TWICE Make Their K-Pop Return With Second Mini-Album ‘Page Two’ — Clean Sweeps Korean Music Charts With Title Song ‘Cheer Up’
Ever since TWICE made their official debut on October 20, 2015, with their debut song “Like OHH-AHH,” they have become the most prominent rookie group in the K-pop industry. Their meteoric rise is similar to when So Nyeo Shi Dae, better known as Girls’ Generation, released “Gee” back in 2009. With TWICE, however, they are doing far better simply because K-pop is far more established internationally, and social media is far more fluid in spreading information than it was seven years ago.
TWICE’s sudden prominent position has taken the notice of other K-pop groups, their idols, and their fans. Blackjacks tried to rally together when it was announced “Like OHH-AHH” surpassed the views of “Fire” by 2NE1 making it the top debut music video of a K-pop girl group to have the most views on YouTube. Seolhyun of AOA took notice of Tzuyu, TWICE’s maknae, as her rival in CF contracts. And on a more positive note, GFriend seems to have become “BFFs” with TWICE after they performed “Gee” on Inkigayo.
Overall, TWICE is having a generally excellent start through all their ups (the aforementioned examples) and downs (Tzuyu’s Taiwanese flag controversy). Now TWICE wants to move forward with the release of their second mini-album, titled Page Two. It, along with its title song “Cheer Up,” are being well-received among the K-pop community, and it is clean-sweeping the Korean music charts.
Prior to the release of “Cheer Up,” TWICE built up the anticipation among their ONCE (official fan group of TWICE) with numerous video teasers, as well as individual teasers uploaded on JYP Nation’s official Twitter account.
TWICE(????) "CHEER UP" TEASER 3 PHOTO#JIHYO #TWICE#CheerUp
#20160425 pic.twitter.com/eg4In80d1S— JYPnation (@jypnation) April 20, 2016
TWICE(????) "CHEER UP" TEASER 3 PHOTO#JEONGYEON #TWICE#CheerUp
#20160425 pic.twitter.com/8wtEYzCbt9— JYPnation (@jypnation) April 20, 2016
TWICE(????) "CHEER UP" TEASER 3 PHOTO#MINA #TWICE#CheerUp
#20160425 pic.twitter.com/z6uMSElIWo— JYPnation (@jypnation) April 20, 2016
It was hard for K-pop fans, especially ONCE, to figure out what the concept for “Cheer Up” would be because of the numerous scenarios shown in the teasers. For example, there would be teasers of TWICE members in cheerleader outfits which fit very well with a song titled “Cheer Up.” However, more teasers would release with TWICE members apparently at home in casual clothing. In the end, K-pop fans and ONCE would have to wait until midnight on April 25 (KST) to watch “Cheer Up.”
Right now, the music video for “Cheer Up” has been released (see above) and it is causing quite a stir. According to Soompi, “Cheer Up” is a color pop dance track. The lyrics were written by Sam Lewis, with music by Black Eyed Pilseung, and its arrangement was done by Rado. It is the first release and title track on TWICE’s second mini-album Page Two. Other songs on the mini-album include “Precious Love,” “Touchdown,” “Ready to Talk,” “Woohoo,” “Headphone Sseo,” and “I’m Gonna Be a Star.”
“Cheer Up” is a catchy tune, but some do say it isn’t as good as their debut song “Like OHH-AHH.” Nevertheless, the song, along with the second mini-album, is clean-sweeping the Korean music charts, as reported by AllKpop. TWICE is currently ranked number one on Genie, Melon, Naver, Mnet, Olleh, Bug, and Oribada starting between 1 to 2 a.m. KST. As of the publication of this article, they are still in that spot.
From the looks of things, it looks like TWICE is going to have a wonderful 2016 to follow a wonderful 2015. Nothing has been mentioned on what TWICE will do next, but it is expected they will compete on Korea’s music shows to rack up some trophies for “Cheer Up.” Also, they will hit the road to promote the song as well as their mini-album Page Two. We might even see some guest appearances on variety shows. Until then, all K-pop fans and ONCE can do is enjoy the music.
For those interested in purchasing the second mini-album by TWICE, Page Two, it is available on Yes Asia. It is currently in a limited edition first pressing release and comes with a poster in the tube.
[Image via JYP Entertainment/TWICE Promotions for Page Two]