By: Cameron Tyo
August 21st, 2024
Itzy is a fourth-gen K-pop girl group that was formed by JYP Entertainment. They debuted on February 12, 2019, with a single album, It’z Different, with the lead single being “Dalla Dalla.” This future house EDM-styled song would quickly reach number two on the Circle Digital Charts and be placed on the Billboard K-pop Hot 100 charts.
Before we go further, Itzy includes five members. Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong, and Yuna. The first to join the group was Chaeryeong, who had already had experience with JYP, having participated in the show Sixteen but not making it into the final lineup, which would end up making the members of Twice. Afterward, she trained for the company for five years. Ryujin was next scouted at a Got7 fan meeting, one of her favorite groups in 2014. Despite feeling the encounter between her and the JYP recruiter shady initially, she decided to give the guy her number, which he asked for because he thought the guy was cute. She would later train for four years at JYP. Yuna and Yeji joined JYP in 2015. Yuna was discovered by company staff at a festival, supposedly for her good looks, and Yeji after successfully auditioning for the company. Lia, who auditioned for SM and made it but was forced to leave after a disagreement between her parents, eventually auditioned for and was accepted into JYP, where she would train for two years. The fandom of the group is named Midzy, and despite the connotation that that name might seem to have now in certain places, in Korea, it means trust to show that when fans put out their trust in Itzy, they will do just the same for their fans.
After the success of “Dalla Dalla,” Itzy came out with their first EP, It’z Icy, which was released on July 29th of the same year. This would be followed up by countless music show wins and a premiere showcase tour taking place in different cities in Asia. Eventually, their previous songs, like “Dalla Dalla,” would explode in views, and eventually, “Dalla Dalla” earned the group their first platinum certification. In 2020, things only kept looking up for the group. On March 9th, 2020, Itzy released their second EP, It’z Me. The album single was “Wannabe.” This song was very much impactful as the lyrics pertained to themes of freedom, self-confidence, and individuality. From that point forward, the girls experimented with a lot of EDM-styled music. August 17, 2020, marked the release of the next EP, Not Shy. The song of the same name had lyrics pertaining to love and explained what the members would do in order to find it. Itzy was and is still known for their “teen crush” pop sound, and while their songs might share drastically different stories, they can relate to the teen crush genre. Their next EP, Guess Who, would be released on April 30th, 2021, and the lead single of the album, “In the Morning,” would peak at number 22 on the Billboard Exl U.S and number 34 on the Global 200. Eventually, the song would be placed on the US Billboard 200 at 148, marking Itzy’s first appearance on the chart. This song would also be certified platinum by the Korean Music Association.
September of the same year would be the introduction of Itzy’s first studio album, Crazy in Love, which featured the song “Loco,” reaching 11 in the Billboards 200 and eventually gaining 2x platinum in 2022 after selling 500,00 copies. April 6, 2022, was the release of Itzy’s first Japanese single, “Voltage,” and on July 15th, another EP, Checkmate, would be released with the single “Sneakers.” Itzy gained popularity quickly, and it only grew as the year progressed when they embarked on their first world tour, which started on August 6th, amassing loads of fans globally. “Boys Like You” would be Itzy’s first English single and be released on October 21st, followed by their sixth EP, “Chesire.” 2022 was sure an exciting year for the group.
Not much happened in the first half of 2023, but before the long-awaited comeback of Itzy with their seventh EP, Kill My Doubt, with the single “Cake” that was released on July 31st, 2023, music videos of b-sides from this album were released. While most other companies had MVs for their title tracks, this was the first for Itzy’s b-sides. On October 18th, “Ringo” which was announced in February 2023, would be the group’s first Japanese studio album to be released. Around this time, on September 18th, JYP Entertainment announced that Lia would be taking a hiatus due to anxiety.
Nothing much happened for the rest of 2023, but at the start of 2024, fans were met with the sight of Itzy’s second studio album, Born to Be, with the single “Untouchable” on January 8th. On February 24th, Itzy started their second world tour, simply titled the Born to Be world tour, which ended on August 10th. While this tour was going on, Itzy released their third Japanese single, “Algorhythm,” and on July 9th, it was revealed that Lia would be resuming activities with the group for the second half of the year. Many fans, as you can probably tell, were joyous over the news.
Itzy has released many other smaller albums and b-sides over the years. That and the variety of content that they’ve made have shown off their personalities and amazing vocals, etc., and have captured the attention of fans for years, leading to the popularity they have now. As the years progress, they are sure to amass even more fans, and with the usage of social media being at its peak, many people have been introduced to the group, whether they are K-pop fans or not. The group has recently performed for South Korean athletes at their Summer Olympics Commemorative Festival, etc. I can’t wait to see where they eventually end up, and I encourage everyone to listen to their music and watch their variety content. Get to know the members a little better.
The socials of the group and members can be found below:
- Itzy Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itzy.all.in.us/
- Itzy JP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itzyofficial_jp/
- Yeji Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yezyizhere/
- Lia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lia_loves___/
- Ryujin Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamfinethankyouandryu/
- Chaeryeong Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chaerrry0/
- Yuna Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/igotyuandme/
- Itzy Twitter: https://x.com/ITZYofficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
- Itzy JP Twittter: https://x.com/JYPEITZY_JP
- Itzy JP Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@itzyjapan_official
Itzy Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ITZY