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- Best K-Pop Songs of January 2026: ENHYPEN, KiiiKiii, i-dle, LNGSHOT, idntt, Billlie, ZEROBASEONE, Inseong, KATSEYE, XG & More
Best K-Pop Songs of January 2026: ENHYPEN, KiiiKiii, i-dle, LNGSHOT, idntt, Billlie, ZEROBASEONE, Inseong, KATSEYE, XG & More
I whittled down the best K-pop for you with playlists on whatever platform you use.
Jeff Benjamin
January 31, 2026
In partnership with
ENHYPEN for The Crossover’s Best of K-Pop January 2026 (Credit: BELIFT LAB)
Respect and mourning for a national tragedy in Korea required a slower first month of 2025 for K-pop releases, but this January came in galloping in with a blaze — appropriate for the “Year of the Fire Horse.”
Earning their spot as the Best Of K-Pop’s January 2026 playlist cover stars, ENHYPEN not only released the year's top-selling Korean album so far with THE SIN : VANISH (that also earned them their best position ever on the Billboard 200 at No. 2), just barely beat by A$AP Rocky’s new record.
But the band also crafted one of the few actual immersive listening experiences in recent K-pop history, leaning heavily on transmedia storytelling, with listeners directed to a fantasy news site covering the escape of a band of seven vampires, accompanied by faux ads for merch drops. Loved Tamar Herman’s interview with ENHYPEN’s HYBE and BELIFT LAB teams about their vision here for Notes on K-Pop, which you can read right here.
The standouts from VANISH are lead single “Knife” (which got both Korean and English versions, along with seven solo remixes by each member), “No Way Back” (a haunting duet with indie-rock sorceress So!YoON! who makes a surprisingly in-sync match to the boys) and "Sleep Tight" (co-produced by ENHYPEN member Jake, with lyrical contributions from him and Heeseung).
There’s also some personal favorite standouts from KiiiKiii, i-dle, LNGSHOT, idntt, Billlie, Inseong, CHUU, ZEROBASEONE, XG, and more.
(And for journalist and editor friends, save this guide for spotting early standouts and crafting your midyear and year-end best lists.)
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Listen to the Best K-Pop Songs of January below and subscribers can access the playlists on several platforms below with more listening options here.
The Crossover’s Best K-Pop Songs of January 2026 Playlist:
Key for Songs Beyond K-pop:
Bold for songs in English
Italics for songs in Spanish
* for a non-K-pop act (but released through a K-pop company or similar management)
+ for a non-K-pop act’s release that features a K-pop act or collaborator
ENHYPEN, “Knife”
KiiiKiii, “404 (New Era)”
i-dle, “Mono (feat. skaiwater)”
EXO, “Crown”
ZICO & CRUSH, “Yin and Yang”
LNGSHOT, “Moonwalkin’”
ZEROBASEONE, “ROSES”
idntt, “Pretty Boy Swag”
underscores, “Do It (Yves Remix)” +
Billlie, “cloud palace”
Apink, “Love Me more”
n.SSign, “Funky like me (feat. PEAK & PITCH)”
8TURN, “BRUISE”
CNBLUE, “Still, a Flower”
Catch The Young, “Amplify”
Inseong, “Mute Is Off”
ENHYPEN & So!YoON!, “No Way Back”
IRI, “DERAIL (feat. CHIHOON)”
SANTOS BRAVOS, “KAWASAKI” *
YOUNG POSSE & BENZO, “LOSE YOUR SHXT”
idntt, “Yes We Are”
DIMO REX, “T.T.T (TATTOO TOGETHER)”
ONEUS, “Grenade”
EXO, “Suffocate”
from20, HELLO GLOOM, KANG YUCHAN & LIM SEJUN, “119”
KATSEYE, “Internet Girl” *
CHUU, “XO, My Cyberlove”
Hades, “Planet B”
ALPHA DRIVE ONE, “Cinnamon Shake”
LNGSHOT, “FaceTime”
1VERSE, “WABIF (Wide Awake Before I Fall)”
Jimmy Brown, “Moan”
Giriboy & Heize, “Never Meant to Be”
CHUU, “Canary”
DXS, “Rockstar (DK Solo)”
Inseong, “Trying to Love”
Wonpil, “Wish”
DXS, “Blue”
ZEROBASEONE, “Running to the Future”
Lee Jiham, “Forever Mine”
Lee Hyori, “My Heart, Like Ice, Hardened”
Huh Gak, “When the First Snow Falls”
DXS, “Dream Serenade (SEUNGKWAN Solo)”
HENRY, “Cold Air”
HA SUNG WOON, “Tell the World”
Hwina, “Hello, Sara”
H1-KEY, “Not Like a Movie”
SHIN JIMIN, “0108”
KANG DANIEL, “Obsession”
LATENCY, “It Was Love”
ONEWE, “Ferris wheel”
CNBLUE, “Killer Joy”
2Z, “Dizzy (아찔해)”
Inseong, “Stained Memory”
ENHYPEN, “Sleep Tight”
can’t be blue, “Black Telsa (feat. XngHan)”
TOIL, Jayci Yucca, Gist & CHANGMO, “Don’t Care”
ALPHA DRIVE ONE, “FREAK ALARM”
ONE OR EIGHT, “POWER” *
Apink, “Fizzy Soda”
GIRLSET & Missy Elliott, “Little Miss (Misdemeanor)” *
Isha & E.SO “Between You and I”
04FEETDEEP, “NEVER ENOUGH (OOH LA LA)”
DIMO REX & Suen, “TOO CLOSE”
XG, “HYPNOTIZE” *
Dia, “Dance!”
Jinho, “Chestnut”
Jehwwn, “영원할 것 같던 (feat. Kid Wine)”
FIFTY FIFTY, “Still in Time”
BOL4, “Loosing Heart”
Jacob, “Endlessly”
HA SUNG WOON, “Loving You”
Inseong, “Still You, Now Me”
D.O & HA:TFELT, “When the Last Tear Dries”
dodree, “Just Like a Dream”
Is the platform you use not listed above? Let me know and I’ll see what I can do!
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