Six Years Later, ITZY Finally Performs "THAT'S A NO NO

What does it take for a forgotten album track to earn its first-ever stage — six years after release?

ITZY will perform "THAT'S A NO NO" on the March 19 episode of M Countdown, marking the very first time the song has been staged on a music show since its release in 2020. The track is a B-side from the group's Not Shy mini-album, which means it never received the promotional cycle that comes with a title track — no comeback stage, no weekly music show performances, no choreography showcase. For six years, it existed almost entirely in the hands of fans.

And yet here it is, finally getting its moment.

The Song That Fans Refused to Let Die

In K-pop's promotional machine, B-side tracks have a short shelf life. The industry runs on comeback cycles: a new album drops, the title track gets weeks of music show stages, and then the next act steps up. Most album cuts simply don't make the cut for live performance. "THAT'S A NO NO" was no exception — until the fans made it one.

Over the years, MIDZY (ITZY's official fandom) kept the song alive through cover videos, fan edits, and persistent social media campaigns calling for a stage. The track built a genuine viral presence, particularly among international fans, without any label push behind it. It's a pattern that's become increasingly familiar in the streaming era: an algorithm surfaces an old track, fans amplify it, and suddenly something that was never officially promoted becomes a cultural touchstone within a fandom.

The six-year gap between release and first stage is unusual even by K-pop standards. It raises a straightforward question: why now?

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A Different Kind of Fan Service

This isn't a comeback. ITZY isn't dropping new music this week. The March 19 M Countdown performance is being framed as a special stage — which in K-pop terms means it's explicitly a gift to the fandom rather than a promotional move.

That distinction matters. As K-pop's fourth generation becomes increasingly crowded, groups and their agencies face mounting pressure to maintain loyalty among existing fans, not just attract new ones. Delivering on long-standing fan requests — especially ones that have been circulating for years — is one way to signal that the relationship between artist and fandom is genuinely reciprocal.

JYP Entertainment, which manages ITZY, has been navigating this balance carefully. The group debuted in 2019 with considerable hype, and while they've maintained a consistent presence, the competitive landscape has shifted significantly. Performing a fan-favorite B-side isn't just nostalgia — it's retention strategy.

What the Global Fandom Built

Perhaps the most telling detail here is where the demand for this stage came from. International MIDZY communities — particularly on Twitter/X, TikTok, and fan forums — had been running hashtag campaigns and petitions for this performance for years. The pressure wasn't primarily domestic. It was global.

This reflects a broader shift in how K-pop content decisions get made. For much of the industry's history, what got staged and promoted was determined almost entirely by Korean broadcasters and management companies. Fan input existed, but largely on the margins. Now, the collective voice of a global fandom — organized, persistent, and digitally coordinated — has become a variable that agencies actually respond to.

That's not nothing. It suggests the flow of influence in K-pop's content ecosystem is gradually, quietly changing.