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| ITZY members perform "Dalla Dalla" at a press showcase for unveiling their debut single "IT'z Different" in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
JYP Entertainment's rookie girl group ITZY debuted with the single "Dalla Dalla," Tuesday, following a succession of prominent K-pop female acts.
ITZY ― consisting of Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong and Yuna ― is the label's first girl group since 2015's TWICE.
While TWICE won mass appeal through its bubbly and cute image, ITZY said they aim to bring forth a "girl crush" and "teen crush" image.
"We are honored to be compared to TWICE, but we want to present a different style of music to the public. ITZY will present fierce, high-energy music," Chaeryeong said during a press showcase for unveiling the single, is translated as "IT'z Different" in English, in Seoul, Tuesday.
"We will work hard to leave a strong impression on the K-pop scene and earn the title of monster rookies," leader Yeji said.
The track name "Dalla Dalla," ("different" in English), is a Fusion Groove genre with a mixture of EDM, house and hip hop. The song is about empowerment and being a badass, as members sing "Sorry, I really don't care / I'm different / Keep your head up, just keep on dreaming / I love myself."
"Our group is different from girls with just pretty faces," said Yeji. "Our ambition is to create our own genre and win rookie awards this year."
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| ITZY members perform "Dalla Dalla" at a press showcase for unveiling their debut single "IT'z Different" in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
On top of catchy songs and well-matched choreography, ITZY's uniqueness is not only limited to its music.
As the group's name, derived from the Korean expression "there is," suggests, there are many qualifiers in ITZY's music that highlight the members' youthful charm. "After hearing the meaning behind our group name, we all thought it was catchy and fun," Lia said.
People are already familiar with couple of ITZY members. Ryujin won JTBC's idol competition show Mixnine last year, while Chaeryeong, the sister of Chaeyeon, a member of K-pop girl band IZ*ONE, appeared in SBS's K-pop Star 3 and Mnet's Sixteen, Yeji also appeared on SBS's music variety show The Fan.
When asked what it feels to finally make debut after earning popularity through TV show appearances, Ryujin said "In the months leading up to our debut, I was both thankful and fearful at the same time. I will do my best not to disappoint those who have supported me throughout."
Chaeryeong said, "My sister Chaeyeon gave me the strength to carry on and advised me to have confidence."
Meanwhile, the official music video for the new single, uploaded Sunday on YouTube and social media, has had more than 14 million views in 24 hours. This makes it the fastest-ever K-pop song to amass more than 10 million views on YouTube within a day for a rookie group, according to JYP Entertainment.
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