TWICE FLOPPED? Not Quite and THIS is Why. (Deep Dive)

[Dahyun] I like hamburger and chocolate. [Kelly] Yeah! [Dahyun] Potatoes. [Kelly] I found my sister in the group OK! Twice is one of the best-selling girl groups of all time. NHK News has credited Twice with helping to heal relations between South Korea and Japan. Its oldest member, Nayeon, made history by becoming the first K-Pop soloist to land in the top ten on the Billboard 200. With over 5.5 billion streams, nearly 200 Perfect All Kills on Korean music charts, hundreds of awards, multiple s

old-out arena tours around the globe, Twice has permanently carved its name into music history books. But why? Why is Twice is so popular? Why does their success matter? And most importantly, how do you pronounce their name? [Nayeon] Twaiiice. What’s up everybody! I'm Jonathan Miller and welcome back to Jonathan Miller Music, where we help each other become better artists. Twice has left an unforgettable mark on the Hallyu Wave and the music industry, with their popularity continuing to grow des

pite what antis on Twitter would love to start a fight with you about. In fact, in August 2022, their album “Between 1&2” broke their own previous sales record by 60%, selling over 1 million copies. They were the first K-Pop girl group in 2022 to pass 1 billion streams on Spotify alone. Twice is the first K-Pop act to be honored for Billboard's Women in Music winning the Breakthrough Award in 2023. The South Korean president, Moon Jae-In even cited Twice in BTS as groups helping to heal relation

s between South Korea and Japan. Twice’s growing success in nearly eight years has become a snowball the size of an avalanche. But success is not just defined as a sales record, chart placement, or physical attribute. Success is a culmination of history, time, hard work, and a small dose of luck. So is this just going to be a Twice stan video made by a Twice stan for Twice stans? Not exactly. But if you happen to be a Once, a K-Pop fan, an aspiring artist, or maybe you just love a good deep dive

, then you'll probably get something out of this. Now, if you happen to be an older K-Pop fan, or maybe you're someone who just doesn't get the hype, then I can tell you as a songwriter and a K-Pop fan, more specifically, a big fan of Girl's Generation who originally didn't really like Twice, its time to give Twice their flowers. And this is why. Hey guys, it's editing Jon-Jon here. Sorry, I'm in the middle of moving, which is part of the reason this video has taken a little bit longer than I wo

uld have liked. But while editing this video, some things happened with Chaeyoung where she was wearing some inappropriate symbols on her clothing. I just really want to make it clear that this video is not intended to condone hate of any kind (or symbols thereof of course.) Personally, I'm a little upset that it happened a couple of times, especially when the Holocaust is not a small moment in history by any means. I know in certain religions and cultures there is a symbol that is similar to th

e swastika/hakenkreuz that is generally regarded towards peace, but that's very clearly not what was on the shirt she was wearing. And while I am glad that Chaeyoung apologized, it's important to recognize that it's not my apology to accept nor reject. So I would encourage you to listen to the thoughts and opinions of onces who are Jewish, who were affected by this because their feelings are the ones that really matter. But I do want to make it clear that this video is not meant to condone that

in any way. So I wanted to pop in really quickly to make sure that was clear before you enjoy the rest of this video. So thank you. And let's get back into it. Japan is the world's second largest music market, and it's held that title for a good long while. If you're not familiar, Japan's bustling music scene goes beyond J-pop and encapsulates a plethora of micro-genres. This includes Rock, New Wave, City Pop, Techno, Hip Hop, Synthpop (Electropop), Enka, which is a more traditional Japanese sty

le of music, Synthpop which Yellow Magic Orchestra helped to pioneer in the eighties, Vocaloid, and so many others. Basically, if you can think of a music genre, it can sit under the big “J-pop” term umbrella. But that didn't really happen until the nineties when the Japanese music scene went through a bit of a revolution in the form of kawaii culture “Kawaii,” the Japanese word for “cute” is a specific culture and aesthetic unique to Japan. The word Kawaii comes from “Kawayushi” during the Tais

ho period, which kind of meant shy, embarrassed, and lovable from about 1912 to 1926. It has since evolved into encompassing more feelings of, like, caring and love. While the modern concepts of Kawaii didn't fully arrive until the seventies, its roots can still be traced back to the Taisho period. When Yumeji Takahisa led the Romanticism movement by combining Western art styles like Art Nouveau with traditional Japanese styles. Takahisa-san is often credited with coining the signature kawaii st

yle of painting thin women with big eyes and melancholy expressions on their faces. Japan has a very long history of being a fierce country, let's say, with an aggressive military. In World War II alone, they attacked French Indochina, which is now Vietnam, Cambodia and surrounding areas. They attacked the USA, Philippines, Guam, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, China and a lot of other places too. Japan had already colonized multiple places around the world, more specifically, the Korean Peninsul

a until 1945, when World War II came to an end following the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And when the Japanese empire was finally defeated, it was in desperate need of a rebrand. In 1974 on a vinyl coin purse, the face of kawaii culture was officially born in the form of Hello Kitty, created by Yuko Shimizu. Kitty White (キティ・ホワイト,) was marketed to preteens and girls and features a white cat with a large head, eyes and small nose. Hello Kitty doesn't feature many facial expressions, w

hich meant kids could use their imagination to give her any kind of story and emotion, even though her official backstory is that she's from somewhere outside of London in the UK. Hello. Kitty's popularity declined throughout the eighties as kids got older and just like Taylor Swift coming back stronger than the nineties trend, Hello Kitty became the nostalgia trend of the 1990s. I've spoken about it at length in my deep dive on BoA, but the 1997 Asian financial crisis is an important historical

event to remember because it affected a lot of Asian exports around the world. To put it simply, if you're not familiar with it, it's a period of time when many Eastern and Southeastern Asian countries had their currencies rapidly collapse and it caused a lot of issues, but it also created an opportunity to problem solve and work together too. Japan and Korea have had difficult relations throughout history due to Japan's occupation of Korea for most of the first half of the 1900s. Following the

liberation of Korea in 1945, South Korea enacted the Law for Punishing Anti-National Deeds aimed at restricting access and distribution of Japanese media. This led to a decades-long censorship that didn't come to an end until President Kim Dae-Jung ended it in 1998. Before the 90’s, Japan's economy was rapidly growing during a time often referred to as the Japanese Economic Miracle. However, as the nineties continued, its economy began to stagnate. The Asian Financial Crisis in Japan led to man

y bankruptcies, and its GDP growth rate slowed to about 1.6%, eventually sinking into a recession. Roughly 40% of Japanese exports at the time went to Asian countries. But the Asian financial crisis made it so that a lot of Asian countries needed to boost their own economies and help out their neighbors. During the ban of Japanese media, Koreans weren't really allowed to hear Japanese pop songs natively in Japanese. Masters were sent to Korea, where cover versions were produced. Even though Japa

nese artists did have popularity there, Koreans really could only listen to these Korean cover versions. It was during the Asian Financial Crisis that Korea started to have its own acts sing in languages like Mandarin Chinese, for example, to sell records abroad, which helped its own and other economies. It was also around this time when Aegyo in Korea grew. Aegyo is similar to Kawaii and is, for all intents and purposes, Korea's cuteness culture. It's shy, cute, lovable and is usually depicted

by young girls. Soon it became very clear that both in Japan and Korea cute sells. Kawaii culture expanded to anime, merch, films, and music acts. In an attempt to rid itself of not only its aggressive past but also negative racial stereotypes in the West, Japan's new export of cuteness took the world by storm and has since nearly becomes synonymous with the country. Female J-pop acts like Ayumi Hamasaki, Utada Hikaru, Morning Musume, and more became popular during this time. South Korea was hit

hard by the financial crisis and needed to recover. So with the censorship ban lifted, SM Entertainment taught a 14 year old girl named BoA Japanese and sent her to Japan to sell records. And she succeeded. And you can sell your records with DistroKid! Distrokid is one of the best and leading music distributors helping artists like you and me get our music and videos up on places like Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and more. With a simple design and interface that's easy to use, you can distribu

te as much music as you want for one small yearly price. DistroKid’s got a whole long list of services to help get your music out there, but they also can help you get your music videos out there too with DistroVid. A separate service by DistroKid, DistroVid is music video distribution made easy. Simply choose which platform you'd like your music video to go to. Add your artist name and release date. You can add your record label if you've got one, the language it's in and its genres. Next, add

some information like song title, featured artist information, specify if it's live footage or not, and choose your file. Make sure it's not a lyric video and isn't a medley. It's got to be one song per video. Add a description talking about your music video, songwriter, and credit information. Link or create a VEVO channel if you'd like, link your Apple Music artist profile and check all the important boxes. Then your music video will be on its way to stores. So use my special VIP link to save

yourself 7% on your first year's membership with DistroKid. Link is in the description! Hallyu in Japan has come in different waves over the last 20+ years or so. The Japanese music industry is a $7 Billion+ USD industry and has been an epicenter for artists to try to break into from around the world for its passionate fanbase and lucrative potential. The first wave of Hallyu came to Japanese shores in the form of Baby BoA and KBS-TV series Winter Sonata. Nami Island, where Winter Sonata was fil

med, became a hotspot for Japanese tourists in Korea due to the show's popularity. BoA became the first South Korean pop star to break through in Japan, where her first three albums sold over a million copies there each. The second Korean wave in Japan is where things get a little interesting. The 2000s saw a rapid growth in celebrity culture, technology, the Internet, and it gave birth to social media. The world and its music industries largely remained separate until things like YouTube helped

the development of online music, culture and awareness. If you've seen my deep dives on KARA or Girls’ Generation, you'll know that the idea that social media could help foreign acts rise to the top of the charts in other countries came about during this time, thanks to viral dance crazes and catchy pop hooks. Luckily, Korea had a little trick up its sleeve that became built into its music identity: Multiple languages. Boy group TVXQ’s debut song “Hug” has four different versions: Korean, Manda

rin Chinese, Japanese, and English. And while TVXQ did not initially do very well in Japan, “Purple Line” became their breakthrough hit when it debuted at number one on the Oricon Charts in 2008. Their signature hit, “Mirotic” became a massive single at the time and prompted them to become the very first Korean group to be invited to perform at NHK’s Kouhaku Uta Gassen, a big New Year's Eve special in Japan akin to Dick Clark’s special here in the U.S.. Most impressively, they became the first K

-Pop boy group to perform at the Tokyo Dome in 2009 for the finale of their Secret Code Tour. Clearly, if Korea could conquer Japan in music once, it could do it again. The 2000s is where it became commonplace for South Korean groups to make their Japanese debuts and find success there. BigBang won Best Pop Video and Best New Artist at the MTV VMAs Japan. In 2010, 2PM had all 100,000 tickets sell out in under a minute for the Republic of 2PM Tour and even became the second best-selling new artis

t in Japan in 2011. SHINee set a record at the time for the most people in attendance to a Korean Act's first Japanese tour with over 200,000 people. When a Korean Act debuts in Japan, typically speaking, the style and vibe of the artists will change a little bit. K-Pop has its own genetic makeup in terms of songwriting, as it often fuzes multiple genres in one song together. In Japan, K-Pop music videos tend to be cleaner. White becomes a dominating color with softer shades, and the music video

sets tend to look a little different. Of course, this is not always the case, but a “cleaner” look does well with Japanese audiences. This stems from the Japanese Idol industry where audiences prefer to see a group go from zero to hero, as opposed to Korea, where idols are expected to debut as basically objects of perfection, so to speak. Consider a Japanese debut with a clean, bright look as a way of “wiping the slate” and making a foreign act seem more approachable. Gotta love music marketing

! It's important to acknowledge that it wasn't just boy groups who did well during the second Hallyu Wave in Japan. Girl Groups did too! KARA were named Japan's number one rookie artist of 2010 and sold over a million physical singles in two years, becoming one of the fastest-selling Korean acts in Japan. Their hit “Mister” was the most downloaded K-Pop song in Japan as of 2012, and they also were the first female Korean artist to perform at the Tokyo Dome. Girls’ Generation also opened doors in

Japan when their first Japanese album helped them become a certified million seller by the RIAA, the first by a non-Japanese girl group to do so. Their aegyo/kawaii anthem “Gee” was also a certified million seller by the RIAJ, showing that the concept of “Cute” didn't just work for Japan, It also worked for Korea. Bubblegum pop looks, bright and clean asthetics, and Internet trends helped spread K-Pop throughout Japan and the rest of the world. But there was still a barrier to overcome. As the

2010s progressed, millennials were getting older. Groups were starting to disband or go on hiatus, or members of boy groups were starting to do their mandatory military service. So for a very brief period, the Hallyu Wave in Japan slowed down a bit. Korea had shown, though, that its relationship with its neighbor could mend when the contract was mutually beneficial. K-pop's Global expansion outside of Asia was in a position to grow exponentially, but it also needed to fan the fire that K-Pop had

started in Japan, too. More specifically, it needed to keep the spark of inspiration within the next generation of future idols and really bridge this gap. And what better way to do that than to have the public vote on a brand new girl group that could contain members from both countries? Twice got its start on survival reality show SIXTEEN, which pitted 16 JYP trainees against each other to debut in JYP’s next girl group. Featuring girls from Korea, Japan, Canada, and Thailand, the show divide

d the trainees into major groups and minor groups. Majors were girls already on track to debut and the minor group contestants would have to work hard to try and get into the major group, with the lineup changing frequently after select missions. During SIXTEEN, we were treated with some memorable moments like Dahyun’s Eagle Dance, Sana’s cooking segment, [Sana Talking] and Jihyo fighting against people who criticized her weight by singing “All About That Bass” [Jihyo Singing] which I'm 100% sur

e is a “SLAY.” Twice was originally intended to be a seven member girl group and the first new girl group from JYP since Miss A in 2010. However, in a surprise twist perfect for reality television, they announced in the final episode of SIXTEEN that Twice would actually become a nine member girl group. In addition to Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Dahyun, Mina, Sana, Chaeyoung and Jihyo, Taiwanese trainee Tzuyu was added as the audience's final pick, and previously eliminated Japanese trainee Momo was added

as JYP felt the group needed someone with her skill level in dance. Naturally, this move caused a lot of controversy on a show that was already generating negative press for treating the girls unfairly. People said it was disrespectful to the other eliminated trainees. JYP’s motives were called into question and drew heavy criticism because Girls’ Generation, whom was still at the top of their game at the time, was known for having nine members and had just recently become eight following Jessi

ca's departure from the group. The market was noticeably open for a nine member girl group and many people questioned if voting may have been rigged because of this. K-Pop’s third generation was still in its infancy and clearly Twice was starting off on the wrong foot. But luckily and they didn't know it at the time, but Twice, with over 42 million albums sold to date, was about to become one of the best-selling girl groups of all time in the entire world. Now, if I were to list every single acc

omplishment and accolade that Twice has received, this video would be hours long. So I'm not going to! Sorry in advance to the “You forgot about...” keyboard warriors of YouTube. I said at the beginning of this video that success is more than numbers... but that doesn't mean we can't talk about some of them! Twice’s debut track, “Like Ooh-Ahh” hit 50 million views on YouTube within five months, becoming one of the most viewed debut music videos of all time. “Cheer Up” became a massive success in

2016, debuting atop multiple real time music charts and became a viral meme thanks to this ham! “TT” became one of the best performing songs of 2016, Topping The Circle, then Gaon, Digital Chart for four consecutive weeks. “Cheer up” ultimately, won Song of the Year twice in 2016 at the Melon Music Awards and the M-net Asian Music Awards. Twice's fourth mini album, “Signal” topped the Circle Album Chart in 2017, becoming the second best-selling EP for the entire month of May and at the same tim

e had accumulated over a million albums sold, doing so in just a year and seven months after debuting. Twice's first full-length studio album “Twicetagram” helped them become the first female K-Pop act to simultaneously top the Billboard World Albums chart and the World Digital Song Sales chart with Twicetagram’s lead single, ‘Likey.” Their next album, “What Is Love,” made Twice, the first female artist and fifth act ever to earn a platinum certification by the KMCA for selling over 250,000 copi

es. Its reissue, “Summer Nights” passed 100 million streams and sold 2.5 million downloads on the Circle Music chart, earning them a platinum single certification for streaming and download. Just so you're aware, KMCA certifications were only introduced in 2018, which is why many acts prior to 2018 don't have a lot or don't really have any at all. But regardless, Twice was ready to sweep! Their music video for “Yes or Yes” got 31.4 million views in 24 hours on YouTube becoming the seventh bigges

t 24 hour debut of all time back then. The music video for “Fancy” in 2019 beat that with 42.1 million views in 24 hours. Their “More & More” album sold over 563,000 copies on the Circle chart, giving them the title of highest sales volume for a girl group in the chart’s history at the time. Their third full-length Korean studio album, “Formula of Love,” sold over 700,000 preorders and debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. Their English language single “The Feels,” was included in

several year-end best of lists, including Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, and NME, and was certified gold by the RIAA. But Twice’s success in Japan is really something magnificent. Their debut album, “#Twice” sold over 136,000 copies in its first week, landing at number two on the Oricon Charts, which had been the highest first week sales total by a Korean artist in Japan in two years at the time. Their first original Japanese track, “One More Time,” sold over 130,000 copies in 48 hours, becoming the

fastest-selling release by any South Korean girl group in Japan. Both “One More Time” and its album, #Twice were certified platinum by the RIAJ and made them the first Korean girl group to go platinum for a single and album in Japan in the same year. #Twice won Album of the Year at the 32nd Japan Gold Disc Awards. By the time 2017 came to a close, they were number three in the Top Artist category on Billboard Japan's year-end rankings and invited to perform at Kouhaku Uta Gassen, which was the f

irst time a Korean artist was invited to perform since 2011. Their second Japanese single, “Candy Pop,” sold over 300,000 copies in its first week, topping the Oricon charts and prompted their first concert tour across Japan. “Wake Me Up” was certified double platinum by the RIAJ, becoming the first physical single by a foreign female artist to do so. Twice’s cover of “I Want You Back” by the Jackson5 was chosen as the theme song Sensei Kunshuu. BDZ, or “Bulldozer.,” their first Japanese album,

recorded the highest first-day sales total by a Korean girl group in Japan by hitting just shy of 90,000 records. It became their fifth consecutive platinum certification in Japan. “#Twice2” broke their own sales record in 24 hours with over 95,000 units sold. It was then they made even more history by becoming the first female K-Pop act to hold a Japanese Dome Tour selling out all tickets in under a minute, attracting over 220,000 people. A Japanese Dome Tour is very significant because not onl

y is it reserved for very popular acts or sporting events, but also because each venue can hold anywhere from 25 to 45,000 people, and to sell them out is an incredible feat. By the end of 2019, Twice had ranked in the top five on Billboard Japan for three consecutive years and become the fifth most streamed artist on Spotify in Japan too. #Twice3 became their seventh number one album in Japan. All in all, Twice has done some incredible things. They've been honored with the Breakthrough Award at

Billboard's Women in Music, As I previously mentioned. They're the first female K-Pop act to hold two separate headlining arena tours in the U.S., the world's biggest music market. They're the third female Korean act to chart on the Canadian Hot 100, and they signed a landmark joint venture with Republic Records in the U.S., a major and significant step in K-pop's global popularity. Their album, “Ready to Be” surpassed 1.7 million in preorder stock, becoming only the fifth K-Pop girl group in h

istory to do so. They've won so many top awards, their Wikipedia list is nearly 30 printed pages long. And as of 2021, Twice is the highest-selling girl group of all time in South Korea. But why them? How did they do it? How did they become the biggest girl bosses in K-Pop? There are a multitude of reasons why Twice is so popular, both domestically and abroad. JYP Girl Groups such as Wonder Girls and Miss A were known for embracing retro styles. Park Jin-Young, as I explained in my deep dive on

Stray Kids, was an artist in the 90’s and was very heavily inspired by Motown Records. Even naming rooms in his building after the Black artists who inspired his musical dreams. This is evidenced in not only many interviews, [JYP] I was just a kid who loved Motown so much, and I studied how Berry Gordy started Motown and just try to follow his footsteps. And in one of the most famous and groundbreaking K-Pop songs, “Nobody” by Wonder Girls, where it's music video references this directly. Howeve

r, JYP took a different direction with Twice. The 2010s, as I previously mentioned, were a transitional decade where millennials got older and Gen Z really started coming of age. Clicking into “second gear” as you get older is a really weird experience because music and other media starts to target other audiences. So it's really confusing because you're still young, but it feels like music “doesn't hit the same.” Twice’s growth and success is very symbolic of this phenomenon because Twice embra

ced modernity. Stylistically, Twice's music regularly incorporates online culture, an easy example being “TT,” which references the crying emoticon. Or their #Twice albums, obviously, including a hashtag as redundant as that sounds. I bring this up because a lot of millennial music doesn't really dive into this so boldly. There's always examples that say otherwise, of course, I acknowledge that! But a lot of Gen Z artists do because, well, they grew up when the internet was a widespread thing. T

his is not an attempt to create a generational divide! I'm using it to demonstrate that this one teeny tiny aspect was enough to put off some of the previously targeted demographic in music who were now growing up into their mid to late twenties. Basically embracing the next generation is a sure fire way to hit. But that's a little one dimensional. Twice is also popular because their music, up until recently, very consistently employed cuter concepts. Aegyo and Kawaii culture are intrinsic to Id

ol culture in South Korea and Japan, respectively. History shows us that cuteness sells, and in the case of Twice, cuteness helped them stand out among girl groups. At this time, it was common for girl groups to put on more assertive concepts as the millennial generation of idols were fully grown adults. It's not to say that bright/ cute concepts were non-existent, of course, but as people get older, even in K-Pop, people try different things. Also, K-Pop was rapidly expanding out past South Kor

ean and Asian borders by the mid 2010s. The USA is the world's biggest and most lucrative music market and K-Pop had its eyes set on it, thanks to acts like Psy. By 2015, K-Pop’s groundbreaking achievements in the U.S. were a small handful compared to the ocean-sized amount there is now. We can't forget the work that had been done before then, but we can also acknowledge that the K-Pop industry had a long way to go at the time to really break through here. But it's not just the cutesy concepts,

incorporation of online culture, and age, though that worked in Twice's favor. Sonically, their music was also a little different. In the 2010s, dance-pop had evolved into a much stronger EDM-style that young audiences were attracted to. Songs like Girls’ Generation's “Catch Me If You Can” is a prime example of the festival-driven sound that populated radio and pop music charts, even in Korea during this time, especially as the third generation of K-Pop groups were debuting left and right. K-Pop

really developed its signature genetic sound of fusing, EDM, hip hop, dance-pop, and R&B elements with unexpected structures and looping instruments. Twice, however, dubbed their music “Color Pop” for its bright tones, high-speed beats per minute, and straying away from the hip-hop base many new K-Pop songs began to rely heavily on. Chaeyoung and Dahyun might have been the group's designated rappers, but their music wasn't as heavily reliant on hip hop and rap being the backbone of their hits.

Another reason why Twice became popular is because... these girls are funny! [Dahyun] I want to be, uh, famous, yeah! [Audience [Audience Cheering] [Jeonghyun Cheering] [Nayeon Reading] “Can I be your dog?” Sure, why not? [Sana] Hi. My name is Sana. [Jihyo Reading Question] [Tzuyu Answering] [Chaeyoung Speaking] [Tzuyu] I love you. Do you love me? [Sana] Say Hi, Hi! (hi, hi) Mi-Sa-Mo! Time and a transitioning open music market might have been on Twice's side, but it's not like they haven't had t

heir fair share of difficulties and resistances to overcome. The first one is the initial controversy over its member count and the addition of Tzuyu and Momo. The Girls’ Generation comparisons started before Twice even had a chance to drop an original song together. It didn't help when JYP gave them similar concepts to SNSD, like the commonalities between “Oh” and “Cheer up,” especially since “Cheer Up” was also a massive hit and comment sections from kids who didn't grow up with Girls’ Generat

ion (and therefore obviously wouldn't know how they are similar) were filled with people saying concepts like “Cheer Up” hadn't been done before. Then as Twice got more successful, then came the battle of “who outsold who,” driving an unnecessary wedge between the two groups and generations. Twice has been the subject of fat-shaming, racism and dealing with panic and anxiety disorders that would naturally come with trying to please millions of people and working literally nonstop for years. Sasa

eng fans are problematic in K-Pop for dangerous behavior, oftentimes endangering the lives of idols, and the Twice members are no exception in having to deal with them. Mina has been the recipient of a death threat when a sasaeng fan posted a picture of a knife over their wrist, which I'm not going to show in this video, but you can look it up here. Tzuyu got a death threat on VLive, a live-streaming platform where idols can connect with fans. Chaeyoung has spoken about getting a series of anony

mous calls and texts from numbers she doesn't recognize. Personal hardships play a role too. Jihyo trained for a decade before being selected for SIXTEEN and ultimately Twice. Momo once had to lose 15lbs in one week in order to do their debut showcase and so she said all she ate in that one week was a cube of ice. I mean, Tzuyu, Momo, Sana, and Mina all had to learn Korean fluently too, which obviously learning a language is difficult. Even now as they shift focus toward conquering the US., none

of the members speak English conversationally or fluently, which unfortunately is not an advantage they have as compared to BTS who luckily had RM to handle many interviews as he, too, continued to grow his English skills. The U.S., unfortunately has a large population that is very resistant to non-English speakers, which gives Twice the disadvantage in this country. However, it should be noted and celebrated that Twice is getting better at English and they've had a lot of success here without

speaking it fluently, demonstrating that these girls can and will overcome any obstacles put in front of them! So if you've made it all the way to this point in the video, you may still be asking yourself, why does Twice's success matter? And why do they deserve their flowers? It's cool they've achieved stuff, but why does it matter and why should you care? Firstly, Twice regularly attributes part of their success to those who came before them. Nayeon once posted on Instagram that she wanted to

one day be able to convey emotion through her voice and music, like Taeyeon, one of her idols. While sure, in hindsight, it probably wasn't great to post that she was listening to that on SoundCloud illegally before “Secret” was actually released, especially as an artist herself, but regardless, the emotion and praise she was giving should be acknowledged and valued at its root for what she was intending to do. In 2017, Sana once said she was surprised people in Japan were interested in Twice, b

ut because of girl groups like Girls’ Generation and KARA paving the way for Hallyu there, it inspired the members to put more effort in areas they lacked, and they hoped to visit Japan more often, which is exactly what they went on to do. The nine members also frequently contribute to writing their own music. Their 2022 hit “Celebrate,” in commemoration of their contract renewal with JYP, was written entirely by each of the members and JYP himself. Chaeyoung frequently writes her own rap sectio

ns. Jihyo, Jeongyeon, and Nayeon have all written lyrics for entire songs for Twice. Dahyun wrote two songs herself on their latest two albums “Between 1&2” and “Ready to Be,” showing that Twice has music chops beyond just singing and dancing and looking cute. While history shows us that cuteness does sell well in South Korea and Japan, Twice’s success should not be boiled down to simply being “young and pretty.” All nine members have worked themselves to the bone traveling around the globe, bet

ween interviews, brand deals, long tours, reality TV shows, 36 singles, 7 studio albums, 12 EPs, training, rehearsals, studying, and so much more in just eight years together. If Twice ever goes on hiatus, that will truly be something to celebrate. Not because it might signify the “end of an era” or something, but it will be because these girls, without a doubt for how hard they've worked, have earned it. Even as they grow into mature adults or more mature concepts like many who've come before t

hem, Twice is not losing what made Twice special to begin with. Their voices are maturing and their music sonics are evolving with them in songs like “Basics,” “Scientist,” and “Set Me Free.” That Color Pop sound is still there when that explosive chorus shows up, but stylistically is now supported by not just growing performers but also a growing audience. Twice shows no sign of slowing down with its Japanese members Mina, Sana and Momo -MISMO collectively- officially debuting in Japan in July

of 2023. The Empire State Building in New York lit up with Twice’s colors to celebrate the release of their mini album, “Ready to Be,” and their fifth world tour is set to begin this spring. Although a heavy focus on the U.S. might be frustrating to some fans, it's quite symbolic of the obstacles Twice is now pro at clearing and highlights how their journey as one of the biggest girl groups in the world is far from over. It should inspire you to never stop chasing your own dreams, especially as

an aspiring musician. There is always ground to break, no matter what part of history you find yourself in, especially when you acknowledge the work that was done before you like Twice has. Despite popular belief, that work adds value to your own and doesn't take away from it. Twice may have had “Big 3 Privilege” coming from a company that held a larger stake in the industry, but that doesn't negate the work that they've done in their own right as performers. Sunmi of Wonder Girls even credited

Twice and their success for giving JYP enough funds to get a brand new building and expanding his company. Twice deserves their flowers for taking their advantages in time, history, and music, and not solely relying on them to overcome the many disadvantages that they've had. Twice deserves every ounce of credit for their success and work ethic because at this point it's entirely their own. Twice helped revive the Hallyu Wave in Japan, helped put South Korea on the map and push it to become the

world's seventh largest music market now, help repair relations between two countries with a rocky history by finding a common denominator. All the while providing escapism, entertainment, and inspiration for people around the globe and that's why Twice's success and undeniable role in the Hallyu Wave matters.