The Top Three K-Pop Songs of June 2024

By Nick on June 29, 2024

At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there's a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade.

June 2024 Overall Thoughts

It's been awhile since I've said this, but K-pop is in a really fun place right now. There are a handful of fifth-gen groups consistently creating great music. And unlike past years, these acts are actually at the center of industry conversation, releasing popular songs. I don't have to pray for content or worry about premature disbandment/hiatus. It reminds me of 2019, when a host of rookie acts offered fresh voices. That wave of quality didn't end up persisting into the 2020's, but I have higher hopes this time around.

June joins January as 2024's strongest month, with a handful of 9+ rated songs powering my playlist. The year continues to underwhelm on the albums front, but this has been the strongest year for singles since early 2021. Because of this, my top three was ultra-competitive, with some excellent 9+ rated songs just missing the cut. Things may still switch around in the following months, but for now this is my snapshot of the moment.

At the start of this month, I had a long list of comebacks I was looking forward to. None totally crashed and burned, but some were definitely more successful than others. In general, rookie groups fared the best, with TWS and RIIZE leading the pack. In contrast, longtime favorites Infinite and Sunmi underwhelmed. Pretty much all of my "wildcards" (GHOST9, Everglow, AKMU, CSR, H1-KEY) also came and went without much fanfare. Though summer has technically just started, we haven't seen a ton of explicitly summer-themed comebacks yet. I hope that changes as the season goes on. You all know how much I love my summer hits!

Unfortunately, J-pop continues to struggle in 2024. I can't fathom how I can be so excited about a music market one year and so bored by it the next. I'll chalk it up to most of my favorite acts not releasing new music at the moment, coupled with a downslide in quality from industry leaders like Starto Entertainment. I'm hoping Japan pulls me back during the second half of the year because right now the music just isn't hitting. With that said, my top three of June is definitely stronger than May's offerings and there will be a couple songs in tomorrow's J-pop round-up that are close runners up.

In the coming days, I'll feature my mid-year countdowns for singles and albums (which is why I'm posting this one a little early). June's slate of releases will have a big presence on those lists, and I hope there's still a ton of great music to come in the second half of the year. The scheduled releases for July aren't thrilling me as much as June's lineup, but I'm eager for some pleasant surprises.

Month Cumulative Rating: 7.9

(compiled by averaging the scores of every K-pop review from this month)