I’m baaaack! Sorta. I’ve forced myself to get back to blogging and get things slightly back on track here. So the next three articles will be monthly faves, starting with May, so let’s get into it!
No particular reason for RV gif here; I just wanted girls dancing, and it was them or Cherry Bullet out of gifs I have saved on WordPress, lol.
TRENDZ – RPZ
Their title track, “Chameleon“, is fine, but “RPZ” stuck with me a bit more. It’s been a while since I’ve had a more hip-hop-leaning track on one of these lists, I feel. I do like them every once in a while. I love the horns in the instrumental, noise music lite. It’s just an easy song to bounce and vibe to. A different sound from some other TRENDZ songs I have saved. I haven’t listened to them in ages, but here are my current saved songs:
- “Nightmare“, “NEW DAYZ“, and “Fantasy” from BLUE SET Chapter. [NEW DAYZ]
- “Breakdown” from BLUE SET Chapter. [UNKNOWN CODE]
- “ven conmigo” and “O.Y.E” from STILL ON MY WAY
TXT – Love Language
I’ve had mixed thoughts on LoLang and three months later I’m still conflicted on it. It’s giving me “Good Boy Gone Bad” vibes. It’s fine. It sure is a song, but I adore the music video. I glanced over my Quick Thoughts article, and I feel the same way. So why is it here on this list? Well, if it comes on shuffle, I’m dancing along and having a good time. Is it one of my favorite tracks of theirs? No, but it’s still pretty good. Out of S-F tier, I’d rank it B, which is still pretty good.
TXT – Step by Step
Awww yeaaaah, now this is more my speed. This is one of my favorite releases this year. Japanese songs have really been hitting in 2025 for me. “Step by Step” is easily my favorite TXT song they released this year. My favorite rap from Kai ever. His vocal tone and flow are everything to me. The highlight of the song for me. Yeonjun kills it too, and I think it’s my favorite TXT rap he’s done now.
YOUNITE – Gasoline
Baaaanger. I’ve been wanting another YOUNITE song to love as much as “Love it”, still my favorite song of theirs, but “Gasoline” is up there. YOUNITE is another group where I have a couple of songs of theirs from different albums, but I don’t listen to them a lot. Mostly because Spotify shuffle is garbage. Similar to TRENDZ, I’ll list the saved songs I have of YOUNITE I need to revist:
- “OMH (Out My Head)” from ANOTHER
- “WATERFALL” and “ICY” from BIT Part.1
- “Love It” from BIT Part.2
And now “Gasoline” and “Twilight Rush,” which, speaking of…
Twlight Rush (Enho and Steve)
It’s been a few months since I first heard this song, and I’m obsessed with it. I added it to my Fave Songs ATM playlist. So it will be run into the ground by the end of the year, lol. Love a good midtempo R&B track. I think I’ve said this before, but I gotta keep a closer eye on YOUNITE. They got some tunes.
Lexie Liu – FFFFF
Not Kpop at all (technically Cpop, I guess, but she definitely has an international Pop sound imo), but I gotta mention my other fave Pop girlie Lexie Liu. “FFFFF” is another hit; I love it. I love these upbeat dance tracks from her. I need to listen to her newest song as of writing, “LIKE U” and just do a deep dive into the rest of her discography. “L” is currently still my favorite song of hers.
no na – superstitious
I’m sure y’all have heard “superstitious” by now. Love love love this song. I’m also just living for this resurgence of girl groups (globally) π₯°π₯°π₯°π₯°.
no na – falling in love
Another banger. I didn’t realize the performance video was out for “falling in love”. I love the beach setting. The harmonies on this song are flawless. Less 80s pop sound here, more R&B with this song.
no na – shoot
And of course I had to include “Shoot”, their debut song. I love the styling and scenery in this music video, really leaning into the Indonesian ties the group has. I will also be keeping a close eye on them as well.
Baekhyun – Elevator
It’s giving “Candy” part two and I’m here for it. Essence of Reverie is my least favorite album of Baekhyun’s as a soloist and under his INB100 label, but it’s still pretty good. I remember “Elevator” immediately sticking with me, whereas the rest of the album felt a little meh for me. We still love Baekhyun in this house, tho. He better come to Atlanta next tour π€.
SHINee – Poet | Artist
Who else was completely blown away by the thought of getting an OT5 SHINee song in 2025?? I like “Poet | Artist” a lot. I love that both me and SHINee both were on the same wavelength to commemorate Jonghyun and Poet | Artist in some form this year. The addition of Jonghyun’s vocals and just the sound is so uniquely Jonghyun and SHINee 5. Funnily enough, “Starlight” has been played more in my house/car than “Poet | Artist”.
SHINee – Starlight
And I think that’s just a testament to how well SHINee knows how to make SHINee music. Because I remember Shawols being concerned about how the remaining four members would be able to carry the group moving forward. Both of these songs are SHINee songs, I love them both for different reasons, but out of the two, “Starlight” is my girl and has been on repeat since its release.
SEVENTEEN – THUNDER
I’ve been “ALO ALO T.H.U.N.D.E.R.” off and on all summer. Kpop is sounding like Kpop again ππππ. Minus Jeonghan being enlisted and not being able to promote with the rest of SVT to celebrate 10 years, and PLYBE not doing much outside Korea for celebrations, I loved this era. I love this album.
We’ve been due for member solos, and this was the perfect time to do it. “Shake It Off” (Mingyu’s solo) and “Damage” (Hoshi’s solo feat. Timbaland) are my top two fave solo songs off the album. I’ve been wanting a Timbaland Kpop collab for ages, so I’m so happy SVT/Hoshi were the ones to do it. I went to a Kpop club night event last weekend, and the DJ played “Shake It Off,” and it was just as perfect in the club as I hoped it would be.
SEVENTEEN – Bad Influence
My favorite b-side is “Bad Influence”, of course. Hands down one of my favorite songs and music videos released this year. I HATE that we don’t have the explicit version on Spotify. Why does PLYBE/HYBE hate me so much? π It’s so catchy and fun. I love the beat; it’s nice to see Pharrell still got it. We’re never seeing/hearing the Neptunes ever again, rip. I think this will be somewhere in my top three fave songs this year. Calling it now.
Red Velvet – IRENE & SEULGI – Tilt
The gays girls are back at it!!!! What an era. What a time to be alive. RIP to that oyster teaser image. I can’t believe how good this follow-up album is. I loved “Monster” and the entire album it was on, also called Monster. I need to get the physical of it along with TILT.
I think I’m more surprised at them continuing the house sound. TILT has a bit more variety genre-wise. It almost feels like SM making up for not giving us another full group release this year. I love love love this album as well. My favorite b-side is “Trampoline“. “Irresistible” and “Girl Next Door” tie for my next fave b-side.
VVS – Fact$
When I tell you I’ve had this song on repeat since my first listen of VVS’s [D.I.M.M.] I’m not kidding. I love this song so much, lol. I love a good material girl anthem. I didn’t care much for the rest of the album. It was okay. “Fact$” was the clear standout to me. I need more from them.
UAU – Good Luck
When I first learned about Dreamcatcher’s subunit, UAU, I was skeptical. “Good Luck” ended up being my favorite song off their debut mini album, Playlist #You Are You. The album itself was fine.
I think I would like it more on my second listen. But I like the brighter sound in this song, like compared to your ‘typical’ Dreamcatcher song. I love the arcade setting for the music video. That was cute. Okay, one more song!
UNIS – See you in my dream
I love getting a softer, slower-paced sound from UNIS. It slaps. I see BrotherSu in the credits; I should have known. I didn’t care for the rest of this album, but that’s okay; I’m still here for UNIS.
Alriiiiiight, one down, two more months to go. June and July will be interesting because I had my Stray Kids and ATEEZ concerts, so I’ve mostly spent these two months listening to them along with TXT and Kai. One, because I have those concerts next, and two, I think Kai’s is just #AOTY for me. It’s so addicting.
It’s been hard to put that album down and listen to other music (besides ATEEZ’s GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3 In Your Fantasy Edition). But we’ll see. I found a couple of songs during my Kpop club night that I hadn’t listened to yet that I loved. But yeah, that’s May.
How are y’all doing? I’ve been writing my book. I’m about 25% (maybe) done, lol. I’ve been fighting the urge to go back and edit what I currently have. I’ve been so bad with my discipline with writing. If I don’t feel like it, I don’t do it, and that’s totally NOT the mindset to have, lmao.
That’s also why I haven’t posted on ATK much. I haven’t been feelin it. I’m still very much keeping up with things in Kpop, but it’s been nice not having to keep up with every single release when it happens. Just listening to music at my pace and not having to worry about numbers (views on the blog).
Although since my break, I’ve noticed the views on ATK have been up. So that’s interesting. I’m gonna thank K-pop Demon Hunters for that, lol. Such a great film, and I love the songs. Highly recommend if you haven’t watched it yet. Alright, I’ll let y’all go. June faves will be next. See y’all then!
Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter, Bluesky, & Instagram.
Take care,
Ashπ«
[…] club event I went to the other week, but it was flawless. As I mentioned at the end of the last article, I spent most of June & July listening mostly to Stray Kids, ATEEZ, & Kai (EXO). So I […]