The Bias List’s Top-Rated K-pop Artist Countdown

I think it’s obvious that I love a good statistic. In addition to my core rating system, I’ve got my top three songs of each month, my yearly countdowns and more data breakdowns than anyone could ask for. None of these are perfect ways to categorize or quantify something as subjective as music, but they help me organize my thoughts.

So, I thought I’d tackle a big project and figure out — once and for all — which K-pop artists reign supreme on this site. I know my personal favorite acts, but what does the actual data say?

Spurred by this question, I decided to average my ratings for every K-pop artist with five or more reviews on The Bias List. B-sides and Japanese releases aren’t factored into the average. And of course, this only includes releases from 2016 onward, so some old favorites aren’t even eligible.

Which artists have been most consistently excellent during this new generation of K-pop? I’ve ranked the top ten (there were a lot of ties!), but I’ve also included the rest in case you’re curious. There were certainly some surprises!

Acts who didn’t make the top ten:

Average Rating 6.5:
IOI

Average Rating 6.8:
Yesung

Average Rating 6.9:
Crush / EXO-SC / Zico

Average Rating 7.0:
Baekhyun / CLC / DIA / Jessi

Average Rating 7.2:
Heize / MXM

Average Rating 7.3:
Apink / BTOB / Hyoyeon / HyunA / Kang Daniel / MCND / Momoland / Nu’est / Sechs Kies /

Average Rating 7.4:
Ailee / BVNDIT / D-CRUNCH / Eric Nam / KNK / Victon / Wanna One

Average Rating 7.5:
Chungha / Gugudan / Hyolyn / IZ / KARD / VAV / Weki Meki

Average Rating 7.6:
AB6IX / CRAVITY / GOT7 / JBJ95 / Winner / Yubin / 100%

Average Rating 7.7:
Berry Good / Block B / DAY6 / EXID / GWSN / Ha Sungwoon / IN2IT / IZ*ONE / Laboum / Mamamoo / N.Flying / Seven O’Clock / Taeyeon / UP10TION / 3YE

Average Rating 7.8:
BoA / Brave Girls / Cherry Bullet / Cosmic Girls (WJSN) / IU / Jeong Sewoon / LOONA

Average Rating 7.9:
BLACKPINK / fromis_9 / (G)I-DLE / IMFACT / Pentagon / SF9 / Stray Kids / VERIVERY

10. The East Light / Highlight / iKON / KEEMBO / Lee Hi / ONEUS / Red Velvet / Super Junior

Average rating: 8.0

9. A.C.E / AOA / B.A.P / The Boyz / Everglow / Great Guys / NCT 127 / OnlyOneOf / Teen Top / Twice

Average rating: 8.1

8. EXO / ITZY / Taemin / VIXX

Average rating: 8.2

7. AKMU / ATEEZ / Dongkiz / Dreamcatcher / Lovelyz / Monsta X / NCT Dream / NCT U / Snuper / Sunmi / TST

Average rating: 8.3

6. Astro / GFriend / Oh My Girl / TXT

Average rating: 8.4

5. BTS

Average rating: 8.5

4. Seventeen / SuperM

Average rating: 8.6

3. ONF

Average rating: 8.7

2. Golden Child

Average rating: 8.8

1. SHINee

Average rating: 9

Original Article