By the time I rolled into my friend’s late-summer block party, the DJ had lapsed into a trance – not the kind that happens when a turntablist is riding a groove but, rather, clamoring to escape one. The families dancing in the street were all grins and laughter; clearly, his skills weren’t the problem. Only much later did I find out what agonized him, when I approached his booth and asked if he was taking requests.

“Depends,” he replied, deflated. “Are you going to ask me to play something from ‘Kpop Demon Hunters’?”

Happily for him, I did not. But I understood his fatigue – by then, its climactic track “Golden” had taken over America. Between it and Taylor Swift’s onslaught, the second half of 2025 was a minefield for the pop music intolerant.

At the same time, the cultural conquest of

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