Hello everyone! We are excited to revisit some of the biggest songs from the first half of this year with the "First Half of 2026" Rate! (If you haven't already, make sure to join r/kpoprates to ensure that you stay updated on future rate-related posts!)

Quick Links:

• Ballot submission: Link to Reddit Chat to message a ballot with u/kpoprates // Ballot template (Google Docs ver.) // Ballot template (Pastebin)

• Playlists: Spotify // Apple Music // Youtube (MV ver.) // Youtube (Audio ver.) // Youtube (Lyrics ver.)

Deadline for this rate is Sunday, September 20th, by 11:59 PM Pacific (Here is a link to a time zone converter for the deadline.)

How the songs were selected:

Using r/kpop's Upcoming Monthly Releases as a starting point, we created a tentative song list of notable releases from the first half of the year. We did this by examining multiple factors: the number of upvotes the MV release received on r/kpop, how many streams a song achieved on Spotify (in total, and also per day), the overall popularity of an artist/group both in the wider K-pop sphere and on Reddit, and the general balance we usually aim to achieve for a rate.

Following this, we conducted a pre-survey period on our Discord server, before hosting the usual feedback survey on r/kpoprates in order to decide the final song list.

Now, without further ado, let's introduce the 60 songs (and 7 bonus songs) that were selected for this rate, ordered chronologically by release date:

January

Chuu - XO, My Cyberlove

Alpha Drive One - Freak Alarm

LNGSHOT - Moonwalkin'

Enhypen - Knife

EXO - Crown

dodree - Just Like a Dream

XG - Hypnotize

KiiiKiii - 404 (New Era)

i-dle (ft. skaiwater) - Mono

8TURN - Bruise

Santos Bravos - Velocidade

February

ATEEZ - Adrenaline

Tame Impala (ft. Jennie) - Dracula

IVE - Bang Bang

Hearts2Hearts - Rude!

IVE - Blackhole

Blackpink - Go

March

WOODZ - Human Extinction

KickFlip - Twenty

Yena - Catch Catch

P1Harmony - Unique

ALL(H)OURS - Dead Man Walking

BTS - Swim

Yuna - Ice Cream

April

T.O.P - Studio54

AKMU - Paradise of Rumors

Young Posse - we don't go to bed tonight

Rescene - Runaway

Katseye - Pinky Up

TXT - Stick With You

Xdinary Heroes - Voyager

Yves (ft. Lolo Zouaï) - NAIL

CORTIS - REDRED

UNCHILD - UNCHILD

LE SSERAFIM - Celebration

NEXZ - Mmchk

TWS - You, You

ILLIT - It's Me

May

Babymonster - Choom

Billlie - Work

aespa (ft. G-Dragon) - WDA (Whole Different Animal)

NMIXX - Heavy Serenade

ITZY - Motto

ZEROBASEONE - Top 5

I.O.I - Suddenly

LE SSERAFIM - Boompala

AND2BLE - Curious

XLOV - Serve

Heart of Woman - Lost in Proof

aespa - Lemonade

June

MEOVV - Ddi Ro Ri

SHINee - Atmos

BOYNEXTDOOR - Viral

izna - Metronome

LE SSERAFIM x ILLIT x Katseye - Iconic By Mistake

Evan - Ride or Die

Hearts2Hearts - Lemon Tang

Stray Kids - Run It

ATEEZ - Bad

Seventeen V8 - singasong

Bonus Rate:

The bonus rate is a selection of host picks! We wanted to showcase some of our favourite, less popular songs released in the later half of 2025.

idntt - Pretty Boy Swag

MODYSSEY - Hook

XngHan&Xoul - Glow

Cravity - Awake

Younite - Pose!

Mamamoo - 4 Flowers

STAYC - 2 L0VE

The Bonus Rate is optional and you do not have to submit a score for every song in the bonus list if you do it: you can score none of them, all of them, or any number in between. You cannot give a 0 or 11 to any song in the bonus, as they are not part of the main rate. While it is optional, we hope you consider participating.

Spotify playlist

Apple Music playlist

YouTube playlist (MV version)

YouTube playlist (Audio version)

YouTube playlist (Lyrics version)

Rules:

• You must listen to and assign a score to EVERY song listed. If your ballot is missing any scores it will not be eligible and you'll be sent a message asking you to fill in the missing scores.

• Each song should be assigned a score between 1 to 10. Decimals up to one point are allowed but any further is a no-no – 6.9 is fine, but 6.99 is not.

• You can use ONE 0 and ONE 11 for the entirety of the rate, for your least favorite and most favorite song respectively - they are optional but HIGHLY encouraged if you feel some type of way about any given song! Comments are also encouraged but not required for such scores (except if you give a song a 0).

• Comments are encouraged and much appreciated (but not required, except for if you give a 0) and can be added to any song by simply typing after the numerical score, like so:

CORTIS - REDRED: 10 winning the rate, that's green green!

• This is the ONLY correct way to format a comment. Please do not include colons (ex. 9: I stan!), dashes (ex. 3.3 - This song sucks), or any other symbol after your score/before your comment as it breaks the program.

• For this rate and most future rates, we have a ballot average minimum of 4.00. In addition, if your ballot average is between 4.00-5.50, you must leave comments on your lower scores (which we define as any score that's a 3 or lower). {Do not worry about having to calculate your ballot average, once you submit your ballot, we will tell you if you need to make changes to your ballot for it to be accepted.}

SUBMITTING A BALLOT:

Link to Reddit Chat to send in scores

As Reddit is (unfortunately) moving away from the private messaging system in favor of utilizing the Reddit chat system, we are forced to also adopt the Reddit chat system for messaging. You can make a copy of either the Google Docs or Pastebin ballot templates below, add your scores on your local copy/file, and send the link to your local copy/file in your Reddit Chat message to u/kpoprates.

Google Docs ballot template

Pastebin ballot template

• If the private message link is not working (or your private message exceeds the character count), please use the Google Doc template (make a copy of it to your Google Drive) for your ballot and DM it to u/kpoprates. If you message us a link to your Google Doc, PLEASE double check your permissions so that "anyone who has the link can view the document" (since the default is otherwise).

Alternatively, if you have Discord, you can message the link to your ballot to all of the rate hosts, @_melizard (u/pollutedrain), @kawaii_mokona (u/kawaii_mokona), and @solsys (u/RBSun) (please message all of the rate hosts, not just one).

You can also submit the top/bottom 5 prediction form at any time.

DUE DATE:

Sunday, September 20th, by 11:59 PM Pacific - This will be the FINAL deadline, no extensions will be given this time! (Here is a link to a time zone converter for the deadline.)

REVEAL DATES (Reveals will take place on /r/kpoprates as well as the r/kpoprates Discord: https://discord.gg/j3wCF43x)

Day 1 - September 26th (Saturday), 8 AM Pacific (Time zone converter here)

Day 2 - September 27th (Sunday), 8 AM Pacific (Time zone converter here)

We also encourage you to participate in the ongoing 3rd K-pop Soloists Rate! Thanks!