Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
I’LL-IT, the upcoming girl group from HYBE subsidiary BELIFT LAB, has revealed that member Youngseo will not be debuting with the group and they’ll instead be coming out as five. I’LL-IT was formed through survival show R U NEXT? and Youngseo was one of the two fan-voted members along with Wonhee.
We would like to provide some information regarding our newest group I’LL-IT debuting as a five-member team.
Following in-depth discussions about future activities, BELIFT LAB and Youngseo have come to a mutual agreement to terminate the exclusive contract. This mutual decision has been made after careful consideration, honoring the artist’s wishes. We kindly ask for no unwarranted speculations or misunderstandings. We wish nothing but the best for Youngseo’s future endeavors.
It seems like an odd decision on its face, sorta reminiscent of BABYMONSTER and Ahyeon in terms of a popular member not debuting. However, it’s impossible not to wonder whether Youngseo’s name popping up in the rumors of RIIZE‘s Seunghan had to do with this*, even if it was later debunked. Especially true given how K-pop fans are about relationships involving younger idols, and people were already being critical of her at the time for really no reason.
*Already on record as saying I think his “scandal” is overblown, but that has never stopped others from going insane, so it feels relevant to mention as a potential factor.
Anyway, the member selection for the group was already controversial because it was a survival show that only gave fans two slots and they ended up passing over some favorites, but now one of their voted members is out. Should be interesting to see if this impacts the group at all.
