Queen Jihyo is finally here! The leader of the K-pop mega group TWICE is making her solo debut with a mini-album titled ZONE. Keep reading for details on the album, what she’s said about her solo and much more.
When Is TWICE’s Jihyo Making Her Solo Debut?
Jihyo’s solo debut dropped on August 18, 2023, with the album ZONE that includes seven tracks.
The song “Killin’ Me Good” will serve as the album’s title track, and other songs in the tracklist include “Talkin’ About It (feat. 24kGoldn),” “Closer,” “Wishing On You,” “Don’t Wanna Go Back (feat. Heize),” “Room” and “Nightmare.”
This marks the second TWICE member to go solo since the band debuted in 2015, with member Nayeon releasing her song “POP!” in June 2022. On top of that, TWICE debuted their first subunit with members Momo, Sana, Mina, called MiSaMo in 2023.
Additionally, member Chaeyoung hinted during a March 2023 interview with NME that the group and its members would be releasing more solo projects moving forward.
Who Is Jihyo?
Jihyo is the leader of TWICE, which includes 8 other bandmates: Nayeon, Mina, Sana, Momo, Chaeyoung, Jeongyeon, Dahyun and Tzuyu. The band was formed through a survival show called Sixteen, where the girls competed against other JYP Entertainment trainees in order to debut. They debuted as a 9-member lineup in 2015, with their song “Like OOH-AHH(OOH-AHH하게).”
Band member Jihyo performs with South Korean girl group TWICE on the NBC Today Show at Rockefeller Center in New York City on Wednesday, July 5, 2023.
Nbc Today Twice, New York, United States – 05 Jul 2023 Shutterstock
Prior to debuting in what would become one of the most famous girl groups in K-pop, Jihyo trained at JYP Entertainment for 10 years. Yep, you heard that right — 10 years!
The TWICE leader spoke about her time as a trainee during an interview with SBS Star in 2020. “I was a trainee at JYP Entertainment for about 10 years before making debut. I trained alongside 2AM and 2PM members. I saw all of them making debut,” she revealed. “I actually joined the agency at the same time as Sunmi. I was nine when she debuted as a member of Wonder Girls.”
Since debuting with TWICE, the members have gone on to achieve so much, from breaking Billboard, YouTube and Spotify records, and most recently, winning the award for Breakout Artist at the 2023 Billboard Women In Music Awards.
TWICE is also a band here to stay! Since all K-pop groups usually have seven-year contracts, where members can decide if they want to continue working with their band or not, many TWICE fans worried if the group would keep working together. However, in early 2022, all members of TWICE were up to renew their contracts — which they all did, unanimously.
“We talked about [contract renewals] and, of course, the conversation was not the easiest,” Jihyo told NME in August 2022. “It’s related to our individual lives. It decides our individual futures. So, of course, it was difficult, and making the decision was even harder, but in the end we decided to stay together.”
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