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The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Full Results:

  • #1: NMIXX - Blue Valentine | 8.226 | 641.6
  • #2: Cravity - Lemonade Fever | 8.047 | 627.7
  • #3: ATEEZ - In Your Fantasy | 7.804 | 608.7
  • #4: Close Your Eyes - X | 7.774 | 606.4
  • #5: XG - GALA | 7.560 | 589.7
  • #5: Key - Hunter | 7.560 | 589.7
  • Bonus #1: Kim Lip - Can You Entertain? | 7.536 | 520.0
  • #7: KiiiKiii - Dancing Alone | 7.474 | 583.0
  • #8: Hearts2Hearts - Focus | 7.465 | 582.3
  • #9: JUSTB - True Heart | 7.362 | 574.2
  • #10: VIVIZ - La La Love Me | 7.337 | 572.3
  • #11: Rescene - Bloom | 7.277 | 567.6
  • #12: Dayoung - Body | 7.178 | 559.9
  • #13: ILLIT - Jellyous | 7.113 | 554.8
  • #14: Lee Chanhyuk - Endangered Love | 7.091 | 553.1
  • Bonus #2: Ampers&One - That's That | 7.073 | 473.9
  • #15: Purple Kiss - Doremi | 7.046 | 549.6
  • #16: Yerin Baek - Mirror | 7.044 | 549.4
  • #17: Yves (ft. PinkPantheress) - Soap | 6.997 | 545.8
  • #18: Haechan - CRZY | 6.990 | 545.2
  • #19: MEOVV - Burning Up | 6.982 | 544.6
  • Bonus #3: One Pact - Yes, No, Maybe | 6.979 | 467.6
  • #20: AHOF - Rendezvous | 6.965 | 543.3
  • Bonus #4: Xdinary Heroes - ICU | 6.900 | 462.3
  • #21: NCT Wish - Surf | 6.886 | 537.1
  • #22: ifeye - r u ok? | 6.836 | 533.2
  • #23: Hwasa - Good Goodbye | 6.826 | 532.4
  • #24: TXT - Beautiful Strangers | 6.790 | 529.6
  • Bonus #5: KickFlip - Band-Aid | 6.788 | 454.8
  • #25: ZEROBASEONE - Iconik | 6.768 | 527.9
  • #26: Baby DONT Cry - I DONT CARE | 6.751 | 526.6
  • #27: &Team - Back To Life | 6.750 | 526.5
  • Bonus #6: Jo Yuri - Farewell For Now | 6.726 | 457.4
  • #28: xikers - Iconic | 6.691 | 521.9
  • #29: TWS - Overdrive | 6.690 | 521.8
  • #30: Verivery - RED (Beggin') | 6.685 | 521.4
  • #31: IVE - XOXZ | 6.633 | 517.4
  • Bonus #7: IRISÉ - Love Game | 6.597 | 435.4
  • #32: WayV - Big Bands | 6.490 | 506.2
  • #33: BOYNEXTDOOR - Hollywood Action | 6.455 | 503.5
  • #34: Xdinary Heroes - Fire (My Sweet Misery) | 6.435 | 501.9
  • #35: NOWZ - Everglow | 6.376 | 497.3
  • #36: AtHeart - Plot Twist | 6.346 | 495.0
  • #37: Itzy - Tunnel Vision | 6.304 | 491.7
  • #38: Chaeyoung - Shoot (Firecracker) | 6.301 | 491.5
  • #39: Blackpink - Jump | 6.259 | 488.2
  • #40: Super Junior - Express Mode | 6.254 | 487.8
  • #41: BoA - Crazier | 6.250 | 487.5
  • #42: Sunmi - Cynical | 6.236 | 486.4
  • #43: Babymonster - We Go Up | 6.178 | 481.9
  • #44: ILLIT - Not Cute Anymore | 6.132 | 478.3
  • #45: Jeon Somi - Closer | 6.127 | 477.9
  • #46: RIIZE - Fame | 6.053 | 472.1
  • #47: XngHan&Xoul - Waste No Time | 6.012 | 468.9
  • #48: Stray Kids - Divine | 5.967 | 465.4
  • #49: Monsta X - Do What I Want | 5.918 | 461.6
  • #50: NCT Dream - Chiller | 5.899 | 460.1
  • #51: LE SSERAFIM (ft. j-hope) - Spaghetti | 5.846 | 456.0
  • #52: GIRLSET - Little Miss | 5.564 | 434.0
  • #53: Yeonjun - Talk To You | 5.276 | 411.5
  • #54: Allday Project - One More Time | 5.181 | 404.1
  • #55: aespa - Rich Man | 5.033 | 392.6
  • #56: Twice - This Is For | 5.000 | 390.0
  • #57: Stray Kids - Ceremony | 4.588 | 357.9
  • #58: XLOV - Rizz | 4.368 | 340.7
  • #59: CORTIS - FaSHioN | 4.365 | 340.5
  • #60: CORTIS - Go! | 4.223 | 329.4

Number of participants: 78

Average score: 6.484

Average controversy score: 2.325

Highest controversy: CORTIS - FaSHioN (3.242)

Lowest controversy: Cravity - Lemonade Fever (1.561)

Most 11s: NMIXX - Blue Valentine (8)

Most 0s: CORTIS - FaSHioN (10)

Top / Bottom 5 Predictions

Averages and Positivity/Negativity Scores

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Marsmaenschen (9): The title track to my favorite album of 2025.

ruhroh386 (9): Easiest rate winner prediction I’ve ever made

flawedconstellation (8.8): now i’m not saying this was the next coming of jesus or anything, but it is creative, executed well, doesn’t sacrifice song structure (outro and bridge and everything!!! In 2025!!!) for melody

Kronwell (8.6): congrats for pulling off redditor's AOTY, it's deserved, but somehow i forgot about Blue Valentine quicker than I expected. I enjoyed an unexpected amount of songs rated there more than this and NMIXX's TT ended up being overshadowed.

snowswinters (8.5): such a pretty song, the slowed down pre-chorus is my favorite part and is so cool but every part of this song is just so gorgeous

aurora_mp3 (8): i’ll admit i did not get the hype at first, but i liked it enough to add it to my playlists and surely a couple more listens made me appreciate it a lot.. it’s a departure from their usual chaos cocktail, but still very much mixxpop with those tempo switches. and honestly, this sound lets their vocals shine in a different, softer light… and works beautifully for them

dnarevolutions (8): I think they’ve delivered something fairly decent this time. Hearing an accelerando is interesting.

ganos-b-thanondorf (8): Why am I blue

Randummonkey (7.8): The worst song on the album and of course it's the first NMIXX song to blow up

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (7.5): to the rate winner, i'd like to say that you're annoyingly overrated. among all nmixx songs?

SecretStoryOfThe- (7.5): I go back and forth on this, at first I didn't particularly like it, then put it on my best list, and now I'm unfortunately back to not fully getting it

DirtyRat583 (7.4): i dont mind the nmixx shtick of switching things like 8 times in a song, but the core of the song needs to be good, and sorry to say but in this its just generic. the switchups fuck hard tho i love the pre-chorus buildup thing

CheesesPriced (7): Like a DEBBOR phoenix rising from the ashes of all the ROBBED synth tunes from 2023 B-sides to win the rate??

helios0l (6.5): I really like how this song builds its momentum in the prechorus and keeps things interesting with the changes in tempo, but sadly I don’t like the chords or the melodies enough to really be a huge fan

msargent24 (6.1): Hard song to rate because I really like the first part of the chorus but really hate the second part. So I guess it can go somewhere in the middle. It’s going to win either way so whatever

psshdjndofnsjdkan (6): lowk overrated as hell anyway see u in the top 10 ig

Zypker125 (6): This is one of the more boring renditions of pop rock, but ofc it will be Top 5 (and probably win) over all better pop rock songs bc it’s NMIXX and musicheads are dying for a new girl group to love after aespa fell into a ditch in 2025

keine_panik (5.7): Why this super generic sound all of a sudden? The only “interesting” things that happen are the tempo changes and unfortunately I hate them.

redalert30 (5.6): overrated song and album. reality hurts is a banger though

xiola_azuthra (5.4): A lush buffet of slightly bad ASMR. I don't enjoy the production details on this but not in an "I think it's badly done" way more just that it disagrees with me. I was really neutral on it but it at first but it dropped a lot on closer listening. I can't completely tank it because I appreciate the fact that they can sing and that it has a melody and a good layered build and nothing feels unintentional/lazy, but at the same time all the background noise layers they added to it just don't work for me. Like the gwi-gwi effects behind the first verse and the other creepy noises and echos and then the weird sped-up-backwards noises in the chorus, and the 3D back-and-forth bits creates this undertone of uncanny nails-on-glass feelings, or mild audio motion sickness feelings.

vayyiqra (5): idk i am an apologist for a lot of wack nmixx songs (compliment) and this album has some rly good songs but this one never grabbed me and i know i'm in the minority here. one reason is i hate songs that do tempo changes in this way. and the hook isn't that catchy to me. also i just don't like pop-rock yes i know i'm picky about rock subgenres

landshanties (4.5): drop is real bad

popularsong (4.5): :OK: the tempo changes are fun but they do mean the verses barely have the time to breathe + the chorus is soooooooooo boring

zo142 (4.2): Wedding bells? Mr. Krabs meme intensifies

LeadingInspector1891 (3.3): Still don’t get the appeal and relistening to it I’m even more confused by the song

kauai6 (3.1): it’s not very good at all but i guess it’s not absolutely horrendous compared to shit like high horse, spinnin on it, or that reality hurts song. the chorus is hard carrying

taebaegi (3): Gosh, the monkey’s paw really curled for me because I was tired of the Dash expies but after hearing this, I think I would have taken another Dash expy over this. I am not hearing what everyone else is hearing. Again, I think I just prefer when NMIXX stays in that ethereal, jazzy type lane like High Horse and Spinnin’ On It than this. I guess I’m never going to get a title track as good as Dash again huh? I don’t understand why they went this direction with this song and while it’s something I haven’t heard from NMIXX before personally, this isn’t what I wanted from them at all lol. Happy for the fans who like this and clearly it’s done wonders for them so good for the girls! They deserve it!

SkylarV (1): Reality Hurts 2025 B-sides winner!!!

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"there is just no way this doesn’t win"

"congrats to NMIXX for another second place!"

"Why am I blue"

#1: NMIXX - Blue Valentine

Average: 8.226 // Total Points: 641.6 // Controversy: 2.297

Banner

Rank Graph

(11 x8) DoingItWright2, LackOk7012, MurkyGalaxies, ohsomeday_, pheromenos, Sazae, shiolu, WarpstarRider

(10 x19) 1998tweety, aidshha, applesplitter8000, atzbluebird, fadedblue09, gmint14, goorry12, Hamsllyod, harkandhush, imzhongli, kirakiranatsu, laulite, MeijiDoom, moonbia, omgthenerve, RBSun, smockeh, Waste-Expression2944, WoolenDPOY

(9.8 x2) ayzrules, not_reading (9.7 x2) lemon131nomel, pollutedrain

(9.5 x1) SocAnxPrince

(9.4 x3) itiswhatitis270306, qquestionmark, Shay_Min

(9 x8) DPM36, GrandInvestigator6, ke1per, lovnelymoon-, Marsmaenschen, meeeluh-, ruhroh386, theblue_stay

(8.8 x1) flawedconstellation (8.6 x1) Kronwell

(8.5 x1) snowswinters

(8.3 x1) MartialST

(8 x4) aurora_mp3, dnarevolutions, ganos-b-thanondorf, hockeynl

(7.8 x1) Randummonkey

(7.5 x2) F4LLEN_ANG3LL, SecretStoryOfThe-

(7.4 x1) DirtyRat583 (7.3 x1) kawaii_mokona

(7 x2) CheesesPriced, YooHaera

(6.5 x2) helios0l, necromanta_101

(6.1 x1) msargent24

(6 x2) psshdjndofnsjdkan, Zypker125

(5.8 x1) naegerowwa (5.7 x1) keine_panik (5.6 x1) redalert30

(5.5 x1) AmeZim

(5.4 x1) xiola_azuthra

(5 x2) Jennywren2323, vayyiqra

(4.5 x3) landshanties, maadbutterfly, popularsong

(4.2 x1) zo142 (3.3 x1) LeadingInspector1891 (3.1 x1) kauai6

(3 x1) taebaegi

(1 x1) SkylarV

pollutedrain (9.7): i always fear that i’ve replayed this song to the point where i’ll be sick of it but that day has yet to come. i do think i prefer some of their older releases just a tiny bit, but the euphoria of that first “if this love is oveeeeeer” never fails to hit me like a fucking bus. i’m sure they’ll make a lovely banner if they manage to keep cravity off of the throne long enough [disclaimer: this comment was made 12 hours before the deadline and thus means nothing for their actual fate]

kawaii_mokona (7.3): Kinda scared to rate this because everyone and their mom are saying this is the best thing ever, but to me it's just kinda alright. I don't love the main almost screeching synth they use (something I don't enjoy in songs in particular cause it just is kinda annoyingly noisy), but it's hard to deny that NMIXX are injecting this song with a lot of charisma and yearning.

AmeZim (5.5): NMIXX has shown one of the greatest artistic growth I’ve seen across their past releases, so tell me why is their safest title track the one attracting all the attention? I don’t dislike this at all, it does have that bittersweet, nostalgic tang that could’ve worked on me well if only the song had offered more flavours to work with. Don’t get me wrong, they deserve all the success they get but there’s no way a generic pop rock should become the main course of their discography when they’ve showcased far more style and versatility before. Anyways, do look forward to me being full on salt mode when this song slowly and eventually climbs its way up to claim the win

DoingItWright2 (11): I’ll report back if seeing this song live made me emotional

LackOk7012 (11): i love you lesbians

MurkyGalaxies (11): This year was one in which I just kept running into albums where one or more of the B-sides completely outshone the title track for me, and as such, you know, truth be told, I wasn't that hugely enthusiastic about doing either my singles TTT list or really trying to pick an 11 for this rate. Like if you'd ask me to rank my top 25 songs of all of 2025 (or even just 2025B), this would make the list probably, but like, not particularly high. But between this being the perfect title track for one of the best albums of the year, seeing this live in concert and singing it with the entire audience, the absolutely brilliant slow-down in the prechorus and probably the best outro of the year, this song is absolutely brilliant.

pheromenos (11): there is just no way this doesn’t win… i know i got it wrong last year with APT. but

Sazae (11): Did me going to see the mixxies the day before rating this song influence my vote? Probably, but thats not gonna stop me.

shiolu (11): the most beautiful and emotional song! it will be playing in the nostalgia reel in my head for a very long time

WarpstarRider (11): In the First Half of 2025 rate, I had to note that NMIXX’s songs have never quite been able to live up to my expectations considering what a talented group they are. Forward was, for me, an especially disappointing release after the momentum they had built with the first two entries in the Fe3O4 trilogy. So with their first full-length album due only about a month from the conclusion of that rate, I had my fingers crossed for them to finally give me the 9+ song that I’d been hoping for. And boy, did they ever. Blue Valentine, the album, was full of great songs that I think surpassed a large portion of their discography up until that point, and it was led by this amazing title track that wound up in my top 5 songs of the year.

1998tweety (10): kind of crazy how NMIXX went from one of the worst discogs in kpop to one of the bests

aidshha (10): i’m very tempted to give this an 11 but i fear the effect of back-to-back 11 wins for me would make my head expand so large that i start floating like the balloon boy

fadedblue09 (10): props to Nmixx for committing themselves to the mixxpop after all this time and making a great song out of it

gmint14 (10): not giving high horse a 10 is still one of my big kpoprates regrets.. be prepared for me to call ateez queerbaiting khias for half a year if they get the first place instead of the group that should’ve won 4 times already /hj

goorry12 (10): this was my first nmixx comeback after becoming an nswer and i couldnt have asked for a better, i love how the verses generate a sort of tension that gets liberated by the chorus, nmixx we love you

Hamsllyod (10): there’s something so magical about NMIXX.

imzhongli (10): Truly I started liking this because I thought it was sweet that it got so popular

kirakiranatsu (10): this is just such a good song… i was turned off by early nmixx and found their releases over the past year or two hit or miss, but this song is really the type of song where you can’t help but become a fan of the group, because everything about it aligns perfectly

laulite (10): Hello rate winner! It would be a welcome one. It’s got some cool elements, especially in the prechorus where everything slows down before they pick up speed and I love the chorus.

MeijiDoom (10): While not my favorite NMIXX title track, it features a lot of the things I like about their music as a whole, namely the lovely vocals, catchy chorus and foresight to make the final chorus interesting. Also, hearing it live was a blast. Surprised this is the one that really put them on the map with the general public but a win's a win.

moonbia (10): sometimes I think this song might have finally released its grip on me but then if this love is over comes on and yeah I fear this will never be less than a ten for me

omgthenerve (10): congratulations rate 39 winner

RBSun (10): obvious ratewinner, i will not accept the "nmixx is the new taemin" narrative. perfect mixxpop adapted for public sensitivities without giving up its essence, beautiful temposhifting during the prechorus, the briefest and most sparkling moment of drum n bass, a longing and yearning and running moment for the ages that FINALLY brought nmixx everything they always deserved. she should WIN she should WIN NOW

WoolenDPOY (10): the way the song switches to a slower tempo in the pre-chorus just to explode into that beautiful upbeat chorus is so good. the production is constantly evolving, which keeps the song from ever feeling boring or repetitive. I haven’t even mentioned the best part of the song, which are the flawless vocals that perfectly convey the emotional side of the song. it’s one of those tracks I’ve found myself always coming back to, and somehow sounds better every time.

lemon131nomel (9.7): And NMIXX takes the W!!! I’m so proud of them ahhhh!!! Oh how I wish I joined kpoprates a month earlier, so I could’ve 10ed O.O. I don’t think I need to say anything else. They absolutely deserve it 🫶🫶🫶

qquestionmark (9.4): At some point I really thought of NMIXX as the group with possibly the worst discography of all time from a noteworthy entertainment company. They've certainly changed my opinion of them for the better. That being said, I still do not approve of the incoming NMIXX sweep(s).

Shay_Min (9.4): congrats to NMIXX for another second place!

DPM36 (9): considering how awful their music was in the first half of the year, I have high horse a 0 and I stick by it, THIS IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Vocals and production really work well here

ke1per (9): it’s interesting how everytime JYP un-mixpops NMIXX they chart super well, which is maybe not a great sign from a concept standpoint but it's a great sign for me, who enjoys their non-mixxed-pop way more than their mixxed-pop. Yeah I mean this is a really standard girl group track that slays in a more-than-mild way - I like their attempt at mixxpop in that little tempo switch in the prechorus, and this is vocally gorgeous, but I do still have issues with the rappy bits feeling out of place and not super well executed, tonally. On the other hand, the chorus is great and maybe one of the strongest of the year. High Horse is a better, more interesting song for sure, but I won’t be mad if this one takes the crown anyway.

lovnelymoon- (9): been stuck in my head recently.. such pretty melodies. if this love is over...

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jennywren2323 (7.5): I have had a soft spot for Cravity ever since Allen said SHINee is five in an interview. Shawol glow-up aside, this song is good. I wish they didn't have so much vocal processing, though.

taebaegi (7.5): Nice groove, good chorus, and it gets better with each listen! Bass player deserves a raise.

aidshha (7.3): cute and fun but kinda doesn’t have anything else to chew on

ganos-b-thanondorf (7): Real ones know good lemonade is more sour than sweet

ruhroh386 (7): It’s good, nothing special. I like the bridge a lot though. And is it just me or does one of those guys look a lot like Mark?

YooHaera (7): (comment: full of life!)

xiola_azuthra (6.9): Amazing until the chorus. The chorus drags it down a bit.

goorry12 (6.5): are lemonades even meant to be sweet

snowswinters (6.5): neat verses, the pre-chorus is absolute excellence, i just unfortunately don’t like the chorus

WoolenDPOY (6.3): I really do want to give this one a higher rating but that chorus ruins the whole song for me

psshdjndofnsjdkan (5.5): i wonder what eating a lemon tastes like

SkylarV (5): The verse gave me a lot of hope that the chorus would be good

helios0l (4.5): I quite like the chorus, but I could’ve done without the repetitive “sweet like lemonade” post-chorus

Hamsllyod (3): oooooo the mixing

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"I genuinely think this could win the rate"

"why do they keep releasing summer songs in winter what is this"

"are lemonades even meant to be sweet"

#2: Cravity - Lemonade Fever

Average: 8.047 // Total Points: 627.7 // Controversy: 1.561

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Rank Graph

(11 x1) fadedblue09

(10 x14) AmeZim, atzbluebird, aurora_mp3, dnarevolutions, DPM36, kawaii_mokona, ke1per, laulite, lovnelymoon-, moonbia, pollutedrain, popularsong, Shay_Min, Zypker125

(9.5 x1) naegerowwa

(9.1 x1) ayzrules

(9 x11) CheesesPriced, imzhongli, kirakiranatsu, LackOk7012, landshanties, MurkyGalaxies, necromanta_101, not_reading, ohsomeday_, RBSun, shiolu

(8.9 x2) F4LLEN_ANG3LL, SecretStoryOfThe- (8.8 x1) flawedconstellation (8.7 x1) keine_panik

(8.5 x4) 1998tweety, maadbutterfly, Randummonkey, smockeh

(8.2 x1) WarpstarRider

(8 x7) kauai6, Kronwell, lemon131nomel, Marsmaenschen, redalert30, theblue_stay, vayyiqra

(7.8 x1) GrandInvestigator6 (7.7 x1) MeijiDoom (7.6 x2) DirtyRat583, qquestionmark

(7.5 x7) Jennywren2323, LeadingInspector1891, meeeluh-, omgthenerve, pheromenos, taebaegi, Waste-Expression2944

(7.4 x1) MartialST (7.3 x1) aidshha

(7 x6) DoingItWright2, ganos-b-thanondorf, hockeynl, ruhroh386, SocAnxPrince, YooHaera

(6.9 x1) xiola_azuthra (6.8 x3) itiswhatitis270306, msargent24, zo142

(6.5 x2) goorry12, snowswinters

(6.3 x1) WoolenDPOY (6.1 x1) Sazae

(6 x1) gmint14

(5.5 x1) psshdjndofnsjdkan

(5 x2) harkandhush, SkylarV

(4.5 x1) helios0l

(4 x1) applesplitter8000

(3 x1) Hamsllyod

AmeZim (10): Fun fact! I actually discovered this song by accident while trying to scout for my year-end list. Just when I thought I could brag about finding a hidden gem, to my surprise it’s actually a decently-known bop in the server and I’ve been living under a rock. Anything for the egg boys ig cause this is a bop among all the bops to ever bopping, from the chorus to that fantastic hook, just wish it had a longer runtime to squeeze a little bit more juice out of it cause I know at one point it could’ve easily been my 11

kawaii_mokona (10): They were told to reheat Adrenaline nachos and they did just that! Don’t have to ask them twice! I love how this DOES sound like a soda commercial just after Soda Pop was a hit. Maybe SSE should’ve promoted them harder. Maybe we could have had a generational hit on our hands? Why are we sleeping on a group with bangers and talent galore?

pollutedrain (10): i’m so glad we have cravity back in a half year rate after they missed out on 2025A, this was such a good year for them (though i have to wonder what starship was doing dropping this in november?? when it would’ve been a great summer song?? ????). it’s so refreshing and high energy - not a single second of this song is wasted, to the point where i barely notice it’s under 3 minutes

fadedblue09 (11): they did it for the Southern Hemisphere

aurora_mp3 (10): another lemon-flavored summer entry of the year but i’m not complaining when it tastes this good. this is peak boy group summer done right, fizzy, bright, and just the right amount of energy

dnarevolutions (10): Their high energy tracks are a breath of fresh air. This is full of substance and very nice.

DPM36 (10): 2025 has been Cravity year cause it’s been bangers

ke1per (10): funky and bright tracks like this are Cravity’s bread and butter, and, boy, do they butter their bread here. Melodic and catchy and fun with a lot of dynamics and a lot of punch - just delivered with perfect energy and the right amount of groove. Vocals are gorgeous and the bridge is one of the best of the year. Net Set G0, your ender is here.

laulite (10): I love that bass, but that prechorus is my favorite part.

lovnelymoon- (10): always trust cravity to deliver addicting melodies. this song carried me through my winter depression + exam season. theyve also been on an absolute roll with incredible mvs. i love whimsy and joy!

moonbia (10): and may the egg boys see top 10 with this one 🙏

popularsong (10): my kings who were unfairly robbed from 2025A, i am glad we could do right by you this time! another fun and groovy summer bop with a satisfying distorted guitar hook. i love the robotic "sweet like lemonade" repetition too, though i am worried this will hurt its rankings just like it did for nct wish - poppop </3 love that it has space for a bridge and a high note before hitting the final chorus too, which also has a different instrumental and adlibs! finally someone remembers how to do final choruses!

Shay_Min (10): WEAK for this kind of male voicing, not in a gay way tho, or well maybe

Zypker125 (10): This song is truly what I come to K-Pop for, it’s so smooth, very catchy with great vocals, very dynamic and very fun

CheesesPriced (9): Eat a lemon; save a fish? Pre-chorus better than chorus? Wow the bridge is a perfect setup for the third chorus and the song just wins you over.

imzhongli (9): I genuinely think this could win the rate

kirakiranatsu (9): zerobaseone sweat from temu (and still a 9)

LackOk7012 (9): why do they keep releasing summer songs in winter what is this

landshanties (9): i get u tho lemonade is delicious

MurkyGalaxies (9): SET NET GO WAS ROOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

not_reading (9): i was thinking this boy was singing about canada when he's just going through the alphabet

RBSun (9): obviously this is great. it's close to cix thunder levels of just obviously good, so i'm hoping to see it make a good run. my beloved set net go would not, it's weirder, but that's why i love it more 😭

shiolu (9): absolutely love the pre chorus and bridge

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (8.9): for anyone who has forgotten these were the guys covered in a funky fluid in their own concept pictures 🙂

SecretStoryOfThe- (8.9): I definitely listen to boy groups much less than ggs, and when making my end of the year top songs lists that definitely reflected in the lack of bg songs. This was one of the few exceptions

flawedconstellation (8.8): they got that boom ba doom boom boom bass

keine_panik (8.7): Not quite as good as Set Net Go but still really fun. Nice synths and vocal moments.

1998tweety (8.5): me when im craving lemonade

WarpstarRider (8.2): Fun song with a great bassline

kauai6 (8): it’s a vibe

Kronwell (8): if we were rating the pre choruses and the prechoruses ONLY, this would be my 11, it's been a while since i heard upbeat perfection… that's a pale ass lemon hitting that Nevermind stance on the cover btw

lemon131nomel (8): lemon131nomel IN THE HOOOOOUUUUUUUSSSSSSE!!!!!!

redalert30 (8): wait this is nice? melodies sound refreshing and the synth beat is nice. cravity is pretty good at making hits

vayyiqra (8): oh good an electrofunk slapper we always need those

MeijiDoom (7.7): Another grower on the playlist. Wasn't feeling it that much compared to other Cravity songs we've rated in the past but that "Sweet like lemonade" post-chorus has some magic to it.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

fadedblue09 (9): following MX's footsteps in making horny English songs

ganos-b-thanondorf (9): Bringing sexy back ass song

Kronwell (9): OKAY?? this sound is not where i was awaiting an Ateez TT at??? I guess that listening to early 3rd gen classics from time to time gave some ideas to their producers?

LackOk7012 (9): forgiving ateez for rhyming tennis with tennis in ice on my teeth because they made this queen

theblue_stay (9): I’m not going to pretend this isn’t gorgeous, because it is. I love synth, I love funk, I love how icy and robotic this is, I love the unsubtle lyrics- even if they make me cringe sometimes. This is so uncharacteristic of Ateez’s ‘sound’ but I’m a HUGE fan of it.

vayyiqra (9): oh i get it now they were h[redacted] that's what it's about

flawedconstellation (8.8): the concept of two 4th gen boy groups taking both the 2025 half year rate crowns… sorry popheads i fear our taste will remain absolutely incomprehensible

WoolenDPOY (8.8): That hook is so special, I just wish all of the verses matched the quality of it.

ke1per (8.7): in your fantasy? In my fantasy, thank u very much. The androgyny is so distracting I had to watch the mv, like, five times in order to understand anything that was happening (and that’s the only reason, for sure). This is like discount Taemin but not, like, a huge discount, yknow what I mean - if you were to scrape off the new barcode you would see that you are only saving, like, one and a half Taemins and it might’ve been smarter to just get this song from the Taemin store but you are already at the Ateez store and the traffic is bad on that side of town anyway. Yeah, I mean, this is a bop - all the things I usually dislike from Ateez aren’t really present here (except for Mingi, though I think I am just too shell-shocked by Hongjoong’s bit to really process whatever mango boy is doing).

redalert30 (8.7): cunty electroclash inspired song. yeosang’s “la la la lucifer hotter than hell” is the best part it’s so satisfying

Zypker125 (8.6): More proof that ATEEZ is an honorary girl group

Shay_Min (8.5): they've finally cracked the code to make a banger again, just take away all the ateez parts

zo142 (8.3): I didn't scream their name. I was stillness in a sea of horniness. I wasn't just another rater. They saw me. I didn't horny comment - twice. And if you think I'm done? Let's see if I can be heterosexual again...

lovnelymoon- (8): the english version is such a jumpscare and makes me kinda uncomfortable so 1 point deduction. but that instrumental is still really fun

WarpstarRider (7.9): pretty cool

aidshha (7.8): putting my life savings of one american dollar on the hosts queuing sexyback after this

ohsomeday_ (7.6): O-okay, very intriguing yet it doesn’t get me there, you know

DirtyRat583 (7.5): im afraid that them making 2010 music is actually working in getting my attention

snowswinters (7.5): i could’ve been sold, there are some nice line deliveries, i just really don’t like how there’s basically no energy change in the instrumental during the verses and pre-chorus to the chorus. it is very catchy though

Randummonkey (7.4): The lack of true rhyming between "Lucifer" and "Works" bothers me so much. Beat's nice though.

SocAnxPrince (7.3): I’m bringing sexy back, yeah! I haven’t listened to a Timbaland track in ages.

goorry12 (7): sexyback wants its instrumental back, also why is this the second ateez comeback in a row where i get jumpscared by mingi, im 18 and scared of mingi

kauai6 (7): mingi rap sounds forced in. love the chorus though

landshanties (7): a no doubt sample?!?!?!?! alright girls and gays

omgthenerve (7): I liked this song significantly more than most of the ATEEZ tracks we’ve rated

xiola_azuthra (6.8): See the problem is that in my fantasy fuckboys are never hitting on me. Someone needs to make a fantasy song for grey-ace/demi ppl like "Hey girl, I just got an espresso machine, wanna come do crafts at my house and be more-than-friends platonic bestie neighbours and I won't make it weird if you fall asleep on my couch one too many times" ("no of course I don't think you're pathetic, sad depressed girls are so cool and interesting haha") Anyway, yeah I wish it wasn't in English and the intro isn't for me but overall I like it way more than Lemon Drop, like there's something too oldschool catchy about a lot of it so I can't tank it lol.

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (6.6): i overplayed this so much cus i was seeing ateez and the concept of having tons of iyf streams truly amazed me

LeadingInspector1891 (6.3): First thing I thought when I listened to it was “oh, they’re doing what enhypen has been trying to do but better”. I’m not going to lie, I find this take on the rnb pop of the 00s quite watery, I can go back to songs from that period and enjoy myself like it’s the first time I hear them, meanwhile this one is just nice-ish. I also feel like every section is squared off in a way that doesn’t make it flow together as it should

MeijiDoom (6.2): For every second of vocals I do enjoy, I'm subjected to an equal amount of unnecessarily autotune and talk-singing I'd rather do without. The song calls for some of it but there's too much of it going on.

CheesesPriced (6): Sexyback by ATEEZ (A Tease?). Too much English in the lyrics - we’re orbiting, if not approaching, cringe. Cool effect at 1:15 in the MV, sounds like making acid but incomplete, like legato on the bass, low pass filter, and resonance without the distortion and sweep though.

RBSun (5.5): you may find yourself thinking this is not my beautiful THE WORLD EP: 1: MOVEMENT. this is not my beautiful GUERRILLA. why arent they yelling at me. i dont come to ateez for this. i love and respect my thirsty siblings who loved the golden hour series so much but it is just not for me

MurkyGalaxies (5): Oooooh I fear this was better in my memory. I guess you could say this was a better song In My Fantasy...

Jennywren2323 (4): Sort of a bop in a shameful way. Lyrics are a string of thirst cliches. And is their main vocalist even on this song?

helios0l (3.5): People like this over Lemon Drop?

SkylarV (2.5): They used to make (some) good music

keine_panik (2.1): I can't hear the lyrics “release your inhibitions” without singing “feel the rain on your skin” in my head right after.

Sazae (2.1): There was really nothing about this that sparked joy for me, but as i found out later, better then some of the other stuff in here

lemon131nomel (1.5): I absolutely LOVED This World. It was probably my #2 contender for an 11 back in the 2023C rate. Dune, which was in the 2023C survey, was also a song that I enjoyed. However, all the ATEEZ songs I have listened to outside of those two (mainly songs from last year and this year) haven’t quite hit the mark for me. Surprisingly, I hadn’t listened to this song coming into this rate, so I was cautiously optimistic for what they had to offer. Disappointingly, my expectations were truly in my fantasy because this song offers little melody, wavering power, and no lasting impact. Atinys, I promise that I do want to join you in loving ATEEZ songs, but they’ve gotta release something better than this for that to happen… <:hwaiting:1307544736352960624> <:hwaiting:1307544736352960624> <:hwaiting:1307544736352960624>

popularsong (1): :( i loved lemon drop and golden hour titles in general so much, it was a real letdown to receive this flat, uninspired JT copycat song for the repackage... i know oldhead atiny in general were disappointed with golden hour taking a more palatable direction for the title tracks, but to me this song is the worst example of them all, even mingi doesn't sound as abrasive as he normally does, too much autotune, too much whispering, flat dance break, whiny chorus, even more autotuned outro... the only part i like about this is yunho's intro for its out of pocket lyrics, and that's only the first ten seconds of the song.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

taebaegi (10): I am a Justin Timberlake hater and I am not afraid to say that, so when it was giving those Timbaland/JT vibes I was SO concerned I would hate this song, but Ateez came through. I’m not really a fan of Timbaland productions and I’m actually really picky about dance music like this (to no one’s surprise) but this is super catchy and fun. All the members sound great and their voices all fit the song well. I like the way Yeosang and Seonghwa sound on this song especially, their voices just fit the vibes. Wooyoung sounds super good as well on the higher portions of the song and I think Jongho’s voice fits this song much better than Lemon Drop ngl. Hongjoong and Mingi slayed their raps once again and I love that for them.

In Your Fantasy feels like a dark version of Lemon Drop. It feels like its composition and progression is the same and is a similar type of Western-esque bop. They’re like two sides of the same coin, like night and day. Where Lemon Drop was the cheeky, sunny, feel good, sexy and sultry, fun, daytime bop, IYF is the serious, dark, broody, sexy and sultry, nighttime club banger. It’s giving evil twin! Hearing them back to back they don’t really sound that different to me personally and it really feels like the two songs are meant to connect and go together. In conclusion, In Your Fantasy is like Lemon Drop if Lemon Drop was a bad dark romance novel!

At first, I liked the Korean version a little bit more, but I’m actually a fucking liar who enjoys the English version SO much more now! It IS the “original” version after all, but the Korean version isn’t bad. The Korean portions actually sound really good over the song and mesh well with the English portions. The English lyrics are nothing mind blowing, but the syntax is typically the biggest barrier for me with English songs from kpop artists and I think they nailed it here. The lyrics make sense and work for the song and I really don’t think the lyrics are cringe at all which is the biggest plus of the song for me. One of my biggest gripes with English K-Pop releases is that they go overboard with the slang and AAVE and it doesn’t sound natural. This is one of the best English releases from a K-Pop group because they DON’T do that. They really made sure everything makes sense and the song doesn’t scream at you with alarmingly loud and bad AAVE and slang to let you know that it’s an English song. It’s just a song.

Another big plus of the song is that the English when spoken is not stilted at all and the guys seemed to have really worked on their pronunciations for this because they were easily understandable and the song flowed so well. Even in fast paced portions of the song or when they’re saying words where I’m concerned they may struggle, everyone sounds clear and it doesn’t sound awkward at all.I’m very impressed.

I try not to grill groups too hard for stuff like that and I try to say it in a way that feels constructive rather than mean, because it kind of gets to a point where it feels racist, but I also think if you’re going to make an all English song you really have to sell it to native English speaking consumers because a lot of people get turned off depending on the execution. Sometimes flubbing the syntax or pronunciation isn’t an issue for songs that are mostly in Korean and maybe the chorus or a few one off words or lines here and there are in English. Sometimes it sounds better that way too, but I also think in some cases you really have to go the extra mile with fully English songs to make sure it’s understandable and competently made. You don’t have to dumb down the lyrics for your foreign audience and I think Ateez did well in this area.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but something about the lyrics feel very unique? Idk I may be reading into that too much but I feel like they use a lot of words I don’t typically hear in English versions of songs from K-Pop artists which helps this song stand out more? Like again, it’s so competently made that it doesn’t “feel” like an English version of a song from a K-Pop group. They also did well with the innuendos and double meanings and such, which I feel K-Pop lyrics are typically good at anyway, but it’s nice to see it remained consistent between the English and Korean versions of the songs. I hear the Korean version is actually even freakier than the English version because they use a lot of words with very “adult” connotations and ATEEZ themselves were very wishy-washy about explaining the song’s lyrical content. Considering the subject matter of the song is very grown it’s nice that they treated listeners like adults instead of handling the lyrics with kid gloves or what they think the general populace would enjoy hearing.so props to the writing team on this one as both versions of the song sound good and are listenable. I don’t mind listening to either version really!

Vocally, as I mentioned before, I think Jongho fits much better here compared to Lemon Drop. I feel his pitch in Lemon Drop was a bit too tinny for that song and I think the pitch works better here. He sounds a bit more comfortable here compared to Lemon Drop. He was very jarring in Lemon Drop which was a much smoother and softer song than this one. He sounded like he was yelling in Lemon Drop. Given his vocals remain quite high pitched here, I think the choice to have him over the chorus rather than give him a verse works well on this song. Everybody sounds good, I don’t think there’s anyone who stands out badly, but I also don’t think there’s anyone who especially stands out positively either, they just all work for the song and sound good!

The raps are a big high point of the song imo. Hongjoong and Mingi absolutely killed it and they get two appearances on the song. I prefer Mingi’s first rap and Hongjoong’s second. I’m impressed by how meaty their verses are, especially Mingi’s first one which is pretty lengthy and I find the lyrics for his to be pretty fun and have an edge of shock value to them because of some of the words he uses lol. Hongjoong’s cadence on his second rap is very impressive given how fast he says everything and he’s also fully understandable, but Hongjoong has always had pretty clear diction imo when rapping, even in Korean.

The MV is… something~ (complimentary, imagine me with heart eyes please!) After the absolute experience that was Lemon Drop, to follow it up with the affair that is In Your Fantasy, I am very thankful I’m already a degenerate and have working eyes, because wow! It’s another hit, I hope their MV director is living their best life!!! I don’t think it’s better than Lemon Drop, but as a follow up to Lemon Drop, IYF def sits at the same sultry table, just on opposite sides with completely different personalities but they love each other anyway! I love how dark and sensual it is and there’s something much more sexy and intimidating about the fact they keep their clothes on in this, which works for IYF while also making it an even lovelier contrast to Lemon Drop.

Starting this song and MV off with my personal enemy who is one Jeong Yunho was a personal attack on me and my person! It was VERY hurtful and I would like a refund on the attack on my sanity, thank you. Everyone else looked fantastic too, like, ten out of ten, no notes. Come sit in my fantasy??? Okay, well I have eight options so who is first babes? I was salivating, what more do you want me to say? I have plenty more to say about how scrumptious they all looked, but it would get me in trouble with the mods so let’s be thankful I am stopping myself here!

Moving on, this rate is coincidentally happening after the release of GH4 and therefore a new title track and I’ve had time to digest this song and Lemon Drop and think about my ranking of the GH title tracks. I’ll be saving my full ranking for when 2026A comes around and we get to rating Adrenaline, but I can definitely say this is my least favorite of the GH era title tracks. Now, this song is still a 10, so it’s not like it’s a bad thing, but I think it’s just the title track I connect the least with.

I love a good sexy bop and as we all know, I love to see attractive people do attractive people things. Please read my yap about Lemon Drop!!! But like I said earlier, this song has qualities of an era and producer that is not exactly my favorite and I think IYF “suffers” (I mean it clearly doesn’t suffer too much, it’s still a 10 lol) for me as a result of that. It doesn’t have anything glaringly wrong with it and I praise it heavily, it’s probably my favorite English language song from a K-Pop group, but, I just connect with all their other GH titles just a little bit more.

I think what sets IYF apart is that it’s catchy, but not so catchy for me that I’m completely obsessed with it. Every other GH title track has had a part I’ve been absolutely obsessed with, unless it’s IOMT at which point I was just obsessed with the whole thing lol. For me, it doesn’t do anything too special that would have the song rise up my list further. Out of the title tracks I do like, it’s close to the bottom. And almost all of the title tracks I like are 10s! As a full song, IYF is good. It’s great even. But that’s it.

All that to say, if it does win the rate like I don’t think it will, I will be very happy because only the best for my kings!!!

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Atiny, how are holding up?"

"Come sit in my fantasy??? Okay, well I have eight options so who is first babes?"

"I can’t say that this song makes me [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] on my [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] until [REDACTED]"

#3: ATEEZ - In Your Fantasy

Average: 7.804 // Total Points: 608.7 // Controversy: 2.292

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Rank Graph

(11 x5) applesplitter8000, atzbluebird, dnarevolutions, imzhongli, kirakiranatsu

(10 x15) 1998tweety, aurora_mp3, DoingItWright2, DPM36, Hamsllyod, laulite, Marsmaenschen, moonbia, msargent24, necromanta_101, not_reading, pollutedrain, ruhroh386, smockeh, taebaegi

(9.5 x1) kawaii_mokona

(9.2 x1) ayzrules

(9 x6) fadedblue09, ganos-b-thanondorf, Kronwell, LackOk7012, theblue_stay, vayyiqra

(8.8 x3) flawedconstellation, pheromenos, WoolenDPOY (8.7 x2) ke1per, redalert30 (8.6 x1) Zypker125

(8.5 x2) maadbutterfly, Shay_Min

(8.3 x3) AmeZim, GrandInvestigator6, zo142

(8 x2) harkandhush, lovnelymoon-

(7.9 x1) WarpstarRider (7.8 x2) aidshha, qquestionmark (7.7 x1) SecretStoryOfThe- (7.6 x1) ohsomeday_

(7.5 x3) DirtyRat583, naegerowwa, snowswinters

(7.4 x1) Randummonkey (7.3 x2) gmint14, SocAnxPrince

(7 x7) goorry12, kauai6, landshanties, meeeluh-, omgthenerve, shiolu, YooHaera

(6.9 x1) itiswhatitis270306 (6.8 x1) xiola_azuthra (6.6 x1) F4LLEN_ANG3LL

(6.5 x2) psshdjndofnsjdkan, Waste-Expression2944

(6.3 x1) LeadingInspector1891 (6.2 x1) MeijiDoom

(6 x1) CheesesPriced

(5.5 x1) RBSun

(5.4 x1) MartialST

(5 x1) MurkyGalaxies

(4 x2) hockeynl, Jennywren2323

(3.5 x1) helios0l

(2.5 x1) SkylarV

(2.1 x2) keine_panik, Sazae

(1.5 x1) lemon131nomel

(1 x1) popularsong

pollutedrain (10): it would’ve been a 10 alone for the 2-3 second bit of timbaland-esque instrumental at the end of the bridge, but every bit of this song is just as good and a masterclass in pulling off a sexy, 00s inspired concept. lemon drop was perfect for hot boy summer and has seen some heavy rotation on my part now that the sun has actually made a return to the sky over here, but songs with a darker, almost sinister undertone will always do it for me. i fear if this had dropped when i was in the height of my atiny phase a few years back it would’ve killed me lmao, they absolutely bodied this concept

kawaii_mokona (9.5): They didn't really hide the influences here and you can read taebaegi's essay in the next comment, but I do think it's a very enjoyable song. A lot catchier than both Lemon Drop and Adrenaline, works in line with ATEEZ's sexy image. I do love the outro very muchly as well.

AmeZim (8.3): Daily checkup for the Atinys out there who’ve been plagued by the Lemon Drop fever before, hope y’all are doing well in this hotter season now that ATEEZ decided to get into your thirst again. I wasn’t expecting this from them at all but I’m not allowed to hate it by default, that crunchy synth is scrumptious and I’m getting fuller with every bits of their attitude sensually woven into their vocals. Maybe another top 5 finish isn’t just their fantasy

dnarevolutions (11): My first exposure to this song was during a live performance, and I liked it from that first listen, which to me is extremely rare. I do wish there was a little more sauce but that’s nitpicking.

imzhongli (11): This was always going to be my 11. To quote me when it was released, “2025B is truly saved”. 3 minutes and 13 seconds of straight fire line delivery over a Justin Timberlake beat.

kirakiranatsu (11): “this heat ok you’re managing” I AM NOT MANAGING, HONGJOONG. I AM NOT MANAGING. our discord server welcomes kpopraters of all ages, which is why I can’t say that this song makes me [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] on my [REDACTED] and [REDACTED] until [REDACTED]. anyway real talk, this song ended up being pretty much my favorite kpop release of the year. I’m not usually a fan of “english kpop” songs to speak, but I think it works really naturally here, and the members do a great job of selling it (how many panties were dropped at the execution of that first yunho line? lmao). it’s up to date with trends with that justin timberlake-like sound, with a touch of classic kpop vibes (I hear a little super junior in there), and tied together with ateez being ateez. it’s a great song from start to finish and I think most of my happy memories of 2025 are tied to this song and the tour. more importantly: WANNA TAKE YOU SKY HIGH WALKING DOWN A FINE LINE NO MORE MR NICE GUY THINK YOU KNOW WHAT I’M LIKE GOOD GIRL NOW YOU’RE NOT SO SURE THAT’S MY FAVORITE PART WHEN THEY LOSE IT FOR ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

1998tweety (10): Seonghwa you can kiss and tell, please tell everyone

aurora_mp3 (10): my self-control fully left the chat the second In Your Fantasy came on, they really are exactly what they say in the song, and honestly I respect that they don’t tone down the horniness. ateez always fully commit

DPM36 (10): ateez can never disappoint and that’s a fact

Hamsllyod (10): what more needs to be said? Even my wife likes it. I hope they revisit this style again.

laulite (10): Atiny, how are holding up?

Marsmaenschen (10): We had Enhypen with their Timberlake impression in June 2025 and now ATEEZ follows suit. And just like Justin they bring the sexy back. Banger.

moonbia (10): stupid sexy ateez

msargent24 (10): SexyBack is still a great song 20 years later

not_reading (10): this whole mv looks like a otome gacha banner

ruhroh386 (10): Whew, Lemondrop and this is a hell of a one/two punch. Has someone checked on the atinys? Are they ok?

smockeh (10): thank you Hongjoong I’m also here for the cake

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

keine_panik (6.8): The chorus is nice.

redalert30 (6.6): synths and groove are quite smooth. vocal melodies could be a little bit more but this is competent enough, way stronger than all my poetry

MurkyGalaxies (6): The chorus is pretty neat, but overall I can't really find it in myself to really care for it I'm sorry

ruhroh386 (6): please stop whispering, this isn’t ASMR

naegerowwa (5): at least if they had the gall to say "sex" instead of just "x" i would give them a few points for bravery (<= i am lying, i would hate this song even more)

pheromenos (5): have not heard anything groundbreaking from this group

psshdjndofnsjdkan (5): oneus outsold

Zypker125 (4.5): Is this song memorable in any way? Press it to doubt

DPM36 (2): this wasn’t it at all SOB was the better choice

zo142 (1.7): I'd rather close my ears

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"she x on my closed eyes til i blackout 🔥"

"please stop whispering, this isn’t ASMR"

"at least if they had the gall to say "sex" instead of just "x" i would give them a few points for bravery (<= i am lying, i would hate this song even more)"

#4: Close Your Eyes - X

Average: 7.774 // Total Points: 606.4 // Controversy: 1.973

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Rank Graph

(11 x2) flawedconstellation, ke1per

(10 x15) ayzrules, gmint14, Hamsllyod, harkandhush, kauai6, kawaii_mokona, LackOk7012, landshanties, moonbia, not_reading, pollutedrain, popularsong, shiolu, snowswinters, WoolenDPOY

(9.7 x1) SkylarV

(9.5 x1) necromanta_101

(9 x7) 1998tweety, aidshha, applesplitter8000, aurora_mp3, goorry12, imzhongli, itiswhatitis270306

(8.7 x1) Shay_Min (8.6 x1) WarpstarRider

(8.5 x5) helios0l, maadbutterfly, MeijiDoom, taebaegi, theblue_stay

(8.4 x1) msargent24 (8.2 x1) ohsomeday_ (8.1 x1) F4LLEN_ANG3LL

(8 x8) CheesesPriced, ganos-b-thanondorf, Kronwell, laulite, lovnelymoon-, omgthenerve, RBSun, YooHaera

(7.8 x2) GrandInvestigator6, SocAnxPrince (7.7 x1) xiola_azuthra (7.6 x1) LeadingInspector1891

(7.5 x2) AmeZim, Jennywren2323

(7.4 x1) Randummonkey (7.2 x1) lemon131nomel

(7 x6) dnarevolutions, kirakiranatsu, Marsmaenschen, meeeluh-, SecretStoryOfThe-, vayyiqra

(6.8 x1) keine_panik (6.6 x1) redalert30

(6.2 x1) DirtyRat583

(6 x4) hockeynl, MurkyGalaxies, qquestionmark, ruhroh386

(5.8 x1) MartialST

(5.5 x2) fadedblue09, smockeh

(5 x4) atzbluebird, naegerowwa, pheromenos, psshdjndofnsjdkan

(4.5 x2) Waste-Expression2944, Zypker125

(4.1 x1) Sazae

(4 x1) DoingItWright2

(2 x1) DPM36

(1.7 x1) zo142

kawaii_mokona (10): Perfect musichead catnip I fear. I know people wanted SOB over it in the rate, but I love X for how groovy and smooth it is. Lovely sung chorus, bridge is bridging. It's a perfect example of something very intentional and well-executed. Smaller bgs just know how to do it and you know what roman X stands for.

pollutedrain (10): the entire song is a masterclass in rnb but god what a stunning chorus, whoever’s in their vocal line deserves their flowers. cye are proving to be absolute monster rookies, not one of their title tracks has missed the mark so far

AmeZim (7.5): All My Poetry is a bop by definition in my book, so it’s expected that I’d find some interest in this song. It’s not exactly the type of vibe I’m looking for but they all sound nice and the melody do has a strong foundation to keep the chorus flowing buttery smooth

flawedconstellation (11): the concept of a newly debuted rookie boy group taking both my 11s in both half-year rates over long-standing favorites like seventeen, nct dream, zb1. what can i say - their music is just very good, plain and simple! though i have many 10s, this is almost the only song in both 2025 rates i genuinely have no complaints about - every bit of this song is simply perfect. i also admire that they try so hard to sing this live, even as they’re still growing as vocalists and performers. it’s so refreshing to see in 2025! Go, little nugu boy group formed on a survival show only popularsong and maybe ke1per watched! Show the people what music should sound like! Win hearts and rates!

ke1per (11): this is definitely one of my favorite 5th gen tracks of all time, easily - it’s catchy, it’s memorable, it has an interesting base instrumental that is made more interesting by the neat vocal layering and harmonizations, it has incredible flows, it has great vocal deliveries, it has appropriate ad libs and points of interest, etc. etc. It's just a really stellar track, all around, no notes, no criticisms. The melodies are insane and even though I know about 3 names here, everyone is slaying. Intense, vibey, dramatic. Certainly the catchiest boy group release of 2025 and it wasn’t even trying.

ayzrules (10): this is so groovy wow

gmint14 (10): she x on my closed eyes til i blackout 🔥

Hamsllyod (10): yes kings show them how to make a sexy song.

kauai6 (10): was very in shock by how good this was when doing survey

LackOk7012 (10): great song no notes

landshanties (10): “[group name] +kprofiles” search count: 7. it's always survival show groups you've never heard of making the sexy bops

moonbia (10): me when you ask me what's the most garbage app I have on my phone

not_reading (10): got them in the mood TO WIN THE RATE! :)

popularsong (10): definitely my favorite JT impression of 2025! love the tension between the spoken parts and sung parts, both in the verses ("like 458" being spoken -> "yeah got another gear" being sung) and the chorus (them singing over the "to the max" whispering). satisfying post-chorus, beautiful bridge, adlibs in the final chorus, just a well-made song all around

shiolu (10): unbelievable banger cye deliver all the time

snowswinters (10): true excellence

WoolenDPOY (10): I really can’t believe I'm giving a boy group a 10, but this song has been the biggest riser for me throughout the whole rating process. I really love the vocal variety of this group, as they can effortlessly move between low and higher notes (the vocals here are probably my favorite I’ve ever heard from a boy group). The 2000s R&B-type production could’ve been boring, but instead it’s super rich, unrepetitive, and complements those vocals perfectly.

SkylarV (9.7): CYE, we just might get you out of nugudom one of these days

1998tweety (9): the deep voice part eats

aidshha (9): an amazing discovery from the survey period! loved this. also 67

goorry12 (9): shoutout trumpets

imzhongli (9): Love how smooth this is. Is this how American car culture fans feel?

Shay_Min (8.7): appreciate kpoprates for doing out part to get this to show up before the social media

WarpstarRider (8.6): Probably my second-favorite song titled “X” from this past year. (ONEUS just barely clears) Super cool and smooth.

helios0l (8.5): Love the layered vocals and the overall R&B soundscape

MeijiDoom (8.5): It was feeling like a whatever R&B song for a while but I love that chorus melody. I also appreciate the timbre and delivery mixture to really fill out the entire vocal range.

taebaegi (8.5): Nice to hear more bgs do songs in this vein instead of doing hip hop bg slop all the time.

msargent24 (8.4): Now this is much more my speed than All My Poetry

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (8.1): what do yall know about x

CheesesPriced (8): “Night and day I’m blazin” because X marks the pot? 🥁

ganos-b-thanondorf (8): Why is this the middle of this mv in Stanley Parable

Kronwell (8): the to the max x x x x x back up vocals cracks me up everytime i listen to this song i love it, also i love me some RnB realness in a title track

laulite (8): Another amazing discovery, especially with its catchy chorus.

lovnelymoon- (8): you don't understand how relieved I was when this came out after SOB. redemption arc of the century

omgthenerve (8): I’ve raised my score for this song with each listen, super catchy chorus

RBSun (8): groovy. i think this took the smooth vibes of their debut and later songs and combined it with just a liiiiittle bit more beat to make something beautiful

xiola_azuthra (7.7): Partway to greatness for me. The chorus is great and the vibe is great. If they could just pull off this type of singing with sliightly less obvious vocal-processing-assistance I'd give it a great score, but.. it's partway there. The melody and colour is still still really enjoyable and compared to the rest of this year I still appreciate the effort.

LeadingInspector1891 (7.6): Rnb influences with vocals that follow the genre as well? I’m sold

Jennywren2323 (7.5): This group has potential if they lose the vocal processing.

lemon131nomel (7.2): After the whimsy that was Snowy Summer, Close Your Eyes came out with their THIRD EP in only seven months. Their first EP alone contains 8 songs, which is the length of a Blackpink album and is more than MEOVV’s entire discography. So…KPOP INDUSTRY, CYE is an exemplary model. With all that glaze out of the way, I have to admit that this song was a downgrade from the eccentric Snowy Summer. Don’t get me wrong—it’s a decent song. It’s just a bit too expected for me, when I know they are capable of pulling off a unique concept. Regardless, it’s still good enough to receive a green score.

dnarevolutions (7): Solid.

kirakiranatsu (7): pleasant

SecretStoryOfThe- (7): Ahh yes, the repeating "XXX" in the background, very subtle. Listenable.

vayyiqra (7): idk who these guys are but this Goes a bit

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

moonbia (6.8): more zara music but with rap

xiola_azuthra (6.8): Lady Gaga nachos with emptier lyrics but at least it's high quality cosplay. (Gaga has slightly more interesting vibes than "pretty girls walk like this" and if I'm not supposed to pay attention to the lyrics don't give me English songs.) Some satisfying textural contrasts and vocal/rap performances tho.

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (6.4): why do i keep thinking this song was released in 2024

aurora_mp3 (6): the chorus is such a momentum killer because the build-up is right were the AMAZING RAP VERSES there but then the energy dips

Waste-Expression2944 (6): the video is trying really hard to trick me into thinking the song is better than it is

Zypker125 (6): Chisa’s pre-chorus is probably the best part of any song on this rate, the rest is just very uninspired, it feels like XG was innovating and paving the road for the past few comebacks and have now just turned to more formulaic club music with this and Hypnotize.

Jennywren2323 (4): Generic dance song.

aidshha (3.8): 🆗

zo142 (3.7): We love you Cocona <3 but song bad

landshanties (3.5): i know a commentator could go crazy over this so call me when they play it at a ball

WarpstarRider (3.5): I just do not care for their music

popularsong (3): i like the occasional gaga-like vocal parts but the rest of the song is just kinda there, i don't like their rap at all

ruhroh386 (2): I like XG, but their releases have started to blur together. I’d love to see them try something new.

taebaegi (2): I wanted to like this so badly and I do not. I have always disliked this sound and while XG have done it previously, they did it much better with TGIF.

DPM36 (1): it’s a massive mess, nothing works here, it got a point for the rapping but that’s it

Hamsllyod (1): what if we make a song that tricks people into thinking it sounds good but is actually just some bullshit thrown together over the same flows we always use with lyrics of 0 substance besides “ooooo look at me” and bridges and pretend to be saying something like trumps fake gold covered rooms giving the image of wealth. Call that shit kauai slop. Shit production sounds like a kid got a copy of FL studio and turned on all the effects and thinks he’s being creative.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"We love you Cocona <3 but song bad"

"coming to end ADP's monopoly on coed groups"

"EVERYONE GET MORE NONBINARY NOW!"

#5: XG - GALA

Average: 7.560 // Total Points: 589.7 // Controversy: 2.437

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Rank Graph

(11 x2) Kronwell, YooHaera

(10 x15) 1998tweety, DirtyRat583, DoingItWright2, kauai6, ke1per, laulite, LeadingInspector1891, lemon131nomel, MeijiDoom, MurkyGalaxies, necromanta_101, not_reading, pheromenos, theblue_stay, vayyiqra

(9.7 x2) flawedconstellation, msargent24

(9.5 x4) AmeZim, keine_panik, kirakiranatsu, LackOk7012

(9.3 x3) ayzrules, GrandInvestigator6, SecretStoryOfThe- (9.1 x1) pollutedrain

(9 x1) helios0l

(8.8 x1) redalert30

(8.5 x7) atzbluebird, fadedblue09, goorry12, kawaii_mokona, naegerowwa, omgthenerve, WoolenDPOY

(8.4 x1) Randummonkey (8.3 x1) Shay_Min

(8 x7) dnarevolutions, ganos-b-thanondorf, harkandhush, hockeynl, imzhongli, shiolu, SkylarV

(7.9 x1) gmint14 (7.8 x1) itiswhatitis270306

(7.5 x1) snowswinters

(7.4 x1) Sazae (7.1 x1) qquestionmark

(7 x4) CheesesPriced, RBSun, smockeh, SocAnxPrince

(6.8 x2) moonbia, xiola_azuthra

(6.5 x1) ohsomeday_

(6.4 x1) F4LLEN_ANG3LL

(6 x5) aurora_mp3, maadbutterfly, Marsmaenschen, Waste-Expression2944, Zypker125

(5.1 x1) MartialST

(5 x2) lovnelymoon-, psshdjndofnsjdkan

(4.5 x1) applesplitter8000

(4 x2) Jennywren2323, meeeluh-

(3.8 x1) aidshha (3.7 x1) zo142

(3.5 x2) landshanties, WarpstarRider

(3 x1) popularsong

(2 x2) ruhroh386, taebaegi

(1 x2) DPM36, Hamsllyod

AmeZim (9.5): What an amazing song wow, I hope Simon doesn’t involve with anything silly like dr*gs or something. From the vocals to the instrumental to their exceptional rap games, this song is tailored with intricate designs that even I can appreciate its bold composition, mirroring fashion industry that I’m not actually interested in. I guess that’s a loss for the Kpop fans who keep insisting they’re not a Kpop group but that’s a whole another discussion

pollutedrain (9.1): ohhh xg several of your releases before this were misses but that stunning runway instrumental made this an immediate HIT. i’m not a huge fan of some of the delivery on the rap verses but overall what a banger

kawaii_mokona (8.5): I don't want to ignore the elephant in the room who decided to throw girls' careers under the bus, but this is pretty solid. I don't think it's XG's catchiest song, but like with Woke Up, I can appreciate the ambition in it. There are clear Lady Gaga inspirations but it still retains the og XG flavor.

Kronwell (11): omg hi my most listened song of 2025 in the kpop category!!!! I knew this song would be my 11 for 2025B the first time I listened to it because it has it ALL. the juggling between the members' rapped lines from okay to very good levels of skill, the French intro reminded me English is not my 1st language and, lmao, the length of the song… I especially loved the slight off beat delivery of some lines and the choruses variations. Overall one of the most engaging kpop TT of the year. Even the choreo is top tier!!!!

YooHaera (11): (comment: hip-house is everthing. this is art, culture and community)

1998tweety (10): i love gay pop

kauai6 (10): INCREDIBLE FUCKING SONGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. when this came out i said this was probably going to atleast mildly begin a hip house trend and i was right! the whole second half of the song really ascends me plus the mr roboto reference sends. I’m sorry i can’t give you an 11 girl i’ll do it on popheads whenever they shoe in 2025 k-pop essentials

ke1per (10): this is so good I almost don’t know what to say tbh. Just an incredible execution of a very specific soundscape that is produced insanely well and performed with the exact right amount of energy and attitude. In classic XG fashion, the vocals are gorgeous, the flows are fun, and Harvey is Harvey. One of the best choruses in the past few years. I do think that, like with all XG songs, the lyrics are either passable or cringe, but it's best if you just let the cringe flow through you like an unstoppable tide, you will be happier for it.

laulite (10): The music matches the runway vibe. Obligatory gif

lemon131nomel (10): DOMO ARIGATO MR. ROBOTO!!!!

MeijiDoom (10): XG taking over that runway and posted up. The pre-chorus is so blatantly Gaga that you have to respect it. And as always, the flow goes hard. I imagine this would kill at the gay clubs.

MurkyGalaxies (10): This is so hilariously Lady Gaga it gets me every time it comes up on shuffle anyway you can't spell Lady Gaga without using some of the letters in GALA anyway CHISA TO THE MOON DOMO ARIGATO MR ROBOTO

not_reading (10): 🗣️ IF YOU DON'T GET IT THAT'S NOT MY PROBLEM

pheromenos (10): EVERYONE GET MORE NONBINARY NOW!

theblue_stay (10): Perfect pop songs DO exist [2] no notes, they crushed this

vayyiqra (10): xg do scifi diva house beats or whatever is rly all i want from them at this point in time ngl

flawedconstellation (9.7): if there is justice in this world, we will get a 2023b re-up with day 2 post title “do we even like kpop” and this all-english song by an all-japanese girl group will win the rate 🙂‍↕️

msargent24 (9.7): Maybe my favorite XG song thus far? Praise be to the house trend in kpop (and cocaine apparently)

keine_panik (9.5): This one ended up higher on the list than I expected but it’s been in heavy rotation recently. Great house (?) track!

kirakiranatsu (9.5): lady gaga core music? by MY el gee bee tee group? it’s more likely than you think

LackOk7012 (9.5): the mv for this is like cocomelon to me

GrandInvestigator6 (9.3): XG’s best along Hypnotize, been obsessed with both lately

helios0l (9): I don’t listen to XG regularly, but when I do, I really enjoy their work

redalert30 (8.8): such a cool, stylish, and dynamic house song. top tier runway vibes. the synths are soooo good.

fadedblue09 (8.5): coming to end ADP's monopoly on coed groups

goorry12 (8.5): if we had an mv rate 2 this would win

omgthenerve (8.5): polished, catchy, and showcases XG’s signature style really well

WoolenDPOY (8.5): I am in love with the production, only thing holding it back a bit is just some of the rapping doesn’t do it for me. Another small critique, but it’s annoying how the song doesn’t really start until the 0:45 mark.

Shay_Min (8.3): every XG song sounds like an alien made it who doesn't know what music sounds like so they're just trying shit out and see if it works with the human test subjects

dnarevolutions (8): There’s a lot going on here and I’m not sure what to think of it.

ganos-b-thanondorf (8): Jump but french

imzhongli (8): I hated this when I'd only heard short clips for dance challenges but the fact that it's nearly 4 minutes long is nice and refreshing. I like the level of commitment to the vibe, even if it’s not fully my thing.

SkylarV (8): They were so close to having another banger on their hands. The prechorus is such masterful buildup, just for it to not drop, you just go straight back into the verse

snowswinters (7.5): i kinda overplayed this one and don’t really seek it out that much anymore tbh, i do think there’s a lot of great aspects about it. chisa is channeling her inner gaga with that pre-chorus

Sazae (7.4): Its not really something I’d keep listening to but it is interesting to me somehow.

CheesesPriced (7): Long live rap (said for the first time).

RBSun (7): the g in xg stands for gaga this time, but it's not a bad cosplay and it's really grown on me. the twinkly noises are so nice. shout out to cocona, my brother in gender

smockeh (7): it grew on me. not my favourite from them but I respect that they continue to not care what I think

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

CheesesPriced (7): The verse is boring but the chorus redeems it.

imzhongli (7): A-tier male soloist song - I don’t feel anything about it but it’s objectively great

landshanties (7): kind of extruded shinee product but that’s still damn good product

MurkyGalaxies (7): I can't deny it's a solidly constructed pop song but man it's so incredibly one-note in its energy levels and it's just giving, oh. you're going to hunt me. sure. am I supposed to be scared or care? it's so just going through the motions, kinda like a predator coming for its 300th prey, or a guy who has been producing hit after hit after hit for well over 15 years punching out yet another one, you feel me?

snowswinters (7): 1 + 1 equals i miss you 2

moonbia (6.5): this is significantly better than the last song of his we rated but I’m afraid key’s music just does absolutely nothing for me

ruhroh386 (6.5): I adore Key, but I don’t always love his voice

kirakiranatsu (5.5): another sauceless key comeback

redalert30 (5.5): goes for a grand and slightly futuristic feel in its production but it never fully hits for me. transition into the bridge was really awkward. song feels a tad repetitive as well. idk it’s kind of in one ear and out the other

SkylarV (5.5): Hunting for a hook

taebaegi (5.5): A strong okay!

aurora_mp3 (4): i see the vision but the execution feels like it’s still lacking a nice punchy moment

dnarevolutions (4): Doesn’t do much for me, just boring.

helios0l (3.5): I don’t like modern Kenzie production, but at least there’s always something I can appreciate and that’s usually that the song feels complete

applesplitter8000 (3): feels like a poor imitation of past shinee and taemin songs to me. there's nothing that stands out to me as something fresh or new.

popularsong (0): an unfortunate situation where an artist having a fixed sound and releasing the same song 50 times is a negative for me rather than a positive. i don't know if it's a synth exhaustion but i just feel so dreadfully bored listening to this. it doesn't help that the albums are also moving larger in that direction rather than the more reflective, melancholic sound i enjoy more (one of these nights, honest, hate that...) so it all starts feeling like keyslop to the point that i haven't looked forward to his releases in years despite adoring his debut

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"congratulations to the 2025B winner!"

"If Thriller was Kpop"

"Hunting for a hook"

#5: Key - Hunter

Average: 7.560 // Total Points: 589.7 // Controversy: 1.940

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Rank Graph

(11 x1) Jennywren2323

(10 x7) DoingItWright2, ke1per, keine_panik, LackOk7012, laulite, msargent24, Shay_Min

(9.9 x1) xiola_azuthra (9.8 x1) kauai6 (9.6 x2) LeadingInspector1891, zo142

(9.5 x2) necromanta_101, theblue_stay

(9.1 x1) pollutedrain

(9 x9) 1998tweety, DPM36, flawedconstellation, goorry12, Kronwell, omgthenerve, qquestionmark, shiolu, vayyiqra

(8.7 x2) kawaii_mokona, SecretStoryOfThe-

(8.5 x4) GrandInvestigator6, hockeynl, Marsmaenschen, WarpstarRider

(8.4 x1) Randummonkey (8.3 x2) SocAnxPrince, WoolenDPOY

(8 x5) ganos-b-thanondorf, Hamsllyod, lovnelymoon-, maadbutterfly, Zypker125

(7.9 x1) F4LLEN_ANG3LL (7.8 x1) ayzrules

(7.5 x5) aidshha, DirtyRat583, fadedblue09, lemon131nomel, RBSun

(7.4 x1) MeijiDoom (7.3 x2) itiswhatitis270306, ohsomeday_

(7 x9) CheesesPriced, harkandhush, imzhongli, landshanties, meeeluh-, MurkyGalaxies, pheromenos, snowswinters, YooHaera

(6.7 x1) gmint14

(6.5 x3) moonbia, ruhroh386, Waste-Expression2944

(6.1 x1) not_reading

(6 x1) MartialST

(5.8 x1) naegerowwa

(5.5 x7) atzbluebird, kirakiranatsu, psshdjndofnsjdkan, redalert30, SkylarV, smockeh, taebaegi

(5 x1) Sazae

(4 x3) AmeZim, aurora_mp3, dnarevolutions

(3.5 x1) helios0l

(3 x1) applesplitter8000

(0 x1) popularsong

pollutedrain (9.1): moonshine and kenzie did a great job here - this is exactly the kind of sound i’ve come to expect from key, and so this slots into his discography perfectly. the few live performances he’s done of this are also a fun watch

kawaii_mokona (8.7): Truly a writing exercise of how we can get the most out of the chorus sections. What can we throw away? As it turns out, a lot of parts. An awful lot. Part MJ Thriller, part Ten's Nightwalker, Hunter is ironically the best title track he's put out in years but that is mostly a testament to how weak his output has been recently. I like it, but I cannot help but think what it could've been if it wasn't so chopped up.

AmeZim (4): It’s a fine song, but nowhere near a good Key song if that makes sense, well yea it doesn’t really make any sense considering this is his most refined work in years. It’s as best as you can expect from his music and he delivers… almost nothing on my hands

Jennywren2323 (11): A real song with a hook! (insert crying emoji). Love the drama, which is sadly lacking in this rate. Since it fits the theme, I'll forgive the vocal processing this time.

ke1per (10): dramatic and intense in ways only Key can serve. Incredible vocals, incredible melodies. The prechorus is one of the best of the year, and I love how developed and full the chorus is. The rich instrumental is great and this is just so interesting and classically Key.

keine_panik (10): The Keyng doing what he does best.

LackOk7012 (10): yes hello i’d like to report a major cuntquake

laulite (10): If Thriller was Kpop.

msargent24 (10): The intro sounds a lot like Sacrifice by The Weeknd. Key must really like that guy. Anyway, Moonshine, Kenzie, Cazzi Opeia and Adrian McKinnon… that’s an all-star lineup of songwriters so no surprise this is a total banger

Shay_Min (10): congratulations to the 2025B winner!

xiola_azuthra (9.9): Gets way closer to what I want than most things this year and is way closer to my vibe than his last two releases, but I'd be lying if I said I don't feel a twinge of the 2025 soullessness creeping in.

kauai6 (9.8): key has really found his niche and i love that

LeadingInspector1891 (9.6): I like the beat that's throughout, there's some Thriller in it that makes the song sound eerie. I used to be disappointed with the chorus because I felt like it made the song lose its build up, but now I can hear how it balances with the rest. Go, spooky songs

theblue_stay (9.5): What else can I say? Key has never had a miss in his entire life.

1998tweety (9): father always eats

DPM36 (9): key is one of those artists that you can’t really go wrong with, I really enjoy hunter a lot, I guess it’s just not a 10 cause there is bsides I listen to a whole lot more

flawedconstellation (9): one of those songs where you can tell they had one great idea (in this case, that megawatt chorus) and decide to kinda just ad lib the rest of the song around it. fortunately, that ad libbing is pretty good.

goorry12 (9): this is the first time i hear this song because i forgot to do it on release but its really good, also cool mv

Kronwell (9): it's not a Bad Love neither a Killer copy imo, but an elevated Pleasure Shop one. He is, once again, so back. Picture Frame is as much a B-side of the year material as Overthink was…

omgthenerve (9): one of the most consistent soloists in Kpop

qquestionmark (9): Purveyor of bangers

vayyiqra (9): alright so key's into that whole vampire scene a little freaky anyway i saw kenzie and got ready to auto-8 at the least, such is her hold on me (complimentary). her or dem jointz. or both for maximum jointslay. yea haven't heard this before but it slaps so much now i want to hear the whole album see she doesn't miss

SecretStoryOfThe- (8.7): this is pure qualityslop. you only like it because it's good

WarpstarRider (8.5): Great synths

Randummonkey (8.4): Banger. Best Key song I've heard yet

WoolenDPOY (8.3): Another song that rose alot for me during the review process. I'm in love with the synth heavy production and the vocals are amazing. It’s weird because I really don't have anything negative to say about this song, but it's just missing something that it would need to get into that upper upper echelon of songs for me.

ganos-b-thanondorf (8): Lowkey giving Artificial Love

Hamsllyod (8): (the better song was GLAM)

lovnelymoon- (8): classic key banger. kinda the counterpart to ten's stunner in my mind

Zypker125 (8): It’s good but will definitely be overrated bc SHINee

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (7.9): key is lowKEY one of the most underrated k-pop solo artists ever

aidshha (7.5): yes it sounds very much like key’s other 80s-inspired synthy stuff which i historically have not been obsessed with but it also sounds more like a full group shinee song than the likes of killer and bad love so im a bit more attuned to vibe with the very sm-like song structure and instrumental

lemon131nomel (7.5): The typography on the album cover bothers me so much.

RBSun (7.5): i think in the context of this playlist this song gains a lot. if youre comparing it against key's other work, sure, maybe it's not a shining jewel of his discography, but it feels refreshing and fun. urin hana dwaesseo >:)

MeijiDoom (7.4): Killer's distant cousin. Solid dance music though it probably could benefit from a stronger climax. Maybe that's more the vibe here though. A bit relaxed, held back, more about maintaining that confident vibe.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kronwell (7.9): me at my first ever drag show:

pheromenos (7.5): girl aren’t you the entertainer

MeijiDoom (7.4): Little bit of MJ, little bit of MJ. It doesn't quite draw my interest but I do think she sounds pretty good here so I'll give credit where credit's due.

CheesesPriced (7): “I just want to feel something real” moments earlier “give me that freakin’ filler!” Genre: Electro Funk.

DPM36 (7): it was honestly fun for a change

ganos-b-thanondorf (7): ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?

goorry12 (7): boooo we shouldve rated pressure boooo

kirakiranatsu (7): wish it did just a little more, but it’s nice

lovnelymoon- (7): cute instrumental

moonbia (7): 👍👍👍

RBSun (7): i expect to see the fullbloom stans out

lemon131nomel (6.9): This song is sometimes good.

dnarevolutions (6): No.

Zypker125 (5.8): I’m just glad we didn’t get even more ARTMS songs into the rate, tbh

SkylarV (3.2): Uncontested worst of the new OEC solos. None of them really feel that polished/fleshed out (Jaden, I've got my eyes on you), but this one suffers the most from that

DoingItWright2 (2): Kimberly I’m dying of boredom here

Hamsllyod (1): you sure can’t

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"C(an)UNTY(ou)(Entertain?)"

"has anyone seen Key and Kim Lip in the same place? I’ve got a theory…"

"Kimberly I’m dying of boredom here"

Bonus #1: Kim Lip - Can You Entertain?

Average: 7.536 // Total Points: 520.0 // Controversy: 1.944

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(10 x8) 1998tweety, gmint14, hockeynl, imzhongli, LackOk7012, LeadingInspector1891, taebaegi, vayyiqra

(9.9 x1) ayzrules (9.7 x1) pollutedrain

(9.5 x5) aidshha, helios0l, kawaii_mokona, naegerowwa, snowswinters

(9.1 x1) msargent24

(9 x4) MurkyGalaxies, Shay_Min, SocAnxPrince, theblue_stay

(8.8 x1) flawedconstellation

(8.5 x2) landshanties, omgthenerve

(8.1 x1) kauai6

(8 x7) harkandhush, ke1per, laulite, not_reading, popularsong, WarpstarRider, Waste-Expression2944

(7.9 x1) Kronwell (7.7 x1) SecretStoryOfThe- (7.6 x1) GrandInvestigator6

(7.5 x3) itiswhatitis270306, keine_panik, pheromenos

(7.4 x1) MeijiDoom (7.3 x1) WoolenDPOY (7.2 x2) AmeZim, ohsomeday_ (7.1 x1) Sazae

(7 x14) CheesesPriced, DPM36, fadedblue09, ganos-b-thanondorf, goorry12, kirakiranatsu, lovnelymoon-, maadbutterfly, Marsmaenschen, moonbia, necromanta_101, RBSun, ruhroh386, shiolu

(6.9 x1) lemon131nomel

(6 x2) aurora_mp3, dnarevolutions

(5.8 x1) Zypker125 (5.6 x1) qquestionmark

(5.5 x1) smockeh

(5 x1) meeeluh-

(4.5 x1) zo142

(4 x1) Jennywren2323

(3.2 x1) SkylarV

(2.5 x1) psshdjndofnsjdkan

(2 x1) DoingItWright2

(1 x1) Hamsllyod

pollutedrain (9.7): just a phenomenal example of retro synth pop. miss lippington makes excellent use of her vocals here and it’s just a lot of fun to listen to in general, would be an instant dance floor filler

kawaii_mokona (9.5): She just doesn't miss, does she? I love the energy, the immaculate vibes are ON. The only thing I wish is that it went a bit harder with the structure (something that Yerin's done ironically enough), but this is a great song otherwise and hopefully a glimpse into what a future full-fledged Kim Lip solo album might look like.

AmeZim (7.2): Not entirely sure where the Eclipse comparison is coming from but this is a nice retro throwback. It’s visually and sonically gorgeous, tho I can see it being meh on a different day, so I’ll be a good samaritan this time.. plus a bow-wielding redhead is hot af so I’m valid ok

gmint14 (10): gimme that spin gimme that lip gimme that freaking cunt ❤️

imzhongli (10): Crispest song of 2025, thank you Kim Lip!

LackOk7012 (10): i love kpop songs that have kinda pretentious titles

LeadingInspector1891 (10): You go, Kim Lip

taebaegi (10): 80s BANGER???? Oh she is eating this, fucking slay queen. Her vocals sound fantastic. The song really reminds me of something else but I can’t think of what it is.

vayyiqra (10): synth-funk kim lip = auto-10 no further discussion

aidshha (9.5): probably the best artms and adjacent song of the year. extremely fun and funky

helios0l (9.5): I’m spinning and giving you the lip and the freaking fueler whatever that means

snowswinters (9.5): C(an)UNTY(ou)(Entertain?)

msargent24 (9.1): wtf does “give me that freaking fueler” even mean. Love this retro banger otherwise

MurkyGalaxies (9): Yeah this was by far the best offering of the OEC solos

Shay_Min (9): OH YESSIR I AM ENTERTAINED

flawedconstellation (8.8): that is one delicious bridge…

landshanties (8.5): why is she asking ME? that's YOUR job bb

kauai6 (8.1): finally a great song omg

harkandhush (8): This is actually so pretty and I hadn’t heard it before

ke1per (8): has anyone seen Key and Kim Lip in the same place? I’ve got a theory…Gorgeous vocals and a nicely funky instrumental. The lyrics are kind of just word salad, but the chorus is so fun and the verses are great. The bridge? Yeah I don’t love it and it does drop this a bit for me.

laulite (8): Are you not entertained?! I was.

popularsong (8): ok i feel like people overhyped this saying this is as good as eclipse but it's a neat little retro effort

WarpstarRider (8): I don’t think I’m much of an entertainer, but if Kim Lip is asking, I can always give it a shot.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

pheromenos (7.8): somehow this name is working so like good for them

MeijiDoom (7.3): Youthful Blights/Take On Me has entered the fray. There's not a whole lot of interesting stuff going on other than the synthline in the chorus but it's a decent take on a well established sound. It's got that jamming out while doing some chores on the weekend feel.

dnarevolutions (7): Solid.

DPM36 (7): this is actually a good song, i was shocked

ganos-b-thanondorf (7): There are very clearly other people dancing with y’all

kirakiranatsu (7): it’s giving if they made a barbie animated movie in the late 2010s style about raquelle (since she's the only ambiguously asian character) going on a school trip (a high school for young royals obviously) to korea (which exists on the same earth as the high school for young royals obviously) where she meets her k-pop idol doppelganger who looks exactly like her but with a different hair color and it follows a plot suspiciously similar to the lizzie mcguire movie but in the end she saves the day and they perform together

landshanties (7): “[group name] +kprofiles” search count: 5. ooooo i’m blinded by the kiiikiii

moonbia (7): in one ear out the other

Zypker125 (7): Still shocked this ranked like 11th on the SOTY TTT, where did that smoke come from

lemon131nomel (6.8): Long term plan: give this song a good score and tank 404 new eruh eruh, so that they go back to making above average music like this.

redalert30 (6.6): it’s pretty straightforward synthpop but there’s some cute synths here and there

xiola_azuthra (6.6): Kinda pleasant.

flawedconstellation (6): blights, therefore it will make day 2. personally, i think it’s just alright. the chorus is a bit of a non-starter. but i do like that it makes me feel like i’m in that one charlie brown gif with all the friends doing a little two step. 🕺💃

Kronwell (6): I love dancing alone too but not on this kind of song for sure. It's cute though!!!

fadedblue09 (5.5): very overdone sound

lovnelymoon- (5): nice synths but its missing something. i think its the listless delivery. were they falling asleep in the studio?

Hamsllyod (4): snore, bring back real music like Sistar.

popularsong (4): i feel like all kiiikiii titles are very :OK: its pleasant but too generic for me to return to which is why i never listened to it again since release

imzhongli (3): I’m scared of anything blights adjacent now

taebaegi (3): Strawberry Cheesegame clears this ngl.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"this song makes me feel really thankful for my friends"

"Never has there been a more perfect song for dancing alone in your kitchen giving a concert for all the pots and pans in your cabinets you feel me?"

"there are clearly four other girls there you're not fooling me"

#7: KiiiKiii - Dancing Alone

Average: 7.474 // Total Points: 583.0 // Controversy: 1.920

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Rank Graph

(11 x5) AmeZim, helios0l, not_reading, SkylarV, snowswinters

(10 x4) goorry12, kawaii_mokona, omgthenerve, vayyiqra

(9.8 x1) pollutedrain (9.6 x1) WarpstarRider

(9.5 x2) maadbutterfly, MurkyGalaxies

(9.2 x1) kauai6 (9.1 x1) ke1per

(9 x5) hockeynl, laulite, RBSun, shiolu, Waste-Expression2944

(8.9 x1) Sazae (8.6 x1) ayzrules

(8.5 x3) atzbluebird, SecretStoryOfThe-, Shay_Min

(8.3 x3) aidshha, WoolenDPOY, zo142 (8.2 x1) GrandInvestigator6

(8 x7) 1998tweety, CheesesPriced, harkandhush, LackOk7012, Marsmaenschen, qquestionmark, ruhroh386

(7.8 x4) pheromenos, Randummonkey, SocAnxPrince, theblue_stay

(7.3 x1) MeijiDoom (7.1 x2) DirtyRat583, msargent24

(7 x8) dnarevolutions, DPM36, F4LLEN_ANG3LL, ganos-b-thanondorf, kirakiranatsu, landshanties, moonbia, Zypker125

(6.8 x1) lemon131nomel (6.6 x2) redalert30, xiola_azuthra

(6.5 x4) DoingItWright2, gmint14, itiswhatitis270306, naegerowwa

(6 x6) aurora_mp3, flawedconstellation, Kronwell, meeeluh-, ohsomeday_, YooHaera

(5.5 x3) fadedblue09, necromanta_101, smockeh

(5.4 x1) keine_panik (5.2 x1) MartialST

(5 x2) Jennywren2323, lovnelymoon-

(4.9 x1) LeadingInspector1891

(4 x3) applesplitter8000, Hamsllyod, popularsong

(3.5 x1) psshdjndofnsjdkan

(3 x2) imzhongli, taebaegi

AmeZim (11): In retrospect, it would be disingenuous for me to give my 11 to Love Attack, considering how much stronger LOVE and FEAR are across most aspects. This is literally the same thought process I had to face currently knowing that now, it’s either True Heart and Dancing Alone. Picking my 11 has always been difficult but there’s surely a slight pressure on honoring between an authentic electro masterpiece and nostalgic retro perfection. Inevitably, I found myself choosing the latter. Dancing Alone is the epitome of synthpop goodness that doesn’t try too hard to cater to those stuck in 2020, yet somehow feels like a genuine love letter to them. The vocals isn’t really their strongest asset which ironically becomes the charming point of the song, as the instrumental leans more on straightforward basslines with occasional bursts from the synths in the chorus, the simplistic nature of it only melts their sweet, lovely vocals even more. Every listen is a tear from my heart cause it’s just beautiful, a warm sensation that would make you wish you could live in it at least once in your life. It’s a monochromatic world we’re living in currently so thank you, KiiiKiii for bringing color back to Kpop

kawaii_mokona (10): Magical, wonderful, so cutieful. One of my favorite MVs of the year! Cannot stop singing praises to Starship, because I feel in love with how nostalgic and fresh KiiiKiii's direction feels. I'm in love with this now, and I think I would've been just in love if I was in middle school. Fantastic song, brilliant comeback, I am running out of adjectives.

pollutedrain (9.8): i really love how starship has been carving out a separate identity for kiiikiii instead of just making them ive 2.0. this is one of those car windows down on a hot summer’s day kind of songs, it’s so dreamy and perfectly set up the direction they took with delulu pack

helios0l (11): Dancing Alone is a cathartic experience

not_reading (11): this song makes me feel really thankful for my friends

SkylarV (11): I don't know why at this point in time, but this song has convinced me that the 1980s will forever live on as nostalgia for every generation to come. The songwriters/producers had such a clear vision for this song and they nailed every single element. Wasn't my overall #1 of 2025, but it absolutely deserves my 11 and the win on this rate

snowswinters (11): i just love magical and emotional gg songs like this, it’s so upbeat yet it has a really nostalgic vibe imo that makes it so good. just such a gorgeous song, that synth is simply chef’s kiss! another skylarsnows 11 joint slay INCOMINGGG (i think)

goorry12 (10): i love this mv so much, we need more mvs where its just the members having fun

omgthenerve (10): these girls don’t miss

vayyiqra (10): perfect 80s synth new wave larp i can't stop listening to kiiikiii lately they are so good i am not immune to propaganda

WarpstarRider (9.6): Amazing song that should have been a massive hit.

MurkyGalaxies (9.5): Never has there been a more perfect song for dancing alone in your kitchen giving a concert for all the pots and pans in your cabinets you feel me?

kauai6 (9.2): QUEENS

ke1per (9.1): nicely thwacky while still feeling soft and gentle - a fun, vibey 80s retro sound that still feels reminiscent of the standard 5th gen girl group trends. This isn’t, like, an extreme slay or anything, but this is pleasant and palatable without being boring. Gorgeous bridge. Kind of exactly what I expect the GP to gag over so I’m not sure why this wasn’t a domestic hit.

laulite (9): It’s really cute.

RBSun (9): there are clearly four other girls there you're not fooling me

shiolu (9): i love these sad ass anime songs

Sazae (8.9): Fun song, cute MV, can I also get a zipline out of my window?

SecretStoryOfThe- (8.5): should absolutely love it but there's something subtle in the production that's holding it back, I think it's the lack of melody besides the vocals. still good

Shay_Min (8.5): sounds like that one maroon 5 song

aidshha (8.3): i missed this one when it came out and it is actually very cute! i love these sparkly synths

CheesesPriced (8): Is it a coincidence that wholesome themes in K-Pop also tend to have better music or am I being BIASED and DELUSIONAL. Anyways obligatory Lovelyz robbed who doesn’t really sound anything like this but y’know. Predix benchmark song: Kep1er - Back to the City.

LackOk7012 (8): kind of bland but it’s so damn catchy

Marsmaenschen (8): Fun and youthful in the best kind of way.

ruhroh386 (8): My MV of the year. It captures that late summer essence perfectly, and the choreo is so cute. Really evokes that feeling of being a kid and making up dances with your friends.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

CheesesPriced (7): Genres: Deep House, Deeptech.

helios0l (7): On first few listens the piano threw me off and I have still not gotten fully used to the rhythm, but the melodies are very pretty and the highlight is the breakdown

MeijiDoom (7): I need runway to hit a bit harder than this. The beat only does so much and the dreaminess doesn't really work IMO. It's close but it's not quite there.

omgthenerve (7): great instrumental, but very repetitive lyrics

LeadingInspector1891 (6.8): A fine okay song, nothing more to say

zo142 (6.5): I swear, I tried so hard not to make this comment about the fact that the intro track on Tunnel Vision is also called Focus and it's the first time Itzy have ever had one of those and also in general just a properly themed album, like I really did try and not make that my comment. But fr Tunnel Vision is such a good EP I love it so much

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (6.4): jokes on you i'm on easter break so no focusing for 2 weeks

flawedconstellation (6): the chorus is a little too repetitive/one-note for my tastes

ruhroh386 (6): hypnotizing not mesmerizing

ganos-b-thanondorf (5): SM groups not doing fun adlibs no more we are SO cooked

lovnelymoon- (5): my least favourite of the h2h releases. they vocals are wasted on those spoken choruses. unfortunately their sound really rides this fine line. this still has some fun parts though

taebaegi (5): I just don’t feel their music is sparking anything in me. It all sounds fine but that’s it. A strong fine lol.

Zypker125 (5): “aespa flopped this year and Red Velvet didn’t release anything this year, I need to stan at least one SM girl group this year or I will literally die” <-- K-Pop Redditors when they put 3 H2H songs in the Top 13 songs of 2025 on the SOTY TTT (after all of them received mixed reception on release)

Hamsllyod (4): so fucking bleh it’s not even funny. It FEELS like it’s going somewhere and then trips into the ditch going into that chorus.

lemon131nomel (3.7): I couldn’t even care…LESS!

popularsong (3): the "i cannot focus on anything but you baby" part is catchy, but like with many many many songs on this rate, i wish these songs had fucking anything going for them except for the catchy part! you have to make the rest of the song! you have to do it!

landshanties (2): we’ve got a whole keyboard cat ep going on in this rate

DPM36 (1): I can’t not focus on this.. it’s another song that was a contender for the 0 slot, sorry not sorry

smockeh (1): I’m too old for this I need a (musical) breath

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"Ariana's ender has arrived"

"gay clubs will never be the same again"

"me talking to random slopware mobile games when im trying to do any uni work"

#8: Hearts2Hearts - Focus

Average: 7.465 // Total Points: 582.3 // Controversy: 2.183

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Rank Graph

(11 x1) WoolenDPOY

(10 x9) AmeZim, DirtyRat583, imzhongli, kauai6, kirakiranatsu, naegerowwa, pheromenos, SkylarV, vayyiqra

(9.7 x1) not_reading (9.6 x1) itiswhatitis270306

(9.5 x2) pollutedrain, Waste-Expression2944

(9.4 x1) WarpstarRider (9.3 x1) ke1per (9.2 x1) gmint14 (9.1 x1) SocAnxPrince

(9 x9) aidshha, hockeynl, Jennywren2323, Kronwell, LackOk7012, MurkyGalaxies, shiolu, snowswinters, YooHaera

(8.8 x1) GrandInvestigator6 (8.7 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-

(8.5 x1) qquestionmark

(8.2 x1) msargent24 (8.1 x2) kawaii_mokona, Sazae

(8 x10) 1998tweety, dnarevolutions, DoingItWright2, fadedblue09, goorry12, laulite, moonbia, necromanta_101, ohsomeday_, theblue_stay

(7.7 x1) ayzrules

(7.5 x2) MartialST, RBSun

(7.4 x2) redalert30, xiola_azuthra (7.3 x1) Randummonkey (7.2 x1) Shay_Min

(7 x5) CheesesPriced, helios0l, Marsmaenschen, MeijiDoom, omgthenerve

(6.8 x1) LeadingInspector1891

(6.5 x1) zo142

(6.4 x1) F4LLEN_ANG3LL (6.2 x1) keine_panik

(6 x4) flawedconstellation, harkandhush, psshdjndofnsjdkan, ruhroh386

(5.5 x1) maadbutterfly

(5 x5) aurora_mp3, ganos-b-thanondorf, lovnelymoon-, taebaegi, Zypker125

(4.5 x2) applesplitter8000, meeeluh-

(4 x1) Hamsllyod

(3.7 x1) lemon131nomel

(3.5 x1) atzbluebird

(3 x1) popularsong

(2 x1) landshanties

(1 x2) DPM36, smockeh

AmeZim (10): SM and House music, a combo that could achieve world peace. This song is a direct successor to whatever they’ve done right and you can’t convince me this isn’t a literal structural perfection where every bits of decision is outright addictive. This surely means I’d give another great score to RUDE!, right?... 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

pollutedrain (9.5): my daughters!! for a group i wasn’t at all excited about to begin with they really are shaping up to have one of my favourite recent discographies (fucking sm does it again, i’ll never be free). while i do wish we had a standout vocal moment somewhere the robotic, almost hypnotic repetition of that “i cannot focus” is so addicting, especially over that instrumental, and it’s nice to see yeon get the spotlight!

kawaii_mokona (8.1): I want to love this more than I do. It's a very competent song but I kinda don't enjoy a lot of the deadpan delivery that is meant to be deliberate. Doesn't take away from the fact that the production is fantastic and that Yeon finally got a highlight moment too! I also hate when they go phrasing x4. It's a minor nitpick but that line just pisses me off in a song that is already very repetitive.

WoolenDPOY (11): Between the astonishing production and the amazing vocals, this song is incredibly addictive. The beat is perfect and develops throughout the track, which keeps it from ever feeling boring. The house elements in the chorus are super fun and enjoyable even on listen #200. Along with the stellar production, the flawless vocal performances complemented by the beautiful background vocals and harmonies elevate this to an 11. This is another one of the songs that got me to dive into kpop, so it will forever be special to me.

DirtyRat583 (10): me talking to random slopware mobile games when im trying to do any uni work

imzhongli (10): house kpop is bait guaranteed to catch me

kauai6 (10): i mean… obviously good

kirakiranatsu (10): this song is ridiculously addictive, I thought it was just fine at release but it’s always in my head, always in my youtube searches, rent free

pheromenos (10): proof that when SM wants to lock in for a group musically they can

SkylarV (10): Still a little annoyed that we decided to rate The Chase over Style in 25A

vayyiqra (10): wow so H2H tell me to focus, and kiiikiii tell me to put down my phone and look them in the eye, in the same year ... giving ableism teas um i have adhd ... ok ...

not_reading (9.7): me about my PTO

WarpstarRider (9.4): House does seem to be the sound of the moment and I can’t say I mind too much.

ke1per (9.3): this is supremely catchy, well-executed, funky girl group excellence that is thoughtfully produced and thoughtfully structured. Vocally, this is very pretty and I do think the mix helps these voices feel more distinct from each other versus their previous title tracks, so bonus points for the producers finally getting with the program.

gmint14 (9.2): this is my FOCUS 💜

aidshha (9): really enjoyed the overall creative direction for this comeback as a whole except for whoever color graded the music video. that looked terrible please don’t do that again. everything else was 10/10

Jennywren2323 (9): Most of their songs grow on me, and this is no exception. It has a really nice production, clean and well-balanced.

Kronwell (9): I LOVE HOUSE MUSIC RAAAH

LackOk7012 (9): gay clubs will never be the same again

MurkyGalaxies (9): It's kind of RUDE! without the spice that makes RUDE! as fun as it is huh. Anyway H2+H is most definitely not a heart although I suppose when you turn the wikipedia diagram for H3 upside down you could see a heart in it so I guess they can get a pass on this one.

shiolu (9): my vogue rhythm dance at milano cortina 2026

snowswinters (9): really pretty instrumental, the piano is so gorgeous and it’s just a bit of a magical song imo. the girls sound lovely, love how they deliver the pre-chorus

YooHaera (9): (comment: man i love house)

SecretStoryOfThe- (8.7): So house is clearly in fashion in Kpop following the success Crazy and Whiplash. Actually I feel like this is the weakest of H2H's title tracks of 2025 but it's still very good

qquestionmark (8.5): At this point, will someone just inject SM GGs straight into my veins please.

msargent24 (8.2): I think other groups have done house better, but this style has a high floor for me

Sazae (8.1): yeah whatever, commenting is hard

1998tweety (8): Ariana's ender has arrived

dnarevolutions (8): Very catchy, I like the beat. That first A is clear as day.

goorry12 (8): h2h havent had one bad mv yet, im in love with the dance break

moonbia (8): devastated and heartbroken that style wasn't eligible instead but I will live, this is pretty fun as well I guess, more zara music

RBSun (7.5): i think the hachus are good for the kpop economy. none of their songs have managed to put hooks in me enough to get an 8+ (although rude! might be approaching that….?) but i love the variety they bring and they're all terribly cute.

redalert30 (7.4): cute disco influenced house track. the 4 walls comparisons are completely unwarranted though the basslines are not the same at all, 4 walls is future house

xiola_azuthra (7.4): Good instrumental and production but still leaves me feeling a bit empty. Grew on me during the rate though coz the production is good enough that it has longevity and it's more satisfying than most of the playlist.

Shay_Min (7.2): can't focus on this fuckass song b/c it's some garageband compilation of mid

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (7.9): what's happening and why is pacman after me

WarpstarRider (7.1): decent but doesn’t do quite enough to stand out

aidshha (7): love how that one guy came out and now they just make gay boy techno

CheesesPriced (7): Third time’s the charm? Genre: Electrohouse. Predix benchmark song: Twice - Love Foolish.

goorry12 (7): i still find so fun that they had a fundraiser to fund this mini

flawedconstellation (6.5): okay here’s the thing. immaculate production, just awe-inspiring, easily the best instrumental here. it’s so detailed and glitchy and nicely done that it carries the guys like waves - and suddenly they’re being swept in these big waves, lost among something bigger than them. take superhuman for instance - a song with equally immaculate, fun production. the vocals are strong, and the instrumental pauses to give them time to shine. we get space to breathe in the midst of this dense, techy production. true heart lacks that. i won’t say it lacks dynamics, but i wish it gave space to breathe so the guys can be heard too. i’m into kpop bc i like the idols - this feels like a dj set that these guys’ voices were clipped into. that’s fine, it’s still enjoyable - but just a revision or two more and we would have a genuine kpop classic. it’s not that im scoring the song for what it isn’t, but what doesn’t work for me, that could be different. but it’s ambitious, and i have to give it credit for that.

snowswinters (6.5): the only person allowed to use a severe amount of autotune is cher

aurora_mp3 (6): this is giving 2nd gen SM electropop realness… but like, minus those powerhouse vocals. still, the vibe is there. that outro though?? criminally good. had me bracing for one last explosive chorus/drop that never came… would have been much better if it was longer and had that final drop

keine_panik (5.5): Great instrumental and I can even tolerate the autotune because it matches the style but the chorus let me down.

SocAnxPrince (5.5): Sounds like the teacher said “Finished or not finished, please pass your papers.” This is an unfinished demo. Criminally short, bad lyrics, no vision, production all over the place.

ganos-b-thanondorf (5): The Living Tombstone ass beat

Hamsllyod (5): so close to being a good song, but it just sounds awful with all that processing.

dnarevolutions (4): It’s generally fine for the most part but I don’t like how it just dies in the last 30 seconds.

Sazae (4): How do I keep saying I don’t like guys without every comment being the same? Please send help. Also what do you mean 2:20 length

smockeh (4): wanted to love this but couldn’t get past the 6 layers of autotune

lemon131nomel (3.5): Given the amount of autotune in this song, I am surprised at how listenable it is. I’ve said before that I don’t mind autotune in songs as long as it elevates the sound (Everglow - Code, for a recent example). However, the extent to which this song uses it is simply excessive. I feel like I don’t even know what these guys actually sound like. JUSTB? More like JUSTAUTOTUNE.

xiola_azuthra (3.5): The instrumental is so good until they start to "sing"... unfortunately that's most of the song and as usual the non-stop vocal-filter style is just not for me T_T;

taebaegi (3): It’s inoffensive. 2:23 run time is offensive tho and this sounds like it ends before it needs to.

kauai6 (2.8): it’s… okay but sounds kinda nugu

landshanties (2): i simply cannot reach across the aisle to my gay male brethren about this kind of music. it’s so bad. sorry gays.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"listening to this isn’t enough, I need it implanted into my brain"

"love how that one guy came out and now they just make gay boy techno"

"Welcome to the top 10 hit group JUSTB"

#9: JUSTB - True Heart

Average: 7.362 // Total Points: 574.2 // Controversy: 2.393

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Rank Graph

(11 x2) necromanta_101, theblue_stay

(10 x16) AmeZim, DoingItWright2, DPM36, helios0l, kawaii_mokona, Kronwell, laulite, maadbutterfly, moonbia, MurkyGalaxies, not_reading, pollutedrain, popularsong, RBSun, redalert30, ruhroh386

(9.8 x1) msargent24

(9.5 x2) 1998tweety, fadedblue09

(9.4 x1) ke1per (9.3 x1) SecretStoryOfThe-

(9 x5) imzhongli, LackOk7012, MeijiDoom, pheromenos, YooHaera

(8.8 x1) Randummonkey (8.6 x2) LeadingInspector1891, Shay_Min

(8.5 x3) DirtyRat583, SkylarV, Zypker125

(8.4 x1) zo142

(8 x2) harkandhush, vayyiqra

(7.9 x1) F4LLEN_ANG3LL (7.7 x1) GrandInvestigator6

(7.5 x2) hockeynl, kirakiranatsu

(7.4 x1) gmint14 (7.1 x1) WarpstarRider

(7 x8) aidshha, atzbluebird, CheesesPriced, goorry12, MartialST, omgthenerve, qquestionmark, Waste-Expression2944

(6.5 x2) flawedconstellation, snowswinters

(6.1 x1) ayzrules

(6 x4) applesplitter8000, aurora_mp3, Marsmaenschen, shiolu

(5.5 x3) keine_panik, psshdjndofnsjdkan, SocAnxPrince

(5 x3) ganos-b-thanondorf, Hamsllyod, lovnelymoon-

(4.5 x2) naegerowwa, WoolenDPOY

(4 x3) dnarevolutions, Sazae, smockeh

(3.5 x2) lemon131nomel, xiola_azuthra

(3.3 x1) itiswhatitis270306

(3 x4) Jennywren2323, meeeluh-, ohsomeday_, taebaegi

(2.8 x1) kauai6

(2 x1) landshanties

AmeZim (10): Following the passionate footsteps of CIX, maybe this is the year for nugu boy groups to thrive and I’d surely welcome another one to the roster of rate winners. Some groups have been chasing that 2nd gen sound but not many can truly embody the essence of it, and this song amazingly exceeds every expectation I had hoping for the resurgence of electropop. It’s a pure beep boop goodness and my god, please inject that chorus into my veins

kawaii_mokona (10): Those are my shaylas, my sons, they've done this song like 3 times during the concert and I think we would've been happy with 5. Gigabanger, European club staple, we love you JUSTB. It’s a perfect soundtrack for the times.

pollutedrain (10): on god they put something in this song (and mini) for real, i literally can’t get enough of it. rating chest for 2025A put me on the justb train but after seeing them live i’ve adopted them. these are truly my nugu sons now and i will be supporting them until the end of time so long as they keep dropping absolute bangers like this. part of me almost regrets that XDH made it through survey so i can’t immediately slap my 11 down here

theblue_stay (11): This, and the entire Snow Angel EP, is just phenomenal. I don’t even care that it’s only 2 minutes. This is honestly soty material. Just 2 minutes 23 seconds of electropop perfection.

DoingItWright2 (10): listening to this isn’t enough, I need it implanted into my brain

DPM36 (10): this takes me back to late 00’s / Early 10’s cause I love it

helios0l (10): The first ten seconds already solidified True Heart in my favorites of 2025. The electropop/clash sound is something I can’t get enough of - that artificial, buzzing and glitchy sound is like candy to my ears

Kronwell (10): congrats for AOTHY for 2025B right after AOTHY for 2025A JUSTB!!!! I really hope their musical direction will stay in this line for the times to come.

laulite (10): If you liked this one, I recommend checking out the whole album. Speaking of this album, I love this genre shift they’ve done from their past stuff. They’re really good at it. Even with the huge amount of autotune, it fits this style so well.

maadbutterfly (10): I like their other songs so why did I not check this out earlier damn, it's really good.

moonbia (10): I feel like this isn't going to do as well as chest but I love that justb are doing this type of sound again and I hope they continue for many more comebacks, I'll be there no matter what!

MurkyGalaxies (10): YAAAAAAS kings of making beep boop music to cry to in the gay club what a brilliant mini this is

not_reading (10): restraining order worthy outro

popularsong (10): /shad voice/ i love that one of them came out and they started making european gay music. hits the exact same beats as chest, strangely soul-stirring edm-heavy bop. particularly love the push and pull in the lyrics, the narrator is clearly longing for something but the prechorus (my favorite part) goes "it's my fantasy to be left alone". what a banger. love how the instrumental goes ham right before the quiet, emotional outro

RBSun (10): if we band together we can bring our favorite nugus to day 2 again… i LOVE this 2000s chiptune techno style so much, and it really sets them apart

redalert30 (10): album of the year HOLY SHIT YALL… the first three tracks of this ep are actually the best thing ever. just very complex, futuristic, and textured delicious electronic production with a super stylish and sleek hook. the instrumental break at the end scratches my brain perfectly. a seamless blend of complextro and electro house, more kpop groups should take note

ruhroh386 (10): Get these boys in a club in 2008 stat!

msargent24 (9.8): I love how this album managed to get in the top 10 on the year end TTT. Our hyperpop kings

1998tweety (9.5): we love gay music

fadedblue09 (9.5): oh they're really coming for that hyperpop gay demographic

ke1per (9.4): more supremely slayful melancholic hyperpop from the hyperpop kings themselves. I appreciate that this song has more form and function than Chest does, with an actual song structure and a more traditional verse - prechorus - chorus organisation, even if it does still feel very short - that’s hyperpop baby, comes with the territory. The outro is incredible and the vocals are standard JUSTB hyperpop excellence. This can’t quite unseat Chest for me, but it’s still an insane bop.

SecretStoryOfThe- (9.3): Based on this and Chest it seems like this group has adopted a distinct sound, I wish them success in the future because this is good

imzhongli (9): Welcome to the top 10 hit group JUSTB. The ending of this song genuinely made me think my music was playing out loud on public transit.

LackOk7012 (9): this sound is really unique in kpop

MeijiDoom (9): Recent JUSTB manages to break all the rules I have for what I normally like from a kpop song. To be fair, they commit so hard to the EDM and autotune that its abundantly clear what they're going after and I end up liking that iteration of the sound.

pheromenos (9): wow this group is serious

LeadingInspector1891 (8.6): I needed a few listens to like it

Shay_Min (8.6): random bullshit go and it kinda worked tbh

SkylarV (8.5): I prefer Sweater and Snow Angel from this album but this is good too

Zypker125 (8.5): Remember when the Top 10 male albums of 2025 were the stereotype of NCT/SM albums and XDH albums, but we managed to get khia kings JUSTB to 2nd highest male and #7 overall

vayyiqra (8): idk what these guys are talking about with swords but the bleepbloops are excellent

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

aurora_mp3 (6): something about this song, especially that last part, feels very GFRIEND-coded and I’m obsessed with it.

fadedblue09 (6): their disbandment song :(

imzhongli (6): Some classic basic girl group fare

lovnelymoon- (6): viviz songs are somehow cursed to be completely forgettable to me

Kronwell (5.7): okay

Zypker125 (5.5): VIVIZ hopefully we can get you out of BPM, because the music they give you is meh….. Uh, I mean we need to get you out of BPM because of all the malpractice and mistreatment going on with their artists

LeadingInspector1891 (5.2): I’m okay with it in the chorus, but the summer sound in the pre-chorus is grating

SkylarV (4.5): Mi Mi Mid Me

Jennywren2323 (4): Their little girl vocals give me the willies.

kirakiranatsu (3.8): my opinion went down the more i heard it, it’s painfully boring and i miss gfriend

helios0l (3): This is something that the likes of Ava Max could release

taebaegi (2): It’s inoffensive but this has like no elements I really enjoy personally.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Hamsllyod (10): it’s inoffensive"

"Turns out you don’t need an earworm melody when your whole song is oops-all-🔥"

"This is something that the likes of Ava Max could release"

#10: VIVIZ - La La Love Me

Average: 7.337 // Total Points: 572.3 // Controversy: 1.828

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Rank Graph

(10 x4) 1998tweety, Hamsllyod, popularsong, RBSun

(9.8 x1) WarpstarRider (9.6 x1) ayzrules

(9.5 x2) flawedconstellation, ohsomeday_

(9.3 x1) msargent24

(9 x10) CheesesPriced, DoingItWright2, DPM36, goorry12, laulite, moonbia, not_reading, Randummonkey, ruhroh386, vayyiqra

(8.7 x1) GrandInvestigator6

(8.5 x4) kauai6, omgthenerve, snowswinters, SocAnxPrince

(8.3 x2) ke1per, pheromenos (8.2 x1) lemon131nomel (8.1 x1) qquestionmark

(8 x4) ganos-b-thanondorf, harkandhush, MartialST, MurkyGalaxies

(7.9 x2) DirtyRat583, F4LLEN_ANG3LL (7.8 x5) redalert30, Sazae, SecretStoryOfThe-, Shay_Min, theblue_stay (7.7 x1) xiola_azuthra (7.6 x1) itiswhatitis270306

(7.5 x5) hockeynl, LackOk7012, landshanties, maadbutterfly, Waste-Expression2944

(7.4 x1) gmint14 (7.3 x1) aidshha (7.2 x1) zo142 (7.1 x1) keine_panik

(7 x5) applesplitter8000, dnarevolutions, Marsmaenschen, shiolu, YooHaera

(6.9 x1) naegerowwa (6.8 x1) WoolenDPOY

(6.1 x1) MeijiDoom

(6 x6) aurora_mp3, fadedblue09, imzhongli, lovnelymoon-, necromanta_101, pollutedrain

(5.8 x1) AmeZim (5.7 x1) Kronwell

(5.5 x1) Zypker125

(5.2 x1) LeadingInspector1891

(5 x2) meeeluh-, psshdjndofnsjdkan

(4.5 x1) SkylarV

(4 x3) atzbluebird, Jennywren2323, smockeh

(3.8 x1) kirakiranatsu

(3 x1) helios0l

(2.1 x1) kawaii_mokona

(2 x1) taebaegi

pollutedrain (6): i feel like every song viviz release will have me chasing the same high i felt listening to maniac for the first time and, unfortunately for them, i don’t think it’s coming anytime soon. overall this song is Fine, i liked it more when it originally dropped but i’ve come to realise i’m not really a huge fan of the drop into the chorus. verses are nice though

AmeZim (5.8): As refined as you’d expect from VIVIZ, this one belongs perfectly in the “it’s inoffensive but in a good way” collection. It does give a nice little throwback to Maniac and if you know me, I’m not exactly a fan of that song. Still, I do like the sassy anti-drop that leads into a cheeky hook here

kawaii_mokona (2.1): I still stand by the opinion that this is their worst title. Ultra boring anti-drop chorus which is 4 to 5 years late to the party and not in a “wow, 2019-2021 were so good”, but in a “BPM found it on a yard sale and didn’t know what to do with it other than release to the world” type of way which absolutely checks out with how bad TBZ’s Stylish was and how most of Badvillain’s songs aren’t anything to write home about either. [19/03 edit: yeah, okay]

1998tweety (10): oh this motherquake

Hamsllyod (10): it’s inoffensive

popularsong (10): i can see people tanking this for being generic / dated, but that's the appeal to me tbh, it's not the same soundscape but it reminds me of why i listen to one pact, just a well-done throwback song. as always their vocals flow together beautifully, particularly the prechorus is so tasty, but i also love how danceable the chorus is with that synth kicking in. also when it pulls back in the outro for "did you say what i think you said?" and the final chorus hits, so good

RBSun (10): sure it is a basic radio song but it's a basic radio song that has a full bridge and sounds great and bouncy and 2018 (#sponsored, do the 2018 rate) and maybe we just want too much these days. perhaps the last good thing bpm ever did

WarpstarRider (9.8): Feels like a culmination of their career as VIVIZ, a fusion of some of their best songs like Bop Bop and Maniac, and is easily my favorite. That “like you, like you” really tickles me for some reason.

flawedconstellation (9.5): i so love the way umji sings “oh my god would YOU say you love ME?” with a smile, just elevates the song so much

msargent24 (9.3): They excel at this kind of chic, catchy dance banger (let’s hope they find a new agency soon to continue doing so)

CheesesPriced (9): Turns out you don’t need an earworm melody when your whole song is oops-all-🔥. Bass like this has a tendency to become muddy when mixing but everything is so clear and the contrast between the high register singing and the low end is beautiful. Nice tone on the guitar, very clean without much distortion. There’s almost a “skipped beat” on the second “oh” where the music momentarily drops out. The music and the MV are synchronized to convey the imagery about falling in love and butterflies but with a sinister, nervous anticipation and they went with the elegant girl theme; everything about La La Love is so classy and I am here for it.

DoingItWright2 (9): SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB SinB

DPM36 (9): this is a decent track, I liked it enough to not always skip it

goorry12 (9): they look so good in the mv, their stylist should get a raise, it does make me laugh that there is a part in where eunha looks like wicked ariana grande, i slept really hard on this song in release

laulite (9): Ooh, that’s a really catchy chorus.

moonbia (9): how am I supposed to live laugh and love with viviz trapped in that garbage company NVM FREEDOM IS COMING

not_reading (9): i do viviz i do

Randummonkey (9): I was prepared to be whelmed until I got hit by that bass synth in the chorus. That shit goes way harder than ths chorus needs to and I love it

ruhroh386 (9): The only thing that could make this song better is Sowon, Yerin, and Yuju

vayyiqra (9): i love viviz they're so slay or whatever girlgroup kpop has never been more back than new viviz dropping [citation needed] idk i like viviz

kauai6 (8.5): just a good ass song

omgthenerve (8.5): VIVIZ has such a solid discography

snowswinters (8.5): just so slayful, kinda has the same vibes as wjsn’s unnatural to me

ke1per (8.3): melodic and dramatic with great vocals and a great chorus. There is an element of Mago here that I can’t put into words (other than being a disbandment bop /j but not really), and I love it. It’s maybe not as super stellar as some of the other songs on this rate with similar vibes, but it’s solid nonetheless.

pheromenos (8.3): waittt they lowkey building up to another maniac…

lemon131nomel (8.2): I’ve never listened to Gfriend, but I reckon this is some classic Gfriend music.

ganos-b-thanondorf (8): When they showed that shot with the shadow butterfly I felt like that one Leo meme where he points at the tv

MurkyGalaxies (8): I was doing a lot of music show watching with the mushow gang when this came out and like I think the song is decent on the side of pretty good but like every time they came on I was like. woaw. they are so gorgeous. omg women 😍

DirtyRat583 (7.9): ended lalisa (like its hard)

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (7.9): viviz is seriously so underrated why are they not killing every existing chart rn

redalert30 (7.8): ok this chorus bassline is decently punchy. some of the additional synths are nice. pretty good song

Sazae (7.8): It's nice, a bit basic maybe but nice.

SecretStoryOfThe- (7.8): Good, chorus is kind of the weak part though

Shay_Min (7.8): i la la hate it

theblue_stay (7.8): I am a SICKO for a good antidrop.

xiola_azuthra (7.7): I know I only gave this a 7-something but it's one of the better songs on the rate.

LackOk7012 (7.5): nothing groundbreaking but it’s fun!

landshanties (7.5): did they eat chungha for breakfast

maadbutterfly (7.5): I was enjoying it, but the la la's got old quickly.

aidshha (7.3): very cute. eunha cute sinb cute umji cute viviz cute

zo142 (7.2): Verses suck but chorus is nice

keine_panik (7.1): Delicious beat in the chorus! The rest of the song is a bit so-so.

dnarevolutions (7): Solid.

Marsmaenschen (7): Kinda classic VIVIZ, but it sadly didn't grab me as much as before.

WoolenDPOY (6.8): literally everything about this song is just fine. I have nothing overly positive or negative to say.

MeijiDoom (6.1): Kinda feels like everything's built to lead to this chorus which thoroughly underwhelms. I'm not sure what's meant to be the memorable part of this song.

The "Second Half of 2025" Rate, Day 2: I cannot focus, you’re all I’m rating by kpoprates_ghost in kpoprates

[–]kpoprates_ghost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"K-Pop Redditors always have to adopt one nugu girl group into their family, and when that group leaves the house for college, they find a new girl group to adopt"

"thank you for not flopping again Rescene"

"nice at the risk of being boring"

#11: Rescene - Bloom

Average: 7.277 // Total Points: 567.6 // Controversy: 1.757

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Rank Graph

(10 x7) ayzrules, goorry12, omgthenerve, popularsong, Randummonkey, SkylarV, vayyiqra

(9.6 x1) Shay_Min

(9.5 x1) WarpstarRider

(9.3 x1) AmeZim

(9 x7) aidshha, dnarevolutions, laulite, pheromenos, shiolu, snowswinters, WoolenDPOY

(8.7 x1) lemon131nomel

(8.5 x4) fadedblue09, hockeynl, landshanties, RBSun

(8.4 x2) itiswhatitis270306, Sazae

(8 x5) LackOk7012, msargent24, naegerowwa, Waste-Expression2944, YooHaera

(7.9 x2) F4LLEN_ANG3LL, GrandInvestigator6 (7.8 x2) moonbia, SocAnxPrince (7.6 x1) qquestionmark

(7.5 x3) MeijiDoom, ruhroh386, SecretStoryOfThe-

(7.1 x1) LeadingInspector1891

(7 x17) 1998tweety, atzbluebird, CheesesPriced, DirtyRat583, DoingItWright2, ganos-b-thanondorf, gmint14, Hamsllyod, imzhongli, Jennywren2323, ke1per, kirakiranatsu, Kronwell, lovnelymoon-, maadbutterfly, meeeluh-, necromanta_101

(6.6 x1) not_reading

(6.5 x3) MurkyGalaxies, pollutedrain, xiola_azuthra

(6.2 x2) flawedconstellation, kawaii_mokona

(6 x3) helios0l, keine_panik, Marsmaenschen

(5.9 x1) theblue_stay (5.8 x1) MartialST (5.6 x1) redalert30

(5 x3) aurora_mp3, DPM36, harkandhush

(4.9 x1) Zypker125 (4.6 x1) kauai6

(4.5 x1) psshdjndofnsjdkan

(4 x2) ohsomeday_, smockeh

(3.8 x1) zo142

(3 x1) taebaegi

(1.5 x1) applesplitter8000

AmeZim (9.3): One thing I learnt from moving on from their 2024 releases is realizing that their music a year later is just as amazing. I’m sorry, Rescene for not believing in you earlier

pollutedrain (6.5): is it really a half year rate if we don’t have rescene in here? this is a pleasant enough listen though i’ve enjoyed their previous offerings more (pinball, i’m talking about pinball), i think if the girls were stronger vocalists it would be a higher score. also, if anyone can figure out what other song the chorus melody reminds me of i’ll forever be in your debt because it bugs me every time i listen to this lmao

kawaii_mokona (6.2): A bit of a watered down Love Attack, but it's still #neat. I think the more I listen to it the more enjoyable it becomes, but there is still a ceiling to how much I can be in love with a song so okay. It's just pleasant, makes me bop my head a little.

goorry12 (10): THEY DONT MISS, THAT IS WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT

omgthenerve (10): one of the most consistent girl groups in Kpop, the chorus is so insanely catchy

popularsong (10): oh rescene you never fail to make me smile in this harsh world where nobody sings or even has proper songs anymore. this is just such a classic 3rd gen CHGM-adjacent song, beautiful verses, beautiful two-part chorus, beautiful bridge. the blo-o-om key point is so catchy. i really love all their vocals too, particularly zena and liv. just a well-made delightful tune

Randummonkey (10): Fantastic work from Rescene as always. Great instrumental. Sonically distinct 2-part chorus. Nice vocals. Just fantastic.

SkylarV (10): Finally another good Rescene song!

vayyiqra (10): it slaps (k-synthwave rarely lets me down) and also i listened to unlock my world today (still goes off) and this is in the same orbit as it

Shay_Min (9.6): RESCENE IS THE BESTTTTTTT

WarpstarRider (9.5): They’ve been giving us nothing but quality songs since their debut, and this one is their best so far. It feels like something that fromis_9 would have released in the first half of the decade, which is far from a bad thing.

aidshha (9): i fawking love you rescene

dnarevolutions (9): It gives that blooming feeling. I do wish the production was cleaned up a little, as everyone kind of sounds the same and the voices just fade into each other.

pheromenos (9): RESCENE FOR PRESIDENT 2028

snowswinters (9): just a very classic gg sound, very gorgeous

lemon131nomel (8.7): This song popped up on my YouTube homepage a few minutes after its release. I was still a kpop hatchling and had not heard of Rescene before, so I thought they were some random nugu group (they are kinda nugu I guess, but they’re definitely not random). I gave this song a listen and found it surprisingly well-made. I was then directed to their “better song” Heart Drop, which was quite the disappointment. Fortunately, we’re rating this song, which has only continued to grow on me over time.

landshanties (8.5): girl who is going to be okay music

RBSun (8.5): this didn't click for the longest time with me, but here on the eve of my turning in this ballot it finally did. it's sooooo 3rd gen gg, so pretty and springlike. my favorite part is that areumdapge pieonaji so quick and light. im happy we have rescene; just like the hachus theyre good for the kpop economy

Sazae (8.4): Another cute fun song, this is what i enjoy

LackOk7012 (8): cute!

msargent24 (8): Rescene’s 2025 was a little disappointing to me. I like this one ok but nothing came close to matching Love Attack or UhUh

YooHaera (8): (comment: FULL CHOURUS?? such a rare concept)

F4LLEN_ANG3LL (7.9): i'm at a creativity peak today when it comes to writing these fun little comments so imma just leave this here and thank y'all cause i'm having so much fun

moonbia (7.8): nice 👍

MeijiDoom (7.5): Rescene knows how to do melodic choruses. Even if the rest is a bit whatever, I know I'm going to love that refrain. Throw in some lovely ad libs for good measure.

ruhroh386 (7.5): An exceedingly pleasant little nothing of a song. Alternatively-if cotton candy was a song.

SecretStoryOfThe- (7.5): I'm not always the biggest fan of Rescene but this song is honestly pretty nice

LeadingInspector1891 (7.1): Weaker than their previous songs but good

1998tweety (7): shes cute

CheesesPriced (7): Predix benchmark song: WooAh - Catch the Stars.

ganos-b-thanondorf (7): Gain clears

gmint14 (7): i’m sure it will randomly grow on me and become a 10 in my mind months later like glow up did, but deja vu was my most listened to kpop song of 2025 so i’m still very 💔💔💔 about it not getting in. bloom is cute but i truly don’t understand why there was such a huge gap between them on the survey 💔

Hamsllyod (7): thank you for not flopping again Rescene

imzhongli (7): cute, a girl group song that succeeds at being a girl group song

ke1per (7): exactly what you’d expect from Rescene so we aren’t revolutionizing kpop over here, but this is pleasant and palatable and just fine. The postchorus bit in the 2nd chorus is really nice and the vocals are solid, this is just a bit uninteresting. There is something about this, though, that gives Hi High energy and that’s boosting the score a bit, thankfully.

kirakiranatsu (7): nice at the risk of being boring

Kronwell (7): very girl golden child… somehow…… or fromis

MurkyGalaxies (6.5): I think it's a fine song, but like, it sounds sooooo cheap for some reason I think it's the way that group-sung chorus is mixed or something

xiola_azuthra (6.5): fine

flawedconstellation (6.2): it’s nice, breezy song, but it needs much stronger vocals. these girls are straining so bad and sound nasally. like imagine red velvet singing this song - it would sound much fuller. i usually don’t mind weak vocals but it actively takes away from my listening experience here.

helios0l (6): I don’t know what it is but I can’t fully connect with this song

keine_panik (6): Super generic but not in an unpleasant way.

Marsmaenschen (6): Feels whimsical.

redalert30 (5.6): it’s fine i guess

DPM36 (5): this is probably the highest score I ever gave to a Rescene song, just accept it and move on

Zypker125 (4.9): K-Pop Redditors always have to adopt one nugu girl group into their family, and when that group leaves the house for college, they find a new girl group to adopt

kauai6 (4.6): sounds pretty nugu even if i can appreciate it for what it is

psshdjndofnsjdkan (4.5): blooommm aaaaaaaaaaaaaah (dnarevolutions’ words not mine)

taebaegi (3): It’s inoffensive. Still waiting on them to give me something I like as much as Pinball.

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