- JYP Entertainment girl group Itzy kicked off their summer comeback release today with the music video “Sneakers” off their newest mini album, “Checkmate.”
- The mini album features seven sides total, the others being “Rac3r,” “What I Want,” “Free Fall,” “365,” “Domino” and an English language version of “Sneakers.”
- It is the first domestic drop for Itzy in 2022 and is a follow up to their debut full length album “Crazy in Love” in September 2021 and their recent Japanese EP “Voltage” last April.
- Itzy will embark on their first world tour starting in Seoul on August 6 before heading to eight U.S. cities beginning in L.A. on October 26 and concluding in New York on November 13.
- They are also one of the headlining performers for KCON LA 2022 next month.
K-pop girl group Itzy dropped the music video “Sneakers” on Friday off their latest mini-album “Checkmate.”
“Sneakers” was co-written by Itzy veteran writer Friday, from the production group Galactika, and Ogi, who helped pen other Itzy title tracks “Loco,” “Wannabe” and their debut “Dalla Dalla.” The mini-album includes six other tracks, an English-language version of “Sneakers” and the tracks “Rac3r,” “What I Want,” “Free Fall,” “365” and “Domino.”
In an interview with Soompi, the quintet discussed their “Checkmate” comeback. Leader Yeji said, “It’s been about 10 months since the first full-length album ‘CRAZY IN LOVE’ released in September last year, and it’s the first comeback in 2022, so I’m very excited and looking forward to it. The new song ‘Sneakers’ is a song with the message of running farther together to the moment you feel most free, wearing sneakers that make you feel good. We compared being free-spirited to sneakers, but we hope that those who listen to the song will find their own sneakers that make them feel free.”
This comeback album has been teased since last month alongside the announcement of their first world tour. The tour will start with two nights in Seoul on Aug. 6, with the group then heading to eight cities across the U.S. starting with Los Angeles on Oct. 26 and finishing in New York City on Nov. 13.
Itzy will also be one of the headlining performers at KCON LA 2022 next month with other groups like Cravity, Enhypen, Nmixx, Stayc, The Boyz, Kep1er, Lightsum, NCT Dream, Ateez, TO1, JO1, INI, “Queendom” season 2 winner WJSN and Loona.
💙KCON 2022 LA DAILY LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT💚
Are you ready to have fun at KCON 2022 LA?!
Let’s KCON! 🥳*All dates below are based on local time.#KCON #KCONUSA #KCON2022LA pic.twitter.com/7fVeKkFwTq
— KCONUSA (@kconusa) June 22, 2022
Featured Image via JYP Entertainment