The Uneven Line Distribution Of IVE’s “HEYA” Gets Surprising Reactions From Fans

Line distribution fairness has long been a somewhat controversial topic among K-Pop fans. It’s understandable for fans to be upset if the line distribution of a K-Pop group is extremely uneven — for example, if one member has triple or more lines than everyone else — but there is more of a grey area for songs where the lines still aren’t super even, but they make sense given the members’ positions in the group.

For IVE‘s most recent comeback, “HEYA”, the topic of how lines are distributed in the song has become a conversation on some online forums, and the overall consensus is somewhat surprising.

The overall line distributions vary for the song depending on the criteria you use for what you consider as “lines” — for example, some people count backup vocals while others don’t — but fans have been using three different people’s statistics to determine their opinions on this matter.

In each of them, Liz is the member with the most lines, with some variation as to just how many more lines she has than other members. Yujin is second in all of them as well, while the other four members are more varied.

Considering that Liz is the main vocalist of the group, it only makes sense that she would have the most lines. Yujin is one of the vocalists in the group along with Wonyoung, while Gaeul, Rei, and Leeseo are sub-vocalists. “HEYA” isn’t a rap-heavy song, either, so it also makes sense that the vocalists would have more lines than the rappers.

Even though this could be considered an “uneven” line distribution by some, the overall consensus among fans actually seems to be positive, with Korean netizens sharing their appreciation for it online.

• “It seems right that Liz gets a lot here.”
• “It’s nice to have a killing part for each.”
• “Liz’s voice is a treasure.”
• “This is correct.”
• “It was distributed well this time, not just because Liz sang a lot, but because they put the right members in the right sections.”
• “Liz’s tone is so good.”
• “This seems like a perfect fit!! I like the song.”

International fans seem to share the sentiment as well.

Do you think “HEYA” has fair line distributions?