Nowadays in Kpop, I don’t really pay much attention to new groups debuting as there are just too many! Honestly, this unnie couldn’t keep up (yep age is kicking in). About a few days ago, I met with a fellow Kpop enthusiast and she was fawning over JYP’s new girl group.
“Unnie you really have to listen to them. They’re absolutely different! And I know you will love them unnie – you will be reminded of the Kpop era you like. Also unnie 2 of them were part of the BTS film we watched!”, she said.
I didn’t know whether to laugh or to be insulted but what she said was absolutely true. I am an old-school 1st/2nd generation Kpop fan and I do miss Kpop music from 2007-2011. These days I don’t watch music shows much like I did before (and like you I used to record them! and I never got bored even if the artists performed the same dance and the same song each week) and I am more contented just listening to iTunes or Spotify for the latest Kpop songs. But because this dongsaeng recommended this group – I decided to check them out.
The new girl group that I am talking about is ITZY 있지. A five member girl group of JYP that officially debuted on February 12, 2019. Their debut song 달라달라 was published on Youtube on 10th of February.
I don’t know much about the girls yet so this post will be a little bit of a review of their song and their image.
Debut Song: 달라달라
Their song is called 달라달라. It’s spelled as a word. I don’t exactly know if there is a significance about this, but with my limited Korean, I do know that 달라 means different.
Honestly, I was almost put off by the songs introduction. It reminded me too much of Meghan Trainor’s “Me Too” – those drum / bass sounds. When I got past that, it started to sound better. I think it was the chorus that saved it for me as well as the parts at the end because it reminded me of Wonder Girls / Miss A songs. I played it about 2 more times and I was hooked.
The lyrics and message of the song was also a bit refreshing. I have nothing against other Kpop girl group songs but in the recent year or so, most of them would either talk about love or heartbreak or something related to boys. So this song’s lyrics is nice as it’s all about being different and loving oneself (we have BTS to thank for starting this trend). And their lyrics reminds me so much of my dear 2NE1s songs. Gosh I miss them the most.
It’s nice to have these kind of songs once in awhile. After all there’s nothing most important that loving oneself before extending that love to others (BTS you did this to me!)
This song is catchy and definitely different as from current releases. And the more I listen to it, I don’t even mind it’s similarity with Me Too.
The Girl Group ITZY 있지
From the Information I can find on the internet, this 5 girl group is indeed really young. The oldest was born in 2000 while their maknae (youngest) in 2003. Since the debuted early, it would mean more time for them in the industry to promote.
In terms of visuals, I think the ladies have got the looks. I still cannot distinguish who’s who – might take sometime but I can see one girl looks a lot like Irene (Red Velvet), while another reminds me so much so Sohee from Wonder Girls.
I like that the concept that they are going for is the strong, fierce, independent woman type. It’s been awhile since 2NE1 has promoted this kind of concept. It is indeed refreshing in the overly cuteness we see in Kpop groups promoting these days.
My dongsaeng wasn’t lying when she said that the group would indeed remind of my favorite kpop groups of yore. Watching them is like watching the powers of Wonder Girls and Miss A combined together. Oh how I miss those groups. They had Wonder Girls charm with a dash of strong independent woman concept of Miss A (when they did Good Girl, Bad Girl). If you’re an old soul like me – you would get what I’m saying. They’re concept is really different.
In terms of talent – maybe for now it’s a little difficult to tell. It’s way too early. But I do get the feeling that they would stand out especially with their strong debut. As of writing this blog the MV already was viewed 46M times. As for their debut – I’m a bit happy about it because to me they delivered.
Conclusion
As an old Kpop fan – I find Itzy refreshing and now in my eyes, they stand out a lot! That’s why I mentioned in the title of this post that they are different. I haven’t posted in a long time about Kpop debuts because for the past few years, they all had the same. I sincerely hope that this concept and the songs they choose in the future will remain that of a strong, fierce, independent woman.
You have just garnered an unnie fan.
(Side Note: And this is truly the time when I miss 2NE1 the most. Sigh)
credits: jypentertainment@yt + mnet + naver images + sbspopasia + as tagged
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