It’s Sunday again — our weekly trip into K-pop history.
And just like last week, we travel back five years, to 2020, when ITZY dropped one of the most influential songs of their career: “Wannabe.”
This release wasn’t just iconic — it reshaped the conversation around self-confidence in 4th-gen K-pop.
With the message “I am precious as I am,” ITZY delivered an anthem that still hits like a manifesto of self-worth.
Today’s lines cut right to the core of that message:
“차라리 이기적일래
눈치 보느라 착한 척 상처받는 것보다 백번 나아”
“I’d rather be selfish —
it’s a hundred times better than pretending to be nice,
tiptoeing around others, and getting hurt.”
—
🔥 1️⃣ 차라리 이기적일래 – “I’d rather be selfish”
• 차라리 → rather / preferably
• 이기적이다 → to be selfish
• -일래 → “I’m going to / I’d rather be” (casual future intention)
💡 Meaning:
This isn’t about being rude —
it’s choosing yourself over self-sacrifice that only brings pain.
A radical self-preservation statement.
—
😶🌫️ 2️⃣ 눈치 보느라 – “Because I was watching others’ reactions”
• 눈치 → social awareness / reading the room
• 보다 → to look
• -느라 → because (due to doing X, causing a negative result)
💡 Korean culture note:
눈치 is uniquely Korean — the pressure to sense others’ expectations.
Here it becomes the source of emotional exhaustion.
—
🎭 3️⃣ 착한 척 – “Pretending to be nice”
• 착하다 → to be kind / good
• 척하다 → to pretend / to act as if
💡 Interpretation:
This expresses the quiet hurt of masking yourself to please others —
being “nice” not out of sincerity, but fear.
—
💔 4️⃣ 상처받는 것보다 백번 나아 – “It’s a hundred times better than getting hurt”
• 상처받다 → to get hurt (emotionally)
• -것보다 → than (compared to)
• 백번 → a hundred times
• 나아 → better
💡 Emotion note:
This line is pure empowerment math:
Choosing yourself is 100x better than self-betrayal.
Clear, bold, healing.
—
✨ Why It Matters
“Wannabe” isn’t just a song — it’s a survival guide wrapped in a beat.
Five years later, its message still resonates:
stop shrinking yourself, stop performing for others,
stop getting hurt just to be “nice.”
“차라리 이기적일래 / 눈치 보느라 착한 척 상처받는 것보다 백번 나아”
is a declaration of freedom —
a reminder that protecting your identity is not selfish,
it’s necessary.
💭 What’s the ITZY lyric that empowers you the most? Drop a 💗 or 👑 below!