Park Jihyo first entered the spotlight in a child acting competition when she was 8 years old. Her performance left an impression on agents from K-pop behemoth JYP Entertainment. Much has happened in the interim — including a record-breaking tour with her group TWICE  — but 18 years after that competition, Jihyo will make her official solo debut via JYPE.

Jihyo is the latest member of TWICE to debut with a solo release; her first mini-album, Zone, drops on Aug. 18. Jihyo has contributed to the composition and lyrics for the majority of the seven-track EP.

"I wanted to diversify as much as possible so that listeners can have fun while listening to my album. Each song has a different genre and feel to it," she tells GRAMMY.com, adding, "I am both nervous and excited at the same time!"

It seems as if every moment in Jihyo's career has led to this point. Jihyo signed with JYPE in 2005 and spent the majority of her youth refining her singing, dancing, and self-confidence. She joined the reality girl group survival competition "Sixteen" in 2015, and was eventually selected to join the lineup of JYPE’s next girl group. Today, Jihyo is the leader and main vocalist of the nine-member ensemble TWICE, performing alongside Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Momo, Sana, Mina, Dahyun, Chaeyoung, and Tzuyu. 

Jihyo has penned a number of tracks in TWICE's discography such as "Get Loud," "First Time," and "Trouble" to name a few, and lent her vocal skills to three 2022 Korean drama original soundtrack singles — "Stardust love song" ("Twenty-Five Twenty-One"), "I Fly" ("Today's Webtoon"), and "A Strange Day" ("Summer Strike"). Zone is expected to be Jihyo’s most compelling and personal project to date that aims to highlight her musical self-discovery, impressive vocal range, and audacious spirit.  

Zone's teaser trailer, promotional images and highlight medley have led to highly anticipated chatter among TWICE's fans — some of whom got to experience one track from Zone live during their recent Ready To Be tour. Relying heavily on perseverance and grace to get to this moment, Jihyo believes it's time for her respective musical prowess to take the spotlight. 

Over Zoom, Jihyo discussed Zone, her first collaboration with a Western artist, and what she'd tell her younger self as a soloist. 

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. 

Can you take me through your songwriting process for Zone? After previously penning 13 tracks in TWICE's discography, it must have felt different to write six songs for your own album.

After my solo album was decided, they [company management] wanted me to participate in the songwriting process. The most difficult part was that they didn't really give me a concept for the album because they wanted me to choose what I wanted to express. It was really difficult to decide what I wanted to share and figure out what it is I wanted to tell in [Zone]. 

That's why the songs on the album are so diverse — it's the process of me figuring out what message I wanted to convey through this album. So, [Zone] actually shows [my] discovery process. 

What can you tell us about the first track,  "Killin’ Me Good?"

The genre of the song is up-tempo R&B. While listening to other candidates for the [opening] track, "Killin' Me Good" really stood out because of the melody in the verse. It was really catchy to my ears, and I really feel that "Killin' Me Good" is suitable as the title.

Zone had two artist collaborations: "Don’t Wanna Go Back," featuring Korean R&B singer Heize, and "Talkin’ About It," featuring Western singer/rapper 24kGoldn. Can you share your experience on the process? 

Which [songs] would have features wasn't decided in the beginning. We [then] chose songs that needed something to enhance it with another mood, vocals, or rap part. 

For "Don't Wanna Go Back," we decided that we wanted a female voice that is suitable for ballads. For "Talkin' About It," it needed a male rap part. 

24kGoldn's feature in "Talkin' About It" is actually the first time a TWICE member has collaborated with a Western artist. How did that come about?

The writing process for "Talkin' About It" began in February when I was in the U.S. I felt that the mood of the song needed English lyrics. 

Since we were writing the song in the States, we wanted to work with artists that are fluent [in English] and from the States, as well. So that's why we chose to go with 24kGoldn and I am super satisfied with the result! 

Was there a vision you had in mind when preparing the visual concepts for Zone? 

In the trailer, I wanted to show my natural and positive side while at the same time, a little bit of a chic and dark side of me to showcase many looks at the same time. I wanted to show both myself and the mood of this album. 

Fans who attended the Ready To Be tour were given a chance to watch you perform your upcoming b-side "Nightmare." How did it feel to showcase it live for the first time? 

When I sang "Nightmare" for the tour, my solo album wasn't officially announced at that time. I wanted to showcase the song as a little bit of a spoiler. And since it is completely different from the title track, I thought it was a really great song to use to spoil my album and it was a lot of fun!

When preparing your solo debut, as you mentioned earlier, you felt nervous and a little bit worried about the end result. How do you keep yourself grounded in the face of uncertainty?

When I was preparing for [Zone], I was also doing the concerts. So I was actually in the middle of two very big things in my career. And of course, I felt a lot of pressure. 

I doubted myself on whether I could pull it off or not. But I knew deep down that if I didn't give it my all, and if I didn't do my best in pursuing these two really great things in my life, I [would] regret it later. So I didn't really think about how successful my solo album or the concert will be. I wanted to focus on the process and I wanted to focus on doing my best. And once I realized that, I felt much more at ease.

That seems like a lot to juggle all at the same time. So now that it's done, I'm sure you must feel a little more relaxed now that it's completed!  

Yeah, I'm very relieved! [Laughs]

You've been a member of TWICE since 2015 and trained at JYP for over a decade. What’s the most important thing you learned as an idol so far?

I never realized how my career was going up until recently. But with the [Ready To Be world tour], it really made me realize how far I've come and how much success I've gained. This tour really meant a lot to me.

At 8 years old, you began your journey as an artist,and now you're here sharing your solo debut with the world. If you were given the chance to, is there anything you'd like to tell your younger self?

My personality is that I easily forget things. 

So, of course, the journey that started at 8 years old has not been an easy one, or has not always been easy. But I don't dwell on [the] things that pains me. I'd rather focus on the moment and try to enjoy every single moment. That's what I would like to tell my younger self: try to enjoy every moment of this.

Looking towards the future, what kind of legacy do you hope to leave behind as an artist?

In this album, I wanted to showcase dance tracks. But at some point in the future, I want to release a ballad album and I also want to try jazz at some point. 

I think I would describe myself as an adventurous type, so I want to try everything! I want to show the world a very diverse output. I think the process of going through that adventure would mean a lot to me personally.

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