Kpop highlights #6 - July

It feels odd writing about summer when it's 9 degrees and pouring rain outside. But I love reminiscing about warmer days through these posts. I could have easily skipped straight to September, but the completionist in me won’t allow it. Plus, I want to leave behind a diary of all the kpop I enjoyed, and I think future me will appreciate this.

July was a month of single albums, Japanese releases, and kpop festivals. Not to mention that NCT 127, ENHYPEN, and Stray Kids dropped arguably the best albums of their careers. And Jimin surprised us with a second solo album! Looking back, I remember it being an extremely busy month kpop-wise and I could barely keep up with all the content from my favorites.

As usual, you’ll find a playlist at the end of this post with all the mentioned songs that are available on Spotify. If you enjoy this post or know someone who would, feel free to share! And drop a comment with your thoughts—that’s my lifeblood as a writer 💜

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Kiss of Life single album

Both tracks on this single album are straight-up bangers! Kiss of Life keeps pushing the boundaries of kpop, both visually and sonically, and I’m beyond hyped about it.

Sticky owned the summer with its sexiness, skimpy outfits, memorable choreo, and ice cream palette. It also blessed us with various male idols trying to recreate the iconic butt dance 😆 Julie and Belle stole the spotlight this comeback, but the entire group is mesmerizing. I’m just so happy to see a girl group from a no-name company becoming one of the leaders of the 5th generation!

Te Quiero’s seductive Latin R&B sound, mixed with 00s nostalgia and soaring Christina Aguilera-like high notes, is pure Kiss of Life magic.

Aespa Japanese single

I didn’t expect aespa to drop something so soon after the life-changing banger of an album that Armageddon was, but here we are.

Hot Mess totally speaks to my aesthetic: neon and pastels, futuristic tech and gadgets, mecha outfits, vending machines, and quirky charm. Sonically, it sticks to their signature sound, so it’s safe to say their Japanese debut isn’t straying far from the Korean releases. I had to double-check because I was shocked this was actually their first Japanese release—feels like it should’ve happened ages ago!

Sun and Moon is the softest song on the album and it’s my favorite. It has that laidback, glittery, feminine sound that I love so much and I have already added it to a couple of my playlists.

Zoom Zoom, on the other hand, is the most high-energy out of these tracks, it has the classic aespa sound with very futuristic electronic instrumentals, repetitive phrases, and talk rap counterbalanced with beautiful vocal runs.

All three songs are right up my alley and I’m glad that aespa has yet to disappoint me!

BE:FIRST x ATEEZ collab

I wasn’t familiar with BE:FIRST until now (I’m working on learning more about Japanese music), but I checked them out thanks to ATEEZ—and wow, I was impressed! The track is top-notch, both musically and visually. From what I’ve learned, BE:FIRST’s focus is on vocals and dance, and they really grabbed my attention during their parts. Plus, the dystopian MV perfectly complements ATEEZ’s usual storyline.

TWICE Japanese album

I don’t usually check out TWICE’s Japanese albums (yes, I know, I’ve been missing out—everyone says they’re even better than their Korean releases), but after their last comeback, I’ve been feeling more serious about stanning the group so I had to see what the hype was all about. I’m happy to report this might be one of my all-time favorite TWICE albums! It’s so my vibe—ten tracks overflowing with summery, aquatic, feminine energy. My personal faves are Dive, Ocean Deep, and Peach Soda.

NCT 127 WALK album

NCT 127 is one of those rare groups where I absolutely love their music, but I hardly know much about the members—except for a select few. I’ve been meaning to change that, but now doesn’t seem like the best time since the group dynamics must feel off due to a recent, unfortunate lineup change. That’s also why I linked the Killpo performance video instead of the MV—this version features seven members instead of nine, with Taeyong currently serving in the military, and another member having left the group.

As usual, SM remains the worst company ever—Taeyong is completely absent from the MV, even though he’s on the album. Other companies have figured out how to include enlisting members in a final MV, even if they can’t join in promotions, and that would have been a nice gesture here, too.

That aside, this is another stellar album and comeback from NCT 127—possibly my favorite they’ve ever released. It’s a career-defining moment for them musically. Out of the 11 tracks, six are undeniable bangers: Intro: Wall to Wall, No Clue, Orange Seoul, Pricey, Time Capsule, and the title track Walk. The rest are really good too, but these are the ones I’ve been playing on repeat for months now.

My winner is Pricey though, it has the kind of addictive groove, funky keyboards, and R&B sensibility that I love. And the way Doyoung pronounces the word “pricey” is just ✨expensive✨.

Overall, this album leans into jazzy, groovy, old-school hip-hop vibes that I’ve adored in their past B-sides, and they’ve refined that sound into even better tracks this time around.

M countdown 20th-anniversary special stages

When people I love perform songs I love by other people I love, it’s basically a triple win! These three performances hit all the marks, so I had to include them.

I’ve also made it my mission to sneak BOYNEXTDOOR into every monthly summary because, let’s be real, they’ve been the unexpected highlight of my year. But I’ll dive into that more in a future post!

My favorite of the three performances is the BooSeokSoon cover by the M Countdown MCs—it just suits them perfectly, and it feels like they’re channeling Seungkwan, Dokyeom, and Hoshi’s energy spot-on.

The I Need a Girl performance between Myung Jaehyun and Youngji also really impressed me—the chemistry was undeniable, and I’m in awe of how much rizz Jaehyun has for someone his age.

Lastly, I need to get more familiar with TWS—I’m still mostly just admiring them from far away but this SEVENTEEN cover helped me warm up to them more.

Jimin MUSE album 

I couldn’t believe it when I found out Jimin was dropping another album while he’s serving in the military! It seems like all the BTS members prepped two albums before leaving—RM and j-hope already released theirs—so now I’m curious who’s next.

For those who follow my content, it’s no secret that Jimin is my all-time favorite idol, and Like Crazy is my favorite song ever. Yes, out of everything I’ve ever heard.

That said, I have to admit, that I preferred Face over Muse in a lot of ways. I always gravitate towards albums with a dark, nighttime vibe over brighter, acoustic ones. While this sound fits Jimin beautifully and the songs are great, not every track will be on constant repeat for me.

The standouts are Who, Be Mine, and Closer Than This. I already wrote about Closer Than This when it dropped back in January, and it still holds up. As much as I think Who is a masterpiece, it pains me that while Like Crazy became a queer anthem, this song couldn’t be more hetero. As I said before, I’m not assuming anything about Jimin’s interests but I’m talking about how I, as a queer kpop fan, can relate to his music. For similar reasons, Slow Dance (featuring Sofia Carson, who I read is problematic) doesn’t resonate with me; plus, it’s very generic American pop, though Jimin does sound beautiful in it. Who is a masterpiece, though, so I can overlook its lack of relatability, but Slow Dance is just not my style. Be Mine is luckily gender-neutral, sultry, with an addictive Latin beat. As for Rebirth and Smeraldo Garden Marching Band, they’re cute tracks that I enjoy from time to time.

Now, let’s talk about the remixes—Who got five of them, and dare I say, they might be even better than the original. The Acoustic remix is so intimate, highlighting Jimin’s angelic vocals. The Rock remix is bombastic and feels stadium-ready. The Funky remix is irresistibly groovy, making it even more danceable. Then there are the Shibuyakei and Beautiful Mind remixes—both bring a cool electronic twist, but my favorite has to be the Beautiful Mind version. The haunting double-layered vocals and the tone of desperation in this version are exactly what I crave in pop music.

pH-1 & Youngji

Nothing much to see here, just two of Korea’s best rappers popping off! They’re literally performing in front of a plain white backdrop but they’re so good that you don’t even notice. The song itself has an old-school vibe, the kind of hip-hop that I like the most.

THE BOYZ Japanese album 

I have to admit, I've become more of a casual fan of THE BOYZ over the years. I’m more into their sultry, sexy tracks (The Stealer, Roar) than their recent refreshing comebacks. But out of curiosity, I checked out their Japanese album and ended up really loving it!

The title track, Gibberish, has an SM vibe—it’s very WayV or NCT 127 when they’re not being too experimental. And I love that style! I’d forgotten the third thing THE BOYZ likes to do besides being seductive or lighthearted: they also excel at aggressive, hard-hitting tracks like this one. Even if some of the lyrics are questionable, the energy is fantastic.

Other standouts include SKIN (sexy and groovy, like something Taemin would do), Forever You (a soft R&B track), and Shout It Out (which starts slow but turns into a 2nd gen kpop style dance track). The whole album is a pleasant surprise, and I’m shocked they didn’t make this a Korean album—it would have been a hit!

SBS Gayo Daejeon Summer performances

This summer’s SBS Gayo Daejeon was such a fun, refreshing surprise! I usually suffer from year-end award show fatigue—everyone forcing in a dance break or some lore even when it doesn’t fit the performance—but this was a whole different vibe. I enjoyed every performance, and none of the things that usually annoy me were present. The casual atmosphere and lower stakes definitely helped.

Most artists performed two songs, one live and one from MR, so when I’m hyping their live vocals, I’m obviously talking about the actual live one.

Here are my favorites, in no particular order!

The Killa by TXT Yeonjun and Soobin because what an iconic homoerotic masterpiece:

NCT 127 because SM is weird about live singing and we rarely hear them this well apart from concerts. The dance break is natural and the camerawork is great:

ENHYPEN because I'm obsessed with this comeback (see more on that below):

IVE because they're amazing performers and I loved the visuals for this stage:

TXT because these two songs are among my favorites this year and their live vocals are god-tier. I need the See You There Tomorrow summer version released (but the fact that Beomgyu is injured and has to sit it out kinda ruins it):

ZB1 Taerae and Gunwook because they're cute:

ZB1 because they performed two of my favorite songs and they're live-singing kings:

Le Sserafim because if I'm not mistaken this was their first appearance in a Korean event (that wasn't just in front of their own fans) since the general public tore them apart over Coachella. They were so confident and shining and pointedly had hand mics all along:

ILLIT because they’re another girl group who’s had a rough time recently and they performed so well:

NewJeans because I love them doing hip-hop choreo and the connecting dance break works so well here too:

And Stray Kids because these songs are bangers, they sang all three of them live, they’re in probably the best form of their career, and they look so beautiful here, especially Felix and Chan:

Hueningkai Wants to Start a Band

It’s been a while since I recommended a variety show, but this one really stole my heart, and more people need to see how talented and charming Huening Kai is! There are only four episodes (plus episode 0), each around 30 minutes, and they’re available on YouTube.

The concept is simple: Kai, who used to be in bands in elementary and middle school, misses playing instruments. Idol life doesn’t give him many chances to do so, so his company created this show to let him live out his band dreams. Each episode, he visits a different university band, learns from them, practices, and performs a song with them at the end. He plays a different instrument each time and you can tell he really is a bit of a musical prodigy.

I loved this show because learning about the Korean university band culture was fascinating and I also adore interactions between idols and ‘regular people’. An idol of Kai’s fame doesn’t really get many opportunities to mingle with normal college students so this was really touching to see. Episodes 2 and 3 were my favorites because the band members he met in those were super nice and it seemed like they could be friends in real life. I hope Kai gets to stay in touch with some of them and maybe join their bands from time to time!

XG - Something Ain’t Right

Obviously, I like everything that XG has released so far but this latest release might just be my favorite! I love when they showcase their incredible vocals and rap over an upbeat dance track.I’m not great with electronic genres, but I’ve read that this one has UK garage and garage house influences, which often pop up in songs I love.

I also loved how they’ve taken the alien fashion that we’ve come to associate with XG to a whole new level here.

Billlie concert 

I’ve mentioned this concert several times on Instagram and in my SEVENTEEN concert post, but it was such a meaningful experience that it deserves its own section here.

Before this Billlie concert, my only experience was seeing idols through screens, never in person. This time, I was almost at the barricade, and it was surreal to finally confirm that the idols I’ve loved for so long through my computer and phone are real. And they looked even more beautiful in person.

Making eye contact with Sheon multiple times was just the most unbelievable thing. I remember rooting for her on Girls Planet 999 and now she was standing in front of me and waving to me 🤯 And Tsuki looks exactly as pretty and fairy-like as I imagined!

This was a relatively short set for a kpop concert (about 2 hours) but observing them from so close made me respect idols even more just because of how intense the set was, and they had to sing perfectly and dance powerfully while maintaining bright facial expressions. And it was freaking hot at the venue!

My favorite performances were GingaMingaYo, Eunoia, and enchanted night. Surprisingly, Ring Ma Bell—which I used to think was just okay—hit differently live. I’m definitely listening to it more now!

Luckily, I have more concerts lined up for the rest of the year, so hopefully, the magic will continue!

Kcon LA highlights

First, I need to mention some covers that absolutely blew me away:

Then we have to talk about these two rookies who have a special place in my heart and they performed so well in front of such a big audience:

And I can’t not mention A.C.E who performed as the true powerhouses that they are, totally blowing away an audience that wasn’t even made up of their fans:

Enhypen Romance: Untold album

I wasn't sure about the chorus melody for the title track XO when I first heard it in the teaser but now that I've heard the full song, I'm sold. The rest of the song, the instrumentation, concept, and visuals are totally my style, so even though the chorus was initially outside my comfort zone, it grew on me—it’s so catchy now.

As for the rest of the album, it’s incredible as always. I’m not exaggerating when I say ENHYPEN consistently delivers some of the best B-sides in K-pop. The entire album has that sultry, late-night vibe, especially with tracks like Moonstruck, Your Eyes Only, Hundred Broken Hearts, and Brought the Heat Back. Paranormal leans into angsty pop-punk/drum & bass, Royalty is more summery, and Highway 1009—written by my man Heeseung!—is a low-tempo, acoustic gem.

Now, I’m personally not a fan of English versions, especially when they feature a Western pop star I know nothing about, so I’ll be skipping any commentary on the last track.

On the flip side, the song and MV do have a painfully heteronormative vibe, which isn’t surprising given it’s Korea, and we gays just can't have everything. But it's just my personal preference so this isn't me throwing shade at the MV! Personally, I prefer when love songs use gender-neutral lyrics and don’t cast characters to represent love interests in MVs—this leaves room for everyone to interpret the story their way, regardless of gender or orientation.

That said, the MV is absolutely stunning and probably their highest-budget production yet. The visuals are mesmerizing, with sentimental color grading and gorgeous bokeh effects. The rain, storm, and fireworks scenes were especially beautiful. And can we talk about those last dance scene outfits? They were impeccable, special shoutout to Heeseung’s glasses look—iconic.

As a side note, it’s so funny to me how they think this is a soft romantic comeback while the album itself is still a masterpiece of the sexy sadness and angst, which is totally their trademark!

ENHYPEN also promoted Brought the Heat Back, but I’ll save that for my August post since that’s when it actually happened.

If I had to nitpick anything, it’s the album art—it’s just too plain for an album filled with 10/10 tracks. I imagined something more striking, like a deep crimson and black design, something that reflects the intensity and depth we saw with the Dark Blood album.

Favorite of the month

Stray Kids ATE album + Slash

Stray Kids is one of the few groups I actually don’t want to see constantly trying new things. They’ve developed a style and perfected a formula that’s intimately theirs—so much so that no one else could ever hope to replicate it. But this time, they experimented a bit, and it paid off.

Chk Chk Boom still has that quintessential Stray Kids feel, but it stands apart from their previous title tracks. The structure is different, and they’ve infused it with some Latin influence, which is new to their repertoire. Even the group admitted it was a bit of a risky move, but they were confident in it as a title track—and honestly, their judgment was spot-on, as it’s been an incredibly successful comeback.

I actually love all the songs on this album, so there’s no point in trying to highlight just one or two. For those unfamiliar, Stray Kids albums follow a distinct structure, and you can easily find parallels between tracks across their discography. For example, Mountains is a classic anthemic opener with superhero vibes. JJAM sits in the third-song slot, bringing in the signature sound and quirky humor that Stray Kids are known for. I Like It is their take on a ‘love song’, featuring an unlikeable and unreliable male narrator, while Runners leans into a futuristic, cyberpunk mood that I’m really into. Twilight is another heart-wrenching masterpiece by Hannie. In the emotional drum & bass track Stray Kids, they narrate their journey, chronicling their path to the present moment (this one hits especially hard for us STAYs, we do bawl our eyes out every time it comes on!) Lastly, the festival version of Chk Chk Boom is a refreshing, summery take on the title track, and I keep coming back to this remix because it adds something fresh to the original.

From what I’ve gathered, this is the only album Stray Kids is releasing this year, which is practically unheard of in the kpop realm. They’ll be touring for the rest of 2024 and likely the first half of 2025, so I don’t foresee a comeback anytime soon. But knowing them, they probably have something special up their sleeves—maybe another Christmas album or a compilation of the many solo tracks the members drop on YouTube (and nowhere else) every month. Honestly, it’s high time those got added to Spotify, too, I want to stream!

I really appreciated the extensive promotion they did this comeback, particularly on the Korean variety circuit. I think every member appeared in at least one, and they made over ten appearances overall if I remember correctly. Their last album had barely any TV promotion aside from music shows, so this was a nice change of pace.

What also struck me during this comeback was how far they’ve come. My favorite group—these boys who used to be the edgy, weird kids of kpop—have become absolute superstars. Just seeing their music show stages rack up 4 million views was a sobering moment. I’ve been through this before with BTS, so I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I want to keep them all to myself, but on the other, I want the world to know how perfect, talented, and kind they are. With fame and a growing fanbase come a lot of unpleasant side effects, though, and I’m starting to sense some of those already. We’ll see how it all plays out, but this comeback has a bit of a bittersweet feel for me. Their popularity has been steadily rising since 2020, but I believe their big, explosive break is still ahead of us. What’s undeniable is that they’re very close to the top. They’ve never looked or sounded better, or seemed happier, and their music still holds that distinctive essence that makes them who they are.

On a side note, they also released Slash for the Marvel OST in July. I’m not a Marvel fan, but the song is a lot of fun—and once again, it has that signature Stray Kids vibe. It reminds me a bit of Easy from 2020.

Out of all the songs in the album, JJAM is my favorite and it got its own promotion period in August, so I will write more about it there.

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As always, thank you for reading, if you got this far, I love and appreciate you 💜

Let me know in the comments what your July favorites were or if you discovered anything new through this post!