Another year through the kpop world, another great set of songs. I have a bunch of thoughts on the year that I thought about writing in the intro, but I think a lot of those thoughts are better just seen. As you navigate down the list you’ll notice most of these thoughts as well, so the article should do the talking for me. As always, I start and end the year in November so I have time to contemplate the rankings and write the article, so this period is technically December 1st, 2024 through November 30th, 2025. Also, I am openly girl group biased, if you’re looking for boy groups, you will find a very small amount of representation here, but will otherwise need other writers to fuel that for you. I will say I liked this year pretty well across the board, my playlist isn’t as long as previous years, but I feel that the quality is very high throughout. Let’s get to it!
50. Fly Up- TripleS MSNZ Neptune
A lot of my TripleS biases are in this subunit, and I’m happy they got to try a sexier concept since they all wanted to (minus Seoah, but they handled her inclusion in the subunit really well). I think this song is a lot of fun, I think it’s just the least my style personally among the MSNZ songs musically, leaning a little more girl crushy than a lot of the sexy concept songs that I think usually are very fun to listen to.
49. Cameo Love- TripleS MSNZ Moon
I think the MSNZ format for TripleS is probably the best subunit building project they’ve ever done. If they could have these be static groups I think everybody would approve. That isn’t the TripleS way though, so I instead just hope that they use the four 6-girl groups format each year moving forward, it felt very good. I’m still not fully sure of my feelings with this song, it’s fluctuated with Fly Up since release for me as the last place MSNZ song. And honestly, it’s a banger, so that’s a pretty good sign. I like its lowkey vibes, but it does kinda live a one-note kinda life for the most part, a little more musical variance would be nice.
48. Glow Up- Rescene
I think Rescene has still yet to hit the perfect genre clicking song for them, but they keep coming really close. Glow Up has a lot of fun vibes to it, and I personally really like the weird kinda EDM chorus. I will continue to listen to Rescene’s releases waiting for them to randomly drop the song that hits the top 10 for me, it’ll come.
47. Wild- Babymonster
Babymonster has been so consistently musically good that they can do a complete genre miss for me and still release a top 50 song for me. Wild is a fun positive song that I don’t super resonate with, but still enjoy when it plays. I usually like happier music, but I don’t necessarily like this very directly uplifting style. Reminds me of a lot of the pop music from when I was growing up though, which is kinda fun.
46. Like You Better- Fromis_9
Or Fromis_5 as I usually think of them. I think this is actually their weakest release in a while in a lot of ways, but they’ve been so strong for so long that a weak release is still definitely above average. I do wonder if their tour had come closer to my city and I could have gone if this song would be higher. Sometimes hearing and seeing something live can really change opinions. But alas, this is the kpop tour that I’m the saddest to have missed I think. Come closer next time please, signed a card carrying Flover.
45. Top Toe- Candy Shop
Candy Shop lives in the exact same realm in my head as Rescene, I’m just waiting for them to release an absolute banger after consistently good but not amazing releases. I do think it’ll come as well. I do like the Sistar19 reference at the start, it’s really random, but as a big Sistar fan it does make me feel hype anyways. I also like the chill vibes of this one, I just think it’s missing a little something, I almost wonder if Candy Shop could use some rap verses or something just to shake up their songs a little more… actually, Rescene is also missing a rapper… hmmm…
44. Ash- Le Sserafim
I think this song is pretty cool, and fairly unique in kpop. It really almost treats voices differently than the genre normally does, and has a very interesting instrumental and backtrack in general. This one may actually be more a shoutout to the producer than anything to be honest, it’s just an interesting track.
43. Nerdy- Ifeye
I only heard chorus clips of this song for most of the year, and I actually think they make the song sound much worse than it is when consumed as a full picture. In fact, I only gave the full song a shot 17 hours before writing this, and it probably should have been higher had I had more time to sit with it. I really like the contrast between the verses and the chorus’s different sections, it all fits together really nicely. There’s also something that I’ll discuss later which will make me look silly for ignoring this song for so long, so look out for that one.
42. Wings- Irisé
I also picked this group up a little bit later in the year as they had just flown under the radar for me, but I actually think they’re both talented and pretty musically strong. I like the rockiness of this song and the pop-off of the chorus against the fairly chill verses, it creates a good flow. Also, this is the first avatar based group to appear on the ManelyKpop rankings, so that’s exciting.
41. Clik Clak- Babymonster
I think this song is absolutely absurd, and for a group that I think does pretty well in every genre, this style of hip hop really isn’t good for any kpop girl group in my opinion. That said, I think it’s pretty hilarious and disturbingly catchy. They did a pretty fantastic job as a group on this one for it to end up on the list, and somehow this high up.
40. Rebel Heart- IVE
I think IVE has been one of the strongest groups since their debut. But their concept evolving into “expensive” has kinda lost me a little bit, as evidenced by their presence on my ranking being greatly diminished the last two years, and even title tracks missing the ranking entirely both years now. That said, I think Rebel Heart is a pretty good song, I like the chugging guitar, and the chorus is fun and catchy to sing along with, so they hit pretty well on this one. Also, despite me usually not using all caps for most groups that write their name that way, I have just noticed I do it for IVE, so that’s kinda weird.
39- BEBE- Stayc
Stayc title tracks recently have been kinda experimental, but they always are slightly different from the past ones. This one has hints of OG concept Stayc while also being more runway styled, if that makes sense, kinda that “expensive” concept of IVE almost. That said, Stayc performs it well and it holds up.
38. So Cynical (Badum)- Le Sserafim
This appeals a lot to my EDM sensibilities, super chill, good bounce to the whole track. I really like the badum sections actually. This isn’t the kind of song that elicits an emotional connection to make it a top song of the year, but it’s always one I’m happy to have play.
37. Sass- Izna
It says a lot about how I feel about Izna that they would go a musical direction I’m pretty against and I still have it at 37. They honestly crushed this girl crush concept, even though I think they’re much better in their cuter, poppier style. I do think this also kinda led to Mamma Mia, which is my least favorite outing for Izna personally, I’m not docking this song for that, but I do feel some negativity due to it. Looking forward to the next Izna release though, one of my favorite groups right now.
36. Being a Good Girl Hurts- Yena
I just love Yena man, she’s so good. I’m sadly not putting her collab song with Miku on the list despite the fact that I would find it awesome to have Hatsune Miku show up here. Luckily, Yena still has this banger and it absolutely deserves to be here. This song almost has the vibe of a musical more than a standard pop song, and it works really well, Yena’s vocal tone is honestly perfect for that.
35. Are You Alive- TripleS
Honestly, living up to Girls Never Die was a nearly impossible task, but Are You Alive measures up decently well. It’s also a fairly funny title in sequence. I think the signature 24 member TripleS sound is very strong here, and while I view that as a strength, it can also be a weakness, it doesn’t have enough new to raise it higher for me.
34. Timebomb- Izna
So, if you know release dates, this song actually came out on Izna’s first album which actually came out in the last week of the 2024 ranking period. So, why is it here? Well, honestly, I just entirely missed Izna entering into existence until the start of this year, and since this album was so on the edge, I’m letting it in. I love this song’s bounciness in the bass, and I think it’s really well built in general. It’s cute and chill, but still interesting enough to be enjoyable, which can be a hard balance to strike. And, while I try not to account for choreo in the music rankings, I would recommend watching the choreo to this song, I think it’s really fun.
33. Good Luck- UAU
The soft disbandment of full group Dreamcatcher is a bad thing for kpop. The three members in this subunit sticking together is a great thing, as they are all pretty talented in every category except for having raps. I sadly didn’t like most of their first release, but I really love this song. I also really like how the lines heading into the chorus seem like they’re supposed to be slant rhymes and the girls ignore that and instead just enunciate them super cleanly, it’s very funny.
32. Freak- BM featuring B.I
BM’s lyrics always make me laugh, the dude only has one thing on his mind when he’s writing a lot of the time. This is clearly supposed to be chill club or party music for people to get down to, but it kinda just works as a normal song too.
31. I Do Me- KiiiKiii
I have a historical weakness to Starship girl groups, but when it comes to KiiiKiii… it’s no different, I love them and want them to succeed. It’s not my fault Starship makes good girl groups. I love the genre here, capitalizing on a lot of the trends forming while really making this song stand alone at the same. I also really like the production on this one, it’s fantastic.
30. Bubble Gum Girl- TripleS MSNZ Sun
So, this year Chaewon really rose in my TripleS bias rankings, she’s at the top with Yubin now, and this song feels like it was made for her. I love how aggressively cute and bubblegummy this song actually is, and it’s incredibly catchy. I don’t love the “hooked on you” breakdown section into instrumental though, I actually think it slows down the song in a way that wasn’t really beneficial. The instrumental section does build into the final chorus really nicely, it’s just all that stitched together could be done differently.
29. Iridiscent- Irisé
They were both the first and second appearance of an avatar based group on my ranking as it turns out. This song is so Purple Kiss coded it’s insane, but in the best way imaginable, and these girls fit into this interesting musical soundscape so well. This song slaps, and if you haven’t given it a shot, you really should, it’s super cool.
28. Hot- Le Sserafim
This has been one of the most interesting songs in my household this year, because I play and prefer the normal version, but my wife plays and prefers the English version, so I would bounce between hearing the two. I like this version of Le Sserafim, and you know what, no throwing up noises is nice, I wouldn’t have thought I would ever think that, but after Spaghetti, here we are. I think this song is basically good across the board, so this is what I meant about how strong I think the songs were this year, that an all upside song is at 28, and honestly at 29 back with Irisé as well.
27. Lemon Drop- Ateez
Ateez kinda lost me for a few years there, but they’ve been back on track since last year, and it’s great. Lemon Drop is such a vibey song, just want to bob your head with it. The rap sections are also excellent, which is usually a great sign for an Ateez song. This song is performed with a lot of attack, and that’s oftentimes a good sign too, when an artist just really goes for it, a song will usually be better off.
26. Really Like You- Babymonster
I like the Babymonster b-sides where we get the cuter and softer version of the girls. I actually think it suits the much better than girl crush in general because the group is still so young. I also think the crews behind these style songs do a good job of still playing to the member’s strengths and having fun cute raps still instead of just leaning into singing exclusively, which a lot of cuter concepts struggle to blend effectively, which is also a testament to Babymon’s rappers being skilled.
25. Lover, Killer- Stayc
Did you expect Stayc to show up again on this list? Well, here they are, much higher up with a Japanese release. I think Lover, Killer is a song that plays much more to Stayc’s strengths than BEBE actually does. And man the chorus is just so good, like the verses are solid, but the chorus is crazy good. The whole “you call me section” is like music nerd shivers. And Sieun’s fade away “you know who was right” also is so chilling.
24. Feel The Vibe- Queenz Eye
I thought Unnormal was an incredible song, I also thought Queenz Eye had likely faced the classic Nugu silent disbandment. Then, bam, Feel The Vibe comes out and is so good. I actually think the verses leave something to be desired, but the chorus soars so highly that it balances out to being the 24th best song of the year for me. I love the grooviness and bounce, it really makes you want to move along with the music.
23. BTG- KiiiKiii
Wow, the dichotomy of this song between the rap and vocal sections is so stark and yet blends together so well, in fact coming together at the end of the chorus and blending beautifully. The composer better have got paid well for this brilliance. Part of me wants to bring this song higher because it’s just so good, I may have to. This year is so tough.
22. Dear- QWER
I love QWER, they’re so great. Peak behind the curtains, I still have T.B.H and My Name is Malguem in my 2025 playlist just because I want to keep listening to them. I think Dear is probably my least favorite of the 3? But it still makes me feel so happy every time I listen to it. It has this triumphant joy to it that is straight dopamine to me.
21. Love In My Heart- Babymonster
My most played song this year, benefitted by being one of the first songs added and me just staying on shuffle. I like the excitement of the chorus and the rising energy through each verse-chorus pairing and the build-up of the pre-chorus. It’ll get many more listens from me in the future too, I’m sure.
20. Billionaire- Babymonster
Super out of my genre, but it’s just so much fun that I can’t deny Billionaire one bit, and I actually kinda wish I could.
19. Love Game- Irisé
The third and final appearance of Irisé in their debut year. Yeah, I like this group a lot, they’re really talented, if you like Irisé, who’s your bias btw? Mine is Tiz. Anyways, this song is so cute and fun. I really like the way all the pieces come together, and something that this group’s team does really well is letting each member show themselves and their strengths as individuals while still producing a cohesive product. Oftentimes you end up with either the individuals or the whole overshadowing the other side, but not here.
18. r u ok?- Ifeye
This is why I should have picked up Nerdy sooner. I really loved this song as soon as I heard it. This song is, well, really weird and a little disjointed, almost in an Nmixx way, but far more enjoyable to listen to for me. I can see a lot of people liking some sections, but not others and dismissing the song, but I assure you, this blend is art and the members did a really good job because they were handed chaos and made it sound good.
17. Supa Dupa Luv- Babymonster
THE RAP SECTION AT THE START OF THIS SONG GOOD LORD. That alone would have put it in like 30th with how good it is even if the rest of the song was terrible, Asa is just insane and Ahyeon follows it through really well somehow too, and the beat in that section is also crazy good. The rest of the song is really solid, and it’s super catchy. I also am impressed by how clean and clear Pharita’s vocals are sometimes, I think she really shows what she’s got on this track.
16. Saturn- Madein
I have written disclaimers in the past whenever Madein comes up, but I’m just going to talk about music this time, because their situation is depressing. I think this song is a nice addition to the year, the floaty, dare I say, spaciness of the track is really interesting. I love the bending held vocal notes in the chorus a lot, and I actually really like the unresolved ending. Normally that’s a tactic writers and composers use to make you feel like you need to listen to the song again, but I think it’s used a little more intentionally and artistically here, and it’s really cool.
15. Dancing Alone- KiiiKiii
I really think they’ve had a great start to their career, and this is actually the newest single they’ve released, so I think that KiiiKiii is musically trending upwards. This song is the light retro sound that they used with I Do Me, but a little bit more fun and exciting, and it’s positive vibes really hit me every time I hear it.
14. Izna- Izna
I feel like I usually don’t like title tracks that are just the name of the group, but this one is really fun. I think the chorus is fun and catchy, and I like the camera sound integrated into the track. I think the verse 2 rap from Koko and Sarang is the best part of the song for me, it really sticks and I like the “wonder who that girl? Izna izna, it’s me,” line of Koko’s in particular.
13. Derre- Bibi
I may be brewing a concert ranking article for the year, and if it does end up coming out, expect Bibi to be really high up, she puts on a fantastic show. Derre is just so much fun, and you can feel Bibi having a ton of fun with it even in the recorded version. I would actually love it if she did a few more songs like this as she goes along, but she also does everything really well, so it’s really hard to know what I hope she puts out next. Also, banger instrumental ending section to the song.
12. XOXZ- IVE
This is the first song in almost 2 years where IVE reminded me what I loved about them musically in their first years. This song is fun, it’s hype, it feels more nuanced and interesting, and it’s a fun direction musically too, something familiar, but also new. I also feel like the members feel refreshed to me here somehow too, like I’m seeing them in a shinier way.
11. The Chase- Hearts2Hearts
SM absolutely cooked with Hearts2Hearts, this is probably the strongest girl group debut year from them since SNSD in my opinion, and I know a lot of people will disagree with me on that, but I stand on that statement. The Chase is a crazy debut song, and structurally actually reminds me a little bit of mid career SNSD actually. The breakdown part of the first and second chorus is just so peak, and anybody who disagrees on that is just wrong to me.
10. We Go Up- Babymonster
This song reminds me a lot of Pom Pom Pom by Wooah last year but a much stronger song overall. The rappers absolutely crush as per usual for Babymon, and everybody else, well, they also crush it. This is probably the best hype song from a kpop girl group ever to me, it’s not usually something I like, but Babymonster consistently proves that they can push through those musical taste barriers.
9. Q&A- TripleS MSNZ Zenith
Of all the MSNZ songs, this one absolutely cooked the hardest. This member blend and song is a dream. If this had been a standard group debuting I think they would have blown up. There’s been a lot of songs where the chorus pop-off from the more calm verse has been a benefit, but I think this is the song where that is actually done the best, especially because the pre-chorus takes a bit of a pop-off from the verse on it’s own and then it does that to an even larger degree going into the chorus. As I write this, this song is at 16th, but when you read this it may be much higher.
8. Billyeoon Goyangi (Do the Dance)- Illit
This song is cutely psychotic, even by Illit standards. It’s all over the place and doesn’t really seem like it quite knows what it wants to be. But all that to say it does whatever it’s doing perfectly? I don’t know, it’s a weird one to explain, it’s cohesive and really fantastic while I listen to certain sections and wonder how everything in this song ended up here together. Brilliant work all around.
7. Style- Hearts2Hearts
“Baby, you make me smile,” is an ironic song, because this song makes me smile. It’s so unapologetically cute and happy and fun. I’m literally smiling while I write this. I don’t have much to actually say about the song, this placement is based on the positive emotions that it makes me feel as a listener. So, I usually type as I listen to the song, but I just spent the last minute of the song having a little dance party at my desk, if that tells you where I’m at with this one.
6. Hot Sauce- Babymonster
This is the last Babymonster entry on the list, and yes, they were my top group per Spotify wrapped this year, they were good all year round. I think this is what peak Babymonster performance looks like. It feels like it fits the girls really well, it’s fun, it’s hype, it’s kinda silly, they all get to flex their skills a little. It was easily the most fun song at the concert too, the whole crowd was just popping off for it, and that didn’t have any influence on this ranking, it’s been up here for me since release. Babymonster has been an absolutely fantastic group since debut basically, with so much strong music, I would not be surprised if they have the top song for me once or twice in the coming years.
5. Focus- Hearts2Hearts
I do in fact like every new Hearts2Hearts song more than the one before it. This song has a sample that I kinda hate in isolation and is really repetitive, but it’s such an earworm and somehow makes the sample enjoyable anyways. This is another song that I really like because of how weird it actually is. I’ve been addicted to this song since the day it came out and I’m still feeling addicted today.
4. Beep- Izna
There was a point this year where I had this as my top song, it’s just so perfectly catchy and happy and fun, very similar to Style from Hearts2Hearts, but more chic in vibe than outrightly cute. I also think that’s how you end a song, it’s a perfect ending stinger. Just another top tier vibe song.
3. Blue- Madein S
These are the 4 Japanese members (now the only remaining members) of Madein. I really like the elegance and flowiness of this song, it’s beautiful. I like the little high notes in the chorus, and the driving drum beat. And then the end part of the chorus where it gets more energetic is just a great cap to those little high almost whistle-y notes.
2. little monster- Illit
First of all, this music video is a trip and a half, it’s so much fun. This song is really well crafted, the soft whispery tones into the hyper-pop styled chorus is a great juxtaposition that works really well for me on a musical level. They also manage to make a 2 minute 30 second song manage to feel very full with the breakneck pacing that this song takes, instead of feeling a little short, and most songs are too short feeling these days, only 18 of the songs on this list actually break the 3 minute mark, which is a bummer. Also, this is the 4th or 5th song that’s in the upper rankings that goes almost non-instrumental soft vocals into the final chorus, so clearly that trend is working really well for making song structures feel full and complete, at least for me.
1. Sign- Izna
I knew very early in the year that Sign was going to be my number one song this year, Izna hit a kpop masterpiece on this one in my opinion. Great verses, absolutely magnificent chorus, and a really well composed instrumental that uses some really fun sounds. I genuinely enjoy this song enough that when it comes time to rank songs across this whole decade I think Sign has a pretty decent shot at winning, or at least being top 5. I really hope to see more of this Izna in the future, I think they’re one of the best lineups in an era of extremely strong girl groups debuting left and right. Most of my top 25 songs are actually from girl groups that debuted in the last two years. So, let’s see who comes out next year, or if we’ll have another fantastic rookie group take it.
Congrats Izna on the win. Keep tuning in through the next few weeks for more 2025 rankings across many categories, and then, let’s start doing more articles that are a little more present in their scope. I know I’ve been a little slower in writing articles these last few years. My early 30s so far have been a pretty great time, and I’ve gone from near the worst state I’ve ever been in during my late 20s to happier and better, both in mental and physical health and self-care. I’ve put a lot into ManelyKpop when I was in my darkest times, and it helped me focus on good things and being positive. But I pushed the site off to the side while I worked instead on bettering myself, and now I think I’m ready to rededicate myself to the site with this refreshed version of who I am, a more true and honest version of myself, where I look forward and see happiness, instead of being scared of the dark path that may lay ahead. So, I make no promises, but if all goes well, expect to see a lot more from Manely Kpop 2026 than you have in 2024 and 2025. Thank you all for reading, I love every one of you that comes, even if you click on an article and instantly leave. Have a better 2026 than any other year before, and if you feel like everything is bad and wrong, and that you’re worth nothing, you’re wrong, you’re amazing and special and you matter to me, I’ve been where you are, and if you want to talk reach out to me on Discord, I’ll be here for you, and it may take years like it took me, but things get better. Heck, we can even just talk kpop if you want, focusing on things that make you happy can help a lot too.
<3 Steven
