A collaboration between HYBE and Geffen Records to build a star girl group over three years resulted in the hit pop group KATSEYE. After their performance on May 1, of their song “Gnarly,” the group took the world by storm.
During their first tour, called “The Beautiful Chaos Tour,” at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota, KATSEYE performed their unreleased song, “Internet Girl.” It was first performed live to fans on Nov. 15 and officially uploaded to YouTube on Nov. 25.
“Internet Girl” has a similar sound to early 2000s teen pop-rock, which could be compared to early 2000s stars like Hannah Montana and Victoria Justice during her career on “Victorious.” With there being a significant presence of electric guitar, bass and drums, while also during the pre-chorus of the song.
“Internet Girl” reflects the topic of being the center of attention with lyrics, “Haven’t you heard? / I’m the internet girl / Every picture of me is ’Oh, my god, it’s her.’ / Got your screen so hot, oh, you better take a screenshot.” This refers to the focus they get as celebrities. And to discourses that occur while they are public figures, as getting the listener’s screen ‘hot’.
Yet they express how overwhelming the spotlight can be as they sing, “It’s all too much, I fear / I’m getting out of here.” Wanting to escape and just leave the social media sphere.
However, the most trending of the lyrics within the song are the main chorus “Eat zucchini, eat zucchini / Eat zucchini, eat zucchini / Do you read me? Like the emoji?” which many fans have expressed confusion about. Some say it references the innuendo of the zucchini emoji, while other fans think it refers to the toxic diet culture.
“It can mean whatever you want it to mean,” Justin Tranter, one of the main songwriters, said in a TikTok. “I have a meaning for it, but it’s whatever ya’ll want it to mean.”
The song was written by Tranter, Mattman and Robin, Livvi Franc and Shawn Wasabi. While the live performance of the girls’ choreography and energy has received praise, fans have been mixed on the song itself. Expressing their opinions on Reddit and TikTok.
Reflecting, “Internet Girl” works more as a performance song, with fun choreography and engaging background visuals that fans of the group, who are called eyekons, can enjoy. By itself, however, it isn’t a song that showcases the group’s vocal strengths and lacks any meaningful impact compared to their other songs. Unfortunately, their other discography also lacks in that department and are more so carried by the members’ charisma and stage presence.
As of now, KATSEYE is still very new and has mentioned wanting to release an EP to showcase individual songs by each member. KATSEYE is very passionate about their craft, so they genuinely do have potential. Unfortunately, “Internet Girl,” while catchy, doesn’t showcase it.
