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.
October 2018 Overall Thoughts
October was like one of those Halloween horror movies with a twist at the end. Despite a few strong girl group releases and a great album by NCT 127, the first few weeks felt pretty uneventful. Coupled with the late-September Chuseok lull, this period had me feeling pretty uninspired. I feared that October could go down as one of the weakest months of 2018, despite being flush with releases (39 title tracks reviews, plus buried treasures and J-pop!).
But then, fantastic comebacks started to appear from the most unlikely of sources. My top three songs are all from October’s final weeks, and two come from acts I would have never expected to appear in my honorable mentions — let alone my top three.
My top song of the month ranks among my very favorite material of the year, and probably won’t be a surprise to anyone who regularly follows the Bias List. I was won over the very first time I heard it, and I love it even more now.
2018 has been an odd year for K-pop. It started incredibly strong with a knockout January, but hit an uninspired patch during the late summer — right when the industry usually revs up. I’m hoping the year can finish just as strongly as it started. Many high-profile comebacks have already been announced for November, so the potential is definitely there.
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.7
(compiled by averaging the scores of every k-pop review from this month)
J-Pop Worth Your Time
Kis-My-Ft2 – Kimi, Boku. (review)
Honorable Mentions
AlphaBat – New World (review)
April – Oh! My Mistake (review)
ATEEZ – Treasure (review)
BoA – Woman (review)
fromis_9 – Love Bomb (review)
iKON – Goodbye Road (review)
JBJ95 – Home (review)
Lee Hongki – Cookies (ft. Jung Ilhoon) (review)
NCT 127 – Regular (review)
S.O.U.L – Get Myself With You (review)
Seven O’Clock – Searchlight (review)
Super Junior – One More Time (Otra Vez) (ft. Reik) (review)
TOP THREE SONGS
3. Soya – Artist (review)
2. N.Tic – Do You Know Who I Am? (review)
1. Golden Child – Genie (review)
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of September 2018
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of August 2018
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of July 2018
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of June 2018
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of May 2018
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Thebiaslist? Liking Golden Child? I’ve never been more shocked.
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Ha! I’m becoming a bit too predictable on some fronts. Between Golden Child and Seventeen, I think you can tell the style of K-pop I prefer…
But seriously, Golcha has appeared in almost half of my top three features this year. Four for four. I think the Bias List has officially found a new generation bias group. Not that that’s a surprise, since they’re basically the heir to Infinite’s legacy.
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Honestly, I thought October was pretty good. Love Bomb shocked me when it first came out, and even thought it’s lost some of its sparkle as it was replayed, I’d still put it in my top songs of the month. Plus, with incredibly strong releases from BoA and Golden Child, and the hopeful death of generic tropical house, October seemed to be a strong transition month from Kpop’s trend-driven summer to the more original winter months, my personal favorite time of year for Kpop music. November should be pretty exciting with releases coming from Exo, Twice, and Jennie. I’m hoping for many more great releases from the year of the girl group!
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