Since TWICE‘s 2015 arrival on the scene, Nayeon has been known as the face of the group, becoming one of the most recognizable members of the crossover K-pop act. Now, Nayeon takes her enormous appeal to the masses with the release of her first solo album.
Released globally on Friday (June 24), the EP cleverly titled Im Nayeon (her full name but also acts as the introduction “I’m Nayeon”) honors all parts of the charming singer-songwriter with a refreshing twist that spotlights her true superstar appeal.
Nayeon’s debut solo single “Pop!” recalls the feel-good K-pop anthems that TWICE became famous for but now with punches of exuberant brass acting as an excellent match to the star’s sugary vocals. No expenses seemed withheld to bring “Pop!” to life in the music video, with Nayeon leading dance troupes through massive sets mixing luxury brands with whimsical accessories. Visually striking herself, Nayeon has newly blonde hair and experimented with her makeup to come off at times almost as an entirely new pop supernova in the music video.
Prominent names across the global-pop world also came together for this release: Stray Kids rapper and Australian native Felix pops up as a feature on the English track “No Problem”; Jade Thirlwall of British girl group Little Mix worked on the bubblegum cut “Candyfloss”; Korean rapper Wonstein hops on the R&B-pop track “Love Countdown”; while the Hot 100-topping production team The Stereotypes and American singer-songwriter Destiny Rogers composed emotional standout “All or Nothing” with Nayeon as its sole songwriter.
TWICE has climbed up the Billboard 200 with four entries to date, including two top 10 entries, scoring new chart peaks with each release and most recently hitting a new high of No. 3 last November with their Formula Of Love: O+T=<3 full-length album. Along with support from U.S. label Republic Records and TWICE’s large fanbase — which helped them become the first female K-pop act to book a stadium show in America — it will be exciting to see how Nayeon performs stateside through this significant solo moment as the group approaches its milestone seventh anniversary.
