Why KiiiKiii Are K-Pop Crossovers to Watch

KiiiKiii makes their official debuts today, March 24, after captivating K-pop fan attention with intriguing art direction on top of a small collection of pre-debut music.

Coming from the more established Starship Entertainment (home to Monsta X, IVE, CRAVITY, and Wonho), KiiiKiii is the new five-member girl group that arrives with an undeniable fresh, quirky energy — in large part thanks to the fun art and imagery surrounding them. From a graffitied mohawk to food-inspired getups, the unexpected images that accompanied the group’s initial announcement on the scene had fans curious if KiiiKiii was an artist name, a platform, a person, an AI bot, or something entirely else.

heyone led KiiiKiii’s art and creative direction from these early images, with the talent breaking out thanks to her work with IVE (Starship labelmate of KiiiKiii that was also renowned for their visuals on the masterpiece “Love Dive”), THE BOYZ (“MAVERICK,” “Thrill Ride”), and Japan’s global group XG (“LEFT RIGHT,” “SHOOTING STAR”).

Peep some select shots from her Instagram (and follow at @byheyone)

In early interviews, members Jiyu, Leesol, Sui, Haum, and Kya are branding themselves as “free-spirited, playful, and exciting” and an “outlier” group in K-pop. They’ve also got the management/PR push of the Eshy Gazit team behind them, joining a roster that seems to currently include Monsta X, Wonho and HEYOON, which has helped them score early press looks in The Hollywood Reporter and Rolling Stone without even officially debuting. Heck, Clash Magazine in the U.K. says that KiiiKiii has an “unstoppable rise” just on Day One. No doubt it comes in part from strong publicist relationships, but there seems to be some genuine excitement and confidence in what Starship will deliver with KiiiKiii after establishing IVE as one of the defining characters in the current K-pop generation.

KiiiKiii has set up big expectations with little shown, but the addictiveness in their early single “I DO ME” (one of February’s best K-pop tracks) and the heart felt in their UNCUT GEM album cut “ONE OFF,” I am absolutely ready to see how the quintet can fit into and live up to their promising look and sound.

Read about why NEWBEAT is also a crossover act to watch here

A version of this story originally appeared in The Crossover’s March 24 Newsletter. Subscribe now to get the latest updates in your inbox.