
Unfortunately, J-pop continues to struggle in 2024. I can’t fathom how I can be so excited about a music market one year and so bored by it the next. I’ll chalk it up to most of my favorite acts not releasing new music at the moment, coupled with a downslide in quality from industry leaders like Starto Entertainment. I’m hoping Japan pulls me back during the second half of the year because right now the music just isn’t hitting. With that said, my top three of June is definitely stronger than May’s offerings and there will be a couple songs in tomorrow’s J-pop round-up that are close runners up.
In the coming days, I’ll feature my mid-year countdowns for singles and albums (which is why I’m posting this one a little early). June’s slate of releases will have a big presence on those lists, and I hope there’s still a ton of great music to come in the second half of the year. The scheduled releases for July aren’t thrilling me as much as June’s lineup, but I’m eager for some pleasant surprises.
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.9
(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. XY – YG (full review)
2. Kid Phenomenon – Show U Light
1. NCT Wish – Songbird (full review)
K-POP
Honorable Mentions
aespa – Live My Life (review)
B.D.U – My One (review)
Blitzers – Superpower (review)
Chuu – Strawberry Rush (review)
Cignature – Poongdung (review)
EVNNE – Badder Love (review)
FTIsland – Burn It (review)
GreatGuys – I Love You (review)
Kep1er – Shooting Star (review)
Kwon Eunbi – Sabotage (review)
NewJeans – Supernatural (review)
Nicole – 5!6!7!8! (review)
Red Velvet – Cosmic (review)
Rocky – Jealousy (review)
Sunmi – Balloon In Love (review)
TRENDZ – Glow (review)
TWS – If I’m S, Can You Be My N? (review)
WayV – Give Me That (review) (technically C-pop but the K-pop version was promoted this month)
Xdinary Heroes – Boy Comics (review)
This Month’s Risers and Fallers
This Month’s Global Pop Round-Up
TOP THREE SONGS
3. Nayeon – ABCD (review)
2. RIIZE – Boom Boom Bass (review)
1. TWS – hey! hey! (review)
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of May 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of April 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of March 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of February 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of January 2024
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
truly an amazing month! my top 5:
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At the beginning of this year, my new years resolution was to listen to as much k-pop as possible, but sadly it didn’t last. I want to thank you for these k-pop songs of the month because it gives me a good snapshot without being overwhelmed by all the releases (granted I don’t know how you do it or how you keep up!)
I’ve also been going back and listening to all of your picks on the year-end lists (just finished 2017 – tropical trend yay!) It’s nice to find songs I’ve never heard of, seeing groups backwards progression from what they are now to then, as well as listening to the popular trends/sounds of those years.
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Kep1er almost made it🙁
Luv them, but honestly this month was so solid that I have such a hard choosing what to listen to because it’s all so good😭
Sometimes I want to learn my abcs, sometimes I want to ride through the rhythm and other times I want to boom Ba da boom boom bass it up🤪💀😂
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My favorite songs of the month (in no order):
Also, I just saw your 9+ ratings post of the day and I agree! It’s probably my favorite Journey song of all time. I’m very curious to know what are your thoughts on the Bryce Miller/Alloy Tracks Remix used for Stranger Things?
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I remember hearing that mix in context of the show and it’s just massive. I really like it.
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My top three were:
Badder Love – EVNNE
Shooting Star – Kep1er
hey! hey! – TWS
I also really liked She A Wolf by WayV (more so than Give Me That)…the chorus has the perfect amount of early 2000s boyband cheesiness.
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Hey, Hey! by TWS really was a standout for me this month as well.
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I’ve been obsessed with the production of BBB so I’m glad it’s high up (I thought it would be lower since you initially rated it a 9). I’m curious, I know you’ve mentioned you rarely give a 10 on first review, has there ever been a song ranked less than 9 that moved up to a 10?
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Just spitballing off the top of my head, but I think TXT’s 0X1=Lovesong was originally rated 8.75 and has since been pushed up to 10.
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Oh definitely! There are usually a couple each year. For some reason this song immediately comes to mind, maybe because it’s summer right now:
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1st one that comes to mind is ‘OX1=Lovesong’ by TXT! I remember this because I felt the same as a jrock enthusiast and TXT fan 🙂
If I remember correctly, the original score was 8.75 out of 10 – it then became a 10 when Nick updated his ‘Legendary Songs’ feature (he calls the ‘(Year of Release) Inauguration Ceremony’
Generally speaking, the ‘Legendary Songs’ section is your best bet because the concept of that feature is all about looking back at songs that (maybe) weren’t all that on release but soon became a mega hit in Nick’s bedroom years later
Hope this was helpful :))
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The way I nearly did a spit take when I read “became a mega hit in Nick’s bedroom” 😅
(I know you didn’t mean it that way haha)
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The dumb group names are back for the two people who missed them.
Songs I liked:
Boom Boom Bass – SM Latchkey children
Songbird – NCT Muppet Babies re-boot
You and Me – Cocona
Cosmic – Magical Witch Coven
1 to 3 – Suho
Stupid Cupid – NCT We Are Grown Up Now
XO – Evnne
Most Badderest Love – Evnne
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Oh, and Gimme That from WayV.
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Being released at the last day of May, ARTMS’ Dall album primarily shaped my June. Standouts for me were Butterfly Effect, Virtual Angel and the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
I also particularly enjoyed Poongdung and the b-sides from that album for their summer sound.
Balloon In Love started strong for me, but didn’t manage to keep its momentum. Nonetheless a very solid release.
The CSR single was a bit underwhelming at first, but it grew on me and turned out to be the biggest riser.
ABCD deserves all the praise it gets, I still don’t like the chorus that much, but that post-chorus (fantasy/gravity) might be the strongest all year. I definitely understand why it’s #3 on your list.
Lastly, honorable mentions for Inner Dance (heavily looped this one), Shooting Star and Live my Life.
The recent Chuu EP is generally good but it’s too early for me to form a proper opinion.
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I can’t choose just 3, so my top 9 are
Red Velvet – Cosmic
WayV – Give Me That
Trendz – Glow
Evenne- Badder Love
Kep1er – Shooting Star
TWS – Hey Hey
Riize – BBBass
Blitzer- SuperPower
Seungwoo- Blooming
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Here to say that I’ve never been so instantly drawn to a group this early into their career the way I’ve been obsessed with TWS – perfect discography so far in my opinion! Literally everything I’ve been needing in the k-pop music scene for a while, I’m almost in awe how much I love their output.
Really standout month overall though! Top 5 would have to be:
TWS – hey! hey! / If I’m S, Can You Be My N?
Kep1er – Shooting Star
Nayeon – ABCD
RIIZE – Boom Boom Bass
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Hey, you’ve got the exact same top five as me!
(and yeah, TWS have kind of taken over my life too 😅)
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I respect that, and I welcome sweeter sounds, but I’m having a hard time with a group that makes The Wind seem as grown and gritty as someone like Monsta X.
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Having watched both teams’ variety, I assure you The Wind are even *less* grown and gritty than they appear in their music — which is already a looow bar 😂
Both groups are aiming for a very specific sound/image. Those who enjoy it will probably all-caps LOVE it while others won’t find it their cup of tea. I really appreciate the “signature sound” certain new-gen groups are aiming for. It beats everyone repurposing the same genre tropes from a few top tier groups in hopes of capturing the widest possible audience. In fact, I even respect it in groups whose overall music I’m not as thrilled with (*cough* NewJeans *cough*).
It would be interesting to see what different brackets these “bright” concepts appeal to most. My guess is that their biggest fans are either really young (because it’s relatable) or on the older side (because it reminds us of our fading youth 😅😭)
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Oh, I know the Wind are just sweet little marshmallows. Comparing the two is like comparing clouds to cappuccino foam.
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Heyyy, nice! 🤝🤝 I do find our taste aligns pretty well most of the time haha
TWS literally has me on the verge of watching their content (and I don’t watch any idol content, even for groups I love!) – but then again, recently I pulled up their Weekly Idol episode and saw that it was almost an hour long and I remembered why I don’t watch idol content 😂 I just can’t find the time ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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Oh you really need to watch their content. They’re very charming and have that bright-eyed, youthful rookie energy that’s so endearing to watch. The problem is they have sooo much content that I don’t even know where to recommend starting. The newest Weekly Idol ep was pretty funny, though.
I started with the their two-part MMTG appearance back in January, and that’s probably a good jumping on point since it’s kind of an introduction (and Jaejae’s always a funny host).
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Make sure you choose the “English – jamake” subs, though. The normal english subs are weird, inaccurate and don’t make sense.
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Oh I’m fully aware how endearing they are – I see a lot of clips of them on my social media and I already love each of them 😂 its exactly from seeing all these short clips of them that has me wanting to watch the full videos but I struggle to find the time to sit down and watch these longer videos. I’ll keep the recommendation in mind though, thank you!
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There were so many amazing releases this month! I think my favorites were Rockstar by Lisa, ABCD by Nayeon, and Sticky by Kiss Of Life.
Also, I’m calling this now: Dreamcatcher is gearing up for a comeback, and I think it’s also going to end up in the best of the month list next month. They’re just so consistently good. They’re also my favorites, so I’m very biased! My second favorite group, G-IDLE, is also planning a comeback so things are about to be really fun (for me at least)! Looking forward to July 8th and 10th!
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