The Prime Three Okay-Pop Songs of Might 2024

On the finish of every month, I look again at my three favourite title tracks by Okay-pop artists. I take my very own rankings into consideration, however there’s a little bit of wiggle room as sure songs are inclined to develop or fade.

Might 2024 Total Ideas

There have been plenty of big-name releases in Might, but someway the month felt extra like a holding sample. Many of those hyped comebacks ended up fizzling for me (ZEROBASEONE, NewJeans, Stray Children, ATEEZ, aespa pt.2), eclipsed by lesser-known acts.

Talking of those acts, Might was undoubtedly the month of strong tracks from low-to-mid tier boy teams and soloists. My playlist was flush with nice singles from Fantasy Boys, YOUNITE, Simply B, DXMON, TOZ, The Wind, ONEUS, JD1 and B.I. All of those songs had been ranked within the mid or excessive 8’s on the weblog — tremendous strong and gratifying if not life-changing. Virtually all of them may have shuffled into my second and third place slots. It felt a bit random to decide on simply two.

With all this respectable music, Should felt fairly slight. I believe it’s as a result of most of those songs had been a part of a single album or just a standalone digital single. So whereas we had good selection this month, there weren’t many precise albums to sink your tooth into. That meant only a few superior b-sides, too. The “largest” album of the month got here from aespa. Supernova stays a straightforward Might standout, however I wasn’t impressed by anything on the report. I loved tripleS’s album barely extra, however no observe stood out as an undisputed, knock-my-socks-off spotlight.

I’ve additionally been struck by the disparity between lady teams and boy teams this 12 months. I are inclined to choose the sounds peddled by boy teams, however I do know there are numerous Okay-pop followers who hear completely to lady teams. I’ve to surprise, are these followers being fed? A fast evaluate of this month reveals twenty-one boy group opinions and solely 9 lady group opinions. In fact, I don’t evaluate the whole lot that’s launched however I do write about any track that rises above a (fairly low) threshold of recognition. With fewer lady group releases, there are fewer probabilities for these songs to hit. And with a lot homogeneity between these releases (ethereal, subdued Y2K affect), evidently for those who don’t love this explicit type you’re sort of out of luck. Lady group stans, what say you? Has 2024’s launch slate felt a bit meager to this point or are you pleased with the extent of output?

As a substitute of music, Might felt most notable for idol-related controversy. HYBE’s mess continued to develop and the Burning Solar scandal re-emerged. Idol teams misplaced members left and proper and netizens appeared much more obsessive about charts (and alleged chart manipulation) than ever. I attempt to keep out of this as a lot as attainable as a result of I don’t discover it attention-grabbing and the gossip/conspiracy idea aspect of Okay-pop shouldn’t be what I come to this interest for. However boy did the business appear to be on hearth this month.

This time final 12 months, I used to be raving about a number of J-pop tracks and far most popular that business’s output over Okay-pop. This 12 months, the tables have turned. There have been a number of massive J-pop highlights, however general Okay-pop has been extra constant. I actually don’t actually have a high three J-pop choice this month as a result of nothing actually stood out, so the songs I picked are extra like placeholders than true highlights. That is regardless of my favourite group returning after 4 years with a brand new album. Sadly, Kis-My-Ft2’s Synopsis principally crashed and burned for me, persevering with Starto Leisure’s lackluster slate of 2024 releases.

I don’t wish to jinx it, however I’m actually enthusiastic about June on all musical fronts. We’ve received a few of my favourite present acts (TWS, RIIZE, Infinite, Sunmi, TRENDZ) making comebacks together with some massive names (Nayeon, WayV, Kep1er, NewJeans) and wildcards (GHOST9, Everglow, AKMU, CSR, H1-KEY). And people are simply the acts which were introduced already! Plus, international pop appears able to unleash a number of long-dormant pop superstars (Woman Gaga, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and many others) for the summer time whereas subsequent month will lastly see the return of rookie group XY in Japan. I hope most of those acts meet or exceed expectations!

Month Cumulative Ranking: 7.8

(compiled by averaging the scores of each Okay-pop evaluate from this month)