Despite a dramatic 2024 so far, girl group ILLIT chose to rise above the noise, revealing its "truest colors" through its latest album.

One of the most noted girl groups of 2024, ILLIT showed confidence in spite of controversy with the release of “I’ll Like You,” the group's second album, on Monday.


“All we thought about while preparing for the second EP was that we had to show the best we can to the fans who have supported us through everything,” Yunah told reporters during a showcase held Monday at the Yes24 Live Hall music venue in eastern Seoul.

ILLIT was formed through JTBC’s idol audition program “R U Next?” (2023) with the five winning contestants of the show: Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee and Iroha.

“During the past few months, we celebrated our first anniversary of being formed. We thought about the meaning of everyone, especially the fans, who have helped us become the ILLIT that we are today. And then we thought only about how we could show our truest colors so that we could fight for their hearts.”

ILLIT has been one of the most talked about girl groups of 2024, for better or worse. Not only was it the third girl group to debut from K-pop’s largest agency, HYBE, following Le Sserafim and NewJeans, but it also found itself at the center of one of the biggest conflicts to ever take place in K-pop.

It has now been six months since Min Hee-jin first called out ILLIT for being a “NewJeans copycat” in the early stages of her ongoing conflict with HYBE that surfaced in April.

Min, the former CEO of NewJeans’ agency ADOR, publicly criticized ILLIT and its agency, Belift Lab, for taking NewJeans’ theme and concept, accusing it of plagiarism. The accusation fueled drama between the HYBE subsidiaries.

Belift Lab denied the accusation and reported Min for defamation, along with another HYBE subsidiary, Source Music, which reported Min for defamation earlier this year.

While the public stands divided on who’s at fault between Min and HYBE, many onlookers expressed sympathy toward the young members of ILLIT. Yunah, Minju and Moka are 20 years old, Wonhee is 17 years old and Iroha is 16.

The members were caught in the crossfire of a battle that they had never chosen to take part in, especially since K-pop groups have every detail of their concept decided upon and micromanaged by their agencies.

“We prepared for this album with the goal of showing that ‘ILLIT will go ILLIT’s way,’ and that we will not sway,” Yunah said. “We’re also determined to be a team that continues on our own path. We poured all that willpower into the album, which we really hope shows when people listen to our music.”

The members also took extra care to harness their performance skills, which came into question when video clips of their sub-par live vocals went viral online.

“We heeded everyone’s opinions and really tried to pay attention to the smallest details to show us getting better,” Iroha said. “We’ll try harder and be an ILLIT that always shows improvement.”

“I’ll Like You” comes seven months after its debut album, “Super Real Me,” was released in March.

With “Super Real Me,” ILLIT went with a confident, “I’m my own story” motto. Its soft and bubbly vibe resonated with teenage listeners around the world, and the lead track, “Magnetic,” became one of the hottest tunes of 2024, especially on online short-form video platforms.

“I’ll Like You” takes that focus on oneself and shifts it to the relationships that a young girl forms with the people around her, not just a crush but friends also. Lead track “Cherish (My Love)” sends the message that what should be cherished more than the person we love is the precious emotion of love that we feel within ourselves.

Title track “I’ll Like You” and B-side tracks “IYKYK (If You Know You Know),” “Pimple” and “Tick-Tack” are also all about confidence and self-validation, according to Minju.

“This album is all about showing our honest charms, but adds a new color for ILLIT,” she said. “We wanted to show a new, expanded ILLIT. And there’s more that we want to show, so we hope you look forward to what we have to show in the future.”

Despite all the ups and downs, ILLIT has been seeing steady growth since March. “Super Real Me” recorded the highest sales for a girl group’s debut album in a week, with 380,056 copies. “I’ll Like You” saw its preorders surpass 550,000 copies as of last Thursday, according to Belift Lab.

ILLIT members thanked fans for the popularity of “Magnetic” but also candidly and humbly expressed their hopes for “Cherish (My Love).”

“We honestly don’t expect the same level of popularity as ‘Magnetic,’” Wonhee said. “But if I were to entertain myself with a very, very amusing imaginative thought, I think it would feel so amazing to see the album land on the Billboard charts, like the first album.”

“It actually felt a little nerve-racking to release another album after the huge popularity of ‘Magnetic,’ but all we hope is that people see us and feel a sense of joy from our music,” she added.

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]