HYBE’s new girl group, ILLIT, burst onto the K-pop scene with their debut title track “Magnetic” on March 25th, swiftly climbing the music charts with remarkable success. The group achieved a Perfect All-Kill and even entered the prestigious Billboard Hot 100 in just their first month of debut, surpassing records set by NewJeans and BLACKPINK. However, amidst the initial excitement surrounding ILLIT’s debut, the group soon faced a series of challenges and controversies.
During their promotion period, ILLIT released the b-side track “Lucky Girl Syndrome” along with a music video that portrayed an energetic city girl concept. Despite the group’s positive image and promising start, “Lucky Girl Syndrome” failed to make an impact on the charts and was overshadowed by internal conflicts inside HYBE.
On April 22nd, HYBE became embroiled in a dispute with ADOR’s CEO, Min Hee-jin, accusing her of attempting to take over management rights of the label. In response, Min Hee-jin alleged that HYBE and Bang Si-hyuk copied NewJeans’ concept to create ILLIT, labeling the group as a “copy of NewJeans.”
This accusation fueled comparisons between ILLIT and NewJeans, with netizens pointing out similarities in group formation, age, and concept.
Furthermore, controversies arose over similarities in choreography between ILLIT’s “Lucky Girl Syndrome” and NewJeans’ dances, adding to the negative perception surrounding the group. The song itself faced suspicions of plagiarism, with parts of its melody allegedly resembling The Wreck’s “Favorite Liar,” tarnishing ILLIT’s image despite fan attempts to defend the group.
Adding to the challenges, ILLIT’s singing abilities came under scrutiny, with criticisms of poor live performances during encore stages on music shows. These issues compounded in just one month after their debut, leading fans to express regret over the group’s struggles despite their initial achievements.
Unfortunately, despite ILLIT’s promising start and early successes, the group found themselves overshadowed and forgotten amidst the turmoil of HYBE’s internal scandals. As the “unlucky girl group,” ILLIT faces significant hurdles in facing the complexities of the K-pop industry, highlighting the delicate balance between talent, image, and agency dynamics in the industry of Korean entertainment.
