All it took was a mirror selfie with a reflection of song lyrics posted on Bubble for fans to begin speculating Tzuyu would be the next soloist from TWICE.
“I don’t know how they kind of connected the dots, but that’s how— I didn’t mean to drop hints, but it just turned out to be that way,” Tzuyu explains with a smile, reminiscing about the reactions she received on the artist and fan messaging app. The thought of ONCE (TWICE’s fans) doing detective work, to create theories and conspiracies to unravel who would be the member to go solo, amuses her. “I’m always surprised by how intuitive our fans are and how good they are at connecting the dots. I kind of felt frustrated because I wanted to tell them about my solo album, but I couldn’t so it was actually so much fun.”
Speculations and fan theories aside, the decision for TWICE’s youngest to be the next soloist was actually made last year, while the actual recording and production began in February of this year.
Tzuyu follows Nayeon, TWICE’s eldest member, and Jihyo, the group’s leader, as the third member to release their own solo album. “Both of them reached out to me first to say whenever I need any help, they’re going to be there for me, and they will always be cheering me on,” she disclosed. Though she forever will be the youngest in the eyes of the other eight members and their fans, she’s blossomed into a young woman, ready to take the stage on her own.
“I couldn’t tell you then [in February],” the 25-year-old singer giggles on Zoom call, referencing our last encounter for another interview, when it was disclosed that Nayeon would release her second solo project in June.
Sure, many may have seen her take on a couple of solo schedules and stages for concerts or brand endorsements over the course of TWICE’s career, but this time is literally all about her — or all aboutTZU, the title of her debut EP. aboutTZU will be a six-track solo project consisting of a colorful array of genres that piques the singer’s interest, including “Runaway”, a disco-pop lead single produced by JYP Entertainment’s executive producer and TWICE’s creator, J.Y. Park; b-sides like “Heartbreak in Heaven,” featuring Korean hip-hop/R&B artist pH-1, and “Lazy Baby” featuring BTOB’s rapper Peniel; and a self-written track titled “Fly.”
“I think this album will be a good window for people to see a new side of me,” Tzuyu says. “It incorporates a lot of different inner emotions that I have, and this album shows the side of me that is more mature, a little sexier, and emotional, and also very quirky. Just a variety of sides of me.”
Known to be one of the quiet members of TWICE, with nicknames like Yoda (for her ears) or “Savage Maknae” (youngest in Korean, for her snarky one-liners and comebacks), Tzuyu is aware of the idol persona the public perceives of her. With her debut, though, she’s taking her solo promo to her advantage and weaponizing it to break out of her shell.
“I am coddled a lot because I’m the youngest, and I am kind of known to be quiet and shy,” she acknowledges. “But I think — I hope — that this album kind of gives the fans a chance to discover new sides of me. And it’ll be great if the fans can go, ‘Wow. Tzuyu had this side? Tzuyu could be this way?’ It’ll be great to get that kind of reaction.”
“As a TWICE member, I could lean on my members to compensate for what I lack,” she continues. “But with this, I am solely responsible for everything. And I have to do everything alone, so the process wasn’t so easy.”
She shares a schedule mishap as an example of the adjustment from having eight women and a number of managers around to just herself and a few staff members for this cycle.
“There was a time where we had to shoot additionally for the music video, and it was scheduled for 2 p.m. the next day. But because of nervousness, I mistook it for 2 a.m. So, I got ready for bed at 8 p.m. the night before. I even went down to the basement parking lot to wait for my manager, and nobody was there. Nobody came. So I messaged my managers and none of them answered. And that’s when I realized that I messed up.”
There’s a shift in the atmosphere as Tzuyu finishes telling her anecdote. She’s glowing, not because of the blurred background and lightning in the conference room she’s in, or her long light brown hair complimenting her simply glammed face, but from the confidence in how she eloquently answered the questions. She’s got the type of glow up that makes you happy for her and makes you want to keep cheering her on — as if she’s your own little sister doing big things.
But, really, abouTZU is really the culmination of Tzuyu’s idol life from the beginning. She’s been independent from the get-go. Hailing from Tainan, Taiwan and being the only member from there — in a group that consists of five Korean members and three Japanese members — Tzuyu’s a tough cookie who’s gone through it all: from moving to a different country at the age of 13 and entering a reality survival show in order to debut as a K-pop star, to promoting in three different countries as a member of one of the biggest girl groups of our lifetime.
“I don’t really have any particular regrets per se, but if I could speak to my younger self, I want to tell younger me to go ahead and pursue my dream without any fear,” she reflects. “I am just so grateful when I hear that, and it kind of becomes a great motivating factor for me to do even better than I already am..”
Growing up in front of the camera isn’t an easy feat, but Tzuyu’s entrance into idoldom has inspired the likes of aspiring young idols, not just in K-pop but in other countries as well. Her advice?
“As a person who thinks a lot before trying new things, I want to tell someone who is hesitant and in fear, if you love something you just have to go ahead. And any experience, whether good or bad, is helpful. It’s nourishing, and it’ll teach you a lesson. You will learn a lot along the way, so just go ahead and don’t be afraid.”
As cliché as it may sound, it’s very Yoda of her to say.