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Twice has spent the last near-decade working to become one of the most successful girl groups in the world.
In 2015, JYP Entertainment, the Korean entertainment agency that launched hit global and domestic groups such as Wonder Girls and 2PM, debuted their latest girl group, Twice. The nine-member group was formed through the music survival show Sixteen, which featured sixteen trainees from the company vying for a spot in the group.
In the years since Sixteen and the group’s official debut, Twice, comprised of members Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, has found both domestic and global success. Once dubbed “the nation’s girl group,” Twice and its members are household names in South Korea. Internationally, the group’s success has exploded in recent years. They secured their first entries on the Billboard 200 Top 10 (Taste of Love) and Billboard Hot 100 (“The Feels”) in 2021 and their first No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 (With YOU-th) earlier this year, cementing their spots as global stars.
Now, Twice is back with their latest album Strategy, a seven-track pop album that allows the women to wade through several sub-genres of pop. The album’s lead single of the same name features rapper Megan Thee Stallion, their second collaboration. The group says the new album has been a good challenge for them.
“We’ve worked on so many albums up until now and we’ve tried so many different things,” Nayeon, the group’s eldest member, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The upcoming album is another new try, where it was quite challenging for us,” she continues, adding that it’s also quite meaningful for the group.
Twice joined THR during a recent trip to Los Angeles to chat about the new release. Below, the nine members also share what it was like working with Megan Thee Stallion, what they do to unwind amidst hectic schedules and how they want the world to see them.
What was it like collaborating with Megan Thee Stallion for “Strategy?”
JEONGYEON She has a powerful, strong image. We were wondering, would that fit in with our style of music and our image? Once we recorded, we thought we actually fit really well, a lot better than we imagined. I feel like Megan’s style really enhanced our part of the music. When we were shooting the music video, Megan really wanted to learn Korean, so she kept saying like, “귀여운,” which means cute. That “you’re very cute” or “that’s really cute.” She did a lot of Korean-style jokes and those hand hearts that Koreans do a lot to break the ice.
The nine-piece girl group topped the Billboard 200 earlier this year with their EP, ‘With You-th.’ Courtesy of JYP Entertainment That sounds like it was a lot of fun. Can you talk more about shooting the music video? This is the first time you’ve ever shot a music video with someone other than yourselves.
TZUYU In the beginning for us, because she’s so famous and well known, we were quite shy, but just like she [Jeongyeon] said earlier, Megan really tried a lot to break the ice. She kept trying to learn Korean and make jokes and just kept saying, “Let’s just have fun together.” I feel like the music video turned out very well.
As you approach 10 years as a group, it’s very fair to say that you have become role models as a group and as individuals in the industry. What kind of pressure, or pride, comes with having younger groups cite you as someone they look up to?
NAYEON Every time I hear that, I feel quite proud and grateful. Right now, rather than pressure, I feel that gratitude a lot more. I just look back to how we’ve been working really hard, and all those stages that we’ve been showing, it’s been a great influence on these people.
Do you have any instances that come to mind of a younger artist telling you that themselves?
JIHYO There were definitely instances where they came up to us and told us that. But a lot of the times, we see interviews. When other artists do interviews and they mention us, then our fans see that and upload it. We see that.
You have been on tour for almost two years now, off and on. When you’re constantly on the go, how do you take time to rest and recharge? What are some of your favorite things to do for “me time?”
JIHYO Shopping.
TZUYU Massages.
MOMO We go out to eat good food.
NAYEON When we have time to sleep, we try to sleep in.
MINA I get jet-lagged. Because of the time that I’m awake at night, I game a lot.
Courtesy of JYP Entertainment In terms of where you’re at in your career, do you feel you’re quite different as an artist than when you started? Or do you feel that maybe you’ve reached the potential you were hoping for?
SANA I couldn’t imagine that we would ever come to the U.S. and perform here.
CHAEYOUNG Year after year, I feel like our goals got bigger and bigger. We would dream bigger. After achieving all of those things, I felt like we gained a lot more confirmations and affirmations, and that drives us to try harder each time.
You’ve dominated the global music space and become quite famous pretty much everywhere you go. What do you think your younger self would think if they saw you today?
MINA I don’t think I would believe it even if I saw myself doing all these things, because in the earlier days I just never imagined we’d be performing at such big venues. We would never imagine going around to this many countries to perform.
JEONGYEON I want to teach all the songs and the choreographies that we’ve known for the past 10 years to my younger self. [Laughs from the rest of Twice]
What does a girls’ night look like for Twice? How do you bond with one another when you spend almost every waking moment next to each other in your professional life? How do you maintain personal relationships with one another?
SANA We’re really close to each other, not just as coworkers, but as ourselves. We talk about the most random things to the most serious things about life. When we can’t decide on something, we come together to discuss and we respect each other and each other’s opinions and listen to each other.
NAYEON We also have very casual meets outside of work. “I want to go here. Does anyone want to come with me?” “I want to go buy something. Does anyone want to come with me?” Those kind of casual relationships.
In terms of Twice as a group, do you have goals that you haven’t reached yet that you’re really working towards? Or are you taking it in stride as it comes?
DAHYUN In the early days of our debut, we definitely had tangible goals where it’d be, “We just want to have a concert on our own.” “We want to get this award.” “We want to get the first place in this.” Last night, we performed at Amazon Music Live. We just could have never imagined performing in those settings. I feel like we’ve been experiencing a lot of good things. We’re kind of expecting and anticipating a lot more of that in our career as well. Rather than having a tangible goal or purpose, I feel like in order to accomplish all those things, the most important thing is health. We want to keep ourselves healthy, so we can do all of those things.
The group’s latest single “Strategy” features rapper Megan Thee Stallion in their second collaboration. Courtesy of JYP Hearing you say health is the most important thing, what do you guys do to prioritize your own health? What do you do to feel good when you have a tough day?
DAHYUN I’m pretty sure it’s different for everyone, but for me, I try to sleep in as much as possible and then drink a lot of water. When I’m alone, I really like to stay in the quiet and just read a book. In that, I really gain that healing within me.
NAYEON I think just spending alone time in a space that I really love is a healing time in itself. It really helps me to just take a step back and unwind. Even if it’s a little thing, if I just like being in that space and just by myself, spending that time alone, I feel like that’s how I manage my own health and let myself unwind.
What do you want the world to think of when they hear the name Twice? Who do you want to be seen as?
MOMO Even after 10 years, or years after, we want to be remembered, and for them to think that we’ve been really energetic. We want to stay as many people’s role models. We just want to be remembered as the best girl group.
JEONGYEON We want to be a part of history. We want to be historic. So, maybe at schools, in their textbooks, we could have Twice’s music in there. We want these kids to learn music through Twice’s music.
