Voiced by Natalie Gadeikis, Staff Writer
Written by Emiko Kobayashi, Copy Editor
(Click here to listen to the album!)
While the United States experiences a Hallyu (Korean) wave with the major boy group BTS, another Korean group recently reached the shores of America at KCON LA that is just as notable.
Twice () was formed by the finalists of the idol survival show “Sixteen.” The nine-member group’s first single, “Like Ooh Ahh”, spearheaded their debut in 2015.
Since Twice’s first album, Twicetagram, released last October, the South Korean girl group released six singles and two promotional singles. Since April of 2018, the group sold more than 2.2 million albums.
Twice debuted in the Japanese market, toured South Korea and Japan, and the group’s popularity in the South Korean, Japanese, and American markets has grown dramatically in the past year. The next mini-album, Yes or Yes, has a dark and mature concept which is much different from past comeback songs. that were sweet and girly such as “Knock Knock,” “Likey,” and “What is Love.”
Yes or Yes consists of six songs, plus a Korean version of Twice’s latest Japanese single, “BDZ.” Three of the songs, “Lalala,” “Young & Wild,” and “Sunset” were written by members Jeongyeon, Chaeyoung, and Jihyo respectively. The title track, “Yes or Yes,” was arranged and composed by David Amber and Andy Love and lyrics were composed by Sim Eun-jee. Amber previously co-composed “Heartshaker” and Eun-jee wrote the lyrics for “Knock Knock”, two major hit songs by Twice.
Yes or Yes takes the energy and funk of “Heartshaker” and the feelings of unrequited love and fear of rejection from “Knock Knock” to create yet another banger in Twice’s discography.
In contrast, the Korean version of “BDZ” doesn’t sound right to me. The phrasing and rhythm of the Korean version of “BDZ” are offbeat and the lyrics sound off-putting and awkward. The only complaint that I have is the Korean version of the Japanese single, but that’s more of a preference than anything.
Yes or Yes as a whole musically is much different than previous albums released, with it’s dark and mature concept and sound, but still has the same vibe as other albums, branding “Yes or Yes” as a distinct Twice song.
The new album notably broke several records. The “Yes or Yes” music video became the fastest K-pop girl group video to reach 10 million and 20 million views, doing so in six hours and two minutes and 10 hours and 47 minutes respectively.
The day after the release of “Yes or Yes,” the group won three awards at the MBC Plus x Genie Music Awards, a major Korean award show hosted annually by MBC and Genie Music. Twice won the grand prize for best-selling artist and two smaller awards for best female group and best global performance.
If I were to rate this album in Twitter stan language, I’d give it a “snatched wig.” She got me real good. If you’re a fan of BTS that doesn’t really like girl groups or doesn’t know where to begin listening to them, Twice is a good group to start with and then you’ll eventually begin to branch out to other bands and groups. Their discography possesses a broad range of genres and their most recent album is a good place to start for those who prefer a darker concept.