As a long-time fan of the masterpieces that are JYP girl groups (read: Wonder Girls, Miss A & Twice), I was so excited to see what concept their new group Itzy would have. It seems that these monster rookies have gone for a youthful badass yet cute concept. Whilst I generally prefer mature and sexy girl group concepts, I think this fresh concept suits Itzy very well! Kudos to JYP, who saw a gap in the girl group market and pounced. (I’m still sad that Wonder Girls and Miss A disbanded, but that’s another story).
Itzy’s debut track Dalla Dalla is not one for the faint hearted. It is the kind of song that you will probably dislike at first, but after you listen to it a few times and get used to the song structure, you find yourself really enjoying it. I think this is good, because not all music should be easily listening. I liked the funky beat in the instrumental, and the mix of shouting and singing was quirky yet somehow worked. The chorus was what really brought the song together in my opinion, it was just so classic kpop!
Obviously the best part of the song is Yeji and Yuna’s “My life, I live my own way. Don’t you care – cause I’m special YEAH!” in the second verse – the beat and their effortless swagger was just so cool. Sadly, no matter how hard I try, I still can’t enjoy the “Keep your chin up, we got your back” shouting session at the end of the song – but thankfully it doesn’t last too long. Nevertheless, this was a great debut song, which obviously hit the mark, given Itzy’s huge success.
Their only B-side track Want It? starts with this cool electric guitar instrumental which gives this song a sort of Western-gunfighter-cowboy feel. To be honest though, I didn’t like verses of this song – I found their style of shouting in place of actual rapping quite painful. Also, I was really scared at that crazy “la la la la” screaming part before the first chorus – and not in a good way! Despite all this, I really liked the chorus of the song – it is just so unlike anything else I’ve heard in Kpop. It’s just a shame that the verses were so bad in comparison. I will still listen to this song, but I might turn the volume down a bit for certain sections!
Overall, I really liked this debut single, and I think Itzy has the potential to become one of the biggest Kpop girl groups. I know that they will improve in their singing and rapping skills, so I am not too concerned about the quality of their music yet. Plus, I know I that can trust JYP to make sure that Itzy bring out amazing title tracks in the future. If there is one thing that JYP knows, it is how to make a successful girl group.
Kpop Review Café’s Overall Album Ranking: 6/10
