During that time, the group's cute, innocent charm that had long been beloved by the public was briefly set aside, and the group's dramatic transformation into the daring "dopamine techno" genre with ILLIT proved to be a success. Their new musical experiment and boundary-breaking performances, unfamiliar yet instantly captivating, swept major domestic and international charts and drew an endless upward curve.
On the 30th of last month, ILLIT, which made a glamorous comeback with the mini 4th album 'MAMIHLAPINATAPAI' (MAMIHLAPINATAPAI), showed its most notable change in the clear expansion of its musical spectrum. The title track "It's Me" is a techno song that ILLIT tried for the first time, with a beat that strongly pounds the heart and a swiftly sweeping progression that triggers an exhilarating dopamine rush the moment you hear it.
The bold, audacious lyrics that shout without hesitation in front of a beloved—"Your favorite is me!"—add a chic, confident charm to the group's existing quirky playfulness, widening the group's identity. The performance matched to the daring song has also evolved. Dynamic steps to the techno beat and sharply angled synchronized choreography that conveys a strong sense of impact give viewers a visual catharsis.
The public's enthusiastic reaction to the musical transformation quickly translated into overwhelming results. The new release sold an impressive 411,654 copies in its first week (initial sales), easily surpassing and setting a new personal best beyond the previous record held by the mini 3rd album 'bomb.' It also proudly debuted at No. 1 on Japan's Oricon daily album ranking upon release.
The reverse-climbing momentum on domestic music charts is also fierce. "It's Me" entered Melon's daily chart at No. 83 and, riding word of mouth, rose sharply to recently crack the real-time "Top 100" top five, showing its strength. In addition, it swept top positions on major domestic charts, including No. 1 on YouTube Music Korea's "trending music," No. 3 on Bugs, and No. 3 on Flo, and perfectly captured global listeners' attention with No. 53 on Apple Music's "Top 100 today" global chart and No. 6 on Spotify's global "Top Song Debuts."
The addictive melody of "It's Me" also captivated short-form users. On TikTok, videos using the song surpassed 100,000 within six days of release, and it ranked No. 2 on Instagram "Reels rising audio." In particular, a scene on tvN's Amazing Saturday in which MC Boom sang "If it doesn't come out, I'll barge in" to the beat spread as a huge meme, creating a fresh synergy that even produced a remix challenge between Wonhee and Boom.
Having successfully transformed from innocence into fierce techno warriors and capturing both music show MCs and the charts, attention is focused on what other massive dopamine storm ILLIT will create next.
[Photo] Belift Lab Inc. (HYBE)
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