Katseye: Wild Hearts Documentary Highlights Fan-Driven Rise and Industry Pressures

Before screenings of their new documentary, the members of Katseye appear in a video message to thank fans for their support. Their followers, Eyekons, have played a critical role in their rise to stardom, so it makes sense that Katseye: Wild Hearts, released in global theaters this month, takes a beat to shout out to them. Perhaps more than many other big music groups today, the group’s rise has depended on their relationship with their devotees who ensure that few corners of the world are safe from Katseye mania.

Katseye’s multinational members – Daniela, Lara, Manon, Megan, Sophia and Yoonchae – were selected through a combination of fan votes and judge scores on the 2023 YouTube reality competition The Debut: Dream Academy. The joint project between the American record label Geffen Records and Korean entertainment company Hybe aimed to create a global girl group, with hopefuls participating in a rigorous bootcamp to test their singing and dancing skills. The following year, Netflix’s docu-series Pop Star Academy: Katseye – which documented the group’s nascent era, behind-the-scenes drama and all – catapulted them to a new level of visibility.

Katseye blend western pop’s individualism with the intense training and choreography of the well-oiled K-pop machine. Though they identify as a “global girl group”, much of Katseye’s domination can be credited to their K-pop DNA. “Katseye started with that core K-pop training [and high standards], which ensured they were firing on all cylinders from the start,” said K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin. “Often in pop, there is a rewarding payoff in seeing an artist finally get backed by a big-label budget for a certain song, music video, or project, but K-pop ensures everything is supported from the start.”

As a $5bn company with offices in Seoul, LA, Mexico City, Tokyo, Miami and Mumbai, Hybe’s resources have certainly contributed to the group’s success, but Katseye don’t adhere to all of K-pop’s structural norms. “There’s no hiding that many top-down decisions are made for them,” said Benjamin. “But Katseye divert by openly speaking about decisions they don’t agree with – the members seem not to like Pop Star Academy and the competition format they were created from – and addressing things most K-pop acts don’t speak about, including their personal lives and sexualities.”

In 2026, Katseye are experiencing a surge of popularity that’s impossible to ignore, including a sold-out tour, nearly 40m monthly Spotify listeners and two Grammy nominations. Katseye: Wild Hearts, which features behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and fan-submitted videos, pulled in nearly $4m its opening weekend. The band have vacuumed up major marketing deals: they’ve worked with State Farm, Pandora, Target and the bougie LA grocery story Erewhon, where they have their own $22 smoothie. Their Gap Better in Denim campaign sparked a wildly viral TikTok trend and saw an upswing in revenue growth for the brand.

Fans in their 20s, teens and younger are eating up what Katseye are serving far beyond retail shelves thanks to their hybrid western pop/K-pop mythos, high-energy performances and inclusive cultural and LGBTQ+ representation. (Two members identify as queer.) There’s also their digital posturing: Katseye is quick to leverage a viral meme to promote their product as well as build relatability with their fans. They reference zoomer Disney Channel nostalgia, collaborate with other chronically online stars such as Troye Sivan and rally fan participation with popular TikTok dances.

“Katseye emerged in a landscape where social media isn’t just a promotional tool, but part of how pop culture is made and circulated,” said Dr Lucy Bennett, senior lecturer in Popular Music and Fandom at Cardiff University. “Fans can take a song, performance or interaction and repackage it for their own social media, promoting the group further.”

In short, the Eyekons are better than any marketing team. “This is particularly significant for a new group because fandom can help create a sense that something is happening around the group, such as a feeling of momentum and cultural relevance.”

Katseye’s core gen Z and Alpha fanbase isn’t by accident. Their easy-to-replicate dance trends, collaborations with toy brands such as Monster High and Gui Gui slime, and “brain rot” lyrics are targeted to young audiences. “Boba tea (gnarly) / Tesla (gnarly) / Fried chicken (gnarly),” they sing on Gnarly, while their latest single features lines such as: “Carry my matcha / Mount Valley water / I like my mochi drenched in chocolata.”

The group’s fast-tracked success has not come without friction. Katseye say they have faced “heavy” racist and sexist harassment, dealt with extreme toxic fandom and received death threats. Lara, a Connecticut-raised US citizen of Tamil Indian background, told the BBC she was falsely reported to ICE, while Sophia, who is Filipina-American, revealed their family members had received hateful comments. Manon, who is of Swiss-Ghanaian heritage, called the experience “terrorizing on the mind”.

Like the Pussycat Dolls, Fifth Harmony and other girl groups before them, Katseye have faced an onslaught of rumors of tensions within the group. Shadily edited clips of the girls have been presented on social media as proof of enmity between members. Some have outright pitted the girls against each other. “People see us as women to rank. They’ll grade us based on how pretty we are, our singing skill, dancing skill, and then add it up and give us a percentage. That’s so dystopian,” Lara said.

The all-too-familiar parasocial expectations fans have of artists weigh heavily over Katseye, but that’s nothing new in pop. “The more intimate the digital relationship becomes, the more complicated it can be to maintain boundaries,” said Bennett. “Because fans can invest so much time and emotional energy in an artist, this can create expectations around access and responsiveness.”

Other public scrutiny surrounding the band has been murkier. In February, the group announced Manon was taking a temporary step back to “focus on her health and wellbeing”, leaving the band to perform at Coachella as a five-piece. Soon after, she removed references to Katseye from her Instagram bio.

In August, just months after Manon stepped back, Hybe announced Sophia was similarly going on hiatus for her “mental health and wellness”, casting another shadow of uncertainty over the group’s seemingly dwindling roster. It’s unclear if she will return in time to join her bandmates on their global Wildworld Tour this September. Meanwhile, the active members have voiced their support for both bandmates during recent promotional activities and appearances.

Bennett said “the participatory nature of Katseye’s formation” makes their relationship with fans complex. “If fans have voted, promoted, defended and helped shape the formation of the group, they may feel they have a genuine stake in what happens to it. That can be a really positive thing, creating a strong sense of loyalty and investment in the group. At the same time, fans may feel that their investment gives them a particular interest in questioning or discussing decisions about [the band].”

Katseye’s trajectory has so far triumphed over hiatuses, controversies and sneery rumors. Released on 14 August, Wild is a mega-success. The EP debuted at No 1 on the Billboard 200, setting a remarkable new record for the biggest week by a girl group in the streaming era. Wild also marks the biggest US debut for a girl group since Danity Kane’s 2008 album Welcome to the Dollhouse, and is the fourth No 1 album by a girl group this decade following K-pop releases such as Blackpink’s Born Pink, NewJeans’ second EP Get Up, and Twice’s With You-th.

Despite record-breaking sales, critics are less enthused about the band’s recent output. Vulture called Wild a “war between bittersweet pop … and deliberately juvenile singles”, while Pitchfork shrugged at its “hollow” songs. Perhaps a testament to their rebellious gen Z pop swag, Katseye refuse to be chained to any one rhythm in particular – for better or worse.

When the EP bangs, it bangs: Pinky Up, the spiritual successor to the initially polarizing Gnarly, is an intoxicating blast of thumping techno-pop. Co-penned by Ed Sheeran, Animal is a slice of radio-primed, early-2010s throwback pop. Tragically, one of the EP’s best songs, Unloveu, is a Target physical CD exclusive. Written by Lara, the ballad highlights the individual members’ voices as they harmonize about recovering from a toxic relationship. It hints at what could be if Katseye’s artistic input and vocals were emphasized above viral choreography and brand endorsements.

Wild’s sonic incohesiveness and genre-hopping make for an uneven listening experience. It’s also woefully devoid of standout solo moments, the girls’ voices often blending into a sleek but frustratingly symmetrical monovocal. Bel Air, an unreleased 13-year-old Charli xcx song, is so languid it sounds more like a raw demo than the original. Then there’s Hootie Frutti. The Brazilian funk-flavored single is the EP’s most divisive, with some celebrating its chaotic, campy silliness and others criticizing its sexually charged, comedically product placement-heavy music video. (Manon and Sophia might be on hiatus. Orange-flavored Tic Tacs are decidedly not.)

Amid a whiplash-inducing string of brand deals and promotions, fans are worried Katseye are being overworked. Maybe so. Representatives for the band did not respond to the Guardian’s requests for comment for this article. K-pop has long been under scrutiny for its infamously intense work schedules, while the western pop industry is no better for the many pressures facing female artists in particular. Coupled with various health-related hiatuses and public controversies, a cloudy patina of skepticism lies over the group’s nonstop schedules. In the past two weeks alone they have performed at the Disney Legends awards, appeared on the Today Show and Tonight Show, performed a Spotify event called Klub Katseye, signed CDs at Hot Topic and Barnes & Noble and headlined a music festival.

Katseye’s potential for mainstream pop staying power is undeniable. As the global pop group of today, they are heralded by fans for their confidence, vibrant and distinct personalities – they embody an attitude emblematic of modern sisterhood in all its messy, magical glory – and celebration of diversity and digital culture. But something feels unsustainable. While one demand of the pop industry seems to be maintaining momentum at all costs, Katseye’s grueling commitments coupled with unrelenting public scrutiny could be harmful in the long run. Nonstop activity could also be holding the group back from more intentionally developing their core image and artistic perspective – both paramount to solidifying a musical legacy outside of flash-in-the-pan trends.

Time will tell if the band’s current hyper-saturation is a natural outcome of the well-earned hype surrounding them, or a consequence of a larger, more insidious system that views pop stars as products. Perhaps after the Wild promotion is done, the band would benefit from a collective recalibration to figure out what artistic goals exist for Katseye beyond going viral. These talented performers deserve as much.