2025 K-Pop Music Awards Season Comes to a Close as G-Dragon Wins Three Trophies at Melon Music Awards

The 2025 K-Pop music season concluded with dazzling award ceremonies that determined this year’s top performers. The Melon Music Awards 2025, held on the 20th at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, was highlighted by G-Dragon’s outstanding performance. He won Song of the Year for “HOME SWEET HOME (feat. Taeyang, Daesung),” along with Artist of the Year and Album of the Year, claiming a total of seven awards including three major prizes. His dominant win showed that his musical influence remains strong. Jennie became the next biggest winner, taking home three awards including Record of the Year. BOYNEXTDOOR secured four awards in total, reaffirming their status as a rising male group. In the major categories, IVE won Female Group Award, while BOYNEXTDOOR took Male Group Award. Rosé won Female Solo Award, and G-Dragon won Male Solo Award. The Newcomer Award was shared by All Day Project and Hearts2Hearts. In the OST category, “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters,” performed by HUNTR/X, was selected as Best OST. K-Pop’s emerging artists also shone in Billboard’s year-end rankings. HAIKI’s “여름이었다” ranked 10th on Billboard’s “The 25 Best K-Pop Songs of 2025: Staff Picks” released on the 18th (local time). As the title track from their fourth mini-album “Lovestruck,” Billboard praised it by saying, “It embraces guitar-driven, nostalgic pop that sounds like sunny memories, capturing perfect moments where all four members unite their voices along with the chorus.” Billboard further noted, “While HAIKI represents the new generation of K-Pop groups, this song skillfully adopts the chorus-focused formula that evokes nostalgia from both first-generation and second-generation K-Pop scenes,” highlighting its musical diversity. JYP Entertainment’s rising star KickFlip also made it onto Billboard’s Best K-Pop 21 list. The title track “처음 불러보는 노래” from their third mini-album “My First Flip,” released in September, reached position 21. Billboard described it as “combining bright energy with the speed characteristic of the rock genre to powerfully convey first love feelings,” adding that “its progression from hesitation to rapid momentum vividly portrays the raw yet genuine moments of first love.” KickFlip performed at the U.S.’s major music festival Lollapalooza Chicago just six months after their Debut, raising expectations for their future with a band-style live performance. In particular, “처음 불러보는 노래,” written and composed by youngest member Donghyun, is an up-tempo dance song based on pop punk that has drawn attention from K-Pop fans both at home and abroad, earning international recognition following their first victory on a domestic music show.