K-Town

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.

“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.

“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.”

K-pop stars TWICE dropped their first song of 2024 on Friday (Feb. 2), the high-energy tribute to friendship “I Got You.” The group’s third English-language single is the first taste of their upcoming 13th mini album, With YOU-th (Feb. 23).

The video for the song finds Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Jihyo, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu snuggling up together inside a ship’s cabin as it is tossed by stormy seas. “A little reckless around the edges/ Call it young, dumb love and it’s just enough,” they sing over a bubbly new wave-style beat reminiscent of a double-time homage to A-Ha’s 1985 classic “Take On Me.”

Comfortable in their cuddle puddle as the waves turn placid, the women get led to shore by a bandmate in a lighthouse, where they bust out some elegant choreo by the beach. “No we’ll never fall apart/ Even million miles apart/ We were lightning from the start,” they sing before diving into the joyous chorus: “Ooh/ No matter what you got me, I got you/ And I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The soaring tribute to friendship is packed with shots of the band members dancing and holding hands in fields of gold and making pinkie swear promises to each other. It even includes a dreamy animated sequence in which they dive under the waves to frolic with marine life before winding down with the singers striking Titanic-like poses on the bow of the ship as they soak up the sun.

“I Got You” is the follow-up to the nine-member group’s previous English-language singles, “The Feels,” which landed their debut entry on the Billboard Hot 100 (No. 83) and “Moonlight Sunrise” (No. 84).

The JYP Entertainment group is in the midst of their Ready To Be world tour, which will play Mexico City’s Foro Sol Stadium on Friday and Saturday (Feb. 3), before moving on to a pair of dates at Allianz Parque in Sao Paulo (Feb. 6-7) and a gig at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on March 16.

Watch the “I Got You” video below.