A recent comparison has been drawing attention in the K-POP scene. SOURCE MUSIC’s group LE SSERAFIM and BELIFT LAB’s group ILLIT both released techno-genre songs around a similar time, but showed a clear difference in music chart performance. Although both songs chose the same genre, why were the results different?
LE SSERAFIM’s ‘CELEBRATION’ is a performance-centered song with a high level of completion. With its intense sound and sharp synchronized choreography, the song was praised for making good use of LE SSERAFIM’s signature charisma. Ironically, however, some analyze that this is what created distance from the general public. Because the song’s center of gravity was placed on performance, there were limitations in fully delivering its appeal through the music alone.
ILLIT’s ‘It's Me,’ on the other hand, was strategically different. The very fact that ILLIT chose techno, an unfamiliar choice that moved away from the refreshing and lovely pop-based genres they had shown so far, drew public attention. The unexpected genre shift created responses such as “This is surprising,” and the lyric “Who's your bias? I'm your bias” became a hot topic as people said it sounded like various phrases such as “heujyubal ssamyolbal,” “soju fruit, pomegranate fruit,” and “lots of pepper, lots of pork belly,” which soon led to viral attention. In addition, ILLIT’s existing cute and lovely image blended strangely well with the techno sound, creating a unique charm. By adding the filter of ILLIT to a relatively strong-sounding genre, its freshness was amplified instead.
The decisive difference was in the hook. ‘It's Me’ succeeded in capturing both music streaming and viral attention with its highly addictive melody and hook that linger in the listener’s head after just one listen. It is a case that once again proves how important an “ear-catching melody” is in securing public appeal in idol music, just as much as performance. This soon translated into music chart performance as well.
According to Hanteo Chart’s music chart, ILLIT’s ‘It's Me’ recorded No. 1, while LE SSERAFIM’s ‘CELEBRATION’ remained outside the rankings.
The results of the two songs are not simply a matter of one being good and the other not. They reflect the difference in how organically a genre choice connects with an artist’s image, and how strategically the “points” that the public would respond to were designed within it. Both songs were techno, but the ways the two groups used the genre were completely different, and this was reflected in their results.
ILLIT, who heated up university festival sites, will take the stage at Sejong University on the 22nd, while the music video for ‘BOOMPALA,’ the title track of LE SSERAFIM’s 2nd studio album ‘PUREFLOW’ pt.1, will be released at 1 PM on the 22nd.
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