2025.04.17
This is a column about the 5th generation girl group battle that I wrote exactly one year ago in Season1#6.
At that time, I predicted that a new girl group born from the audition program “I-LAND2” would break into the two strong contenders, ILLIT and BABYMONSTER, but in reality, many more 5th generation girl groups have debuted, creating a situation that is far more chaotic than expected.
There are two groups that can be said to be the main contributors to this chaos. Hearts2Hearts, which debuted in February under SM Entertainment, and KiiiKiii, which debuted in March under STARSHIP Entertainment.
Hearts2Hearts is the girl group that SM debuted for the first time in five years since aespa.
Unlike their senior aespa, they have no elements of the girl crush concept, and instead, they give an impression closer to their even more senior group, Red Velvet.
The dreamlike and ephemeral worldview that would resonate with adolescent girls is quite rare among the current young groups, and with eight members, they are a large group reminiscent of the good old days of SM, since Girls’ Generation.
Furthermore, their debut album “The Chase” recorded initial sales of 408,880 copies.
This is the highest number ever, surpassing the debut album sales record set by BABYMONSTER in 2024 with 401,287 copies.
Although expectations were high for the newcomer from the prestigious SM, they delivered an impressive debut that exceeded even those expectations.
In contrast, KiiiKiii is a girl group that STARSHIP debuted after a four-year hiatus since IVE.
KiiiKiii is centered around the Y2K concept that has become mainstream in KPOP since NewJeans, but their world view feels more reminiscent of the 90s than the 2000s. The exquisite retro charm of the music video for their ‘DEBUT SONG’, released before the album, showcased the creators’ sense of style, and I was also impressed by the high potential of the members who perfectly embodied it.
The debut album “UNCUT GEM” recorded first-week sales of 206,712 copies.
While some may feel that this is “only half” compared to the 400,000 copies sold by Hearts2Hearts mentioned earlier, it’s important to note that only three girl groups, including KiiiKiii, have surpassed 200,000 copies in first-week sales for their debut albums outside of the four major agencies (HYBE, SM, YG, JYP) — one of which is my favorite, Kep1er! This illustrates just how impressive this number is.
Furthermore, KiiiKiii’s strength lies in the impressive performance of their music.
The title track “I DO ME” recorded 10th place on the Melon Chart TOP 100 as of March 25.
Although STARSHIP has the top group IVE, it is still a small to medium-sized agency, and achieving a top 10 debut as an idol from such an agency is not an easy feat.
In fact, the rival group Hearts2Hearts, which debuted from the major agency SM, has only reached a highest rank of 26 on the Melon Chart TOP 100, highlighting just how impressive KiiiKiii’s 10th place is.
Lastly, the dark horse group of the 5th generation is izna.
izna is a girl group that emerged from the audition program “I-LAND2,” which I wrote about in Season 1#6, and is a sister group to Kep1er, which was formed from the Mnet audition program “Girls Planet 999” (commonly known as Galpra).
At this point, compared to Hearts2Hearts and KiiiKiii, their performance still seems lacking, but I believe the members possess potential that rivals the previous two groups, and most importantly, they have passionate fans, which is a significant strength of being from an audition program. As evidence, their debut album’s initial sales reached 251,131 copies, surpassing KiiiKiii’s 206,712 copies by about 50,000.
However, their music performance is far from that of the previous two groups, and they have yet to enter the Melon Chart TOP 100 even once.
This is the primary reason why their performance is still considered lacking.
In short, while they have passionate fans who buy CDs, they still lack the level of public recognition in South Korea to have their music streamed on subscription services.
However, just as Kep1er did, if they can gain recognition and popularity outside of Korea, there is still potential for them to compete on the same stage.
One of izna’s greatest advantages is that it is produced by TEDDY, the producer of BLACKPINK.
If TEDDY provides izna with songs that resonate with the fans of BLACKPINK, who now have fans all over the world, it wouldn’t be surprising if a Cinderella story unfolds in no time.
Having watched all episodes of “I-LAND2” in real-time, and with the added filter of being a fan of Kep1er’s sister group, I cannot deny that I sincerely hope izna will achieve great success from here.
Recently, the author has realized something.
It seems that I have a tendency to want to support people or groups in an “underdog” position as they rise to stardom.
In KPOP terms, I tend to root for groups that debut from small to medium-sized agencies rather than major ones, as they compete with groups from larger agencies.
And when audition programs are involved, it’s all over.
In any case, I look forward to the day when izna breaks into the current landscape, where Hearts2Hearts and KiiiKiii are closely following the top-ranking 5th generation girl groups, ILLIT and BABYMONSTER,
and leads the “chaotic 5th generation girl groups” into even greater chaos.
The End
Neko Machi Peko
Team Leader of SKOOTA KPOP Division
Originally a fan of Western rock music, I was so passionate about music that I even considered working for Rockin’ On at one point. I started listening to KPOP thanks to BTS, and then became hooked on BLACKPINK, dipping my toes into the KPOP world. I became deeply invested in the survival audition show ‘Girls Planet 999,’ commonly known as Garupla, and as a result of becoming a hardcore fan of Kep1er, I ended up fully immersing myself in the KPOP scene.