H ITGS didn’t ease into the spotlight – they sprinted. Since debuting in April, the rookie girl group has dropped three singles in quick succession, each one flipping the script on the last. “SOURPATCH” was sweet-and-sarcastic. “GROSS” leaned brash and cheeky. Now, with “CHARIZZMA,” they’ve delivered a glossy, in-your-face anthem that spells out exactly what they’re here to do: make a scene.

But don’t mistake the flex for empty flash. Beneath the sparkle, HITGS are tacticians – playing with image, momentum, and mood like seasoned pros. As they close out their debut trilogy and open up their world, the members reflect on how far they’ve come, how they define charisma, and why they’re just getting started.

Now that “CHARIZZMA” is out in the world, what’s been the most surprising reaction you’ve seen so far?

SEOJIN Every time we go on stage and the crowd cheers and claps for us, it always feels amazing and I'm so thankful. It's still so surprising!

SEOHEE A lot of people said “CHARIZZMA” feels really different from our previous songs, “SOURPATCH” and “GROSS.” We tried really hard to show a new vibe, so it made me really happy that people noticed that! And I was super surprised to see so many senior artists do our point choreography with us during our promotions.

The lyric “HITGStory, it’s a quantum leap” feels like a mission statement. What does that line represent to you as a group right now?

HYERIN For us, it means that we’re ready to take things to the next level. That doesn’t always mean something totally different, but even a small change is a step forward. Each of our releases—“SOURPATCH,” “GROSS,” and now “CHARIZZMA”—has shown a new side of us, so you can think of it as a promise to keep showing something new.

IYOO Through the lyric “HITGStory, it’s a quantum leap,” we wanted to express our determination to show everyone how much we’ve grown after each song. Even though we haven’t been around for a long time, we always try a new concept with every comeback, and this time we’re showing a totally different side! We wanted to say, “Look at how much we’re growing and challenging ourselves!”

“Everything that glitters isn’t gold” suggests that you don’t buy into superficial hype. What’s the deeper substance behind HITGS that people might not see at first glance?

SEOHEE At first, we might just seem like cute girls, but each of us actually has our own charms. We all have so many unique sides, and I think that’s HITGS’s biggest strength. I want even more people to know about everything we can do!

HYERIN HITGS is always genuine, whether we’re on stage, practicing, or with our fans. But that’s not always easy to see right away. If people keep watching us, they’ll realize just how much heart we put into everything we do.

“CHARIZZMA” feels like it was built for the stage. When you heard it for the first time, did you immediately see the performance in your head?

HYERIN When I first heard “CHARIZZMA,” there were so many different melodies! I thought, “We could really do lots of different performances with this song.” The melody changes a lot, so I couldn’t picture it all right away, but I felt like we’d get to show all kinds of cool new sides on stage. I was super excited about what the performance would look like!

IYOO I could totally see it right away! I loved the beat and the lyrics from the first listen, and my part in the song was exactly my style. I immediately started picturing how I wanted to perform it!

The track spells out R-I-Z-Z like it’s your secret power. How do you define charisma as artists, and how does each of you express it differently on stage?

VV I think charisma is a special kind of charm. We wanted to show a new side of us with this song, and maybe it’s even something we haven’t fully shown yet. All five of us have our own way of being cool on stage—I tried to show my own unique version of “cool.”

SEOJIN For me, “charisma” is like a secret side that you don’t notice at first from cute and lovely girls. For “CHARIZZMA,” I really focused on my facial expressions to show a totally different vibe we wanted to express.

There’s a playful irony in how you flex in the lyrics. How do you balance the line between character and authenticity?

SEOHEE “CHARIZZMA” has lots of fun and bold lyrics. I tried to keep my voice and emotions real, even while showing off a confident side. I wanted to show “confident, bold girls” in a way that only HITGS can!

HYERIN Honestly, we don’t really do anything special to “balance” it. Since our debut, we’ve just tried to show what we really like and how we honestly feel. Every time we get obsessed with something new, we just bring that feeling to the stage. With this song, we wanted to show our different sides compared to the last two albums and share our confidence. For us, just being ourselves naturally brings out realness.

You’ve released three singles since debuting in April, which is a rare pace even in K-pop. What story are you trying to tell by moving this fast?

VV I think there are things we can only share as rookies and as teens! That’s why we wanted to show stories full of energy and dreams that only girls like us—and at our age—can tell.

HYERIN We wanted to show all the different feelings girls go through when they get excited about something new. And we wanted everyone to see how we’re growing, too.

If each release so far has shown a different side of HITGS, what do you think “CHARIZZMA” reveals that the others didn’t?

SEOHEE I think this song shows a slightly more charismatic and confident side of us compared to our last two songs. Like in the line, “When we pull up we gon’ make a scene,” you really get to see our full confidence and boldness!

IYOO This time, we really tried to show a more confident side. We wanted to show everyone that “this is HITGS” and give people a little preview of how limitless our concepts can be. We hope everyone gets excited for what’s coming next!

How has your understanding of HITGS evolved since debut? Are there sides of the group you’ve only just started to discover through these comebacks?

HYERIN The word “HIP” can mean a lot of things, like being “hip” or cool. In our earlier songs, we showed charms that fit different meanings of “H,” but I think with this last song in our “H” series, we really showed off the “hip” side people expected.

IYOO I think we discovered our cool side with this comeback. Before, we had cuter and brighter concepts, but this time we pulled off a street style with a somewhat more “neutral” vibe. Now I think we’ll be able to totally rock any concept in the future—that’s so exciting!

What’s something that felt completely unfamiliar when you debuted, but now feels second nature?

VV Before debut, being on stage felt so scary and strange. I was really nervous! It’s still a little nerve-wracking, but in a totally different way. Now it just feels so comfortable, and the time we get to spend with our fans face-to-face is so precious and fun.

SEOJIN At first, everything felt awkward in front of the camera, but now I’m just used to it!

You’ve already made your presence known – as you continue your journey, what do you hope people continue to remember about HITGS?

SEOHEE We’re still rookies, but we’ll never lose our passion and we’ll keep growing, step by step. I hope everyone remembers how much we’re growing and all the different charms our five members have!

HYERIN I hope people remember us as a group with no limits. We always try something new, and we always do our best—so hopefully people will think, “HITGS is its own genre!” whenever they remember us.