Billboard's 2026 Best K-Pop No. 1 is KiiiKiii's '404'.. Hatsuharu and AKMU take 2nd and 3rd [K-EYES]

*This content was translated by AI.

K-pop girl group KiiiKiii's '404 (New Era)' topped Billboard's list of 'The 25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2026'. The list, curated by Billboard's Jeff Benjamin and editors from Billboard Korea, drew attention for featuring a diverse range of K-pop acts spanning from debutants to groups with a decade-long career.

On the 15th (local time), Billboard officially released 'The 25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2026 (So Far): Staff Selection' via its official website. The list includes new releases from major groups that came back this year, such as BLACKPINK, BTS, and EXO, alongside a large number of tracks from rookie and debutant groups like NMIXX, CORTIS, KiiiKiii, NCT WISH, 82MAJOR, and Hatsuharu.

The No. 1 spot was claimed by KiiiKiii's '404 (New Era)'. Billboard evaluated the song, stating, "'404' is one of the most common error codes on the internet, but KiiiKiii has completely flipped it by embedding a new meaning of 'not found in the system' within it." The No. 2 position went to Hatsuharu's 'RUDE!', while AKMU (Akdong Musician)'s 'Paradise of Rumors' secured the third spot, rounding out the top three.

Following these, CORTIS's 'RedRed' took fourth place, NMIXX's 'Crescendo' fifth, moyo·Joji·Sol·Tama's 'Who went to the toilet?' sixth, NCT WISH's 'Sticky' seventh, wave to earth's 'heaven and hell' eighth, 82MAJOR's 'Sign' ninth, and BTS's 'Body to Body' tenth, completing the top ten.

From eleventh to twentieth place were aespa's 'LEMONADE', Rakunelrama & Su-min's 'Hit the Bang', Choi Yena's 'Catch Catch', CLOSE YOUR EYES's 'POSE', Taeyong's 'WYLD', 4shyrd's 'Sitting pretty', WOODZ's 'Cinema', P1Harmony's 'UNIQUE', SUE's 'Heart Emojis', and EXO's 'CROWN'.

The list concluded with positions twenty-one through twenty-five: Kim Jae-hwan's 'I'll Be There', BTS's 'SWIM', BLACKPINK's 'GO', Rise's 'SOAR', and idntt's 'Pretty Boy Swag'.

Billboard particularly praised BTS's 'SWIM' and 'Body to Body', describing them as "highly understandable yet restrained confidence" and "the most Korean moment, incorporating the melody of 'Arirang' into the arrangement," respectively. Regarding BLACKPINK's 'GO', it was introduced as a high-quality track commemorating their tenth anniversary since debut. Additionally, new songs from comeback artists such as Kim Jae-hwan, who completed his military service in December last year, and WOODZ, who was discharged in July last year, also appeared consecutively on the list, drawing attention.

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*This content was translated by AI.