After closing out an impossibly impressive year that included a sold-out North American tour and TikTok’s Global Artist of the Year honor, KATSEYE are wasting no time in setting the stage for what should be an even more impressive 2026. The Grammy-nominated group released “Internet Girl” (listen here) via HYBE x Geffen Records. It’s a track that first surfaced as a fan favorite heard only on stage during their “Beautiful Chaos” tour, and now arrives as their most self-aware statement yet.
On the surface, “Internet Girl” leans hard into hyper pop excess. The production by Mattman & Robin is unapologetically glossy, with dance-pop synths that fully explore parody. The lyrics are just as bold, and intentionally over the top. The pre-chorus repeats “Eat zucchini” like a mantra, which plays either as a nod to diet culture or a PG-rated way of telling critics to get lost depending on how you want to interpret the repetition. Then comes the hook, “Haven’t you heard, I’m the internet girl? Every picture of me is ‘Oh my god, it’s her’” a hook as blunt as it is addictive. It’s silly, sticky, and engineered to live rent-free in your head.
Underneath the satire, there is a sharper edge. The group has been candid about the song’s meaning, calling it a reflection on the pressure women face online. Lara Raj, speaking to the BBC about the band’s first self-written material, framed the idea in stark terms.
“Having a self-written song is a very big goal for us. I really want us to have a song about the internet, but in a way where it feels like a universal experience that women go through. We’re always getting compared to each other. Being in a girl group, people see us as women to rank. We even get graded sometimes on the internet. To me, that feels dystopian.”
That tension between irony and truth is what makes “Internet Girl” land. It does not sound like a protest anthem, but it does play like a mirror. The song doesn’t lecture you about internet culture. It doesn’t say “the internet is bad” or moralize about online life. Instead, it amplifies the extremes of internet behavior with its repeated hooks, absurd phrases, relentless earworms so that the listener feels exactly what it’s like to live in that world.
KATSEYE are entering 2026 with momentum that is hard to overstate. Their EP “Beautiful Chaos” debuted in the Top Five of the Billboard 200, while “Gnarly” and “Gabriela” both cracked the Hot 100. Viral moments have become routine for the group, and their upcoming Coachella debut in April is already being framed as a major milestone. And with good reason. They’re kicking off the festival on a night that already features Sabrina Carpenter, Teddy Swims, and Ethel Cain. Industry heavyweights they now stand alongside.
“Internet Girl” feels like the next logical step in their meteoric rise. It’s not just catchy. It’s culturally aware in a way that very few breakout pop acts manage to pull off this early. After a year defined by growth, KATSEYE look positioned to turn 2026 into a full takeover, and this track makes a convincing case that they are shaping the pop genre early in the year.
Nathan Smith is a Providence-based music photographer and journalist focusing on capturing the special moments and unfiltered magic of live performances. Whether he’s shooting established artists at sold-out TD Garden shows or documenting the rise of emerging local bands, his goal is the same: to pull viewers directly into the heart of the moment.
His writing spotlights rising artists and local scenes, with a focus on telling the stories that often get overlooked. A lifelong music fan and musician himself, Nathan approaches interviews and portraits as conversations rather than transactions, building trust with artists so their genuine personalities can shine through. Whether he’s backstage, in the photo pit, or at home in front of the keyboard, he brings the same curiosity and care to every assignment.
Outside of his press work with Juice Box Press, Nathan works regularly as a photographer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as numerous bands in the Boston and Providence area. Nathan also plays violin with a local orchestra, follows Celtics basketball almost religiously, and is an avid fantasy reader.