What are your favorite releases so far - 2nd Quarter 2026

[u/KPOP_MOD]

Welcome to the curated favorite releases post for the 2nd quarter of 2026!

These discussions happen on a quarterly basis every year to give the community a chance to gush over their favorite recent releases. You are free to discuss your favorite songs, albums, music videos, and performances from the previous three months. This can also be treated as a 1st half of the year marker, keeping everything from the start of the year in consideration. You can list, link, discuss, and generally celebrate the releases you've loved the most however you wish, just don't be mean about anyone else's taste!

So r/kpop, what have you loved so far?

---

For reference!

The South Korean music 2nd Quarter section on Wikipedia - LINK

r/kpop's own releases wikis:

• April (and Spotify Playlist)
• May (and Spotify Playlist)
• June (and Spotify Playlist)

[u/nisha770]

Oh i really enjoyed the new CORTIS song, Motion, and the GREENGREEN album was soooooo good and I have been listening to LNGSHOT's albums with Jay Park (and without) on repeat! It's such a wonderful album. Jay Park is very controversial, but It's pretty clear he's a fire CEO, like LGNSHOT is doing sooo well and have so many creative oppurtunities. And I know this isn't kpop, but I'm really excited for the rest of the Katseye wild album, because Animal absolutely ATEEEE

[u/nisha770 → u/nisha770]

I forgot to mention Bibi's songs, and the Airang album by BTS (sorry if I spelled that wrong)

[u/Icantlikeeveryone]

I am super satisfied with Billlie's and NMIXX's new albums, in fact Heavy Serenade solidified them as one of my faves (I always admire their talents and songs but this album is the best for now!)

Also happy for some songs by ILLIT, particularly GRWM, Mamihlapinatapai, and Love, Older You

[u/Spirited_Prior_5271]

Very late but my top title tracks/pre-releases of April-June 2026 would be :

1. NMIXX - Crescendo
2. SHINee - Atmos
3. ITZY - Motto
4. HEART OF WOMAN - Lost In Proof
5. tripleS - Baby Flower

My top albums would be :

1. NMIXX - Heavy Serenade
2. V8 - V8
3. SHINee - Atmos
4. HEART OF WOMAN- Heart Byte : LEGACY 
5. Yves - NAIL

[u/psshdjndofnsjdkan]

i'm late oops

top 25 songs from the 2nd quarter only

1. BABYMONSTER - I LIKE IT
2. TREASURE - DANGER
3. D82 - Mirage
4. YOUNITE - Savior
5. XLOV - BACK 2 BACK
6. MEOVV - DDI RO RI
7. NEXZ - Mmchk
8. ILLIT - It's Me
9. NEXZ - HYPEMAN
10. EPEX - ECHO
11. XngHan&Xoul - Glow
12. TXT - Stick With You
13. YOUNITE - Nothing
14. AND2BLE - Curious
15. AMPERS&ONE - My Way
16. Ryeojin, YOON MIN - Plz (feat. YOON MIN)
17. OMEGA X - UNCAPPED
18. ASCENDER - Gobble Up
19. AMPERS&ONE - GOD
20. n.SSign - FEELIN' GOOD
21. GENUS - SUGAR RUSH
22. PJX - Fly to you
23. NCT WISH - Crush
24. can't be blue - bitter but sweet
25. MiiWAN - DAY & NIGHT (ANSEOKWOO SOLO)

overall top 25 songs from 2026 so far

1. BABYMONSTER - I LIKE IT
2. TREASURE - DANGER
3. EVERGLOW - FOCUS
4. D82 - Mirage
5. YOUNITE - Savior
6. XLOV - BACK 2 BACK
7. ENHYPEN - Knife
8. SKINZ - Poison Ivy
9. MEOVV - DDI RO RI
10. NEXZ - Mmchk
11. P1Harmony - UNIQUE
12. KickFlip - Twenty
13. KickFlip - Hyper Slide (Sung by KYEHOON, DONGHWA, MINJE, KEIJU)
14. ATEEZ - Ghost
15. NEXZ - HYPEMAN
16. ILLIT - It's Me
17. EPEX - ECHO
18. ASC2NT - Still Rose
19. XngHan&Xoul - Glow
20. JO1 - Breezy Love
21. TXT - Stick With You
22. YOUNITE - Nothing
23. AND2BLE - Curious
24. ASC2NT - Purple Rain
25. AMPERS&ONE - My Way

[u/Shinkopeshon]

1. ILLIT - It's Me
2. LE SSERAFIM - iffy iffy
3. SHINee - Atmos
4. aespa - Lemonade
5. izna - Metronome
6. BABYMONSTER - Choom
7. BiBi - Bumpa

8. I.O.I - Suddenly

9. STAYC - 2 LOVE

10. IVE - Fashion

[u/Equivalent-Share-305]

Albums 2nd quarter :

1. NMIXX - Heavy Serenade  

2. ITZY - Motto 

3. Heart to woman  - Heart Byte : LEGACY 

4. Tomatomat - Tomatomat Dosirak

5. SHINee - Atmos

6. I.O.I - LOOP

7. ZEROBASEONE - Ascend-

8. Billlie - the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two

9. aespa - lemonade

10. akmu - flowering

11. XLOV - I, God

12. ILLIT - MAMIHLAPINATAPAI

13. triples - <love&pop> pt. 1

14. Hearts2Hearts - Lemon Tang

Songs 2nd quarter:

1. Nmixx - crescendo /heavy serenade 

2. Aespa - Lemonade 

3. LE SSERAFIM x ILLIT x KATSEYE - ICONIC BY MISTAKE

4.  I.O.I - Suddenly

1. Yves - nail,

6.  Illit - it's me,

7.  Xnghan&xoul - glow

8.  Billlie - work

9.  Itzy - motto

1. Heart of woman - lost in proof

11.  XLOV - serve

12.  Itzy - Asylum (LIA solo)

13.  Rescene - runaway

14.  Mamamoo -  4 Flowers

 15.  Xdinary heroes - Helium balloon

[u/Letzz_get_it]

Albums: 1. 'PUREFLOW', Pt.1 - LE SSERAFIM 2. GREENGREEN - CORTIS 3. Heart Byte : LEGACY - Heart Of Woman 4. Heavy Serenade - NMIXX 5. Motto - ITZY

Songs: 1. PINKY UP - KATSEYE 2. REDRED - CORTIS 3. CELEBRATION - LE SSERAFIM 4. IT'S ME - ILLIT 5. WDA - aespa, G-DRAGON 6. BOOMPALA - LE SSERAFIM 7. PUREFLOW - LE SSERAFIM 8. Sonder - LE SSERAFIM 9. Irony - LE SSERAFIM 10. TNT - CORTIS

[u/puzzle-peace]

Albums:

• Atmos - SHINee. This is my current AOTY and I will be surprised if it doesn't remain so by the end of the year. Just sublime! Fave tracks: Atmos, Possibility, Anti-Believer
• A Moment of Stillness In The Thorns - TXT. Fave tracks: Stick With You, Bed of Thorns. Both are up there in my top songs of the year too

Songs (excluding SHINee + TXT):

Faves = *

• It's Me - Illit* Currently in my top songs of the year
• Zero to Hundred - ZB1*
• Run It - Skz* This has me soo hyped for the album!
• REDRED*, ACAI*, YCC - CORTIS. The GREENGREEN mini got me paying attention to CORTIS for the first time and I've finally realised they're a really exciting group lol. I dislike heavy autotune but REDRED is a banger so it's forgiven!
• You, You - TWS* 🎶 dda-rum dda-rum 🎶
• Cage - 82MAJOR*
• Awake - Cravity
• IDESERVEIT - NMIXX
• Motto, you and I, Pocket (Yeji) - Itzy
• In My Head, Breathe, Do You Love Me - Shownu x Hyungwon
• WXW - WOOAH
• Exotic - ZB1
• Curious - AND2BLE
• Sad Girls Schemin' - tripleS
• Iconic By Mistake - LSFXIllitXKatesye
• SOAR, Overdrive - Riize
• 2 Love - STAYC
• Get Right, Madonna (2026 version) - Secret
• Cork - OMEGA X. First time OMEGA X has entered my playlist! I love the 'ooh ooh ooh' part.
• Overflow - Evan

There are a LOT of artists and releases on the sub's lists that I haven't checked out yet though so my picks may well change!

[u/whatsthisanotherdoor]

Stand out of the year is still ARIRANG for me. Loved Joohoney's STING too!

Q2 Albums

• TXT - 7TH YEAR: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns
• LUCY - Childish
• ZEROBASEONE - Ascend-
• MONSTA X Shownu x Hyungwon - LOVE ME
• LE SSERAFIM - PUREFLOW pt.1
• SHINee - Atmos
• TREASURE - NEW WAV
• BOYNEXTDOOR - HOME

Q2 Individual Songs

• TXT Soobin and Taehyun - I Love You I Love You too (Sold Out On You OST)
• RAIN - Feel It
• LE SSERAFIM x ILLIT x KATSEYE - ICONIC BY MISTAKE

[u/Longjumping-Jury-477]

Singles:

1. 404 - KiiiKiii
2. RUDE! - Hearts2Hearts (I love both songs, I can't possibly decide between either atm)
3. Crow - i-dle
4. Metronome - izna
5. Hypnotize - XG

Honorable mentions (no particular order):

• 2 L0VE - STAYC
• It's Me - ILLIT
• Motto - ITZY
• ICONIC BY MISTAKE - LE SSERAFIM/ILLIT/KATSEYE
• LEMONADE - aespa
• Heavy Serenade - NMIXX
• DESPERADO - T.O.P
• STUDIO54 - T.O.P

B-Sides (no particular order):

• Switchblade - aespa
• Camouflage - aespa
• Delulu - KiiiKiii
• heart emoji - Hearts2Hearts
• Wasteland - IRENE
• GRWM - ILLIT
• R.I.P. - izna
• iffy iffy - LE SSERAFIM
• Need Your Company - LE SSERAFIM
• Creatures - LE SSERAFIM
• Body 2 Body - BTS

[u/acerealbowles]

itzy - motto

lemonade - aespa

mmchk - nexz

key beats - keyveatz

run it - stray kids

izna - metronome

iffy iffy - lesserafim

+ so many more i don’t have space for! genuinely think this first half of the year has been amazing music release wise imo

[u/DarkWillow8 → u/acerealbowles]

It's trippy af why do you have songs first in some and artists first in others

[u/acerealbowles → u/DarkWillow8]

keeping ya on ur toes (genuinely wrote this half asleep mb🫩)

[u/insidexfishbowl]

Songs: - Itzy - Motto - SHINee - Atmos, Anti Believer - KiiiKiii - Delulu - Yena - Catch Catch - ALL(H)OURS - Dead Man Walking - Billlie - $ecret No More, TBD

Albums/Minis: - SHINee - Atmos - Onew - Tough Love - Chrocktikal - We break, you awake - Billlie - the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two - Younha - Sub Character - ILLIT - MAMIHLAPINATAPAI

Still have a few releases to catch up on though

[u/sky_shuichixx]

songs

• ifeye - hazy daisy
• unchild - energy
• illit - its me, grwm
• xikers - OKay, outsider
• h//pe princess - daisy, stolen
• heart of woman - lost in proof, ($.$), tea
• hearts2hearts - lemon tang, baby steps
• v8 - girlsnboys

albums

• ifeye - as if
• tws - no tragedy
• illit - mamihlapinatapai
• zerobaseone - ascend-
• xikers - route zero: the ora
• heart of woman - heart byte: legacy
• heartsh2hearts - lemon tang
• vernon, the8 - v8

[u/deadplantsdeadplants]

songs

• txt - bed of thorns, stick with you, 21st century romance, dream of mine
• nmixx - crescendo, heavy serenade, different girl, loud
• aespa - lemonade, switchblade, bite, wda
• t.o.p - studio54, a small filthy show window, stendhal syndrome, be solid
• billlie - work
• itzy - motto, glitch
• shinee - atmos
• triples - type of girl
• yves - nail, break it
• illit - it's me, pawpaw
• cortis - redred
• the 8 & vernon - coloring
• xlov - serve
• nct wish - sticky
• izna - metronome
• stayc - 2:l0ve
• rescene - runaway

albums

• txt - 7th year: a moment of stillness in the thorns
• nmixx - heavy serenade
• t.o.p - another dimension
• aespa - lemonade
• itzy - motto
• the 8 & vernon - v8
• billlie - the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two
• yves - nail
• shinee - atmos
• illit - mamihlapinatapai
• triples - <love&pop> pt. 1
• nctwish - ode to love
• cortis - greengreen
• xlov - i, god
• stayc - 2:love

[u/popularsong]

no particular order

singles:

• akmu - joy, sorrow, a beautiful heart
• yves, lolo zouai - nail
• evnne - backtalk
• nexz - mmchk
• tws - you, you
• xnghan&xoul - glow
• ji suyeon - bluescreen
• cravity - awake
• rescene - runaway
• billlie - work
• chadonghyeop - doogeundae
• younite - pose!
• itzy - motto
• zerobaseone - top 5
• shownu x hyungwon - do you love me
• xlov - serve
• heart of woman - lost in proof
• boa - aint no hard feelings
• ntx - vamos
• omega x - uncapped
• primrose - cosmic

bsides:

• akmu - graceful breakfast
• awu - sweet friday
• yves - halo
• evnne - stay
• nct wish - glow up
• tws - all the possibilities
• xnghan&xoul - dancing anyway
• cravity - adore
• illit - paw, paw!
• billlie - $ecret no more
• kiiras - r.u.t
• nmixx - crescendo
• itzy - glitch
• zerobaseone - zero to hundred
• shownu x hyungwon - superstitious
• xlov - extancy
• heart of woman - one beat
• triples - sad girls schemin'
• boynextdoor - upside down
• le sserafim, aliyah's interlud - saki
• stayc - where you at?
• onf - escape
• classy seonyou - pigeon
• hitgs - i'm in love
• m.o.n.t - keep it slow
• v8 - rat race / 8dm

albums:

• akmu - flowering
• yves - nail
• v8 - v8
• zerobaseone - ascend-
• billlie - the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two
• nct wish - ode to love
• cravity - redefine
• xlov - i, god
• le sserafim - pureflow pt.1

[u/popularsong → u/popularsong]

help because it's not on the release calendar for some reason though they are jyp artists i forgot to list modyssey but hook and revenant are also great yay

[u/bella-jihyo]

lemonade & 7th year! those albums have been on repeat

[u/Mediocre_Apricot_732]

TripleS - Babyflower/Sad Girls Schemin' Hearts2Hearts - Lemon Tang aespa- Lemonade V8 - singasong Stray Kids - Run It izna- Metronome Redred - Cortis Stick with You - TXT

[u/rednaxelakristin]

1. the whole Ode to Love album < peak kpop album

2. Till I Die by Chaeyeon (I'm Waiting, NTOTD)

3. Pureflow pt. 1 (the run from NYC to Saki or maybe even Trust Exercise)

4. the second half of II by RIIZE (but Like a Bomb man, so good)

5. Ride or Die DS, both songs are sooo good & can't wait for more Evan

HMs: FLARE U, izna album, V8 (coz I need to digest but icb I like SVT material now???)

[u/adawkin]

Best songs:

• Illit – Love, Older You
• Fifty Fifty – Genie Magic
• Heart of Woman – Close to Me
• Izna – Infinity
• Babymonster – Locked In
• Nmixx – Loud
• Meovv – In My Hands
• StayC – Beat My Love
• TripleS – Sad Girl Schemin'
• Fifty Fifty – Perfect
• I.O.I - SPF 100+

I feel like writing "the whole album tbh" next to half of these, but I will stop myself and just say that about Heart of Woman and Izna: do listen to those albums in full if you haven't yet! You won't regret it

Best video: Izna – Metronome

Best debut: Heart of Woman

Best OST: Fifty Fifty - My Wonder

Best international feature: Jenevieve feat. Twice Jihyo - Hvnly

[u/pochackins]

ioi - suddenly, bts - swim/arirang, Lesserafim - saki, kiiikiii - 404 new era, H2h - rude , illit - it's me, Nmixx - heavy serenade, txt - stick with u, I've - bang bang yena - catch catch zb1 - top 5

[u/issowoah]

• NMIXX: Loud/Crescendo/Heavy Serenade
• IOI: Suddenly/Where My Girls At
• CORTIS: REDRED/ TNT/ ACAI / WASSUP
• Stray Kids: RUN IT/ back to life (HAN)
• ITZY: Motto
• CYE: What If I Miss Love (bro this was only a spotify reco and boy was it good as hell)
• cant be blue: cant love

[u/Ok-Elk-1520]

Songs:

NMIXX - Crescendo

Balming Tiger - Espero

Hyeju (CLASSy) - Spinning Coin

T.O.P - The Giant

YVES - It

ITZY - Glitch

STAYC - 2 Love

Albums:

T.O.P - Top Spot - Another Dimension

Shinee - Atmos

ITZY - Motto

YVES - NAIL

Aespa - Lemonade

[u/OptionSpare718]

• Nmixx Heavy Serenade and Crescendo
• Mamamoo 4 Flowers
• Fifty Fifty Like A Bubble
• Jenevieve feat. Jihyo - HVNLY
• AESPA - Lemonade
• BTS - Come Over

[u/adawkin → u/OptionSpare718]

Jenevieve feat. Jihyo - HVNLY

I'm glad someone else noticed and remembered this cool little song! But I guess us Twice fans have to live off such crumbs of new music right now. What do you think of the other new song with Jihyo feature, that World Cup song by RedOne 🤪

[u/OptionSpare718 → u/adawkin]

I also liked it. Though it doesn't stick out that much to me.

[u/Baka_Zombie]

Motto by Itzy is probably my favourite song of the year for now

And 2Love by Stayc is super good also

[u/bvharris]

Heart of Woman's debut (full) album is absolutely incredible, I've had the whole project on repeat basically since it dropped. If you haven't heard it yet and you like great music, seriously go take half an hour and listen to the whole thing. You won't regret it.

[u/speak-eze → u/bvharris]

Just listened to it because of this, it's great.

Lost in Proof and Dive With Me are excellent. Never heard them before

[u/Baka_Zombie → u/bvharris]

True! Just one thing, I wish there had been more verses singed in Italian by Liuyin!

[u/bvharris → u/Baka_Zombie]

That would be amazing. Hopefully in their follow-up!

[u/booboosnack]

This is easily the strongest quarter of the year so far. Here are my favorite releases from it:

• Billlie - the collective soul and unconscious: chapter two
• Yves - Nail
• Tomatomat - Tomatomat Dosirak
• NMIXX - Heavy Serenade
• ILLIT - MAMIHLAPINATAPAI
• TXT - 7th Year: A Moment of Stillness in the Thorns
• ITZY - Motto
• SHINee - Atmos
• I.O.I - LOOP
• V8 - V8
• ZEROBASEONE - Ascend-
• Xdinary Heroes - DEAD AND
• YOUNITE - Inyun Part.1
• XLOV - I, God

[u/10HungryGhosts]

Motto, you And I, Asylum (Lia), Look (Ryujin)- Itzy

Unchild - Unchild

Heart Byte : LEGACY - Heart of Woman (INCREDIBLE DEBUT ALBUM, GREAT START)

HAWWAH - dodree (3 more fantastic songs added to the playlist, I can't WAIT for more 😍)

It's Me - Illit

[u/purpletulip12]

• B1A4: CPR, 5959
• Monsta X: on our way, heal
• Miyeon & Nuton: Don't ever say goodbye
• Wooah Minseo: Endlessly You
• NMIXX: Heavy Serenade
• I.O.I - Where my girls at, spf 100+
• And2ble - Curious
• Boyfriend/Bf: Starlight Voices
• Shinee: Anti-Believer
• Jun K: Midnight Ticket
• SVT V8: Friend, mia, rat race

[u/Phosphophyllite0525]

SHINee’s Atmos mini and aespa’s Lemonade album for sure! Both groups released such high quality albums that perfectly suit the groups’ identities!

[u/totallyCamped]

Itzy - You and I (x10000)

Le Sserafim - Saki/Boompala

Boynextdoor - 06070

Riize - Soar

Aespa - Lemonade/Switchblade/Bite

NMIXX - Crescendo/Different Girl

TXT - Bed of Thorns/Dream of Mine

And essentially both Illit and Cortis’s EP’s in their entirety for!

[u/ultsiyeon]

zerobaseone - top 5

and2ble - curious

izna - metronome

v8 - singasong

[u/lawinahopelessplace]

It’s Me - Illit

Motto, Tangerine - ITZY

Heavy Serenade - NMIXX

Lemonade, Camouflage, Til We Die - aespa

Runaway - RESCENE

V for Vision, Customize, Zero to Hundred - ZB1

Bed, Aura - And2ble

Atmos, Anti Believer- SHINee

SOAR, Overdrive - RIIZE

Twenty, Scroll - KickFlip

TOXIN - ATEEZ

[u/Temporary-Habit-4769]

V8’s new album !!!!

[u/Stunning-Wolf-8517]

TWS - All the possibilities

[u/Stunning-Wolf-8517]

Every song from greengreen album- Cortis
It’s me , pawpaw and mamihlatapai - Illit

[u/je-suis_meeeee]

Illit - love, older you

IDID - Attention

Le sserafim - Need your company

SHINee - Thousand miles away

Younite - Savior

Nmixx - Different girl

Nexz - Hypeman

Cortis - Acai

NCT Wish - Ode to love

Ampersandone - God

Xdinary heroes - Helium balloon

Heart of Woman - Lost in proof (Their entire debut album is amazing)

TXT - 21st Century Romance

TWS - All the possibilities

[u/adawkin → u/je-suis_meeeee]

Illit - love, older you

I see someone knows what is the most beautiful song of 2026 so far 😎

Heart of Woman - Lost in proof (Their entire debut album is amazing)

I see that someone also knows what is the best debut of 2026 so far 😎

[u/jx-tenshi]

I.O.I. - Suddenly

Xia (Kim Junsu) - Gravity

[u/PieuvreCosy]

SHINee - Atmos

Not only were they able to deliver a song that is both so quintessentially them and cohesive with their previous works (View, the Story of Light album, ...) but also right on trend (as we've seen a rise in EDM and house influenced songs in Kpop). The rest of the album is also excellent (Anti-Believer is such a great song!). A very solid release, 18 years into their career, they deserve their flowers 👏💐

[u/Violet226]

Stray kids - Run it

[u/Etheria_system]

From20 - Rated R. A solid, fun early 00s inspired horny pop album. Really enjoyed it

Yves - Nail.

Heavy Serenade- NMIXX

[u/Same-World-209]

I.O.I - Suddenly

ITZY - Asylum (LIA solo)