K-Pop
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It takes around 30 minutes, but eventually, TWICE relaxes enough in their New York City hotel room to chitchat and laugh out loud among their nine-member huddle — a stark difference from the professionally guarded and admittedly “nervous” girl group that Billboard spoke with at their first U.S. appearance in 2016.
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Ever the humble professionals, the K-pop heroines and their loyal fans have earned the right to comfortably settle into a new, happier routine after growing for nearly nine years together.
Nearly immediately following TWICE’s entry into the K-pop scene in late 2015, members Jihyo, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Mina, Sana, Momo, Dahyun, Chaeyeon and Tzuyu became reliable chart-toppers and commanded the industry’s attention with every release. Not only did they set the standard for their generation of K-pop acts with nine consecutive No. 1 singles on South Korea’s Circle Chart, the nontet replicated their prominence in the Japanese market (with 20 top 10 entries in the Billboard Japan Hot 100) with a next natural step in cracking the world’s largest industry, the United States.
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With a lineup from South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, the U.S. is a trickier and far less obvious market to embrace TWICE. In K-pop’s ongoing global crossover, where more acts have fluent English speakers and Billboard-charting girl groups are trending towards six or fewer singers, TWICE remains strong with all nine of its original members. After taking over K-pop with the viral performances and dances accompanying singles like “Cheer Up” and “TT,” and solidifying a deeper connection with tracks like their biographical “Feel Special” and the encouragement anthem “Talk That Talk,” now is the moment for the group to let the material strengthen the bond with U.S. audiences.
“‘I Got You’ was influenced by TWICE,” leader Jihyo explains of their latest original English single that kicked off their new era in early February. “It’s us speaking to each other and encouraging each other, which is really great that we can do this together because there are members who can help me when I’m having a hard time, there are members who see me when I’m in a good mood — just being together is encouraging…just like how PD [producer-director J.Y. Park] first made ‘Feel Special,’ the album concept itself is putting together our story. We wanted to showcase how the fans look at our teamwork, and that’s why we chose this song.”
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The JYP Entertainment founder and producer behind TWICE hits like “Signal,” “What Is Love?” and “Alcohol-Free,” Park previously told Billboard how a teary meeting discussing relying on their team mates through the hardships of K-pop idol fame inspired him to write the No. 1 single on the spot in 2019. But if “Feel Special” was birthed from TWICE’s hardships and growing pains, “I Got You” and its quick-selling accompanying mini album EP With YOU-th comes from reaching a point of happy stability.
“Up ’til now, we’ve never done a song like this before,” Jihyo adds. “We’ve always been singing songs about the theme of love, and this is more about our friendship, kind of similar to ‘Feel Special,’ and it was really comforting to us because of that…It was actually one of the songs on the album that the members reacted to really well. I thought it was new, but it also felt comfortable. We liked the lyrics [for] the fans and thought the fans would like the lyrics as well.” Momo adds, “While we were performing this song outside [in Mexico City] on tour, the weather was nice, it went so well with the song — just seeing the fans’ expressions was really great to see.”
The sentiment extends to their upbeat lead single, “One Spark,” released alongside With YOU-th on Feb. 23, originally in Korean before the English version dropped days later for maximum global consumption. Lyrics in both versions speak to a unique, undeniable ally through an effervescent tempo-hopping pop jam: “If I lose my rhythm/ Then your beat goes on and on,” Mina and Tzuyu sing on the pre-chorus, with the English version’s chorus shouting out “My favorite person, it’s our golden days/ My heart is burning, burning, burning/ Don’t lose this spark, baby.”
“Actually, we were thinking a lot about which title song [single] we should do between ‘One Spark’ and ‘I Got You,’” explains youngest member Tzuyu, sharing the group’s opinion heavily influences their musical path today, but joke they’ll take 100 percent creative control at 10 years. “We voted between the two songs of what should be the title track single. I think ‘One Spark’ is actually a great song performance-wise and we can put on quite a powerful stage performance.”
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“Compared to, let’s say, ‘Set Me Free,’ the choreo is a bit more complicated with a lot more movement to consider with our stage outfits,” Chaeyoung adds about bringing the new single to life. “It’s a faster song. It’s tough, but we worked hard on this choreo and felt like we grew, so I’m glad we’re doing it. Even in the music video, once we’re together and partying, the mood explodes. Of course, people can take it in this way, and others might see it a little bit differently, but overall, we just wanted to showcase the good energy among us and how much synergy we have within the group.”
But alongside the celebratory mood, a poignant moment in the music video comes during a flashback when viewers see Dahyun crying in the dance studio with several members trying to cheer her up. While Dahyun admits she had a tear dropper on set just in case, she ultimately “really wanted to express my own emotions, so I just cried by myself without any tools.”
“The music video shows us in their past during our trainee times when we were going through a hard time,” Jihyo says. “We wanted to showcase how we push each other throughout those hard times working as a team.”
Admitting that the trip down memory lane brought back “sad emotions,” Nayeon adds how “even if this didn’t happen during that trainee time exactly, we thought about how, throughout our history, there were a lot of these kinds of moments.”
Momo says the new album process brought back her experiences with Sixteen, the 2015 singing competition show that created the group. “I was actually remembering when I was first eliminated on Sixteen and crying,” she shares. “All the members were there with me. And when we were filming, one of us had to go to the emergency room and all the members were together.”
Exploring a deeper connection with each other and their loyal fans — affectionately known as ONCE — is a central theme in With YOU-th.
A teaser video previewing all six new tracks on the EP shows what one might imagine a longtime superfan’s room may look like, with different memorabilia, imagery, and visual references from past eras accompanying the audio. With YOU-th is not just a message of togetherness but marks them moving and maturing through the years.
“Around our debut, or even a few years ago, many of our fans still went to school and now go to work. Or there may have been a few in middle school and now in high school,” Sana reflects. “We take a lot of pride in seeing them and how they grow. We’re really thankful that we have fans who have been with us throughout their time as we grew with our career.” TWICE even know two ONCEs who ended up marrying each other.
TWICE
Courtesy of JYP Entertainment
Three B-side tracks on With YOU-th feature three TWICE members as sole songwriters sharing their experience of growing more mature and fearless in their creative processes.
“‘Bloom’ is a song about asking someone to wait,” Jeongyeon shares of the track she wrote. “Referencing a flower, the last step would be when the flower blooms, meaning I will come to grab you then and hold you.”
Chaeyoung felt inspired by alt-pop star PinkPantheress while writing “Rush.” “While I was listening, I felt like a Jersey Club rhythm, kind of like PinkPantheress’ music, and thought the sound itself was quite cute and lovely, so I wanted to bring that in the emotions in the lyrics in a fun way,” the Seoul native says. “Lyric-wise, it’s about approaching something or someone, so I wrote it in a more fun way.”
Bringing the record full circle, With YOU-th closes with the Dahyun-penned “You Get Me” that connects to “I Got You” by expanding on a relationship more profound than words.
“The lyrics say how ‘even if we don’t say anything, you already know me,’” explains Dahyun. “It’s a warm, easy-listening song, and I really wanted to write the lyrics as soon as I heard it. I was able to do that, so I’m really happy about that and can’t wait for the fans to listen.”
While teasing that “ONCEs are going to be really busy this year,” there is certainly a concerted focus on ensuring TWICE can and will keep developing.
“The biggest thing is that K-pop has become so global,” reflects Mina, as TWICE moves into contention for their first No. 1 on the Billboard 200 — an arguably overdue feat as they hold the largest U.S. sales week for a female K-pop act when Ready to Be earned 153,000 equivalent album units last year. “I think that teams’ lifespans have generally been extended a lot and that we’ll be able to do much more in the future. There have been a lot more opportunities to take advantage of because of the global expansion of K-pop. If there’s something wrong, we’ll tell the company, but as long as the fans want to meet us, we want to go until the end.”
“There’s not so much meaning behind setting goals now; we put a bigger priority on promoting longer and spending meaningful time with the fans,” Jihyo adds. “Of course, the company might have a goal. But personally, we think that having a happy time with fans is the goal right now.”
Despite the warm contentment felt inside With YOU-th, and within the TWICE members’ tight-knit cluster after nearly an hour of chatting, there’s one quick glimmer of hesitancy from Jihyo after a mention of their exciting chart prospects in their latest crossover push into America.
“You know how you mentioned, ‘Isn’t it time for America to focus on TWICE?’” the group leader says quietly but firmly, as their final word. “Please do focus on us.”
As the five members of NewJeans file gracefully down the stairs at their Billboard photo shoot in Seoul, they greet me with bright smiles and genuine greetings of “Nice to meet you.” Just a few days prior, the exploding K-pop girl group won artist of the year and song of the year at both the Melon Music Awards and MAMA Awards, two of South Korea’s most prestigious music prizes — and just two of the roughly 10 awards shows they attended and performed at in the country this past December and early January. Yet despite the hectic schedule of winter awards season there, they exude warmth and enthusiasm.
That infectious energy has endeared the women of NewJeans — Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein, who range in age from 16 to 19 — to fans both in South Korea and worldwide. Since debuting in July 2022, NewJeans has swiftly ascended to the top of the K-pop pantheon. Six of its eight released singles have reached No. 1 or No. 2 on South Korea’s dominant streaming measure, the Circle Digital Chart. The act has made inroads on several Billboard charts as well, including three top 10 hits on the Global 200 and four on the Global Excl. U.S. chart, five entries on the Billboard Hot 100 and six top 10s on World Digital Song Sales (the highest-reaching was “Super Shy,” peaking at No. 2 last July). The group’s songs have gained 931.6 million official U.S. on-demand streams, according to Luminate.
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Along the way, NewJeans has smashed expectations in K-pop, helping lead a new era of female influence in a genre long dominated by male groups. While it was once accepted industry wisdom that only boy bands could build a core fandom and widespread commercial success (selling both albums and concert tickets), NewJeans is part of a girl-group generation that has done both, shifting the paradigm of what achievement entails for young female groups. And NewJeans has done so under the guidance of an equally innovative leader: It’s the first act to debut under ADOR (All Doors One Room), led by founder and CEO Min Hee Jin, the rare woman leading a K-pop label and management company.
About a decade ago — when this writer started working in K-pop as a producer — it sounded very differently. Record labels emphasized melody, dynamic vocal range and cohesive track arrangements, while dance performance was simply considered support for a song. Over time, the music trended toward bombastic anthems well-suited to choreography, and so-called “easy listening” songs (those preferred by the South Korean general public, who of late have not been K-pop’s core audience) tended to get lost. But NewJeans has proved that strong performances and easy listening need not be mutually exclusive. And as Billboard’s Women in Music Group of the Year says in person in Seoul, the act is just getting started.
Danielle
Ssam Kim
Haerin
Ssam Kim
How did it feel to win artist of the year and song of the year at the Melon Music Awards and MAMA Awards?
Hanni: It was really surreal to win such big awards. Honestly, for us, when it comes to these types of awards shows, we are just excited to be there. Just to be invited is an honor. We never expected [to win]. We really are just thankful for everyone who has put in a lot of hard work toward our content and music and all the people that really enjoyed it, so I think it just makes it more fun.
Danielle: I agree with Hanni. There are so many people that put in so much effort and hard work into what we do, and we are just so honored that so many people are enjoying it just as much as we are enjoying it. Sharing that happiness and positive energy through our music is such an honor in itself.
You have a small discography but so many big songs like “Ditto,” which won song of the year at the Melon and MAMA awards. Which did you expect to become as big as they did?
Danielle: When our CEO has a new song and she’s prepared to make a new album, she gets us all in her studio and we listen to all the songs together. I remember the first time we heard the songs for our album Get Up, we were just blown away. Because we truly were just like, “This is so us! This is so NewJeans.” When I first heard “Ditto,” I felt a connection to it — I guess I felt if people hear this, I want them to feel they’re healed in some way. So to know that people out there are receiving somewhat of a positive energy, it’s really amazing. Every time we release new music, we wonder if people are going to enjoy it just as much as we do. To see people out there jamming to our songs, it puts a really big smile on our faces.
Hanni
Ssam Kim
From left: NewJeans’ Minji, Danielle, Haerin, Hanni and Hyein photographed on December 4, 2023 at Seongbuk Songjae in Seoul.
Ssam Kim
Traditionally, men have run the K-pop industry, and ADOR was notably founded by a woman. What was it like training under a CEO who has that shared perspective?
Danielle: I can’t imagine what it would be like if it wasn’t for our CEO, Min Hee Jin. We are so close to her, and we feel such a strong connection to her. After a conversation with her, we’d just be inspired and learn so much. When we go overseas and stuff, she’d take us out shopping and we’d have dinner together, and we’d spend hours and hours laughing and talking about what happened and how we’ve been and telling stories.
Hyein: She is very consistent. She’s always wondering about us and worrying about us. She’s very friendly and reaches out [to us] first, which helps us feel really comfortable around her. She gives us advice like a mother would. She’s not just a great CEO but a great human being in general.
Historically, core fandoms have been harder for women to achieve in K-pop. But in the last few years that has completely changed, and NewJeans is at the forefront of that. Why do you think you’ve been able to capture that?
Minji: It may have to do with the fact that the K-pop market became a lot bigger. That’s one of the reasons why we started with so much attention and love from the general public. We never really set a specific [goal], but rather aimed to put on a performance that we love with songs that we love. I think this probably helped our fans love us from early on.
Haerin: I agree with Minji. I think it’s also because there are so many channels we can use to communicate with our fans and the public.
Hyein
Ssam Kim
Minji
Ssam Kim
I think NewJeans has changed how music sounds in K-pop, with a trend toward returning to easy listening music. Do you agree?
Danielle: Music itself is always changing. But before we debuted, our CEO told us that she wanted to do something new, something fresh and different. But with that, she wanted it to be, no matter who you are, no matter what age or gender, you can listen to it and enjoy it. So I think with that came the easy listening music. We didn’t really think, “Oh, we’re going to change music, that’s crazy.” (All laugh.) We just wanted to try something new and fun.
You’ve accomplished so much in a short time. Where do you want to go from here?
Haerin: I want our songs to move people. My goal is not only to have songs that are emotional but also to share the emotions with people onstage and through our music.
Minji: I have similar thoughts to Haerin, but I want our music to be remembered for a long time. For example, I want people to think of last winter when they hear “Ditto.”
Danielle: Besides music and performing, I just want to become someone who stays true to myself and is always open-hearted and open-minded and modest and tries really hard because there are so many things I want to do and so many places I want to go. I want to experience a lot and learn a lot and just enjoy the time being with the [NewJeans] members.
This story will appear in the March 2, 2024, issue of Billboard.
As the five members of NewJeans file gracefully down the stairs at their Billboard photo shoot in Seoul, they greet me with bright smiles and genuine greetings of “Nice to meet you.” Just a few days prior, the exploding K-pop girl group won artist of the year and song of the year at both the […]
In the 15 years since K-pop’s early international pioneers BoA and the Wonder Girls made their respective marks on the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100 charts back in 2009, the Korean pop industry has made significant strides on the Billboard charts — and never has its crossover success been more apparent than now.
In 2023 alone, 35 different K-pop albums entered the Billboard 200, and five took the No. 1 spot. TOMORROW X TOGETHER’s The Name Chapter: TEMPTATION hit the top spot in February, Stray Kids’ 5-STAR reigned for a week in June, NewJeans’ Get Up took over in August, Stray Kids scored a second No. 1 this year with ROCK-STAR in November, before ATEEZ snagged their first chart-topper with The World EP.Fin: Will in December.
Over on the Hot 100, Jimin of BTS opened a new chapter of K-pop history when he became the first South Korean solo artist to hit No. 1 on the chart with his solo single “Like Crazy.” His bandmate Jung Kook followed soon after when “Seven” (featuring Latto) debuted atop the Hot 100 and set the stage for the star to set a new record with three top five solo hits so far. Elsewhere, artists like BIGBANG’s Taeyang, NewJeans, FIFTY FIFTY, Stray Kids and Jennie of BLACKPINK all earned their first Hot 100 entries, while TWICE and BTS members J-Hope, Agust D and V all added additional entries to their Hot 100 collections.
Of course, many artists also spent time connecting with their global fans, thanks to massive tours across the globe. Acts like SEVENTEEN, ENHYPEN, NCT, TWICE, aespa, LE SSERAFIM, (G)I-DLE, ITZY, Agust D and more played the largest venues of their career, further displaying K-pop’s impact on the live market.
Ahead of the launch of Billboard Korea — with a kick-off event in Seoul set for May, where the artists on this list will be invited as the guests of honor, and the first issue, Billboard K Vol.1, scheduled for release in June — we’ve compiled the inaugural Billboard K-Pop Artist 100 list, with rankings based on activity on the Billboard 200 albums chart, Billboard Hot 100 songs chart and Billboard Boxscore (touring) data for the charts dated Jan. 7, 2023, through Dec. 30, 2023. (In most cases, group members are listed together, except for where notable solo activity separates the artists.)
Find our full 2024 list below:
Yuna (ITZY)
Image Credit: JYP Entertainment
As BTS member J-Hope rounds the corner on the final eight months of his mandatory 18-month South Korean military service, the K-pop superstar is giving Army a soundtrack to his final stint in uniform. The singer announced the details of a new mini-album on Tuesday morning (Feb. 27), Hope on the Street Vol. 1, which […]
TWICE‘s With YOU-th tops this week’s new music poll. Music fans voted in a poll published Friday (Feb. 23) on Billboard, choosing the K-pop group’s latest mini-album as their favorite new music release of the past week. Fans showed their support for the girl group in a big way: With YOU-th won this poll by a landslide, […]
Boy bands supporting boy bands! ENHYPEN shared a cover on Friday (Feb. 23) of One Direction’s 2012 breakout hit, “What Makes You Beautiful.” The band members trade verses with their signature sweet vocals before coming together to sing the anthemic hook. In August, 1D member Liam Payne celebrated a new milestone for the song. “Wow […]
Shinsadong Tiger, a chart-topping and award-winning K-pop producer and songwriter, has passed away, his entertainment label confirmed on Friday (Feb. 23). The cause of death is currently unknown. He was 40.
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Following local reports that Shinsadong Tiger (neé Lee Ho-yang, also known professionally as S.Tiger) was found collapsed in his Seoul workplace, his representative agency TR Entertainment confirmed the news that “Producer Shinsadong Tiger suddenly left our side on February 23, 2024.”
In the statement on social media, TR Entertainment requested refraining from “speculative reports for the bereaved families” and that funeral proceedings will be held quietly only by family, relatives and colleagues.
TR Entertainment also represents TRI.BE, Universal Music Korea’s first K-pop group crafted in collaboration with Shinsadong Tiger and signed with Republic Records in the U.S. On Tuesday (Feb. 20), TRI.BE released a new single “Diamond” and b-side track “Run,” both produced and co-written by the late producer. TR shared that TRI.BE is canceling and postponing its promotional schedule while promising to return for more television performances “since it is the last album that Shinsadong Tiger prepared and released with TRI.BE during his lifetime.”
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TRI.BE was Shinsadong Tiger’s latest act after previously crafting and producing girl group EXID, who unexpectedly exploded in popularity two years into its career with the S.Tiger-produced single “Up & Down” in 2014 after a fan-recorded live performance went viral. Shinsadong Tiger produced seven EXID songs that charted on Billboard‘s World Digital Song Sales chart until the group went on hiatus in 2020.
Lee Ho-yang began his work as a songwriter in 2005 and came to helm some defining tracks of the genre throughout his nearly two decades of work with artists. With a sound that could blend electro-pop and Korea’s traditional trot genre to singles that embraced everything from orchestral production to Afrobeat, his works are tough to pinpoint musically but point to K-pop’s evolution.
Between 2011-2013, Lee produced four No. 1s on the (now-discontinued) K-Pop Hot 100 in T-ara’s “Roly-Poly” and “Lovey Dovey,” Trouble Maker’s “Now” and Ailee’s “U&I.” Meanwhile, his work like “Fiction” by boy band Beast won Song of the Year at the 2011 KBS Song Festival awards, while several of his creations with EXID, T-ara, HyunA and WJSN all were named in Billboard‘s 100 Greatest K-Pop Songs of the 2010s.
Shinsadong Tiger’s productions also had a knack for reaching wider audiences beyond Korean-music fans. In addition to EXID’s aforementioned breakout hit, HyunA’s “Bubble Pop!” from 2011 was an early YouTube smash and made the star the first K-pop soloist to break 100 million views on a music video. Later, “Bboom Bboom” by MOMOLAND helped break the rising girl group to the top of the charts in 2018, while its 626 million YouTube views make it one of the platform’s most-viewed K-pop videos ever.
Dalsooobin, a member of the girl group Dal Shabet whose singles like “B.B.B (Big Baby Baby)” and “Fri. Sat. Sun.” were produced by Shinsadong Tiger, shared her condolences and the former single’s album cover on her YouTube channel. Damjun, a member and songwriter-composer for his boy band LIONESSES, wrote “Thank you for your masterpieces” on Threads.
U.K. producer duo LDN Noise (who have helmed tracks with the likes of EXO, Chris Brown, NCT and NMIXX), Los Angeles-based Softserveboy (SEVENTEEN, Gwen Stefani, ENHYPEN, P1Harmony) and Damuer H. Leffridge (whose clients have included T-ara and B2K) all shared their condolences on Instagram. At the same time, L.A.-born Jae Chong (Uhm Junghwa, BoA, JYJ, Jolin Tsai, BIBI) called it “truly sad news” on the platform.
Being a member of a nine-person K-pop group is hard work. In addition to the endless hours of vocal and dancing prep, touring, 12-hour press days and the rigors of staying healthy on the road, there is also the mental toll of being in the global spotlight 24/7.
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“It was our recognition that at the end of the day, this is our job,” TWICE‘s Jihyo told the Today Show during an interview on Friday (Feb. 23) that also included two in-studio performances. “It’s what we do for a living. But I know that I cannot live the rest of my life only as Jihyo from TWICE, so I had to learn how to take care of myself mentally and physically … and when to stop when I need to. I think my health and my good energy is shown very frankly to our fans. Our fans see that. So taking care of myself is part of my job, too.”
That is why member Mina took a mental health break in 2019, with Jeongyeon doing the same in 2020 and 2021, unafraid that the pause might create the kind of negative reaction from fans that an earlier generation of idols worried about. “We talked a lot amongst ourselves and we also talked with our management. All of that helped us individually and as a group to cope with whatever is going on,” Chaeyoung said.
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“It meant the world to me when the girls addressed why they were taking a break,” Tara, a devoted Korean American fan who was in high school at the time told the morning show. “My parents didn’t take my depression seriously and told me to eat something delicious and get more sleep. I felt very isolated and alone. But seeing idols like Mina telling us that they need rest, too, made me feel like I was seen.”
The band also featuring members Nayeon, Momo, Sana, Dahyun and Tzuyu, released their 13th mini-album, YOU-th, on Friday, fronted by their third English-language single, “I Got You.”
TWICE will play a one-off show at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium on March 16, which housed Super Bowl LVIII earlier this month. “It might seem like we started off really big, but we did a lot of small stage performances when we started out,” Momo said. “It was only last year that we did our first stadium concert. So all of this has been nerve-wracking for us.” Last year they became the first female K-pop group to headline NFL and MLB stadiums in the U.S. when they performed at SoFi Stadium in L.A. and MetLife Stadium in New York to sold-out crowds of 50,000 fans.
And because they know that not all their devoted fans, who are called Once, can get tickets to every show, the group tries to keep visiting new places. “With every tour, we really try to visit as many places as possible,” said Sana. “That’s why we went to Europe for the first time last year, and that’s why we are doing another concert in Las Vegas this year.” Mina noted that they will also be the first K-pop girl group to play Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan on July 27-28.
“We always try to visit more countries with each tour,” Sana added. “If there are places that we haven’t visited yet but you want us to come there, please let us know. We will talk to the management and we’ll (try to) make it happen!”
In their ninth year in the group, the members who range in age from 24-28 also talked with pride about representing diverse backgrounds, with three South Korean members (Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Nayeon), three Japanese performers (Mina, Momo, Sana) and one Taiwanese representative (Tzuyu).
“I’m so grateful for the diversity in our group,” Nayeon told Today. “If it wasn’t for TWICE, I don’t think I would’ve had the opportunity to observe other cultures so closely or have developed as much of an interest in them. Because of the exposure that we got to other cultures so early on, I think that enabled us to communicate with ONCE better when we meet global fans. The communication is deeper because of our understanding of other cultures.”
TWICE
Michelle Watt
With honorees from the across the globe, the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards are a true international affair. Repping Seoul, South Korea, is NewJeans, a chart-topping K-pop girl group comprised of Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin and Hyein.
Earning this year’s Group of the Year award, NewJeans spent 2023 lighting up the Billboard charts and proving that they were the correct choice for the honor. The quintet debuted back in 2022, and their Jersey club-inflected sound has helped them become one of the hottest new acts across radio and streaming around the world.
In 2023, the group scored five entries on the Billboard Hot 100, led by “Super Shy” at No. 48. Their other entries include “OMG” (No. 74), “ETA” (No. 81), “Ditto” (No. 82) and “Cool With You” (No. 93). Over on the Billboard Global 200, “Super Shy” (No. 2), “Ditto” (No. 8) and “OMG” (No. 10) all reached the top 10. “Super Shy,” one of the group’s biggest singles, also made appearances on Pop Airplay (No. 37), Streaming Songs (No. 32) and Digital Song Sales (No. 45). On World Digital Song Sales, NewJeans boasts six consecutive top five hits.
NewJeans’ success is not limited to the singles chart. In 2023, Get Up — the group’s sophomore EP — debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (chart dated Aug. 5, 2023), edging out the star-studded Barbie soundtrack by just 500 units. Get Up also hit No. 1 on Top Album Sales, Tastemaker Albums and World Albums (10 weeks).
Proving their dominance across both albums and singles, NewJeans’ fast rise up the Billboard charts made them a clear choice for the Group of the Year honor at the 2024 Billboard Women in Music Awards.
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