Has ITZY Lost Their Spark? | Artist Producer Reacts & Reviews "Imaginary Friend"

[@emekaokoroma7517]

This song is by far their best song and undoubtedly one of the best kpop tracks this year. It’s deep and meaningful and not the usual kpop stuff.

[@MissYellowCat]

I love this song actually, i didn't really like gold at all past the intro but this one i actually really love this song and it's probably my most favorite slower song they've done. Different opinions tho

[@kpopnerdshow]

Thank you for you comment and opinion! As a KPOP Nerd, I tend to like everything, because after all I love K-pop and I have been a big fan of ITZY since their debut. So, I could just start jumping up and down and focus on all the positives of this release, showing my excitement. This is a wonderful song. But as a producer I have to ask the hard questions. What if this song was coming out from a mid-level group, let's say Looosemble or Rescene or even MIMIIROSE. Would it be any relevant and would we be talking about it? To that extend, is that the best that a high calibre group such as ITZY can do? I believe they can do much better. I brought up an example for the music video, how this could easily be an unprecedented release if it was coupled with visuals and art found in music videos such as EVERGLOW's "Zombie". I've mentioned that one because it wasn't a higher budget music video - just a much better made one. There the girls had the chance to act and show their dynamic. We do get a few acting shots here and there in this one, but they are more like modelling and don't have such a strong impact in the music video. Then to the song, I love Ryan Jhun, and I respect any production limitations and boundaries, but a few energy points in the instrumental and the vocal melody could have made this a true master piece. Then the choreography. This kind of song and music video would benefit tons from contemporary moves such as HA:TFELT's "Ain't Nobody" or if the girls are not well trained for those moves, at least, they could do something like IRENE & SEULGI's 'Monster'. Combined with strong artistic visuals and imagery like "Zombie's", a couple of energy points in the music and vocals, this could have been the best song of its kind in K-pop. I'm saying all this not because this is not a great song but because this is ITZY. And ITZY could definitely have done it. Perhaps the production couldn't do it. Or they have other things to calculate on top of art, such as marketability, and they thought what I refer to as a "capped" version, is the right product for the market. K-pop is always limited to the decisions of the top layer management, and when a lot of money is at stake, everybody is afraid to go hard and break the boundaries, so they usually fall back to a tempered version. If that's not the case, it could have simply been production choices that were not up to par or time / budget restrictions because even large groups do have a certain budget they work with. In general, as a combo release with GOLD, this comeback does feel "poorer" when compared with ITZY's excellent discography especially in their first years, and it doesn't provide the fuel needed for a top-tier group to stay as relevant as their competition. I don't want to see ITZY just fading out as they age because this is supposedly their best time, when the artists have matured and are experienced. The girls are wonderful too, so I hope their next comeback is going to be something out of the box that will make us keep talking about them for years.

[@MissYellowCat]

​@@kpopnerdshow No problem I agree as a fan it's easy to just absorb everything and get kind of lost in a comeback, I've been listening to Itzy since Not shy era. However I think comparing the acting in this mv with one such as one for "Zombie" is a bit different considering that the tone and energy of the songs are almost a complete 180 from each other, and I agree Everglow did a amazing job with what they had, but in my opinion for Itzy as a group I'm not the biggest fan of their more acting involved mvs, the way it's directed is always just either ok or a miss with me. Expect for maybe their funnier songs but that's because it's more their personalities than the directing for example "Cake" or "Sneakers" acting is lovely. Saying all of that, I personally agree with you when it comes to Itzy's directing being lack luster sometimes but- I think having the choreography more showing than acting is actually quite better as it is their strong suit, Itzy is well known for having amazing choreography that expresses the story they are telling and this one is absolutely no different, I know this mv had a lot of choreography in it, but you still haven't experienced the full thing. The very first minute of this choreography, which you don't get a good view of because of the acting and "model shots" as you said, will give you a much better story than anything I think the directing team could have come up with and I don't think it's a budget thing I think it's just their team thing. Itzy early days never had much acting in it, if any at all, and I think it worked so well for them because their choreography is sooo strong. Honestly i have 0 complaints personally about the choreography I think they did amazing with the imagery and storytelling, and the members pitched in quite a lot this time. I am not a producer, I don't really know much of anything about the production process, but I know what my ears like and the way melody's flowed on Gold wasn't it for me. This however was pretty good, and I loved how it flowed and i love the almost consistent energy throughout, even the dance break, it feels very calming. Gold had a bit too many fluctuations in energy for my taste. To let you know JYPE and Itzy's marketing team are pretty horrible compared to companies especially the big ones, 0 ads for most of their groups and for Itzy the promotions that do happen they overwhelm the hell out of you, the imaginary friend mv and behind came out on the same day along with several tiktoks, the performance video and the dance practice came out on the same day as well as several radio shows. The reaction the mv just dropped as i was typing this. I know it's to keep you engaged with the group so you don't wander anywhere else or forget but when it's this much all at once before you've even had time to really digest the mv and song you just get overwhelmed and you miss things. I've watched the mv myself maybe like 3 times since it's dropped and I just watched it today but I've heard the song like over 40 times because of the all the promotion stuff they shove in your face once they do promote, makes for horrible first day streams. And this part to the end is just kind of a rant so you don't have to read it but, they have been going out of the box and that's what alot of Itzy fans complaining about when they say they miss Itzy's earlier stuff, think about it you would never imagine rookie Itzy dropping a mv or a song like this a double title track. They've been branching out and trying different things like ALL groups do especially at the year Itzy are at as a group and they've been getting a ridiculous amount of pushback for it. Which is very unhealthy for them as a group to be stuck in one dynamic, you cannot have longevity as Kpop group by just sticking to what you know or are good at, especially since most of their early day songs could be summed up in 3 words, Positve message, Cheerleaderish, Dance Song. AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH A SONG BEING THOSE THINGS I love all of their cheerleaderish songs, but people are putting Itzy into a bubble. When you are experiment you are probably going to have a few misses and your current fans may not like the experiemnting and thats ok, I doubt Itzy will fade out anytime soon just because a few of their songs aren't going triple platinum like they used to. I got another group who i stan, Stray Kids, whose old songs quite literally did horrible and got hated on by the entire Kpop community for branching out, now those songs same songs are beloved a majority of the entire fandom. Itzy just has to refine their audience and branching out and finding their new style, or redefining their old one, will quickly clear out the people who are just here for simple one time gimmick and establish a stable fandom. Hate to say it but *Girl Groups stans especially* have a problem with abandoning their artists or turning their backs on them the moment they release something they don't like and that's just my experience with the kpop community. (wow this took a while to type)