KATSEYE’s ‘Gnarly’ ranks No.5 on NME’s ‘50 Best Songs of 2025’ — A Bold Hyper-pop Transformation

Global girl group KATSEYE, launched under HYBE America and Geffen Records, ranked No.5 on NME’s ‘50 Best Songs of 2025’ with their track ‘Gnarly’ from the EP ‘BEAUTIFUL CHAOS’. Korean media including JTBC, YTN and OSEN highlighted that the list also features global heavyweights like PinkPantheress, Rosalía, and Lady Gaga—making KATSEYE’s top-five achievement a major milestone in global recognition.

NME praised the group’s bold image shift, noting that while KATSEYE debuted with the soft and sweet ‘Touch’, ‘Gnarly’ erased that innocence with unapologetic attitude and razor-sharp intensity. Korean outlets repeatedly cited this line, framing it as the defining moment of KATSEYE’s artistic transformation in 2025.

Built on hyper-pop and blended with dance and punk elements, ‘Gnarly’ features production by Pink Slip, Tim Randolph, Bang Si-hyuk (hitman bang), and Slow Rabbit. Across all six Korean reports, the track is described as a bold sonic experiment that played a key role in elevating KATSEYE’s global presence in 2025.

Commercially, ‘Gnarly’ peaked at No.52 on the UK Official Singles Chart (May 9) and No.90 on the Billboard Hot 100 (June 21). Korean outlets noted that even six months after release, the track continued charting worldwide alongside ‘Gabriela’, keeping the group’s global momentum strong.

KATSEYE debuted in 2024 under HYBE America’s Training & Development system. According to multiple Korean media reports, the group is nominated for two categories at the 68th Grammy Awards in 2026—Best New Artist and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance—reflecting their growing impact in the North American market.

## KStarLoud Insight: With ‘Gnarly’, KATSEYE secures a rare triple win across critical acclaim, chart performance, and awards recognition. For most emerging groups, simply appearing on NME’s year-end list would be a career highlight; KATSEYE not only entered the list but landed in the Top 5 with a hyper-pop driven track—one of the riskiest sonic directions for a mainstream girl group—while also charting in both the UK and U.S. and picking up Grammy nominations. ‘Gnarly’ effectively dismantles the stereotype that reality-show–born girl groups are confined to safe, sugary concepts and instead positions KATSEYE as a frontrunner of an ‘experimental mainstream’ lane: songs that remain accessible but are packaged with bolder production and visuals. For listeners tracking the post-2020 reshaping of the global girl-group landscape, the key question for KATSEYE is no longer whether they can break through, but how they will extend the standard set by ‘Gnarly’ to full-length projects and a fully realized narrative universe.