If ILLIT doesn’t want to be seen as the “cute” group anymore, then what exactly are they offering instead?
Released on November 24, Not Cute Anymore is about how the group wants to show different sides of themselves. Yet the track doesn’t actually give the group anything new.
The concept says one thing, the visuals say another
The music video starts with a closeup of a pink, glittery tombstone that says “CUTE IS DEAD”. ILLIT are rocking monochrome outfits with serious expressions. Okay, this looks promising.
It isn’t long until we get a scene where a disco wrecking ball crashes into someone’s bedroom. Then a cat shoots lasers out of its eyes, knocking a member off a stage. Jelly shoes flop around like fish in a boat. It’s weird in that surreal, dream-logic way ILLIT is known for.
It all circles back to the same contradiction. The song insists the group is more than being “cute,” but the video reinforces the very cuteness ILLIT rejects. Even the cooler styling and aloof choreography doesn’t erase that underlying softness. It’s still tied to the identity they’re supposedly shedding.
Maybe that’s the point. That cuteness is a part of their charm but it’s not the only thing that defines them. It would be nice if BELIFT LAB gave ILLIT something else to offer in its place.
The song is too simple to build a new identity
Another issue is the song itself. It’s not so much that the song is too short. The way it’s structured doesn’t give the track anything to work with.
ILLIT’s debut single Magnetic was around 2:40 but it had an intro, verse, chorus + hook, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus + hook as the outro. The production was fast-paced and experimental. It was a very memorable, catchy song that got stuck in your head the minute you heard it.
I’m not getting that feeling from Not Cute Anymore. It’s so laid-back that it’s been stripped of anything that would help it stand out. No catchy hook. No clever production tricks. The verses follow the exact same pattern, which keeps the whole song flat. The vocals are great but are a little too subdued.
A longer pre-chorus could have added personality. Anything to make it feel like the song was actually building toward something. Instead, the track ends with a 20-second outro it absolutely did not need. When the whole song is barely over two minutes, that outro reminds the listener how short the track is.
ILLIT doesn’t need to stay cute, but they need something
I’m not saying that ILLIT needs to be cute forever because they’re getting older. Three of the members are in their early 20s, one is 18 and the youngest is 17. It’s good for the group to experiment with a new sound and concept.
But ILLIT needs some personality. Something that helps them stand out amongst other girl groups. I’m not saying they should abandon their dreamlike concept, but it needs something else added to it.
ILLIT is at a crossroads. They want to move past their adorable image. Yet neither the song nor its music video offer a new direction.
For the past year, ILLIT has been the dreamy, cute magical girls. If they don’t want to be defined by their cuteness, then what’s going to replace it?
It’s good that they want to grow. Now they need material that actually lets them.
