Top Three K-Pop Songs of October 2016

At the end of each month, I’ll look back at my three favorite title tracks by k-pop artists. Unlike my end-of-year countdowns, jpop and Japanese releases by kpop artists are ineligible, though I will give the great ones a spotlight. For my top three tracks, I’ll take my own ratings into account, but there is a bit of wiggle room as songs tend to grow or fade.

October 2016 Overall Thoughts

Though this month’s cumulative score was steady with September’s, that’s due more to October being a month of highs and lows rather than a steady stream of ho-hum. For a month outside of k-pop’s summer peak, October had some remarkably strong releases. Competition for my top three was incredibly fierce, with a handful of tracks jostling around the third place spot. I imagine some might be shocked with my number three choice, as well as some of the tracks that only made it into honorable mention status. I’m still not 100% sure how things will eventually shake out once some time has passed, but I’d rather have an embarrassment of riches than three good tracks rising above a bunch of mediocrity.

Month Cumulative Rating: 7.5

(compiled by averaging the scores of every kpop review from this month)

J-Pop Worth Your Time

Boyfriend – Jackpot (review)

Bullet Train – Seventh Heaven (review)

Honorable Mentions

A.De – Good Time (review)

EXO-CBX – Hey Mama! (review)

Henry & Soyou – Runnin’ (review)

Matilda – You Bad! Don’t Make Me Cry (review)

Monsta X – Fighter (review)

Pentagon – Gorilla (review)