BY NICOLE FELL (+The Hollywood Reporter)

The 28-year-old global star offers insight into her new music, what she’s learned in her almost nine-year career as a member of a top girl group and the advice she’d give K-Pop trainees.

Nayeon has been on a whirlwind journey for the past few years.

In 2021, her K-Pop girl group, Twice, reached a new level of international success. Landing their first entries on the Billboard 200 Top 10 (Taste of Love) and Billboard Hot 100 (“The Feels”), the nine-piece act cemented their spot as global superstars. The following year saw back-to-back releases of their fourth Japanese album, Celebrate, in July and their 11th Korean EP, Between 1&2, in August. But Nayeon, the group’s oldest member, kicked off that summer with Twice’s very first solo album, Im Nayeon (Im is the singer’s surname).

“The first album… I think I felt a lot of pressure because it was the first solo work to come out of Twice,” Nayeon tells The Hollywood Reporter through a translator.

The EP and its lead single “Pop!” – a textbook example of the elevated bubblegum pop that feels unique to Nayeon and Twice – were an instant hit in Korea and globally, with the album debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Now, on a midday Zoom call from her agency, JYP Entertainment, in Seoul, the 28-year-old singer is all smiles. In between sold-out world tours and chart-topping albums as a member of Twice, Nayeon has been hard at work preparing for her highly anticipated sophomore EP, Na, which dropped today.

In a slight departure from her debut solo work, Na, much like Twice’s recent releases, explores a sound befitting an artist who is no longer the teenager she was at the time of her debut. Whereas “Pop!” was a song for fans to listen to on a bright summer day with the windows down, Na’s lead single, “ABCD,” feels better suited for pregaming a night out with friends.

Check Out The Original and Full Interview of The Hollywood Reporter

NAYEON “ABCD” M/V – JYP Entertainment
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