rolling kpop 2026

First thing I've liked this year is Apink's retro flute jam "Love Me More"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2os26sMjOg

I had been looking forward to the CHUU album but it didn't make much of an impression.

love how apink keeps plugging away even as all their 2nd/3rd gen peers have disbanded/retired, one of the most underrated discographies in kpop

i will try to keep up a bit more this year, though I've already missed out on January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qkpcLK422o

almost fantastic, everything is there except the hook just isn't quite big enough

totally agree - great composition and sound design (and rapping!), but the hook is a real drag. thank you for sharing

That Bang Bang is #2 and this KiiiKiii is #1 in Korea right now. Pretty propulsive stuff at the top of the charts, but prefer the KiiiKiii

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhHB4dZTChw

wow that kinda rules

yeah love that. great video too

similar vibe, though it's not as strong as their singles from last year imo:

Hearts2Hearts - RUDE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7sGJVUrkjQ

Yeah it's cute but a bit slight. But we're seeing some sort of trend this year.

The new ATEEZ album has one good song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqkfEUqjl6Y

what is going on where jpegmafia of all people has a credit on the new bts album lol

very fun and energetic in an old school kpop way

YENA - "Catch Catch"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItSKahBISg0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8a90HBQs3FU

hyoyeon from snsd's new single is intense

That's pretty good though a bit too short and repetitive.

propulsive club bangers all over kpop this year. See also:

NMIXX - “TIC TIC (feat. Pabllo Vittar)”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tkjwhhYIFU

really love the instrumental of this synthpop track from Itzy's Yuna, but the song itself is a bit meh, wish they did more with the chorus

YUNA - "Ice Cream"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0FwbTiD3iA

Former Kiss of Life creative director and talent show contestant Lee Haein is both a member and the overall producer (through her own label) of this new 'virtual' group. It's not a sinister AI thing, in fact all the members identities are known and apparently they'll be themselves later on in the group's life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7OhGsGbaM4

catchy songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9q7NoOQHIo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBx08M4cDME

the proportions of the characters in that owis video are so uncanny, like everyone's neck is slightly too long or something?

lots of choices to be made, I guess, since their 3D models also have to work for live streams and such

The first single off T.O.P's debut (his first solo release in over a decade/since leaving BigBang) was disappointingly boring but the album itself is a great listen - deeply personal and idiosyncratic and recognisably T.O.P, addressing everything from his drug scandal to his blacklisting from the industry.

There isn't anything on it as immediately arresting as "Doom Dada" but it's just great hearing something out of kpop that is so clearly the product of a singular vision and that isn't interested in chasing current pop trends.

This is one of the better songs, basically processing his grief from leaving Big Bang and the loss of identity that came with it. and for us old school kpop hags, bonus points for featuring the gorgeous Nana from After School/Orange Caramel in his videos too:

T.O.P. - "Studio54"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfaybWG25D4

TOP's absence was felt but BIGBANG's coachella set was a nice reminder of what a force these guys are, this energy has been so badly missed all those years they were away.

also only a BB member would be ballsy enough to perform two Korean trot songs on that stage (and absolutely killed it in the process)

been enjoying Hwasa's recent singles - nothing outrageous, just really nice, 80s-influenced pop

"Good Goodbye" from 2025 - thought it was a bit slight at first but it's grown on me in the past few months
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qe8fa4b5xNU

"So Cute"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEMBk076jGM

Yeah she's had big commercial success with this sound and big .. Gaga-like? choruses recently. Maybe not that much individuality or Mamamoo style left but whatever works

speaking of Mamamoo... great title lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnwOfIiZ-zQ

(the song is just okay though)

greatest title :)

love the song too, even if it isn't usually what i want from a K-pop artiste

kpop stans arguing about how all three recent singles from HYBE girl groups sound the same, meanwhile the actual number one song in Korea for the past few weeks is an AKMU ballad:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNn_H_Q2moo

The new Sserafim and Katseye stuff is indeed very boring. I like the recurring simple melody of that akmu song but not hugely excited about a twee sister brother group.

I liked it when they briefly went synthpop a few years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtiPbWzUY9o

new NMIXX tracks are excellent

"Heavy Serenade"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ycn9qZK09I

"Crescendo"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SEKt_0pdHM

"heavy seranade" is pretty good, though i wish the backing track had more clarity? the vocals are sooooo far to the front here (even for kpop) so the instrumental (apart from the drums) mostly feels like indistinct texture around the edges, it's unusual

"crescendo" doesn't really cohere for me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTJSbJtS8MU

g-dragon wrote the new aespa single (which he's featured on) and it doesn't really work because they can't really sell the sort of brashness that this sound demands?

I thought “crescendo” was kinda messy at first but it really grew on me, and now I love it - just really interesting production and they’re strong enough vocalists to pull off that big chorus

Re WDA: did GD write it too? I thought it was just a feature - from what I read, it was basically a favour called in by one of aespa’s members. in any case it didn’t make any kind of impression when I put it on earlier

he's credited for both music & lyrics so i assume he was involved but it could just be he wrote his verse and nothing more i guess

this NMIXX EP is really quite good, so far the only song I'm kind of meh on is "Different Girl".

current favourite is "Loud":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7t8JzqVXcs

new Taeyang sounds like a Dua Lipa reject lol. can't put my finger on it but something about the vocal production is kind of grating as well, just doesn't play to his particular strengths

Taeyang - "Live Fast, Die Slow"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB3W-k0kQ8U

meanwhile the new le sserafim is really bad! half-assed macarena riff. they've become an uninteresting group

agreed and what's really sad is them trying to make the macarena a dance challenge, like that wasn't THE original viral dance meme. just yikes.

enjoying these two singles from TWS, glad to see there's a boy group (under HYBE no less, though I suppose they're technically under Pledis Entertainment) still capable of releasing decent tracks in 2026

"All The Possibilities"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTi2uZQsmlo

"You, You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiO16KlMPaU

"boompala" is impressively terrible

ioi's big comeback (an actual comeback unlike most kpop comebacks) plays on nostalgia and several members now being stars on their own, but also "suddenly" is a pretty clever song choice - conventionally catchy but with a hint of retro - and now they're in the top 10

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxgbfc89hNI

yeah i really like that IOI track

I like how many Korean syllables it takes to write 'I.O.I.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83C3TZ4Zm_o

much better than WDA though wish the verses were a bit more dynamic. That instrumental is so good but bogged down by the talk-singing

it's just fine, there's nothing to really elevate it beyond that though

I like it and the verses - it's the Whiplash template. Not the same killer chorus perhaps, but pretty good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q8UMVXhXsE

they’ve still got it

SHINee - Atmos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XFEtAx5i7E

yeah that's fantastic, probably my favourite of the year

Another VVN ('Suddenly') joint:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQRGAh7ukh8

that's not bad, though NMIXX's "Crescendo" is still my favourite kpop song referencing a metronome this year

ILLIT, Le Sserafim and KATSEYE combine forces and it's exactly as bad as you'd expect, shit sounds like it was written by AI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27C4pfRsf9g

yeah that's a weirdly isolated three-part collab. katseye clearly the only comfortable in that style, though they can't make it good

another single from jyp's attempt at blending trad korean music and kpop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsxaYT6gi-Q

I love that, that's really good

Because of member Woni's viral youtube channel (with the other members) Rescene has become talk of the town and their 2024 single Love Attack is now a major hit and they are seemingly ambassadors of every city and brand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XttLI0oH0I

It's started some interesting discussion about the chances of smaller labels. The government has sponsored some smaller labels recently, including Rescene's https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/entertainment/k-pop/20260630/rescenes-rise-proves-small-k-pop-agencies-still-have-a-chance

The attempt at literally recreating NewJeans begins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNbaTJX_9go

wish them the best of luck, hope it works out

so nice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cythnn3VTLg

oh that's really fun

very nice!

The Red Velvet summer EP is solid and fine for fans of summer EPs, I endorse it mildly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrxiDn531ks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZP153MUpHY

oh wow, i've really not been keeping up with kpop lately so i had no idea they were making a comeback and i remember last time i'd looked everyone was expecting them to be on hiatus forever after some contracts expired last year

i'm just so glad sm's keeping them around, truly the greatest kpop group ever

"surfin' boy" isn't really their best but it's interesting, weird bossa nova-tinged r&b, and that bridge is incredible

Not a group I follow in any way but legendary Kara, Infinite, 9muses hit producing team Sweetune is back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYRsfjuM0c8

i'm glad sweetune still kinda have it, it's not really up with their best work or anything but it's still relentlessly hooky

like where's the completely ridiculous bridge?

BIGBANG celebrate their 20th anniversary and make their long awaited comeback as a trio. It was obvs on his own record last year too but it does bum me out that G-Dragon has apparently forgotten how to write melodies/choruses - I'd hoped that after their v good Coachella set, he'd remember that BB are at their best doing anthemic R&B-adjacent jams. Both Daesung and Taeyang criminally underused here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8ZnXgbyUuc

feels like it was recorded a decade ago and it's very hookless yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VqxWNwgf5Q

catching up on some recent singles, hearts2hearts' "lemon tang" has a million barely connected ideas so i really want to like it but none of them are quite good enough to stick with me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLk8zWUuYTA

fromis_9's "vitamin me" is a lovely breezy tune, i like all the overlapping vocals in the last chorus a lot

total kpop ignoramus here, but I enjoyed ATEEZ' "Bad" when I caught it the other evening - did not expect to see Chase Infiniti in the video but apparently she's a huge fan and has her own dance crew?

That move into bossa nova halfway through the H2H track was unexpected. Reminds me of early RV, think it might grow on me. fromis_9 track is quite nice too.

Chase Infiniti is a legit kpop head, i've seen interviews with her where she's naming some of the most obscure groups as her faves, it's pretty great.

"Bad" also went viral for its dance moves, been seeing everyone and their mother doing that chest pump lol. The song itself is okay, sounds like a lot of other tracks this year.

"lemon tang" is like a red velvet single that didn't quite come together properly yeah, i much prefer "surfin' boy" as far as 2026 bossa nova-tinged kpop goes

H2H's new Japanese single "Iconic heart" is great though, kinda Max Tundra-ish

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chl0R8C4NJ8

Lee Chaeyeon EP from earlier in the year is very serviceable light disco/dance kpop

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeXXcaCjEsQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nP1xjFX86Po

A2O LITE - "NEON"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D968qfUZMUE

they're being debuted under SM founder Lee Soo-Man's new agency A2O Entertainment, and this first single is pretty good! Even though i continue to worry about how young these new groups keep getting - eldest here is 17 :/

The boy counterpart A2O SOUL also has a song out - it's just alright but it does make me really happy to have a boy group release a classic 2009-style melodic kpop song that's over four minutes, complete with a high note at the end

The production on both these tracks is great

A2O SOUL - "SUPERSTAR"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8CYC5P6Z8Y

Who's your rookie of the year so far ?

New ILLIT is very pleasant imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2V9-9VhYJo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQUrMavKqVg

The name I'll-It was introduced during the live broadcast of the final episode of R U Next?. It was described as representing the idea of choosing a verb to place between "I'll" and "it", reflecting the members' ability to act independently and make their own decisions.[2]