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.
February 2024 Overall Thoughts
Due to its positioning in the dead of winter and the cancelling of music shows because of Lunar New Year celebrations, February tends to be a slight month for K-pop. Apart from December, it’s consistently the month with the fewest releases, and the first half of this February bore that out.
The final two weeks picked up the slack, with a few big comebacks and lots of new music from smaller groups. As has been the trend this year, much of the strongest music has emerged from these smaller groups. Boy groups in particular have been on a major roll these past two months. I’m really liking where the musical trends seem to be going in that regard.
Speaking of musical trends and the general changing of the guard, the biggest February story for me actually involved a song released back in January. The surprisingly potent chart run for TWS’s Plot Twist has got me excited that audiences may be ready for brighter pop sounds and big melodies. It helps that the song is a total bop and I now kind of regret not putting it in my top three of last month. Plot Twist definitely has legs.
February was stuffed with ups and downs. There were a few undisputed highlights alongside some of the lowest-rated songs I’ve featured on the blog in awhile. My ratings were a bit more extreme than usual, which makes things kind of spicy and also made for a lower-than-average monthly cumulative rating. February’s biggest disappointment was probably LE SSERAFIM’s Easy because both the group and their agency have the capacity to give so much more than what they’re delivering. I need some of this year’s infectious, upbeat boy group energy to rub off on girl group trends.
My top three songs of the month are all within the same range of “really good, but probably not a future classic.” I like all three songs a lot and struggled to rank them. Ultimately, I went back to that most reliable of data points: personal play count. The proof is in the pudding, and one song was definitely more of a fixture on my own playlist. Being released earlier in the month probably helped, too.
It’s with great sadness that February also marked the passing of venerated K-pop producer Shinsadong Tiger. The sound of K-pop wouldn’t be the same without him, and he’s left behind so many classic songs as an enduring legacy. TRI.BE’s Diamond became an unexpected swan song, though next month’s comeback from TAN will likely stand as the final new Shinsadong Tiger single. It’s pretty heartbreaking and such a loss.
In a reversal from last year, J-pop lags behind K-pop so far. I can’t say any of my top three songs will feature in the upper realms of my year-end countdown come December… if they make the countdown at all! I anticipate things to really get going next month when two of my favorite acts (Genic and Ryugujo) return with new music. At this point, I’m definitely listening to much more old J-pop than new stuff.
The confirmed comeback slate for March feels a little unexciting so far, with a couple of big releases scheduled for the end of the month but not too much new music currently announced. I expect this to change, and there seem to have been rumblings of many planned comebacks in the past day or so. They just need dates and details. We’ll see how it all plays out, but I continue to be pleased by the overall output 2024 has given us so far.
Month Cumulative Rating: 7.5
(compiled by averaging the scores of every K-pop review from this month)
J-Pop Highlights
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week One
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Two
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Three
New & Noteworthy J-pop: Week Four
TOP J-POP SONGS OF THE MONTH
3. Orbit – Bull’s Eye
2. OHL – 「0」
1. Wolf Howl Harmony – Frozen Butterfly
K-POP
Honorable Mentions
Aimers – Somebody (review)
DK (iKON) – Groovin (review)
from20 – Demon (review)
ICHILLIN – Demigod (review)
IU – Shopper (review)
Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – Think About (review)
n.SSign – Happy & (review)
Ten (WayV) – Nightwalker (review)
TRI.BE – Diamond (review)
Twice – I Got You / One Spark (review / review)
TWS – BFF (review)
This Month’s Risers and Fallers
This Month’s Global Pop Round-Up
TOP THREE SONGS
3. Moonbyul (Mamamoo) – Touchin&Movin (review)
2. CRAVITY – Love Or Die (review)
1. The Wind – H! TEEN (review)
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of January 2024
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of December 2023
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of November 2023
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of October 2023
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of September 2023
Top Three K-Pop Songs Of August 2023
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