Bias & Beyond's Top K-Pop Tracks of 2025
I admit it is going to be hard because I tend to blast things that actually were released in previous years if my Spotify Wrapped was anything to go back but nevertheless I am going to share my top eight (in no particular order) K-Pop tracks of 2025 with as much personal justification as possible as to why I liked them.
Why eight? Because eight is great! And I wanted to be different.
Python - GOT7
As mentioned in a previous entry on this site, Python was my most listened to track of 2025. And it wasn’t until I watched Form of Therapy’s reaction to it on YouTube recently that I realised why exactly it resonated with me. It brought a sound that was sort of detached to the current form of K-Pop that we have been seeing over the past couple of years. GOT7 is an older 3rd Gen group so overall groups from that era have a feel that is very different to current groups but Python took the general GOT7 sound and made it more mature.
Hot - LE SSERAFIM
Spaghetti was the popular comeback for them this year (definitely helped in part with the feature of BTS’s j-hope and anyone who says otherwise is lying to you… and themselves) but the song I truly fell in love with this year was Hot. It was sultry and chill, something that you could listen to on a warm evening watching the sun go down on your front porch. After the unfortunate negative press they got after performing at the 2024 Coachella festival, 2025 was certainly the year that things looked up for the HYBE group. This was actually my second most listened to song of 2025 and Le Sserafim were my third most listened to artist, so that's saying something!
Body - Dayoung
This was the summer jam that I discovered far too late in the season because WJSN were never in my periphery as a group, so I never noticed that one of their members was having a solo debut. Imagine my shock when I listened to this track for the first time and I was transplanted to the early 2000s and my youthful carefree days walking around with my friends after school. Body deserved the recognition and success that it got and I can now definitely say Dayoung is someone I am keeping my out on for the future.
I’mma Be - XLOV
This debut… THIS DEBUT. It was insane. I remember sitting open mouthed for about two minutes after the music video ended the first time I watched it. The base synths during the chorus gave me deep chills the first time I heard it. XLOV is a group that is very much needed in K-Pop as a sort of antithesis to the current crop of “same-same” that we are getting in the 5th Gen. They just celebrated their first anniversary so I wish them all the luck in the world.
In Your Fantasy - ATEEZ
Discography wise, 2025 was an insane year for ATEEZ, with both their Korean album ‘GOLDEN HOUR: Part 3’ and their Japanese album ‘Ashes to Light’ being my top albums of the year. They had a lot of songs on both that I absolutely love from Japanese rock anthem ‘Face’ to the incredibly popular ‘Lemon Drop’ (which has consistently ranked high on a lot of best of 2025 lists) but for me, the stand out track was the all English ‘In Your Fantasy’, their first English title track. I like the little tidbit of information that songwriter Alex Karlsson gave when talking about writing the song- it was originally meant to be called “Lucifer” (hence the lyrics and Luficer motifs in the MV relating to the DC Comics TV show of the same name) but because they didn’t want to get mixed up with SHINee’s famous release, they changed the title at the last minute. Whatever the name, it’s a banger of a tune.
EX - P1Harmony
P1Harmony were the one group that I kept seeing everywhere I went whilst I was in LA for KCON. Seems like I was meant to include them in my best of 2025 and that’s what I did with EX. Seems like last year was all about K-Pop artists making GOOD English language releases and EX was no exception. Loved the piano in the intro and the emphasis of the ‘ex’ syllable for every word that they used in the chorus. Was it a cheesy song? Yes, 100% but it was unashamed of its cheddar status and that’s what made it a great song. Piwon, as they are colloquially known, are a group that I have always seen about but never really delved into discography wise, so this may be the single that changes that for me.
Iconic - xikers
This one surprised me as it was recommended on Spotify after listening to another single (I can’t remember which one it was) and that intro just grabbed me immediately. It wasn’t even the lead single for xikers’ most recent comeback (it was Superpower) but it was promoted as a pre-promotion ahead of the release of House of Tricky: Wrecking the House, the 6th in the House of Tricky album series. Xikers are the “little brother” group of ATEEZ and are slowly getting traction, so I expect great things from them in the future.
Golden - Huntr/x (K-Pop Demon Hunters)
Listen... I am not ashamed to say that I watched K-Pop Demon Hunters the WEEKEND it came out on Netflix. I loved the film without a doubt but I could have never predicted the stronghold that it had around the world. It truly became a cultural phenomenon for the ages, one that has not been seen since the release of the first Frozen movie (and, to a lesser extent, Disney's Encanto during the dark days of covid) Golden was the song that I had on my mind nonstop after the movie and I am so pleased at its international success because, honestly, it takes me back to the roots of what made me love K-Pop in the first place: pure, proud pop. Both the song and movie have already won accolades at the Critics Choice Awards, the first major show of the annual awards season so it bodes well for its (in my opinion, inevitable) success in the upcoming Grammys and Oscars. I would LOVE for this to be the first K-Pop song to win a Grammy!
That’s my list! I would love to know what songs stood out to you in 2025! Thanks for reading!
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