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.

January 2023 Overall Thoughts

For the second month in a row, I couldn’t really find any songs to place in my “top three.” I picked songs anyway, but they’re essentially placeholders and are very subject to change. I haven’t replayed any of them more than a few times and I can’t see anything from this month going on to be an enduring favorite. With that said, you’ll probably be surprised by my number three choice since I was so flummoxed by it on release day! I’m still not completely sold, but I’ve decided to try to focus on its strengths rather than its shortcomings.

However, just because I’m bored with K-pop at the moment doesn’t mean I wasn’t listening to any music this January. In fact, my playlists have been stacked. I’ve taken deep dives into avenues of J-pop history I hadn’t yet explored and listened to quite a few great standouts from other countries. And just last week there were two albums released that I’m absolutely in love with.

Mid-way through the month, I was shocked at how quiet the K-pop industry had become. Then, I remembered this year’s Lunar New Year occurred during mid-January instead of early February. That explains the vacant release schedule. On the plus side, this means February should be uncharacteristically busy. The industry could certainly use a jolt of energy. Everything at the moment feels so predictable and samey — both title tracks and b-sides.

J-pop had a more fruitful month, though I can’t say there was one song that stood far above everything else. It was difficult to pick my top track of January, but there were many honorable mentions. One of my resolutions this year is to keep up with J-pop releases even more closely than I have before. Eventually, this may mean a separate monthly round-up just for them. At the moment, I’m more excited by what’s happening in Japan than Korea — at least when it comes to diversity of sound and genre.

Here’s hoping February sweeps in and turns this lumbering K-pop ship around because these last eight weeks have been brutally dull. There are some promising comebacks on the horizon, so I think there’s reason to be optimistic.

Month Cumulative Rating: 7.8

(compiled by averaging the scores of every K-pop review from this month)

J-Pop Highlights

DISH// – Ban Ban Zai (video)

J Soul Brothers – Stars (video)

Kaela Kimura – Magnetic (ft. AI) (video)

KinKi Kids – The Story Of Us (video)

The Last Rockstars – The Last Rockstars (video)

Lil League – Hunter (video)

OnlyOneOf – chrOme arts (review)

Sakurazaka46 – Sakuratsuki (video)

TVXQ – Parallel Parallel (review)

Yuma Nakayama – Weekend (video)

TOP J-POP SONG OF THE MONTH

Official HIGE DANdism – White Noise

K-POP

Honorable Mentions

BXB – Fly Away (review)

Cignature – Aura (review)

H1-KEY – Rose Blossom (review)

ILY:1 – Twinkle, Twinkle (review)

Monsta X – Beautiful Liar (review)

Nine (OnlyOneOf) – Beyond (review)

SF9 – Puzzle (review)

THE7 – Get Loose (review)

This Month’s Risers and Fallers

TOP THREE SONGS

3. TXT – Sugar Rush Ride (review)

2. VIVIZ – Pull Up (review)

1. Taeyang – Vibe (ft. Jimin) (review)

Top Three K-Pop Songs Of December 2022

Top Three K-Pop Songs Of November 2022

Top Three K-Pop Songs Of October 2022

Top Three K-Pop Songs Of September 2022

Top Three K-Pop Songs Of August 2022

Top Three K-Pop Songs Of July 2022

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