After finishing your stressful long homework, you can’t wait to watch the annual Billboard Woman in Music that you have been anticipating for months. The excitement grows more in you, you turn on the television and put on the channel. It seemed to be about a 9 member girl group that was performing. 

The group had pretty outstanding vocals and the outfits were cool. After the performance, there were loud cheers that really surprised you. How can kpop really be this popular? You can’t lie though, one of the members didn’t have her mic on but she still knocked it out. 

Twice is a South korean girl group formed by JYP entertainment, the group has 9 members, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. The group debuted on October 20, 2015 and released their mini-album “The story begins”, it included their lead single, “Like Ooh-Aah” which surpassed 50 million views and breaking the record of the first debut K-pop girl group to do so. Later on, it earned 100 million views and became the first K-pop group to earn so many views on their first debut song. 

The K-pop group, Twice was formed under a K-pop survival reality show. The viewers opinion of the survival show was a huge factor to the show and it heavily influenced JYP Entertainment’s judgment, it changed the lineup from 7 members to 9 members, adding Momo from an elimination back because of her great performance and dance skills and Tzuyu because at the time, she was one of the most popular contestants in the show and earned many votes. 

During the show, It also made early challenges for them too because there was intense competition in the survival show, the contestants getting stressed because of possible eliminations and finally, language barrier contestants like Momo, Sana, and Tzuyu having language miscommunications.   

Twice grew in big fame in 2016, with their single “Cheer Up”, it introduced the group’s signature bright tone! & Sana’s iconic line, “shy shy shy”. It charted number one on Gaon Digital Chart, It also became the best performing single of the year. The song  earned “Song of the Year” at the Melon Music Awards and Mnet Asian Music Awards. On their third EP, a song on it called “TT” captured global attention with the song’s catchy hooks and had a dance move, the “TT pose”. It was also on an official Korean music chart called Gaon Charts and was on it for 4 running weeks. This EP was the highest selling Korean girl group of the year in 2016. The song became one of the most viewed and streamed K-pop releases of the era at the time!!!

Within 19 months after the group’s debut, Twice had sold over 1.2 million copies of their four EPs and special albums and in December of 2020, Twice had sold over 15 million albums in South Korea. I asked one of my friends for her opinion of their success , and she replied, “I used to listen to a lot of kpop in 5th grade so I’m familiar with the group. I actually used to listen to that group a lot. I’m actually so happy that they’re improving their status, because I remember when they were really unknown and seeing them get so many awards it makes me proud of them.”

On January 10, 2017, JYP Entertainment announced that Twice would be having their first solo concert tour, the concert titled TWICE 1st Tour: Twiceland – The Opening. Later on, Twice made its debut in Japan, this article says “TWICE made its debut in Japan in 2017 with their first compilation album #TWICE. The release earned them Platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ), becoming the first Korean girl group to earn the honor. Their popularity blossomed in Japan as they became the first female K-pop to hold a Japanese dome tour with “Twice Dome Tour 2019 “#Dreamday” in 2019, which took place across five shows in Osaka, Tokyo, and Nagoya.”

This year, Twice headlined Lollapallooza, being the first K-pop girl group to be on the headline, and having one of the biggest crowds at the festival Twice also performed “Takedown” the soundtrack on the show K-pop Demon Hunters, which was sung by three Twice  members, Chaeyoung, Jihyo, Jeonyeong. 

Twice is different from any other K-pop group with their colorful style and cheerful music,  the members’ fashion, hair

and makeup, and their group concept in which each member has a color represented by them. Once the members started to get older, the concept of Twice’s bubblegum pop style started to turn into more mature concepts. For example, one of their songs called “Feel Special” is about the feelings of members of Twice, and one of the members, Mina has a solo verse about struggling with anxiety which has caused her to take a step back from participation in Twice’s activities, though she is still featured in the album.  

In this article, it talks more about how the members felt from the change, “Twice leader and main vocalist Jihyo revealed her thoughts on how their music changed and transformed since their debut. “I would say, for us, our goal would be to become a team that is not limited in one concept and can embody a variety of concepts. I want to be an artist who wants to conquer all the concepts we try,” Jihyo stated. “I think our overall themes of the songs have matured over time, and that has been a great challenge for us on the new concepts,” Dahyun, the group’s rapper, added.”

Twice members have a deep connection, knowing each other for 10 years, they have a strong friendship and a family-like bond that developed over the years. Their single, “I Got You” talks about the kind of power their friendship holds. “It’s a love letter, written with nostalgia and hope for both each other and their fans, named the ONCE. 

“This album is about our friendship and how ONCE has always been there to watch us grow as friends and as a group,” Jihyo summarizes”.

Twice’s next chapter is strong, the group released their album for their 10th anniversary called “TEN: The Story Goes On.” I interviewed my friend about what she thought, and she said, “I really like Nayeon. She’s a really good dancer. I’m very inspired about what they have done, their newest album made me cry. The song ME+YOU is so nostalgic and sweet and I can’t believe a kpop group lasted so long for 10 years without any members leaving or just the group disbanding.” 

The group is continuing their world tour “This Is For” throughout 2026, I have a feeling that their story won’t be ending anytime soon, Chaeyoung released her first album pretty recently on September 12, called “LIL FANTASY vol.1”, it’s super good and I’m currently obsessed! Twice is such an extraordinary group and has come a very long way, I cannot wait to see what the future holds for them.