Courtesy of KATSEYE
KATSEYE performs “M.I.A” at Lollapalooza 2025.As I was scrolling on TikTok one August night, I stumbled across a video of somewhat-familiar faces, dressed in red leather outfits. It was none other than the six-member global girl group KATSEYE performing at Lollapalooza — an annual four-day music festival in Chicago.
Intrigued, I went down a rabbit hole of their content. I had vaguely heard some of their songs but often tuned out of my friends’ conversations discussing them. As someone who listens mainly to pop, R&B and occasionally indie, this was the first time I had intentionally watched KATSEYE’s K-pop-inspired content.
KATSEYE debuted in June 2024 as part of the reality show “The Debut: Dream Academy,” where 20 contestants were tested on their singing, dancing and idol potential. In the final episode, judges selected the best six to form the group: Daniela Avanzini, 21; Manon Bannerman, Sophia Laforteza, 23; Lara Raj, 19; Megan Skiendiel, 19; and Yoonchae Jeung, 17.
Prior to their set at Lollapalooza, I never really paid attention to them. I knew their music wasn’t for me when clips of their song “Gnarly” — which leans toward the hyperpop genre — were going viral this April.
I wasn’t alone in my assessment. The song became known for its “silly” lyrics and unconventional nature, leading to intense reactions from both fans and critics. Still, it helped push their march toward fame, even charting the Billboard Hot 100.
Looking through the rest of their catalog, “Gabriela” and “Gameboy” are my favorites because of their catchy melodies, but aside from those, nothing else particularly draws me in. As a relatively new group, they’re exploring a wide range of music, from powerful songs such as “Debut” and “M.I.A” to more mellow and feel-good songs like “My Way” and “Touch.”
Even as someone who isn’t enthralled by most of their music, I love their personalities and their stage presence. To start, they are all incredibly skilled at dancing; instead of just executing moves, they each add their own spice to it, whether that’s through facial expressions or accentuated body movements.
Their distinctive movements bring the choreography to life, both as a group and as individual idols. In addition, they all have the “it” quality, as one calls it, and their stage presence is simply phenomenal.
Each member also has their own unique specialized skill, or “spike.” Daniela, for instance, is a professionally trained dancer and has made appearances on shows such as “America’s Got Talent” as a child — no wonder she’s the group’s main dancer. Sophia is the group’s leader, Lara is the main vocalist, Manon is the visual, Megan is the “all-rounder” and Yoonchae is the maknae (the youngest member or the “baby”). However, I’d definitely call them an all-visual group — they’re all incredibly stunning. And despite their spikes, the members excel decently in all areas.
The group is perfectly assembled in many ways, and there’s not a single member I don’t admire. My “bias,” or favorite, at the moment is Sophia because of her angelic voice and caring personality, and my “bias-wrecker” (second favorite) is Lara — but they all make it so hard to choose.
Another thing I find fascinating is how revolutionary the group is for the K-pop world. Even though they’re a K-pop-inspired global girl group rather than a traditional K-pop group, they have nevertheless broken numerous barriers. So far, two members have come out as being part of the LGBTQ+ community — Megan as bisexual and Lara as queer.
Furthermore, the group is rich in culture, making for an exceptionally diverse group: Sophia is from the Philippines, Yoonchae from Korea and Manon from Switzerland. Not to mention, the three American members come from their own global roots: Daniela is Venezuelan-Cuban, Lara is Indian and Megan is Chinese-Singaporean and Swedish.
Recently, I (among millions of others) have been obsessing over their GAP campaign “Better in Denim,” and I’ve even learned part of the choreography myself. The ad became a massive viral hit, accumulating 400 million views within the first three days and solidifying their status as a rising girl group.
Lollapalooza was a huge milestone for them, and I’m confident that they will continue growing at a fast rate. Recently, they won Push Performance of the year at the MTV Video Music Awards 2025 on Sept. 7 — they’ve won their first VMA just over a year into their career. Safe to say, I will be looking out for their performance at Coachella next April.
Through watching clips of them from their interviews and lives, their personalities really shine through. Even though I don’t go crazy for their music, you bet I’ll never skip watching a KATSEYE TikTok on my “for you” page.
