The Top Three K-Pop Songs of November 2024

3 days ago 4

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.

November 2024 Overall Thoughts

Well… how are we all doing?

Given the news of the past few days I feel like we’re living through the K-pop purge. My heart goes out to fans of the affected groups. Hopefully they can all find success under new agencies if they wish. It’s certainly not the news you want to hear at the end of a year.

Speaking of “the end of a year,” November is the last month I count toward eligibility for my year-end K-pop countdowns. It’s usually a pretty busy time but this November felt quite slight in comparison. I’ve been a weekly Music Bank watcher for the past decade and I often judge the state of the industry based on how many random trot/ballad singers they feature on any given episode. An overabundance of these performers usually means there aren’t enough idol comebacks to fill a show. Suffice it to say, I’ve sat through many a ballad and trot banger this month.

In my mind, quality of releases has been on a steady decline since this June’s fantastic slate. November was the worst yet, though the month was capped by two songs I genuinely love so it didn’t feel as dire as it actually was. The problem is, I didn’t find much to love beyond these two releases. I couldn’t justify moving any of my honorable mentions into a top three slot (they’d just be filling space), so for the first time in BIAS LIST history, I don’t have a number three choice. I don’t mean to make this a trend, but there just wasn’t anything to fill that third spot. I’m already cheating a bit by including a song that wasn’t promoted with a music video.

So, let’s focus on the positive! I like my top two songs more than anything released in the past couple of months. For the first time in awhile, I have that excited feeling around a K-pop release. Please please please let this momentum continue into the new year. It feels like the industry forfeited the second half of 2024 and that’s been pretty depressing to watch.

Instead of suffering through dull new releases, I’ve ensconced myself in K-pop history. I hope you’re all enjoying the new “Back to K-pop’s First Generation” feature. It will probably become more sporadic as we move into countdown territory next month, but I appreciate the chance to add important historical context to the blog. I’ve always been fascinated about how different eras and influences fit together.

J-pop also had a less-than-stellar month, though there were a few highlights. I’ve been replaying Ryugujo’s new album as I knew I would, and I haven’t even had a chance to write about my favorite J-pop single of the month since it only came out a couple days ago (it’ll be in the round-up tomorrow).

On another note, this November has become the highest-viewed month in Bias List history! Thanks to everyone who came to commiserate about new releases, flash back to K-pop’s first gen, listen to me bitch about agencies, take a GFriend deep dive or let your voice be heard in the comments. And on the topic of “letting your voice be heard,” don’t forget to participate in the first ever Bias List Reader Survey to leave feedback about the blog and the K-pop industry overall. Oh, and if you happen to be over at Bluesky, I made an account for the blog this month.

On to the year-end countdowns next month!

Month Cumulative Rating: 7.8

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