K-pop group ILLIT’s fourth mini-album MAMIHLAPINATAPAI is, in classic K-pop fashion, pulling a lot of different pieces from a lot of different sources of inspiration. Across five songs, it plays with elements of techno, Baltimore club, dance pop, even a little slide guitar; there’s a song about the comfort of a pet that feels like it could have been on Charli XCX’s Pop 2. The EP is titled after a tough-to-translate word from the Yaghan tribe of Tierra del Fuego that has been taken to mean something like: two people in a suspended moment together, wanting the same thing but hesitant to start or say it aloud. It’s an in-between space.
ILLIT know something about in-between spaces. Members Yunah, Minju, Moka, Wonhee, and Iroha (all between the ages of 18 and 22) came together from the K-pop survival show R U Next?, run in part by their company BELIFT LAB (which also created ENHYPEN).
“We debuted through a competition show, and while we were in the show it was uncertain whether we would be able to debut or not,” Yunah tells Teen Vogue, via a translator. “Because of that uncertainty, we were able to work harder, but at the same time that uncertainty sometimes weighed upon us.” For ILLIT, everything is a learning experience. “I think that gave us an opportunity to experience different feelings and emotions,” Yunah finishes.
Four out of five members of ILLIT sit together to chat about their new mini-album over a Zoom from Seoul. (Moka is currently on a break from group activities while she prioritizes rest and recovery, the company said in a statement on April 20.) They are still wearing the bridal veils they wore for a performance of their new single “IT’S ME” on Mnet’s M Countdown earlier that morning. “We decided to wear the costumes that we wore to film in Paris,” Minju notes, referencing their recent trip to the City of Lights, where they strutted down picturesque avenues in their grunge glam ensembles that feature X-girl shirts and combat boots. It’s a whimsical dress-up vibe rather than a literal bridal interpretation.
This has been a year of new experiences for ILLIT—including their first concerts since debuting—the natural result of growing more confident as musicians and performers. They noticed this especially during recording and rehearsing for their MAMIHLAPINATAPAI comeback.
“For this album, especially with the new genre we are trying, it was very new to us and also a challenge for us,” Wonhee says. “During the recording, I think because of this new attempt we have made, we’ve felt like we’ve grown compared to the past.” (And yes, they didn’t totally see the title coming: “When I first heard the title, I was surprised,” Yunah admits, “but I also felt that because it’s a very unique title that only ILLIT can present, I really loved it.)
“It’s Me” kicks off with a bang, combining a driving beat, shimmering synths, and a bit of Bollywood music with a simple ringing chorus that has the repeated line “Who’s your bias? I’m your bias.” (As K-pop fans know, the line is a reference to a fan’s favorite member of a group, colloquially called their “bias.”) It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it 2 minutes and 26 seconds long, but it packs a punch.
“When I first heard it, I was very surprised because it gave us a feel that we have never tried before,” Minju says, “but at the same time the song was very upbeat and exciting, so when we heard it together we jumped up and down and had a very fun time together.”
Track three, “paw, paw!,” is ILLIT’s hyperpop offering, and one where member Iroha contributed lyrics to the songwriting process.
“I always wanted to write lyrics that many people can relate to, and sing those lyrics as well,” Iroha says. “So this time I was really ambitious to contribute to the lyrics of this song. I worked hard and put a lot of effort into incorporating a story that many people can relate to. The theme of this song has to do with the paws of these animals, so the energy we get from those paws as well as the longing and the affection we feel towards these animals when we touch those paws.”
The title track, “Mamihlapinatapai,” is synth-pop for fans of MUNA or Carly Rae Jepsen, and its lyrics are a fun meta commentary on ILLIT’s working life as a girl group, alongside the more literal and relatable anxieties of group projects and endless to-do lists, the busyness of life that has you reaching for another coffee. (Sample lyric: “Um, anybody wanna take the lead?/I can tell you this: not me.”)
Now that ILLIT has been working together for over two years, they’ve developed a clear cadence and camaraderie that comes with building a career together every single day. Wonhee remembers how hard it was to learn the choreography for “It’s Me,” and how they all had to band together to pull it off.
“We really struggled and it was quite difficult. However, we kept encouraging one another and that’s what helped us push through to the very end,” Wonhee says. “We kept saying ‘Fighting! Fighting!’ to one another, and we made sure we were all able to get through to the end and we worked very hard together … it was a memorable moment for all of us.”
It’s the kind of work environment where you have to ultimately be on the same page, the pieces all clicking together to make something larger than one person.
“Even when we have disagreements we make sure we talk it through,” Minju says. “We offer each other opinions and try to find common ground, and I think we’re more aligned with each other compared to the past.”
And as far as the to-do lists are concerned, Iroha has a hack for the never-ending anxiety of more: prioritize the most important ones, and when in doubt, make your future self do it. “I would only try to think about the ones that have to be absolutely done,” she says. “...for the others I trust my future self to get them done.”
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And speaking of future selves, MAMIHLAPINATAPAI comes to an end with a classic musing on ILLIT’s past selves, the advice they would give or the wisdom they’d impart to their previous versions. “Love, older you” is a soft place to land the mini-album, inviting the members to reflect on how far they’ve come and where they’re going next.
“[Our first concerts] allowed us to grow a lot compared to the past, and it was a year that really allowed us to look forward to the future that lies ahead of us,” says Wonhee. Those concerts helped Iroha learn to live more in the moment. “When I [first] began going on stages and performing, I had a lot of concerns,” Iroha says. “I have now become a person that’s able to enjoy my performance, and I really started to cherish those moments.”
Currently, they’re dreaming of a larger tour and have been inspired by the stage presence of artists like BLACKPINK and LE SSERAFIM. “I thought every single stage that they put on was amazing,” Minju says about her experience watching BLACKPINK perform live. “I thought to myself, one day I want to perform in such an amazing way just like them, somewhere in the future.”
When Yunah, Minju, Wonhee, and Iroha think about their past selves, different ideas come to mind.
Yunah is thinking more practically: “Because I know in the future I would be taking up this profession, maybe I would tell my younger self to take lessons at a dance academy, and also it would have been really nice if I tried musical theater as well.” Iroha, meanwhile, had the experience of dance training, and so desires the opposite: “When I was young, I took a lot of lessons at dance academies for example, and it [was] really nice to focus on developing those skills. However, I think another advice I could give is, you know, go on trips with your parents often. Have fun playing with your friends. I think that would have allowed me to make more great memories.”
More “play” resonates with Minju as well. “Eat really good foods, and also play a lot and have fun,” she smiles. Wonhee offers something like peace with her past self. “I would like to say to myself, trust yourself and do not worry,” she says. “Just have fun and enjoy the process.”
