Since the start of The Bias List in January 2016, I’ve always looked back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists each month. Now, it’s time to look even further into the past, one month at a time. And, yes, the top three rankings count toward The Bias List’s personal artist scorecard!
Which month do you want to see next?
November 2015 Overall Thoughts
November is always a busy month for K-pop, as agencies rush out their final comebacks of the year before December’s dry stretch. 2015 was no different, with a packed slate of releases from veterans and rookies alike. It was an exciting month for long-overdue comebacks, as Brown Eyed Girls made a return after two years and B.A.P rose from the dead after clashing with their agency.
But as exciting as the veterans were, November was a spotlight for K-pop’s up-and-comers. The month resulted in a couple of notable debuts. VAV and Snuper both released their first title tracks, with the latter going on to have a fantastic Sweetune-produced singles run through 2017. Rookies UP10TION, April and Romeo built on their debuts with convincing follow-ups, and BTS continued their 2015 dominance with their final release of the year.
My top three this month is very strong, which meant that some deserving honorable mentions fell just short of the cut-off. I want to give special props to HIGH4’s D.O.A, Hongki’s Insensible and Road Boyz’ Show Me Bang Bang. All three were played incessantly during this period, but haven’t quite stood the test of time in the way that my top three choices have.
Honorable Mentions
April – Muah! (video)
B.A.P – Young, Wild & Free (video)
Brown Eyed Girls – Warm Hole (video)
EXO – Lightsaber (review)
HIGH4 – D.O.A (Dead Or Alive) (review)
Hongki – Insensible (review)
iKON – Apology / Anthem (video / video)
Madtown – OMGT (video)
Nine Muses – Sleepless Night (video)
Road Boyz – Show Me Bang Bang (review)
San E + Mad Clown – Sour Grapes (video)
Seo In Young – Scream (video)
Snuper – Shall We Dance (video)
UP10TION – Catch Me (video)
VIXX – Chained Up (video)
Zico – Boys & Girls (ft. Babylon) (video)
TOP THREE SONGS
3. Brown Eyed Girls – Brave New World
2. Romeo – Target
1. BTS – Run (review)
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Supposedly we’re getting a Brown Eyed Girls comeback soon, which I’m very excited for unless I hear tropical in which case I’m out.
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Ah! A good month!
This month was Kyuhyun’s release of the follow-up tp Gwanghamun,, another ballad called “The Time we Felt the Distance”. I love that title.
Unlike most K-ballads, it has a more western structure, meaning short verses and also a simple verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-outro. The bridge builds to a very lovely high note, ready made for singing competitions. That note is a D, and Kyuhyun sings it in a nice head voice which he doesn’t always do. It is more common that he sings up to a C or C# with his warbly belting chest voice – good and ready-made for musicals, but here he uses his head voice.
“The Day we Felt …” also happens to be my single most played song on iTunes, because I have practiced it many times. It is the only Korean song that I know all the words to and think that maybe perhaps I am pronouncing it all correctly, just possibly so.
After that, Zico / Babylon Boys n Girls. A great song to play in summer, somehow released in late autumn.
Also released that month is One Direction “Drag Me down” which has a surprising number of plays on my ipod from the denizens of the back seat of my car and most certainly not me.
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I wish there’s an eazy way to see all the songs that got released that month but from your list, my rankings would be:
1. Brown Eyed Girls – Brand New World
2. B.A.P – Young, Wild & Free
3. Ikon – Apology
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Yes! Run! The wistfulness of that song always gets to me. It’s a song that really feels like it’s, well, running, with that chugging beat anchoring it; yet the gorgeous harmonies and synth work on top builds an atmosphere – while still keeping it darn catchy. Not to mention that the “Ru-u-un” hook features a beautiful B minor ninth chord that still makes my heart melt.
I can’t help but feel that BTS was much better at utilizing each member’s unique voice back then? I mean, I like Boy in Luv and all (though not as much as you, Nick) but I can’t help but feel like you could give it to GOT7 or even a slightly more mature TXT and it wouldn’t be better or worse for it. While Run and Blood Sweat and Tears are songs that literally only works with BTS. I don’t want to imagine “dasi run run run” without Jungkook’s breathy voice. They’re literally married.
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My ranking would go somewhere like this:
3: Target – Romeo
2: B.A.P – Young , Wild and Free
To be honest First Place wasn’t even a surprise it passed the others by a MILESTONE.
BTS- Run
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I remember back in the day BAP song “Young Wild and free” was dissed by everyone and called messy 😁. Therefore I am surprised to see so much positivity about it years later on your blog. In the meanwhile I can understand your feelings somehow (by today-kpop-standard YW&F is a masterpiece)
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