NiziU

On January 29, 2019, JYP Entertainment announced their plans of creating a Japanese girl group,[4] under their vision "K-pop 3.0",[5] "Globalization by Localization."[6] Auditions for this new girl group took place in 8 Japanese cities, Hawaii, and Los Angeles, for females aged between 15 to 22 years old. NiziU was formed through the Nizi Project, featuring 20 contestants, and was aired weekly on Hulu Japan from January 31 to June 26, 2020, and distributed internationally through JYP Entertainment's official YouTube channel.[7] The show was split up into two seasons. The first season showing the auditions of prospective members around Japan, cutting the prospective lineup to 14 from 26 girls chosen by J. Y. Park whilst the second season shows the girls moving to train in South Korea for six months.[8]

On the final episode of the Nizi Project, the debut line-up was revealed to the public. As a recording artist under JYP Entertainment, the group is announced to have partnered with record company Sony Music Japan for album sales and group management during their activities in Japan.[9][10][11]

The group's digital pre-debut EP, Make You Happy, was pre-released on June 30 in Japan and South Korea, before being released internationally on July 1, 2020.[12][13] It was a commercial success, topping Billboard Japan's Hot Albums chart and Oricon's Digital Albums chart.[14][15] The album's eponymous lead single topped several major Japanese music charts such as Line Music, AWA, and Rakuten, while debuting at number two on the Billboard Japan Hot 100.[16][17] "Make You Happy" was also an international success for the group, with the track debuting at number 84 on the Billboard Global Excl. US Chart and at number 192 on the Billboard Global 200 chart on its issue dated September 19.[18][19] On October 14, "Make You Happy" recorded a cumulative number of 100 million streams within 15 weeks of charting on the Japan Hot 100, tying with Official Hige Dandism's "I LOVE..." and Eito's "Kōsui", with NiziU becoming the fastest female artist to achieve the feat.[20]

On November 25, 2020, NiziU released the full version music video of their debut single, "Step and a Step". A week later, on December 2, 2020, they officially debuted in Japan with the release of their first EP of the same name. Step and a Step topped Japan's Oricon weekly music chart, with NiziU becoming just the second Japanese girl group to reach number one on the chart with a debut album, following Hinatazaka46.[21] The EP's eponymous lead single also topped the Billboard Japan Hot 100, becoming the group's first chart-topper as it sold 318,562 copies in its first week.[22] "Step and a Step" also marked the group's second entry on the Billboard Global Excl. US wherein they charted at number 149 on its issue dated December 5, as well as the Billboard Global 200, with NiziU charting at number 75 on its issue dated December 12.[23][24]

Despite making their official Japanese debut only on December 2, NiziU performed at the 71st NHK Kōhaku Uta Gassen, the top-rated annual year-end musical show in Japan.[25] They became the fastest artist to have appeared in a Kōhaku Uta Gassen, making their appearance only 29 days after their debut. By the end of the year, it was reported that NiziU ranked high on several Billboard Japan Year-End charts, with the group charting at number 7 on the Year-End Albums, number 13 on the Year-End Streaming, and ranking at number 15 on the Top Artist Chart.[26]

On January 20, the group revealed several planned activities for the year through a video released on their official YouTube channel titled "We need U 2021". Future activities include the group's first live showcase, an upcoming second single alongside their first studio album, and the release of their first English song, among others.[27] On February 1, the group first announced details about their second single titled "Take A Picture/Poppin' Shakin'" which was set to be released on April 7.[28]