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!
February 2014 Overall Thoughts
In 2014, the Lunar New Year occurred on January 31st, which meant the first few weeks of February were pretty slow when it came to K-pop releases. But, the month only gained traction as it went on, with plenty of highlights in its second half.
As we inched closer to March, the big news was an impending comeback “battle” between Girls’ Generation and 2NE1 – the two biggest girl groups of the era. 2NE1 wouldn’t release their title tracks until early March, but Girls’ Generation got things started with Mr.Mr. (and its infamously re-shot video) this month.
Even with all this hype, February’s most enduring hit ended up being Soyou and Junggigo’s Some, which has pretty much become a K-pop standard. It didn’t quite make my top three, but I do like the track quite a bit.
February saw some comebacks from the industry’s older generation, including Park Jiyoon and Lee Minwoo of Shinhwa. We also got some great boy group tracks from ToppDogg, Alphabat, C-Clown, Boys Republic and B.A.P, as well as strong female-fronted singles from Stellar and Sunmi.
My top three is very strong this month. I’d consider each track to be a classic in its own right, though for different reasons. My top pick is buoyed by an incredible vocal performance. Number two’s edgy, guitar-fueled instrumental packs a wallop. And, number three is anchored by an absolutely mammoth pop chorus.
Honorable Mentions
Alphabat – Tantara (video)
B.A.P – 1004 (Angel) (video)
Boys Republic – Video Game (video)
BTOB – Beep Beep (video)
C-Clown – Justice (video)
CNBlue – Can’t Stop (video)
Gain – Truth Or Dare (video)
Girls’ Generation (SNSD) – Mr.Mr. (video)
Ladies’ Code – So Wonderful (video)
M (Lee Minwoo) – Taxi (video)
Mamamoo & K.Will – Peppermint Chocolate (ft. Wheesung) (video)
Park Jiyoon – Beep / Inner Space (video / video)
Soyou & Junggigo – Some (video)
Stellar – Marionette (video)
Sunmi – Full Moon (video)
ToppDogg – Arario (video)
Yu Seungwoo – Hesitating Lips (video)
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
That top 3 is simply amazing. I miss BESTie.
Have you seen ENHYPEN’s intro teaser? I’m a lot more hopeful for the debut song now.
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Yep, the track in the teaser sounds promising. I’m very curious to hear what genre their title will be.
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Really goes to show it was a different era of kpop when tracks like Can’t Stop, 1004, Mr. Mr. etc. couldn’t make your top 3! Lots of nostalgia from these.
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I would also like to add to the list Speed “Don’t Tease Me”. The practice video popped up on my feed once upon a time so of course I clicked. The first thing one sees is that it is shot in a high school gymnasium, the reason for which only becomes apparent towards the end. Height. The dance frequently pops up on the “crazy kpop dance moves” compilation videos.
And then the next thought is that there is this guy in the front in this practice video and moreso in the music show version who does a really really good Zico impression. I really truly thought that, hey who is this guy imitating Zico, he is doing a good job. (… lol, also known as Zico’s older brother)
The song is pretty good too, catchy. It was a guilty pleasure for a long time.
Here is the school gym version:
A music show version that included the giant flip is here – it had a very short promotion cycle, and they didn’t also perform the flip at every promotion for whatever reason. (Safety? Height? Liability?) ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLnQtELgH7Q
As a bonus, since “Don’t Tease Me” had a really cheap video and the song predates Block B’s “Jackpot” by only a couple months, someone one grafted this song onto an edit of that video, and it works remarkably well. ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBSCP9BAGio
“Don’t Tease Me” was just about the swan song for Speed, although they did release in mid 2015 “What U” with the heelies which has offers some interesting and creative movement elements. This dance practice video also pops up on the kpop dance compilations from time to time. ‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5C-nNXUj_I
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i love that song so much if i use nick’s rating it would be 10 for everything….
and wow a top 3 where even ‘some’ (the best collab song of the year that stayed at the top of charts for many weeks) couldnt even make it
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I had Don’t Tease Me on my list until the last minute. I do like it, but would probably rate it in the high 7’s. At the risk of offending, it’s always come across as a Block B reject to me (which makes your comparison to Jackpot very apt!).
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