MIDZY’s, unite! ITZY is a highly successful K-pop girl group who came onto the scene in 2019 after debuting under the label, JYP Entertainment. Known for their impressive choreography and catchy lyrics fueled with girl power, ITZY is really *that* group. Keep reading to uncover everything we know about the K-pop girl band.
Who Are ITZY?
ITZY debuted as a girl group under JYP on February 12, 2019, with the release of their album IT’z Different and title track “Dalla Dalla,” which means “Different Different” in Korean. The members include leader Yeji, Lia, Ryujin, Chaeryeong and Yuna.
How Were ITZY Formed?
As it’s common practice for K-pop idols to train at a music company prior to debuting in a group or as a solo, the first member to join JYP was Chaeryeong who trained for five years. Known for her impressive dancing, Chaeryeong participated in JYP’s survival show Sixteen in 2015, but did not make the final lineup of the winning girl group, TWICE.
The next member to join JYP was Ryujin, who was actually scouted at a concert for K-pop boy group Got7! She trained for four years prior to Itzy’s debut, while both Yuna and Yeji joined JYP in 2015 and trained for three years. The final member, Lia, initially auditioned for SM Entertainment and passed but was forced to back out at the last minute — however, several years later, Lia passed JYP auditions and trained for two years.
Fun fact: members Yuna and Ryujin actually appeared in BTS‘ “Love Yourself” highlight reel in 2017. That same year, the members (except for Lia) appeared on the Mnet reality show Stray Kids as a project group alongside the boy group that would eventually be named Stray Kids.
In 2017, Ryujin competed on JTBC’s survival show Mix Nine. She placed first among the female contestants but lost to the male contestants overall. Meanwhile, Yeji participated in SBS’ The Fan but was eliminated in the fifth episode.
“Our members were meant to perform,” Lia told Teen Vogue in August 2022. “Individually, their dance skills are awesome. Even when they were trainees, their dancing skills were great.” Their talents are just limited to dance either. “All the members are really capable in many ways,” Ryujin explained. “We can be a performance group, but we can try anything and have a great result.”
Scroll through our gallery to learn more about the members of ITZY.
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