Nayeon has been on a whirlwind journey for the previous few years.
In 2021, her Ok-Pop woman group, Twice, reached a brand new degree of worldwide success. Touchdown their first entries on the Billboard 200 High 10 (Style of Love) and Billboard Sizzling 100 (“The Feels”), the nine-piece act cemented their spot as international superstars. The next yr noticed back-to-back releases of their fourth Japanese album, Have a good time, in July and their eleventh Korean EP, Between 1&2, in August. However Nayeon, the group’s oldest member, kicked off that summer season with Twice’s very first solo album, Im Nayeon (Im is the singer’s surname).
“The primary album… I believe I felt a number of strain as a result of it was the primary solo work to come back out of Twice,” Nayeon tells The Hollywood Reporter by way of a translator.
The EP and its lead single “Pop!” – a textbook instance of the elevated bubblegum pop that feels distinctive to Nayeon and Twice – had been an instantaneous hit in Korea and globally, with the album debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart.
Now, on a noon Zoom name from her company, JYP Leisure, in Seoul, the 28-year-old singer is all smiles. In between sold-out world excursions and chart-topping albums as a member of Twice, Nayeon has been onerous at work getting ready for her extremely anticipated sophomore EP, Na, which dropped immediately.
In a slight departure from her debut solo work, Na, very similar to Twice’s current releases, explores a sound befitting an artist who’s now not {the teenager} she was on the time of her debut. Whereas “Pop!” was a track for followers to take heed to on a vivid summer season day with the home windows down, Na’s lead single, “ABCD,” feels higher suited to pregaming an evening out with buddies.
Nayeon
Courtesy of JYP Leisure
“I needed to point out the aspect of me that I didn’t get to as a member of Twice and in my first album,” Nayeon explains, noting that she needed to show a extra “mature” sound that was “stronger and bolder.”
Na, which is each a play on the singer’s title and the Korean phrase for “me,” consists of seven tracks — 4 in Korean and three in English. The brand new launch additionally consists of a number of collaborations, just like Nayeon’s first album.
The album’s third monitor, “Heaven,” options Sam Kim, the Korea-based American singer who helped write and compose the track. Lee Chan-hyuk, one half of the beloved Korean brother-sister duo AkMu, produced the track “HalliGalli.” The Y2K-esque “Magic,” that includes Julie from up-and-coming Ok-Pop woman group Kiss of Life, is a excessive level of the album.
“I cherished working with different artists,” says Nayeon, who notes that Twice hasn’t executed many outdoors collaborations as a gaggle. “It was each unusual, however on the identical time, it was very thrilling.”
Nayeon has been touring with Twice persistently from 2022 till now. The group most not too long ago carried out an encore of their fifth world tour at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas in March and has further exhibits scheduled for Japan in July. Nayeon says she’s no stranger to the balancing act of touring and creating new music.
“I’m fairly used to it by now, engaged on an album whereas touring, so I simply had a number of enjoyable,” she grins, including that her group mates have heard and preferred Na. “I regard my solo work as an extension of being a member of Twice.”
Twice
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
In October, Twice will have fun its ninth anniversary, one among a choose group of acts to succeed in this milestone in Ok-Pop, a style the place it’s widespread for an artist to launch multiple album a yr, with promotion schedules usually together with a number of weekly music exhibits per launch.
“I’ve discovered so much about methods to be thoughtful of others, and methods to voice my opinions, and on the identical time, take heed to different individuals’s opinions and stability these two issues out,” Nayeon says of the data she’s gained by way of a close to decade on the job. “With many members in our group, I additionally discovered an excessive amount of duty.”
When requested what recommendation she had for youthful performers within the business, Nayeon humbly dismissed the thought. “There are such a lot of nice new artists today, and I study so much from them as effectively,” she says. “There are such a lot of completely different ideas of idols… so I don’t know if I’m able to present them recommendation.”
Nayeon did, nonetheless, provide some recommendation to these working in direction of careers in Ok-Pop: “Actually take into consideration how a lot you wish to dedicate to this career and the way a lot you adore it and the way a lot ardour you will have for this.”
Trying forward, Nayeon appears optimistic and optimistic for the second half of the yr, breaking down her objectives into distinct buckets: doing effectively on her solo album, the upcoming Twice tour and the group’s ninth anniversary festivities. She’s particularly enthusiastic about performing reside in entrance of Twice’s cleverly named fanbase: “I actually wish to construct extra nice reminiscences with our fandom, As soon as.”
Nayeon
Courtesy of JYP Leisure