Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Career: 2013-2015: Formation and Debut
Career: 2013-2015: Formation and Debut
Career
2013–2015: Formation and debut
JYPE founder J. Y. Park is credited with creating the group's name
On December 19, 2013, JYP Entertainment (JYPE) announced that they would debut a new girl
group in the first half of 2014, the first female group to come out of the company since the debut
of Miss A in 2010.[4] On February 27, 2014, JYPE trainees Lena and Cecilia were confirmed as
members of the group tentatively called as 6MIX, while other rumored members included JYPE
trainees Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Minyoung.[5][6] The group's debut plan was eventually
canceled when Lena and Cecilia left the company.[7]
On February 11, 2015, J. Y. Park, the founder of JYPE, announced that the lineup of the upcoming
seven-member girl group would be decided through Sixteen, a competition survival show that would
air on Mnet later that year.[8] The show began on May 5 and ended on July 7
with Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, and Chaeyoung being selected as the seven
Twice members. Park then announced that he would increase the size of the group from seven
members to nine by adding Tzuyu, who was known as the "audience's pick" since she was the most
popular contestant by the show's end, and Momo, who was added by Park himself since he felt the
group needed someone with Momo's performance abilities. The decision was controversial at the
time, with many people complaining about eliminated contestants being able to join the group.[9][10]
[11]
The group's name, Twice, was chosen by Park, explaining that "the group will touch people's
hearts twice: once through the ears, and once again through the eyes."[12] Fans of Twice are known
as "Once", commonly stylized in all caps, illustrated by the members' statement "If you love us even
once, we will repay your love with twice of our love" on social media in 2015.[13][14]
Twice made their official debut on October 20, 2015, with the release of their debut EP The Story
Begins, simultaneously with its lead single "Like Ooh-Ahh" alongside a live showcase to promote it.[15]
[16]
The group initially received a lukewarm reception; while their EP debuted at number 4 on
the Gaon Album Chart for the week ending October 24 before peaking at number 3 two weeks later,
[17][18]
its lead single "Like Ooh-Ahh" met moderate success debuting at number 22 on the Gaon Digital
Chart.[19] A week after its release, the single dropped to number 57 on South Korea's largest music
site Melon, but through word of mouth from netizens regarding the group's subsequent promotions
and performances, "Like Ooh-Ahh" reached within the top 10 of various Korean music charts
including Melon, Genie, and Naver Music by November 15. Such a reverse run on music charts by a
rookie girl group was deemed unusual by Korean media.[20][21] Eventually, "Like Ooh-Ahh" reached
peak position of number 10 on the Gaon Digital Chart, three months after the song's original release.
[22]
The music video for the group's single hit 50 million views on YouTube within five months of their
debut and became one of the most-viewed debut music videos for any K-pop group.[23][24] The group's
early success earned them a "Best New Female Artist" award at the 2015 Mnet Asian Music
Awards held on December 2.[25] On December 27, Twice performed a remix version of their single
"Like Ooh-Ahh" at SBS Gayo Daejeon, which was the group's first-ever attendance on a year-end
music program.[26][27]
On its chart issue dated January 23, 2016, Billboard reported that Twice had entered its World
Albums Chart, with their debut EP The Story Begins debuting and peaking at number 15, which
marked the group's first entry on the chart.[28]
On April 25, 2016, Twice released their second EP, Page Two, which notably included the lead
single "Cheer Up", a rearranged version of Park Ji-yoon's 1998 hit "Precious Love", and "I'm Gonna
Be a Star", which served as the theme song for Sixteen.[29] The album became a commercial success
for the group, debuting at number two on the Gaon Album Chart and number six on
the Billboard World Albums chart, with 80,686 units sold during the month of April.[30][31][32] With the
total first-week sales volume for Page Two reaching approximately 41,800 copies, Twice achieved
the highest first-week sales volume by a Korean girl group for the year.[33] By August, Page Two had
sold over 150,000 copies, making Twice the first girl group having a sales record of more than
100,000 units that year.[34] Meanwhile, the album's lead single "Cheer Up" became the group's first
chart-topper in South Korea, debuting at number 1 on eight real-time music charts immediately after
its release, before going on to debut atop both the Gaon Digital Chart and the Billboard K-pop Hot
100 chart.[33][35][36] Notably, the song became a viral meme in South Korea due to the "shy shy shy" line
sung by Sana.[37] Eventually, the song became the best-performing single in South Korea for the
entirety of 2016.[38] "Cheer Up" also received international success, debuting and peaking at number
three on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.[39] Additionally, Twice became the only Korean
act to place an entry on the U.S. YouTube Music Chart for the year when "Cheer Up" charted at
number 25 in May.[40]
Twice won their first music program award with "Cheer Up" on May 5, on M Countdown, exactly one
year after the initial airing of Sixteen. This was soon followed by wins on Music Bank and Inkigayo.[41]
[42]
The group then made their debut performance in the United States with an appearance at the
KCON music festival held in Los Angeles on July 31.[43]
In celebration of Twice's first anniversary since debut on October 20, the group unveiled their new
song "One in a Million" from their upcoming third EP, Twicecoaster: Lane 1, through a live broadcast
on V Live.[44] Twicecoaster: Lane 1 and the music video of pop dance song "TT" were released online
on October 24.[45][46] In Korea, the album recorded more than 165,000 physical copies sold on the
Gaon Chart within a week, exceeding the five-month sales of the group's previous release Page
Two in only seven days. Eventually, Twicecoaster: Lane 1 became the bestselling K-pop girl group
album for 2016, selling 350,852 copies at year-end.[47][48] Its lead single "TT" became one of the best-
performing songs in 2016, claiming the top spot of the Gaon Digital Chart for four consecutive weeks
and becoming the best-performing single in South Korea for the month of November.
[49]
Internationally, the group's third EP debuted at number 3 on Billboard's World Album chart,
marking their first Top 5 entry, with the album's lead single "TT" debuting at number 2 on Billboard's
World Digital Song Sales chart.[40] "TT" then became the first music video by a K-pop female act to
surpass 200 million views on May 25, 2017.[50]
On November 11, the music video for their debut single "Like Ooh-Ahh" hit 100 million views on
YouTube, making Twice the fourth K-pop girl group to reach 100 million views, as well as the first K-
pop group to reach this milestone with a debut music video.[51] On November 19, Twice's "Cheer Up"
won Song of the Year at the 8th Melon Music Awards. It was then followed by another Song of the
Year award at the 18th Mnet Asian Music Awards on December 2.[52][53]
On January 10, JYPE announced Twice's first solo concert tour within just a year and four months
after debuting in October 2015. The three-day sold-out concert titled "Twice 1st Tour: Twiceland –
The Opening" was held on February 17–19 at the SK Olympic Handball Gymnasium. A tour across
Thailand and Singapore was also held after the first stop in Seoul.[54][55][56][57] After the Korean leg of the
concert tour, Twice released a special album on February 20 titled Twiceco