The Top Three K-Pop Songs of July 2026

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. July 2026 Overall Thoughts I really don’t want to be a buzzkill, but now that we’re well into the second half of 2026 I’m dismayed that this appears to be the weakest K-pop year since 2020 — perhaps since long before I started this blog. It’s certainly been the most underwhelming summer I can remember in K-pop. There haven’t been any real highlights, but what makes this year so unique is the number of truly awful songs that have been released. July used to be my favorite month in K-pop. I think I got spoiled by the July run of 2014-2017, with each year delivering a consistent slate of some of the best K-pop songs ever. In comparison, this July felt like a yawn followed by a whimper and interspersed with a sigh. Most of the big names sat the month out and the overall excitement around the industry felt surprisingly muted. Music shows were cancelled thanks to the World Cup, comeback announcements were infrequent and the top charting songs were either from months or years ago. A number of g...