TWICE’s Nayeon: “What you see is exactly who I am”

The K-pop star tells NME how her second mini-album 'Na' was put together, learning the mind-blowing choreography for ‘ABCD’ and more N ayeon is the centre of the universe, and we’re all just revolving around her. With her sophomore mini-album, ‘Na’, Nayeon makes sure we don’t pay attention to anyone else: after all, the word “na” means “I” in Korean. But more than getting a bit of attention, the TWICE member is determined to make everyone “fall deeper” in love with her, as she sings on the project’s addictive title track ‘ABCD’ , which powers through with even more zest than her viral TikTok hit, ‘Pop!’ .

That single, and its accompanying mini-album ‘Im Nayeon’, was a testament to Nayeon’s individual talents beyond TWICE, and laid the groundwork for a promising future as an artist in her own right. With ‘Na’, Nayeon returns for an even more authentic celebration of herself. “I know it’s not a must to try new things and challenge myself,” she tells NME over a Zoom call from Seoul just weeks ahead of the release.

“But I think it’s more interesting to show different sides of me”. Nayeon gives us an early soundtrack for the summer with the seven-track collection, which navigates through a mix of Y2K pop (‘ABCD’), alluring R&B (‘Heaven’, ‘Magic’), UK garage beats (‘Something’) and more. “In the process of selecting songs, ‘ABCD’ really stood out to me,” the K-pop star says.

“I loved it, and I thought.