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.
November 2019 Overall Thoughts
While November was not the blockbuster month that October was, it offered a perfectly fine slate of K-pop releases. In fact, November’s cumulative rating was actually higher than October’s, despite not having as many standouts. I chalk this up to a lot of solid material and few absolute clunkers.
For the second month in a row, the K-pop industry was hit with tragedy, as we sadly lost Kara’s Goo Hara. Though I didn’t tackle this subject on the site, this growing pattern of mental health-related deaths is incredibly worrying and very frustrating. Something must be done, though I’m not quite sure what that something is.
As far as November’s music goes, this month wasn’t quite as stuffed as last year, but a few Bias List favorites made their comebacks. We FINALLY heard new music from Golden Child (an excellent album, at that!). Astro and EXO made long-awaited returns as well, and the ever-welcome Cosmic Girls came back with their third mini album of the year.
My top three picks changed a lot over the course of the month. Immediately after its release, I wasn’t sure that my number one song would top the month — or even find a spot in the top three. But, as November went on, its hooky, off-kilter charms sunk their teeth into me. Despite the name of this site, I really try not to let bias dictate my top picks. With that said, I desperately hoped that this group would find their way out of honorable mentions. And though the song’s general vibe might not quite be to my taste, I really can’t stop playing it.
Choices two and three are very close in rank, and could probably be switched depending on the day and mood. My number three pick is a real surprise, as this group hasn’t ever featured in my monthly lists despite being one of K-pop’s most prominent acts. Are they finally working their way back into my good graces? 2019’s been weird. Anything’s possible!
Now comes December, which is usually pretty slow when it comes to new releases. But, things are revving up here, as I start preparing my cornucopia of year-end lists. It’s a busy time…
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.8
(compiled by averaging the scores of every K-pop review from this month)
J-Pop (and C-Pop) Worth Your Time
Kis-My-Ft2 – Edge Of Days / Mr. Fresh
WayV (NCT) – Love Talk (review)
Honorable Mentions
(G)I-DLE – Lion (review)
AOA – Come See Me (review)
Aweek – Breathe (review)
Dawn – Money (review)
Dongkiz – Fever (review)
EXO – Obsession (review)
IU – Above The Time / Blueming (review / review)
JYP (Park Jinyoung) – Fever (ft. Superbee & Bibi) (review)
Kang Daniel – Touchin’ (review)
Mamamoo – Hip (review)
Nature – Oopsie (My Bad) (review)
OnlyOneOf – Sage (review)
Stray Kids – Astronaut (review)
SuperM – Let’s Go Everywhere (review)
TXT – Angel Or Devil / Magic Island (review / review)
TOP THREE SONGS
3. GOT7 – You Calling My Name (review)
2. Cosmic Girls (WJSN) – As You Wish (review)
1. Golden Child – Wannabe (review)
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of October 2019
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of September 2019
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of August 2019
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of July 2019
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of June 2019
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Surprise surprise Golden Child takes the top spot. Its ok to be biased, if it’s your most replayed song of the month, of course it’s going to make it your top song. I, in fact, will also be biased on my Top 3 songs of this month.
I’m a big EXO fan, plus I’ve listened to Obsession a lot for a song that was released a a few days ago, so it’s not weird that I’m going include them on the list but I’ll also be realistic.
My top 3 are:
3. EXO “Obsession”
2. Mamamoo “Hip”
1. Got7 “You Calling My Name”
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Eh. I wasn’t really sold on much of anything that came out last month. New WJSN and Golden Child are ok, but imho nothing to write home about. My top 3:
3. Victon – Nostalgic Night (honestly I had to reach for this one)
2. Mamamoo – Hip (their best title since Decalcomanie but that’s not saying much of anything)
1. GOT7 – You Calling My Name (tbh I don’t even listen to this much, I find myself opting to play Lullaby/If You Do/a/Just Right or some weird B-side like Page instead but there’s nothing I’d choose over it either)
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Wannabe honestly is just one of the best examples of its kind (aka the dark, instrumental-drop type of boy group EDM) that’s come out in a while….like, if they had to do it, at least they did it really well. The production is great and it has actual hooks.
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Pretty much my thoughts exactly, explained more succinctly than I did!
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Gotta say wannabe climbed up my mental rank as well, it’s a surprisingly solid song. Anyway, my rank is:
1. Wjsn – As you wish (arguably more generic than they usually are, but it’s definitely the anthemic sound i want from them)
2. Got7 – You calling my name (smooth as fuck, their best title tracks.)
3. JYP (feat. Superbee & bibi) – Fever (I love swing jazz, the rap verse is a nice change-up too. I loved superbee rap.)
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I have in some order
Dongkiz “Fever”
Got7 “You calling my name”
Mamamoo “Hip”
Honorable mention
IU “Above the Time”
Super Junior “Come a Little Closer”
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