'Narcissistic, my god I love it': IVE turns self-affirmation into art [GOLDEN 2023]

K-popNov 22, 2023

Girl group IVE [STARSHIP ENTERTAINMENT]

Nicknamed the “Korean Grammys,” the 38th Golden Disc Awards will take place on Jan. 6 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to honor the passion and talent that shone bright in the world of K-pop during the year of 2023.

Organized by the JoongAng Group, the Golden Disc Awards is considered one of the most prestigious awards in Korea with its unique format where dozens of nominees and multiple winners are chosen for three main categories — music, album and rookie of the year.

In this series, Golden 2023, the Korea JoongAng Daily’s entertainment arm Celeb Confirmed looks at K-pop’s biggest and brightest stars who are potential nominees, and their achievements this year.

"Nacissistic, my god I love it": What does it mean for someone to truly love, cherish and care for oneself? Ask IVE, K-pop's most vivifying girl group whose every word of every song is dedicated to letting us know that there is nothing more important than self-affirmation and self-care.

Less than two years since its meteoric debut in December 2021, IVE shot straight to the top of the charts with “Eleven” (2021), then continued on to dominate the local music market in 2022 with two of the biggest hits in K-pop history: “Love Dive” and “After Like.”

“Love Dive” — from which the famed “Narcissistic, my god I love it” lyrics came — was the single most streamed and downloaded Korean song of 2022 both domestically and globally, while “Eleven” was the sixth most streamed song in Korea, according to year-end data from K-pop market tracker Circle Chart.

This year, IVE released two albums: its first full-length album “I’VE IVE” and its first EP “I’VE MINE.” Prior to the two releases, IVE had only dropped three singles, making the girl group’s records even more meaningful.

Girl group IVE [STARSHIP ENTERTAINMENT]

IVE, “I’VE IVE” and “I’VE MINE”

“I’VE IVE” dropped on April 10 with 11 tracks, including double lead tracks “I AM” and “Kitsch.”

The compilation sold over 600,000 copies on the first day of its release alone, a number that jumped to 1.1 million by the end of its first week. Music videos for both of the lead tracks had surpassed 100 million views as of Nov. 22, and the number of streams for “I AM” hit 12.9 million within the first week.

“I’VE IVE” landed at No. 21 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and at No. 2 on the Top 50 Combined Albums chart on Japan’s biggest music chart Oricon.

“I’VE MINE” came four months later on Oct. 13. It sold 724,400 copies on the first day and surpassed 1.6 million copies in sales within the first week of release. The music videos of the three lead tracks — “Baddie,” “Off The Record” and “Either Way” — have all surpassed 20 million views on YouTube as of Nov. 22.

IVE has been nominated in seven categories for the upcoming 2023 MAMA Awards including Artist of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year. The girl group won the New Artist of the Year and the Best 3 New Artists in Asia at the Japan Gold Disk Awards 2023 earlier this year.

Girl group IVE [STARSHIP ENTERTAINMENT]

IVE “I’VE IVE” (April 10, 2023)

First-day album sales of "I’VE IVE": 601,600

First-week album sales of “I'VE IVE”: 1,102,107

First-day streaming of lead track "I AM" on Spotify: 1,384,490

Music video views for “I AM” on YouTube: 85,097,903 (as of Nov. 22)

Major nominations: 2023 MAMA Awards (Artist of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Worldwide Fans’ Choice, Best Female Group, Best Dance Performance Female Group, Best Music Video)