February was a much more eventful month for me kpop-wise than January! I feel like 2025 finally started to take off and I could barely keep up with all the cool releases that were dropping left and right.
I noticed a revival of the dance music genre this month, which I suspected to be going on for a while, but now I’m quite sure it’s an emerging trend. Other than that, we had exciting girl group debuts and I discovered two groups that are new to me but have the potential to be favorites in the future.
Let’s dive in!
IVE: The pre-release Rebel Heart didn't do it for me personally, but I love the title Attitude and almost all of the B-sides. Flu is probably my favorite, TKO has great rap sections, and You Wanna Cry paraphrases Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody, a song I like. Their visuals are also top-tier tier this comeback!
RESCENE: For some reason, I haven't checked this girl group out yet, even though I’ve heard a lot about them. This was a pleasant surprise and I’m guessing they’ll become one of my big discoveries this year. This mini album is simply flawless and I loved all the tracks on it! It’s totally my style, the direction is somewhat similar to ILLIT and TripleS. I will certainly go back and check out their previous releases.
EVNNE: I love that they came back with such a fun, colorful concept! I’m a huge advocate of bringing back fun to kpop, there’s a bit too much seriousness to it these days. The Hot Mess MV is definitely worth checking out for the comical vibes. I wasn’t as crazy about the B-sides as I’ve been with their previous albums, but there are some I enjoyed nonetheless. Birthday is an unexpected banger.
Jackson Wang: He has many songs that I like more than High Alone but I know a lot of people found this song emotionally impactful, so I’m including it here. I enjoyed the breakbeat elements in the instrumentals! The MV is a very beautiful but depressing visual representation of others observing your pain and suffering without intervening.
Chungha: Omg, she’s back already! Even though her last album only had two tracks, they made a huge impact on me so I kind of felt like her comeback wasn’t long ago. But this is finally a full album that reflects her artistic vision under the new label. And what can I say? Stress is a proper gay anthem! I also found the first five tracks on Alivio pure perfection, my favorites being Creepin’ and Loyal.
One Pact: Jay is back!! I liked all the music they released as a four-member group, but I certainly like them the most when they’re five. I can tell that Tag made the title track 100! so funky because that style fits Jay the most. I haven’t seen this side of them as a group yet but they make it work fabulously. The B-sides are brilliant as usual, I enjoyed WILD: and B2U the most.
ILLIT Japanese debut: Almond Chocolate is probably my least favorite out of everything ILLIT has released so far, but only because I love their other songs so much. It’s a really sweet track, just like the title suggests, and it’s very Japanese in its melody and instrumentation.
Jisoo: Among the BLACKPINK members, I was the least familiar with Jisoo’s musical style and vision, so I awaited her solo eagerly. Earthquake really surprised me with how much I’m into it! I’m addicted to the bass line and at certain points, there is something annoying about the melody, but the kind of annoying that you still end up loving 😂 This is one of the songs that I think might indicate a bigger dance music revival happening in kpop! I still need to warm up to the B-sides a bit more but I’m starting to really like Tears as I’m writing this. I also applaud that it’s a sonically and thematically coherent album.
Kiiikii: I’m a fan of surprise debuts and we had two of those this month! KiiiKii is Starship’s new girl group and I was impressed that the company managed to come up with a concept that seems fresh and not overdone. So far, they have only released one proper track, but based on I Do Me, it looks like they’re going for a natural, hippie-esque look. It’s not my favorite aesthetic but it’s definitely new in kpop. I can’t remember if I’ve ever seen girl group members with barely styled hair on music show stages! The song itself is pretty great. Some people were surprised by the heavy use of autotune, which is not too common for girl groups, but I’m into it.
Jennie & Doechii: As much as I usually dislike kpop collabs with Western artists, there are some exceptions. When artists like Jennie do it, who are already sort of operating within the American music industry and are actually friends with the musicians they’re collaborating with, it doesn’t seem forced. ExtraL with Doechii is one of my favorite songs this month!
ONF: I used to be a pretty big ONF fan but I drifted away a bit in recent years, not only because they were in the military. I like their music the most when they release groovy tracks, so I only vibe with a certain genre within their discography. For example, Slave to the Rhythm off their 2024 Beautiful Shadow album was one of my top songs last year. I'm sooo happy to report that I’m in love with this whole album. The title track The Stranger is perfect, but the song that won my heart over was Night Tale. I added all the tracks from the album to the monthly playlist, they’re just that good!
ZEROBASEONE: WAKEONE, don't give me permanent group hopes if it's fake 😭 This is probably my favorite title track/comeback/album so far by ZEROBASEONE and in large part, it’s because the lyrics kind of imply that there might be a way for them to stay together?? I don't know what to believe anymore but the feelings I get from Blue hurt in the best possible way. I feel like this title track is the pure essence of ZEROBASEONE: an achingly beautiful moment of youth that is so beautiful precisely because it’s ephemeral. Then there are the B-sides: Devil Game, which plays into ZB1’s strength that they often sound like a 2nd gen group, and the three fantastic unit songs. Of those, my absolute favorite is Cruel, a new cunty anthem, performed by Hanbin, Matthew, and Taerae, or as some would say, the diva line. I’m dying to see a live performance!
POW: They’re one of the lesser-known groups that I’m promoting religiously, so I had to include their newest release. It’s a mellow, mostly acoustic song; nothing that really stands out from the month’s kpop landscape but it’s still pleasant.
Hearts2Hearts: The second surprise debut of the month, they are SM’s new girl group. I like the vibe they’re going for a lot more than in KiiiKii’s case (but it only comes down to personal preference, neither of these groups is objectively better). It’s hard to put my finger on what that vibe is exactly, but it’s a bit girly, a bit futuristic, and somewhat uncanny, all of which I like. They also released a B-side, Butterflies, which left me thoroughly enchanted.
ASTRO: I actually don’t have too much to say about this song, but it was emotional seeing them finally release something new after Moonbin’s passing and Rocky leaving the group. I’m rooting for them not to disband! ASTRO is such an important 3rd gen group and I’ve always liked their music.
LISA & Raye & Doja Cat: This collab song also surprised me! While I know who they are, I’m not too familiar with Raye or Doja Cat’s music, and Lisa’s songs are mostly hit or miss for me. But this is a clear win! I even played it on repeat for a few days when I discovered it, a rare occurrence nowadays. Born Again sounds like a disco song that came out in the 80s and I can’t even begin to explain how much that resonates with me.
ALL(H)OURS: I don't know much about this group, I just kept hearing their name here and there. Then I accidentally heard a snippet of their title track Gimme Gimme and got interested. This is a fine album, I enjoyed all the songs but I find it difficult to pin down their musical identity just yet. I'll have to go back and listen to everything they've released so far.
ARrC: The exact same thing happened here as with ALL(H)OURS! I was familiar with their name but never had the time to check them out thoroughly. It turns out they make really cool, hip-hop/jazz hybrid music. Based on that and how their song titles are stylized, it's funny I didn't recognize they were signed under Mystic Story when I'm such a huge Billlie fan! The group's manifesto/mission is also interesting, as well as how international they are (they have Japanese, Vietnamese, and Brazilian(!) members besides the Korean ones). I’m really digging their music, so I might write more about them another time.
I also have a few video recommendations, like last time:
This is one of my favorite “oldie” kpop songs and it’s always a treat when a group covers it. This one’s superb!
Speaking of fantastic covers, I can’t leave out this one. The way Hongjoong produced the MV, the music, wrote his rap verse, and performed the choreo was just divine. He really made the song his own!
It looks like I’m recommending a lot of covers this time! Jungwon has such a unique tone and this song plays into his strengths very well. The lyrics suit someone who debuted early and with a lot of responsibility.
I freaking love this song and performance! I debated between three different performance videos because all of them are that good, but this one wins! Chungha looks majestic and the dancers are just as much the main characters here as she is. If anyone craves more performances of this song, feel free to hit me up 😄
I’m obsessed with this B-side, I just wish we had more performances! I’m sharing this one because the outfits are so sexy. Zhang Hao in this is one of the ZB1 history books…
This was supposed to be included in last month’s post but I only discovered now that the stage existed. This was my favorite song off of KickFlip’s debut album!
For variety show fans and people interested in/loving ZB1, this episode of Salon Drip is mandatory! Hanbin and Hao are so incredibly funny, I was rolling on the floor while watching this, and made me smile on an otherwise shitty day.
I loved this comeback so much so I need to add both of these videos! Night Tale is my favorite song on the album and the Dance Society videos are always nicely filmed.
Minnie’s comeback was also in January but this special video came out more recently. It’s so cool seeing them together and I loved this song!
It’s the bane of my existence when the members of any group release awesome songs that are then not made available on streaming services! I wish they released this (along with other ATEEZ solo tracks) because it’s a banger.
This isn’t KiiiKii’s actual debut song (thank god 😂), just a joke song congratulating themselves on debuting. It’s a fever dream honestly, and I’m including it here because kpop used to be like this and we need more of the unseriousness!
What were your favorite releases or kpop moments in February? Do you think I missed something that I should have checked out? If you discovered anything new through my playlist, let me know in the comments, it always means the world to me! 💜
Yessss, Night Tale! I'm glad you added THE performance of Night Tale. Those outfits are perfect for this song. I also really loved the album. I was a bit worried, since ByuSha was first one not quite for me. But My Identity part 1 felt like both classic ONF and also threading some new paths. I really look forward to part 2. My other fave-fave from this album is Nothing But A Stranger, since I enjoy softer sounds and songs.