Today it’s easy to forget that TWICE, one of K-pop’s biggest idol acts, first became famous in Korea through Sixteen, a reality audition program. The show aired nationally on Mnet in 2015, just months before their debut. Back then, the now-nine members were part of the show’s 16 teenage trainees at JYP, one of South Korea’s largest entertainment agencies.
In every episode, the girls — insecure and scared about their future — practiced dancing and singing for hours, often past midnight. The girls were divided into “Majors” and “Minors,” with the former receiving preferential treatment, like better housing and direct mentorship from JYP celebrities. Each week, one trainee was eliminated from the latter group. Many, many tears were shed. “You’re too fat,” “I find the other girl more attractive,” “I can see through your lack of confidence,” judges would say.
“The idea I had [of TWICE] was healthiness,” said Park Jin-young, the founder of JYP, five years later. He talked about the group’s journey in TWICE: Seize the Light, a recently released YouTube Original series highlighting the group’s first world tour visiting America in 2019.
“It wasn’t just about having beautiful looks,” said Park, who was also the main judge and presenter of Sixteen. In one memorable episode, he even gave the girls a lecture on character development, which is actually a common part of JYP’s (and some other companies’) idol trainee curriculum.
“What would it be like to show kids who have healthy, beautiful minds? What would it be like to share with the public, through music and other contents, how they are growing up diligently and uprightly?” Park said in the YouTube documentary.
Despite their brutally competitive creation story on reality TV, TWICE, who released their ninth mini-album MORE & MORE on June 1, seems determined to convey a healthy, happy image through music. Their numerous hits, like the 2016 single Cheer Up, which won Song of the Year at the Mnet Asian Music Awards, Knock Knock, Likey, Yes or Yes (and many more) are fun, bubbly and happy. The girls, often clad in shiny, colorful outfits, smile brightly at the camera while dancing to upbeat music.
“In albums like What is Love and TT, we were bright and full of energy,” TWICE rapper and singer Dahyun tells Teen Vogue in a group Zoom interview in May (the interview has been translated from Korean to English). “In this album, MORE & MORE, we want to show you a more mature TWICE.”
MORE & MORE features seven songs that tell a story of youthful energy and confidence. “The title track is about trying to win someone else’s heart,” says member Nayeon. “MORE & MORE is animated, full of confidence, even cute; in contrast, the dancing is incredibly powerful and energetic.”
“No, I want it; I’ll stop the sugarcoated words, ‘cause I deserve it,” the girls sing in the title track, which features an impressive line-up of composers including Grammy-nominee MNEK, Swedish songwriter Zara Larsson, and Justin Tranter and Julia Michaels (both of whom have written for Britney Spears, Selena Gomez, and Justin Bieber, to name a few).
“We didn’t work directly with these composers,” says member Chaeyoung, who wrote the rap lyrics to the album’s last track, “Sweet Summer Day.” “Our company has an A&R (artists and repertoire) team. We’re pleased to have received so many great songs in this album.”
“Park Jin-young mentored and taught us this time too,” adds Tzuyu, a Taiwanese member who was handpicked by Sixteen viewers to become part of TWICE. “The title track is more complex rhythmically, so there was more to think about [musically] and prepare.”
As in some previous albums, several TWICE members participated in the composition process. Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon wrote the lyrics to “Sweet Summer Day”; Nayeon penned “Make Me Go.”
“I actually wrote the lyrics a year ago on a plane,” laughs Nayeon. “I’d just watched a movie featuring a female assassin. I don’t remember the name of the movie, but there was so much time left of the flight, that I just started writing from the killer’s perspective.”
“The musical work was the most fun,” says Jeongyeon, who wrote the main lyrics for the last track. “After I wrote ‘Sweet Summer Day’, Jihyo did the guide recording. We did that in our apartment, revising the lyrics together, allocating parts to members and discussing the song together.”
Jihyo, who is the leader of TWICE, was prominent among Sixteen contestants for being in the JYP trainee system the longest. She joined JYP when she was eight, and trained for 10 years before debuting with TWICE in October 2015, with the EP The Story Begins.
“It would be a lie if I say that I was always happy in those ten years, that I always wanted to do this,” says Jihyo in TWICE: Seize the Light. “There were so many moments I tried to quit; so many moments of pain.”
K-pop idol music’s trainee system is often criticized for restricting the artists’ freedom with rules on eating, dating, and more. However, it’s not a uniquely Korean system by any means; it’s heavily influenced by Motown in the U.S. and Johnny’s in Japan.
For a company focused on promoting the image of health, JYP’s Sixteen didn’t exactly sugarcoat the harshness of the girls’ reality. Contestants often appeared physically and mentally battered. They had to present the allure of confidence in an environment that constantly shattered it. Jihyo, for example, was repeatedly told to lose weight — a toxic message that seemed to influence her at the time. In a recent Allure cover story, she said that she “almost starved” herself and that she had "a hard time staying at a certain weight."
“At such a young age, these girls were always placed in situations where they couldn’t make mistakes,” said Sungeun Kim, TWICE’s vocal trainer, in the documentary. “They are always on the receiving end of the massive expectations and criticisms of multitudes of people; I’ve always thought, aren’t they all too young?”
Despite the challenges of the brutally competitive process, members seem to remember the trainee era fondly. “That was my school; I was happy in it,” Nayeon said in Seize the Light.
The “healthiness” that Jin-young Park espouses has certainly evolved into a shape more complex than TWICE’s upbeat hits might convey on the surface. Last year, the group went on their world tour Twicelights, visiting 16 cities, including Los Angeles, where they sold out 11,000 seats at The Forum. During the first leg of the tour, Mina pulled out, citing health reasons. In a move rare among K-pop idol agencies, JYP publicly stated that Mina was struggling with “extreme anxiety and insecurity” and needed professional, medical treatment.
"Of course I was scared at first, and I contemplated whether or not I should even publicize my state," Mina says in our Zoom interview. "But I’m a human being. I have a heart. That’s why I suffered. What really helped were the other members."
"When we first debuted, I was 19-20 [in Korean age], so there was no moment when I didn't feel healthy," says Jihyo. "No matter what I did, my body never hurt. But now, after debuting, I'm realizing that health isn't just about bodily health. Our mental states are intimately tied to our physical health."
Mina, after months of rest, is now back. And TWICE is reflective about what’s next, after a non-stop, incredibly productive five years since debuting — 25 albums (studio, mini, and repackaged) in South Korea and Japan.
“We’re getting older,” says Jihyo, who is 23. The oldest TWICE member, Nayeon, is nearing 25; the youngest, Tzuyu, is 21. “It’s not that we want to abandon the familiar, cute and energetic image we already have — we want to take all that, and upgrade ourselves.”
“Our music is becoming more mature,” says Momo, known for being the strongest dancer and one of the three Japanese members alongside Mina and Sana, in an echo of Dahyun’s perception of their growth.
Feel Special, their eighth EP released last September, reflects the nuances of that maturity. The title track talks about feeling loneliness, meaninglessness, and pain. The lyrics were written by Park Jin-young. “He talked to us and reflected our stories onto the lyrics,” says Nayeon. “To be able to tell our stories, to express what only we can feel at this particular age — isn’t that what a mature artist would look like?”
It’s not quite clear what TWICE’s comeback in June will look like beyond the virtual promotions. The coronavirus outbreak has impeded many of their plans, including fan meetings and a concert in Japan.
“We’re enjoying a very regular routine these days,” says Nayeon. They go to the office to practice dancing and have recently finished shooting the music video for MORE & MORE. “Otherwise, we’re mostly resting at home because of the coronavirus,” adds Jihyo.
Sana, beloved by fans for her quirky persona, says slyly, “But I don’t think we’d make everyone, who misses us, wait indefinitely to see us.”
Let us slide into your DMs. Sign up for the Teen Vogue daily email.
Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: K-Pop Stars ITZY Explain Why Their Group Dynamic Is So Special
