What share of the lines are English only? Ten chart songs, from JENNIE at 100% to N.Flying at 0%

How much English is in K-pop lyrics? We split the Bugs lyrics of all 100 songs on the Bugs weekly chart for the last week of September (September 28–October 4) line by line, and counted the lines written only in English, without a single Korean character. The median across the 100 songs was 37.5%, so a little over one line in three of a song's lyrics was English only. Five songs were in English from start to finish, and 25 had not a single English word. We picked ten from the two ends. They're in order of the share, not a ranking.

100% · JENNIE 'Less than a Lover'

All 38 lines are in English. Five songs on this chart are entirely in English; the other four are JENNIE's 'FALLEN ANGEL', ROSÉ's 'toxic till the end' and 'new trick', and Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars' 'Die With A Smile'. It's a single released on July 24. Apple Music

88% · HUNTR/X 'Golden'

A song by the fictional group in the animated film 'KPop Demon Hunters'. Of its 40 lines, only five contain Korean. '영원히 깨질 수 없는' ('that can never be broken, forever') comes twice, and near the end comes '밝게 빛나는 우린' ('we, shining bright'). It's from the film's soundtrack, released in June 2025. Apple Music

83% · ILLIT 'It's Me'

Of its 75 lines, 62 are English only. The Korean either cuts in briefly, as in '날 가두지 마 보석함' ('don't lock me up, jewelry box'), or mixes with English, as in 'Prada보다 비싼 대체불가 나인데' ('I'm irreplaceable, pricier than Prada'). It's on the EP 'MAMIHLAPINATAPAI', released on April 30. Apple Music

83% · aespa 'WDA (Whole Different Animal) (Feat. G-DRAGON)'

At 125 lines it's the longest of these ten, and 104 of those lines are English only. It's on the second full-length album, 'LEMONADE', with G-DRAGON featured. Apple Music

80% · ATEEZ 'BAD'

Of its 51 lines, 41 are in English. Even the Korean lines are often mixed with English, as in '청양고추 Vibe she spicy' (청양고추 is a hot Korean chili pepper). The lyrics also slip in Spanish, like 'Fuego' (fire). Apple Music

77% · BLACKPINK '뛰어(JUMP)'

The title puts the Korean '뛰어' (jump) first, but 41 of its 53 lines are English only. Most of the lines that do have Korean are just '뛰어' and '눈감고 하나 둘 셋' ('eyes closed, one, two, three'). It's a single released in July 2025, and the lead photo is a scene from this song's music video. Apple Music

70% · Girls' Generation-HRS 'Skibidi'

Of its 80 lines, 56 are English, but it also has 21 lines in Korean only, the most at this end of the list. Lines like '넌 너면 되잖아' ('you just have to be you') are said in Korean. We chose this song as our October 8 NONOL Pick. Apple Music

0% · N.Flying 'Flashback'

The title is in English, yet the 30 lines of lyrics don't contain a single English word. The first line is '익숙한 날에 낯선 이 기분은' ('this strange feeling on a familiar day'). It's on the June 2021 mini album 'Man on the Moon', and our October 14 list also counted it among the songs that never once sing their own title. Apple Music

0% · IU '이 별로부터' ('Unknown Planet')

All 28 lines are in Korean. The song has a separate English title, 'Unknown Planet', but there's no English in the lyrics. The first line is '평범한 날 갑자기 문을 열고 들어와' ('on an ordinary day, suddenly opening the door and coming in'). It's a single released on September 10. Apple Music

0% · HANRORO '사랑하게 될 거야' ('Landing in Love')

All 28 lines are in Korean. All three HANRORO songs on this chart, '사랑하게 될 거야' ('Landing in Love'), '0+0' and '입춘' ('Let Me Love My Youth'), have not a single English word between them. The 25 songs with no English include songs by IU, AKMU, JANNABI, 10CM, LEECHANGSUB and MeloMance. It's on the 2023 EP '이상비행' ('Take-off'). Apple Music