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kestrelofinkNow for the third year in a row, I have been roped into filling out the 2025 kpop tierlist (a bit of a misnomer, actually, because it ostensibly only lists title tracks to individual releases, and even then is missing some songs, or oddly lists others. For example, tripleS' Q&A is on the tierlist despite not being a title track). In one part as reason to compare and yap with friends, and in part to prompt me to listen to a bunch of music outside of my usual tastes.
It also happens to be a great way to discuss my thoughts on 2025's releases and reveals a lot about my tastes. Also, my tier names are funny and I like attention. Therefore...
It also happens to be a great way to discuss my thoughts on 2025's releases and reveals a lot about my tastes. Also, my tier names are funny and I like attention. Therefore...
The Rankings
Let's get the fun thing out of the way; I love wacky tier names. Highlights from previous years (2023, 2024) include: 'Brb buying a corsage so I can take it to prom', 'Not a bop not a stop', 'Squint,' 'Squinting harder', 'I hope the master tapes corrupt themselves', and 'Why the hell is this song six and a half minutes long I'll never have that time back you son of a bitch'.
This year's also doesn't disappoint. In order of enjoyability:
god is real and this is the bgm to her sex tape
if you have aux and play this i will blow you over the console
a vibe, a bop, even!
a vibe if it weren't for X
C+
kpop's worst crime: boring
my mama told me if i don't got anything nice to say...
the lexa effect (in which the feature carried)
I would literally rather drink my own urine sample
gargle my testicles
jail (where all fiftyfifty, kiof, and ADP songs went)
More on some of those labels later.
Unfortunately, the page this year has 475 songs on it, which is far too many to talk about. So to spare you all your eyeballs and me my keyboard and fingers, we'll just talk about the highlights: the songs that made it into the top two tiers, and a few specials that stood out from the other ranks. I'll leave all my rankings at the end of the page if that's of any interest to you.
To be clear, my rankings are almost entirely based on a single time listening to the song along with the mv, and then making a snap decision and never revisiting it. So... you're free to disagree, and there's a good chance I'll think differently of this in half a year, but this is a snapshot of my tastes now, which has its own intrinsic value, I suppose.
Now before I overanalyse why I want to rationalise my rankings so much...
god is real and this is the bgm to her sex tape
Wildly inappropriate category title, I know, but I should be allowed; I grew up in the church and am more or less still a mainline protestant, I should get to use my trauma like this
Okay, I'm fully biased here. I got into tripleS this year in no small part due to this song, and it's the song I know the most lyrics to of their discography. VERY into the opening/closing poses with 1124 and then 111 (my little monkey ft. 24 and 1, iktr), Kaede's little iteration on the chorus from 사실 난 행복하고 싶은 걸 to 사실 난 행복하고 예쁜 걸, Nien's penultimate verse where everyone kicks up the energy one notch? Beautiful. All of it. No notes, my song of the year.
I've never been a flover, much to the chagrin of some of my friends, but I consider them to be, like, fave-in-laws, if that makes sense. Again, no notes, the music video is so much fun, and this is exactly the sound and lyrics I needed this year actually. I am nothing if not a slut for a great melodic line and fun harmonies (did I sing alto and play something other than a trumpet or flute in band throughout grade school, absolutely), so this song was a sonic DELIGHT to me. Also, can I just say, the rhythm on 다쳐도 놓지 않을 이 Rendez-vous is so fucking delicious. It feels like a call back to simpler days in the kpop sphere and maybe I do have nostalgia for a time I never really experienced. Or maybe that's just me loving big anthem-y songs... Elite stuff, the only note I have is like, maybe I'd change the line Our love is true cause this is too great...
if you have aux and play this i will blow you over the console
again, very inappropriate but for a very different reason. still! fun! and who am i to be the fun police (ACAB)?
I'll admit I don't actually have a lot to say about this one other than like, damn I love a melodic synthpop big room/music song. This is just like, it's joyful to the high school part of me that loves belting out choruses that feel like a Zara Larsen feature, you know?
Just... so much fun with the rhythm here. Again, a bit of that dance-pop I absolutely adore! Is this a little artificially inflated due to my love for Chung Ha at baseline? Sure, maybe, but there are some really fun moments in the mv, I enjoyed the choreo, and honestly, it's just a fun song. What's not to love?
A song with some fun adlibs and a momentum-filled melody with a very hot Kazuha, and also a lsf song that doesn't make me wonder what whether kpop's direction is going to leave me behind in 5 years? Ugh, we LOVE! This year was NOT a Hot Girl Summer for me, but I'm glad it was for some people, and I think this was a great song for it.
I was SOLD by the first guitar riff, and then the chorus was the slam dunk I needed to move this beyond the a vibe, a bop, even! category. Did I mention I love a melody with a lot of motion and a full voice with plenty of adlibs? My partner jokes that they can hear when a song is "Kes-coded", and I think they clocked this one immediately. Extra shoutout to the triplet rhythm in the chorus; triplets are an underused feature that does SO much for the emotion of a song.
Before I was a kpop enjoyer, I did my years in sad boy music. This song feels like the perfect combination of a sad boy verse and that open chorus I love so much. Hard to argue, as well, with Chen's vocal colour. Kind of a poster boy for my favourite kind of song. The bridge was a little forgettable to me, but all is forgiven by the support he has on those high notes, just, ugh, SING IT!
Oh, I listened to this song a LOT this year. I think what drew me in was the piano in the backtrack, which, EXCELLENT note progression to support the main melody. Also a fan of the guitar in the chorus. Simple, doesn't try to overdo anything, and it ends up being a great song to listen to while walking out on a sunny day and thinking about closing my eyes, facing the sun, and twirling like I'm the main character of a drama. Oh! And also the brief acapella part before all the backing explodes back in? Peak!
Not a group I think of myself as a big enjoyer of, but man they knocked it out of the park with this one! That chorus is EXCELLENT, again with another acapella part before everything kicks into high gear again; I definitely need to explore their discography more. LOVE love love a band, and I feel like a Bad Band Enjoyer for having not paid attention to them! Also, can I just say, these girls are also SO pretty (especially Siyeon?!??), and I relate STRONGLY with sprinting to catch a bus #transitlife.
H1-KEY bet you gon' like me! I've been a shooter for them since RUN, and I am UNABASHED in my love for them. They just consistently have a great sound that's so singable and feels like a song that will define a core memory summer. Truly healing an inner child of a wound I didn't know I had!
Imagine my delight when an ICHILLIN' song spoke to me! It's mostly the chorus, the verses are a little whatever to me, but again, it's a very summer song that makes me think about road trips and drive-throughs and riding with the top down with my high school friends. It's special in a way I can't really describe, and I want it forever I think.
Ugh this year was so cruel for taking away Purkie in a time when there seems to be less and less respect for vocal-forward groups. This loss is actually devastating to me, I actually will never forgive RBW for this. If there's anything I'm grateful for, it's that we got this as one of their last releases. What a celebration of their voices and the gorgeous harmonies that made them such a delight to my ears. So, so, so grateful I got to see them live before they disbanded, Purkie there may never be another like you, the kpop music scene is worse for having lost you. You deserved so much better.
Oh, this one makes it here for a number of reasons. For one, this is like, The Sound I think of when I think of kpop and it's nice to see that it's still around, and in such a nice rendition too. My partner immediately asked if this was a H1-KEY song when they first heard it, and that's probably why I like H1-KEY too; a dedication to a really bright and youthful kpop sound.
I do think that the music video does a lot of heavy lifting for me though. Incredible nostalgic colours, the rapturous joy of summer captured in a perfect video, and all the filming locations are places I lived by and went to growing up, so EXTRA close to the heart!
I say this with no exaggeration: MAMAMOO changed the course of my life. So of course I have a soft spot for its members! And none more than Moonbyul, if I'm being honest. I love how goofy she is, how unashamed, I love her story of giving up leadership of a group of her own and being the rapper in a group that is all about the vocals, I love how she's just Doing Her. My criticisms of her over the years have largely related to not having a consistent sound at the start of her solo career, but she's established it over the past bit and this is such a Moonbyul sound it makes my cheeks hurt with smiling (all the moreso because this is also the exact kind of music I love to listen to).
Idk man, something about this feels so nostalgic to me. When I think of boygroup kpop, THIS is the sound I'm thinking of, and I love this stuff! If I could press a button to change out all the straykids skrrrtbap stuff for this, no question, I'd do it in a heartbeat! I love the earnestness of this sound, the full vocals, big fan!
Another very earnest song, especially out of the chorus, and I love the instrumentals a lot too. That driving rhythm, the stripped down vocals, it feels very ethical in terms of how honest the sound is. Also, cockroach boyfriend, you are everything to me.
I can't not hear the Avicii... and my nostalgia for that sound is sufficient to put it here.
God what about this song don't I love? I love the contrast in the song between the verses—soft and acoustic—with the chorus—intense and electric—and the transition between them, I love how the chorus is sung almost angry with emotion, the use of the choir and their gorgeous vocal chords. I love the music video and all the ways love falls apart in them and the intensity of the feeling that belies all of those stories, the variety, the scrolling shots. This is a song I'd want to scream to; isn't it wonderful to feel such anguish because the joy of loving is too great to ever replace?
Wow. I actually can't believe it took me until now to discover QWER. I enjoy this as a contrast to Dear, a little more stripped back, a very honest song. I WILL be paying attention in 2026, trust.
I was so sad that there wasn't Cameo Love on this list... and then my girlfriend, ever wise and resourceful, said "why don't you just add it to the list anyways". So here it is, a song that I love so much it makes my teeth hurt. The production on this is SO good, and I'm wholly obsessed with this lineup. I learned to love Lynn in this, and I will NEVER be over the little lag on the choreo in the chorus, its SO pleasing, gah! The best of the msnz subunit songs by a LONG shot.
Honourable Mentions
These ones didn't make it into my top two tiers, but something about them stood out to me, even if they're in a less prestigious category.
I think my partner said it best: in the current climate of kpop, we need some of Jessi's K-LA realness. So true! This has some of the integrity of old school rap while still maintaining Korean flavour, and also is EXTREMELY Jessi. It feels honest in a way many groups will never be, because this isn't lived experience to them. It's not really my cup of tea, but it sure is nice to have this return and remember what we could have. You know, if we weren't putting an untied durag on every third member of a group doing a hip-hop performance...
This was NOT the release I was expecting out of Soyeon, but damn, okay! Now, I recognise that this is cheating because this is actually a QWER song she's covering (taste, honestly, again another reason to check out QWER more; sorry, QWER for not noticing you earlier), but this was a fairly good cover and I enjoyed the newness of this flavour on her!
Oh SHIT, a real metal song from a kpop group? That is reason enough to put this song here.
I can always count on 10cm to deliver on a fun song with good vocals, thank god. Bonus points is that the chorus repeats the C-D-E-F-G notes as a recurrent theme and I'm delighted by that! An evergreen sounding song, imo, with a fun little music feature that delights me. Well deserved spot here.
This gets a shoutout for committing to that old school kpop sound (by old school, I mean the music I was listening to the older, cool kids put on during snack break at Saturday Mandarin school - a language which I retained extraordinarily little of, though Saturday school did allow me to read a menu somewhat, sorry mom and dad). Lots of nostalgia with this song, and Key does a great job keeping it exactly what it needs to be.
Real ones will know how much I love Haseul, my first LOONA love... I think her voice is SO good for this kind of smooth, soul-esque, R&B-like song. The pan flute is SO good, and the groove on this... Yeah, still my LOONA love...
This is nothing at ALL about the song, which I find to be extremely whatever. But the music video is incredibly charming as a throwback to their older songs and MVs, which I really enjoyed. This felt gratuitous as a long-time fan of TWICE, and the music video brought a big smile to my face. Happy 10 years, TWICE.
Speaking of TWICE... what is Sana doing in this music video? Whatever, she's actually secondary to the song, because good lord I LOVE trot, and this is a prime example of the best trot has to offer! It's probably actually a vestige of my memories of the golden era of cantopop that makes me salivate at this genre, but whatever, this song slaps so hard, it's the perfect one to close out the list.
Full Rankings
Let's get the fun thing out of the way; I love wacky tier names. Highlights from previous years (2023, 2024) include: 'Brb buying a corsage so I can take it to prom', 'Not a bop not a stop', 'Squint,' 'Squinting harder', 'I hope the master tapes corrupt themselves', and 'Why the hell is this song six and a half minutes long I'll never have that time back you son of a bitch'.
This year's also doesn't disappoint. In order of enjoyability:
god is real and this is the bgm to her sex tape
if you have aux and play this i will blow you over the console
a vibe, a bop, even!
a vibe if it weren't for X
C+
kpop's worst crime: boring
my mama told me if i don't got anything nice to say...
the lexa effect (in which the feature carried)
I would literally rather drink my own urine sample
gargle my testicles
jail (where all fiftyfifty, kiof, and ADP songs went)
More on some of those labels later.
Unfortunately, the page this year has 475 songs on it, which is far too many to talk about. So to spare you all your eyeballs and me my keyboard and fingers, we'll just talk about the highlights: the songs that made it into the top two tiers, and a few specials that stood out from the other ranks. I'll leave all my rankings at the end of the page if that's of any interest to you.
To be clear, my rankings are almost entirely based on a single time listening to the song along with the mv, and then making a snap decision and never revisiting it. So... you're free to disagree, and there's a good chance I'll think differently of this in half a year, but this is a snapshot of my tastes now, which has its own intrinsic value, I suppose.
Now before I overanalyse why I want to rationalise my rankings so much...
god is real and this is the bgm to her sex tape
Wildly inappropriate category title, I know, but I should be allowed; I grew up in the church and am more or less still a mainline protestant, I should get to use my trauma like this
Okay, I'm fully biased here. I got into tripleS this year in no small part due to this song, and it's the song I know the most lyrics to of their discography. VERY into the opening/closing poses with 1124 and then 111 (my little monkey ft. 24 and 1, iktr), Kaede's little iteration on the chorus from 사실 난 행복하고 싶은 걸 to 사실 난 행복하고 예쁜 걸, Nien's penultimate verse where everyone kicks up the energy one notch? Beautiful. All of it. No notes, my song of the year.
I've never been a flover, much to the chagrin of some of my friends, but I consider them to be, like, fave-in-laws, if that makes sense. Again, no notes, the music video is so much fun, and this is exactly the sound and lyrics I needed this year actually. I am nothing if not a slut for a great melodic line and fun harmonies (did I sing alto and play something other than a trumpet or flute in band throughout grade school, absolutely), so this song was a sonic DELIGHT to me. Also, can I just say, the rhythm on 다쳐도 놓지 않을 이 Rendez-vous is so fucking delicious. It feels like a call back to simpler days in the kpop sphere and maybe I do have nostalgia for a time I never really experienced. Or maybe that's just me loving big anthem-y songs... Elite stuff, the only note I have is like, maybe I'd change the line Our love is true cause this is too great...
if you have aux and play this i will blow you over the console
again, very inappropriate but for a very different reason. still! fun! and who am i to be the fun police (ACAB)?
I'll admit I don't actually have a lot to say about this one other than like, damn I love a melodic synthpop big room/music song. This is just like, it's joyful to the high school part of me that loves belting out choruses that feel like a Zara Larsen feature, you know?
Just... so much fun with the rhythm here. Again, a bit of that dance-pop I absolutely adore! Is this a little artificially inflated due to my love for Chung Ha at baseline? Sure, maybe, but there are some really fun moments in the mv, I enjoyed the choreo, and honestly, it's just a fun song. What's not to love?
A song with some fun adlibs and a momentum-filled melody with a very hot Kazuha, and also a lsf song that doesn't make me wonder what whether kpop's direction is going to leave me behind in 5 years? Ugh, we LOVE! This year was NOT a Hot Girl Summer for me, but I'm glad it was for some people, and I think this was a great song for it.
I was SOLD by the first guitar riff, and then the chorus was the slam dunk I needed to move this beyond the a vibe, a bop, even! category. Did I mention I love a melody with a lot of motion and a full voice with plenty of adlibs? My partner jokes that they can hear when a song is "Kes-coded", and I think they clocked this one immediately. Extra shoutout to the triplet rhythm in the chorus; triplets are an underused feature that does SO much for the emotion of a song.
Before I was a kpop enjoyer, I did my years in sad boy music. This song feels like the perfect combination of a sad boy verse and that open chorus I love so much. Hard to argue, as well, with Chen's vocal colour. Kind of a poster boy for my favourite kind of song. The bridge was a little forgettable to me, but all is forgiven by the support he has on those high notes, just, ugh, SING IT!
Oh, I listened to this song a LOT this year. I think what drew me in was the piano in the backtrack, which, EXCELLENT note progression to support the main melody. Also a fan of the guitar in the chorus. Simple, doesn't try to overdo anything, and it ends up being a great song to listen to while walking out on a sunny day and thinking about closing my eyes, facing the sun, and twirling like I'm the main character of a drama. Oh! And also the brief acapella part before all the backing explodes back in? Peak!
Not a group I think of myself as a big enjoyer of, but man they knocked it out of the park with this one! That chorus is EXCELLENT, again with another acapella part before everything kicks into high gear again; I definitely need to explore their discography more. LOVE love love a band, and I feel like a Bad Band Enjoyer for having not paid attention to them! Also, can I just say, these girls are also SO pretty (especially Siyeon?!??), and I relate STRONGLY with sprinting to catch a bus #transitlife.
H1-KEY bet you gon' like me! I've been a shooter for them since RUN, and I am UNABASHED in my love for them. They just consistently have a great sound that's so singable and feels like a song that will define a core memory summer. Truly healing an inner child of a wound I didn't know I had!
Imagine my delight when an ICHILLIN' song spoke to me! It's mostly the chorus, the verses are a little whatever to me, but again, it's a very summer song that makes me think about road trips and drive-throughs and riding with the top down with my high school friends. It's special in a way I can't really describe, and I want it forever I think.
Ugh this year was so cruel for taking away Purkie in a time when there seems to be less and less respect for vocal-forward groups. This loss is actually devastating to me, I actually will never forgive RBW for this. If there's anything I'm grateful for, it's that we got this as one of their last releases. What a celebration of their voices and the gorgeous harmonies that made them such a delight to my ears. So, so, so grateful I got to see them live before they disbanded, Purkie there may never be another like you, the kpop music scene is worse for having lost you. You deserved so much better.
Oh, this one makes it here for a number of reasons. For one, this is like, The Sound I think of when I think of kpop and it's nice to see that it's still around, and in such a nice rendition too. My partner immediately asked if this was a H1-KEY song when they first heard it, and that's probably why I like H1-KEY too; a dedication to a really bright and youthful kpop sound.
I do think that the music video does a lot of heavy lifting for me though. Incredible nostalgic colours, the rapturous joy of summer captured in a perfect video, and all the filming locations are places I lived by and went to growing up, so EXTRA close to the heart!
I say this with no exaggeration: MAMAMOO changed the course of my life. So of course I have a soft spot for its members! And none more than Moonbyul, if I'm being honest. I love how goofy she is, how unashamed, I love her story of giving up leadership of a group of her own and being the rapper in a group that is all about the vocals, I love how she's just Doing Her. My criticisms of her over the years have largely related to not having a consistent sound at the start of her solo career, but she's established it over the past bit and this is such a Moonbyul sound it makes my cheeks hurt with smiling (all the moreso because this is also the exact kind of music I love to listen to).
Idk man, something about this feels so nostalgic to me. When I think of boygroup kpop, THIS is the sound I'm thinking of, and I love this stuff! If I could press a button to change out all the straykids skrrrtbap stuff for this, no question, I'd do it in a heartbeat! I love the earnestness of this sound, the full vocals, big fan!
Another very earnest song, especially out of the chorus, and I love the instrumentals a lot too. That driving rhythm, the stripped down vocals, it feels very ethical in terms of how honest the sound is. Also, cockroach boyfriend, you are everything to me.
I can't not hear the Avicii... and my nostalgia for that sound is sufficient to put it here.
God what about this song don't I love? I love the contrast in the song between the verses—soft and acoustic—with the chorus—intense and electric—and the transition between them, I love how the chorus is sung almost angry with emotion, the use of the choir and their gorgeous vocal chords. I love the music video and all the ways love falls apart in them and the intensity of the feeling that belies all of those stories, the variety, the scrolling shots. This is a song I'd want to scream to; isn't it wonderful to feel such anguish because the joy of loving is too great to ever replace?
Wow. I actually can't believe it took me until now to discover QWER. I enjoy this as a contrast to Dear, a little more stripped back, a very honest song. I WILL be paying attention in 2026, trust.
I was so sad that there wasn't Cameo Love on this list... and then my girlfriend, ever wise and resourceful, said "why don't you just add it to the list anyways". So here it is, a song that I love so much it makes my teeth hurt. The production on this is SO good, and I'm wholly obsessed with this lineup. I learned to love Lynn in this, and I will NEVER be over the little lag on the choreo in the chorus, its SO pleasing, gah! The best of the msnz subunit songs by a LONG shot.
Honourable Mentions
These ones didn't make it into my top two tiers, but something about them stood out to me, even if they're in a less prestigious category.
I think my partner said it best: in the current climate of kpop, we need some of Jessi's K-LA realness. So true! This has some of the integrity of old school rap while still maintaining Korean flavour, and also is EXTREMELY Jessi. It feels honest in a way many groups will never be, because this isn't lived experience to them. It's not really my cup of tea, but it sure is nice to have this return and remember what we could have. You know, if we weren't putting an untied durag on every third member of a group doing a hip-hop performance...
This was NOT the release I was expecting out of Soyeon, but damn, okay! Now, I recognise that this is cheating because this is actually a QWER song she's covering (taste, honestly, again another reason to check out QWER more; sorry, QWER for not noticing you earlier), but this was a fairly good cover and I enjoyed the newness of this flavour on her!
Oh SHIT, a real metal song from a kpop group? That is reason enough to put this song here.
I can always count on 10cm to deliver on a fun song with good vocals, thank god. Bonus points is that the chorus repeats the C-D-E-F-G notes as a recurrent theme and I'm delighted by that! An evergreen sounding song, imo, with a fun little music feature that delights me. Well deserved spot here.
This gets a shoutout for committing to that old school kpop sound (by old school, I mean the music I was listening to the older, cool kids put on during snack break at Saturday Mandarin school - a language which I retained extraordinarily little of, though Saturday school did allow me to read a menu somewhat, sorry mom and dad). Lots of nostalgia with this song, and Key does a great job keeping it exactly what it needs to be.
Real ones will know how much I love Haseul, my first LOONA love... I think her voice is SO good for this kind of smooth, soul-esque, R&B-like song. The pan flute is SO good, and the groove on this... Yeah, still my LOONA love...
This is nothing at ALL about the song, which I find to be extremely whatever. But the music video is incredibly charming as a throwback to their older songs and MVs, which I really enjoyed. This felt gratuitous as a long-time fan of TWICE, and the music video brought a big smile to my face. Happy 10 years, TWICE.
Speaking of TWICE... what is Sana doing in this music video? Whatever, she's actually secondary to the song, because good lord I LOVE trot, and this is a prime example of the best trot has to offer! It's probably actually a vestige of my memories of the golden era of cantopop that makes me salivate at this genre, but whatever, this song slaps so hard, it's the perfect one to close out the list.
Full Rankings
no subject
Date: 2026-01-21 06:50 am (UTC)also very validating to see someone else list cameo love as the objective best msnz track (apparently that's not a widespread opinion?). the production IS great and it just works!!
no subject
Date: 2026-01-22 07:09 am (UTC)