The Feud Between NewJeans & ILLIT Explained

After the recent controversy, we need to discuss the alleged feud between NewJeans and ILLIT. It wasn't just Min HeeJin who thought that ILLIT copied NewJeans as the members' parents themselves raised their concerns about the issue.

#kpop #kpopnews #KOOKIELIT

[LolsIssajoke]

Tbh this isn’t a feud between new jeans and illit but just between hybe and ador

[evilwelshman]

When mommy and daddy fight, the kids are the ones who suffer most.... basically this situation in a nutshell 😑😑

[sur_un_nuage]

i’m starting to be even more convinced that this multi label strategy is really bad

[HanaShines]

At this point Hybe is just after Money, He saw how NewJeans Concept became a big hit and decided to debut a new Group with a similar style, concept, dance, music, … He wanted more hits= more Money

[amyam]

Illit is not to blame but honestly i'd be pissed if i were a newjeans member

[Melarona]

They are putting out too many girl groups out in a row. They should focus on quality more.

[lkgpuanimho]

YG and SM only have one gg per generation. Whereas Hybe and JYP have so many ggs in one generation.

[S.N_]

Isn't it weird how Newjeans isn't being promoted as much since illit came out

[thiaokeke]

As a non Korean, at a first glance I would have thought it was new jeans 😂

[redflamelcd]

I always wondered why hybe would debut a group so similar to newjeans and now it makes sense with the feud between hybe and min heejin.

[seawaves]

I see this as Bang Si Hyuk wanting to make his own version of New Jeans since he couldn't control New👖 with Min Hee Jin on the way. He saw the public's reaction to NJ concept, copied the formula and tweaked it a bit so it woudn't be 100% the same but still has similar vibes. Now he has full control of the other grup and can make them bigger than NJ with promotions, songs and projects. EDIT: This is probably why Min Hee Jin was so angry with HYBE copying them. HYBE can give the other group all the resources to make them the next most popular girl group but with Min Hee Jin's copied gg formula.

[bel]

It's disappointing to see Hybe allegedly resorting to copying styles from other groups, as well as rumors of them replicating sounds and choreography from lesser-known artists. Originality and creativity should be celebrated in the industry, and it's disheartening to hear of such practices taking place.

[sweet_rose-zmvb]

i hope this doesnt affect newjeans comeback :(

[Ricky_]

I'm glad you've talked about it because, outside of Korean media, everyone is siding against Min Hee Jin. I don't approve of her methods but it's clear that Hybe is copying her concept. They saw how well NewJeans's concept worked and are now just blatantly copied it. Bang Si Hyuk has never taken an interest towards NewJeans and, with his power, he can market Illit as much as he wants. There is no way anyone can say Min Hee Jin is wrong for voicing her complaints

[repeatingawesomeness]

Dear Hybe, you cannot force feed a group to people and expect them to have the same outcome as a group that grew an organic fanbase.

[nurakhmar]

You cannot deny that there are similarities between ILLIT & NewJeans. If you are saying "oh because there are in the same co" "BM also copying BlackPink". PLSS STOP. Hybe works with multi label hence, encourage diversity. If one gp similar with another gp in different label, then what is the point of debuting the 2nd grp ??? Hence, Hee Jin accusations does valid ! Its different with YG as they are in the same co, hence its normal to share the similarities. Now, the only hope is to ensure NJ qualities is higher than ILLIT if HEE JIN wanted to make sure NJ distinct to ILLIT esp in terms of the vocal.

[LLA-lrkw]

When she was in SM no one copied her. Not from a different company or from the same company and its sub-companies. Everyone respected her creativity.

[khushi-zdxi]

I remember when illit debuted everyone was saying we don't want another Nj, even when their song came out everyone claimed how much similar it was to newjeans but now they has turned their back on them lmao. Goes to show how hypocrite "company stans" are.

[abhidhoundiyal]

Ima neutral in this controversy but can't deny the similarities. HYBE clearly replicated Newjeans. I mean just look at them, they really looks like NEWJEANS members

[giorgiapozzi]

I feel like people genuinely don’t understand how and why min heejin is saying what she is saying.
There are some groups in Kpop whose strength lays exactly in their distinctive concepts and sounds.
New Jeans is one of those. You can easily hear 20 seconds of a New Jeans song or a few shots of a music video and point out easily that that’s their work because they have established such an identity that sets them apart from everyone else.
Another example of this is Aespa. (I’m not trying to drag aespa in the convo, just using them as an example).
Aespa as a group has such a distintive image, aesthetic and sound that is really hard to explain but is just so… Aespa. This is an efficient way for groups to establish a brand and put a ‘mark’ on their representative colors to set them aside in the over saturated, over repetitive industry of Kpop.

In my opinion, it is pretty clear what happened here. Bang Si Hyuk realized at some point that New Jeans was having a massive success worldwide, but that he would’ve never been able to control them as a group as long as Min Heejin was the conversation, so he decided to make his own girl group, copied the formula, tweaked it down bit so it wouldn’t be 100% obvious and planned to make them even bigger than New Jeans with appearances and promotions. And let’s not even talk about the rumors of their choreographies replicating sounds and choreos from small artists because I don’t even know what to say there…
Honestly, I just wish people would understand the point. Min Heejin is a bad person and she has said a not of nonsense but this isn’t the case. Seeing people on Twitter justifying this by showing some random pictures saying ‘’ILLIT is not copying New Jeans because Wonhee is wearing a white shirt while Minji is wearing a white blouse!!!!’ Like... be SOOO fr. You know well that everyone thought magnetic was a NJS song the first time they heard it.

Going back to the aespa example… if SM Entertainment released a new girl group with the same formula as aespa where the differences are almost unnoticeable don’t you think that everyone and their mothers would be riding at dawn because of that?
This is the same thing. Neither aespa and New Jeans have CREATED their concepts, but they are the ones who popularized it and who represent it the most in the industry, I think they have a right to feel kinda iffy about it. ILLIT is not to blame, but I’d honestly be a bit pissed if I was a New Jeans member.