Girl groups from Mnet's audition shows — such as I.O.I, IZ*ONE and Kep1er — have so far succeeded in impressing audiences and gaining success in the vicious K-pop world. The music channel’s latest girl group, izna, hopes to continue that tradition.

izna was formed through Mnet’s K-pop audition program “I-LAND 2” earlier this year. The group is Mnet’s first new project band in a year and a half since boy band ZeroBaseOne made its debut in July last year. It is also the first new girl group to come after Kep1er, which debuted in January 2022.


The septet released its debut EP “N/a” on Monday at 6 p.m., five months after winning the program in early July.

“I still can’t believe that we’re debuting today,” Koko said slowly and shyly, along with the six other bandmates who also displayed visible signs of both excitement nervousness as they stood in front of reporters for their debut showcase on Monday at the Yes24 Live Hall music venue in eastern Seoul.

“We want to thank everyone who helped us get here today,” Mai said. “We really tried hard to show that we’ve grown and developed since ‘I-LAND 2,’ which we hope shows.”

“N/a” includes five tracks: “IZNA,” “Timebomb,” “Iwaly (I will always love you),” “Drip” and “Fake It.” Producer and head of K-pop agency The Black Label, which is home to Rosé of Blackpink and Taeyang of Big Bang, Teddy took part in producing the first two tracks of the album, “IZNA” and “Timebomb.”

“We were given so much help by Teddy during our debuting process,” Yoon said. “One thing that we remember is that he told us, ‘Good work only comes when the members see eye to eye.’ He guided us through what kind of music we should be pursuing going forward.”

The group's members — Mai, Bang Jee-min, Yoon Ji-yoon, Koko, Ryu Sa-rang, Choi Jung-eun and Jeong Sae-bi — were selected through global votes from K-pop fans in 217 regions.

Only six members were set to debut, but the show's main producer, singer Taeyang, announced Jeong as an additional member in the last moment of the final episode.

“Becoming a member of izna made me feel a sense of responsibility like never before,” Jeong said. “I have been trying really hard to show my best on stage.”

With the backing of CJ ENM, the owner of cable channel Mnet, the group was named an advertising model for pharmaceutical company HK inno.N's skin care brand, bewants, before the final episode aired and before the izna's name and its final members were finalized.

The septet also had its official debut performance on the second day of the 2024 MAMA Awards, which was held at the Kyocera Dome Osaka in Japan on Saturday.

“It felt like I was dreaming while I was listening to people cheer for us,” Jeong said. “We’ll try even harder to pay back everyone’s support.”

“We believe that we truly shine when we’re on the stage altogether,” Bang said. “We hope to win the moniker ‘performance geniuses.’ We were able to show our first performance at the MAMA Awards this year, and we hope to win a Rookie of the Year award at next year’s MAMA Awards. And of course, we hope to meet our fans from around the world.”

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