Page Two (EP)

On April 11, 2016, JYP Entertainment announced via the band's official Facebook and SNS that the group would release their second mini-album Page Two and single "Cheer Up" on April 25.[1] Two versions of the album, pink and mint, were released in CD format. The first press of 30,000 limited edition copies featured a special sleeve designed by member Chaeyoung.[2] The album was also released as a digital download on various music portals.[3][4]

The album's lead single, "Cheer Up", has lyrics written by Sam Lewis and music by Black Eyed Pilseung, the same team who wrote Twice's hit single "Like Ooh-Ahh" from their debut mini-album. "Cheer Up" is a dance-pop song that incorporates multiple genres, including hip hop, tropical house, and drum and bass; this blend was described as "color pop".[5] The second track on the album is a remake of Park Ji-yoon's 1998 single, "Precious Love", written by Park Jin-young (J. Y. Park). The song was re-arranged in a house dance style with electronic instrumentation and hip hop rhythms, and features a new rap written by Chaeyoung.[6]

"Touchdown" was described as a "powerful dance number with dynamic rhythms, melodies, and powerful sound effects". "Tuk Tok" is a dance-pop song with elements of soul and trap, inspired by the teaser video for Sixteen.[4] "Woohoo" was described as a hip hop song with "groovy beats", and "My Headphones On" is a pop ballad about a girl's breakup.[7] A seventh track, "I'm Gonna Be a Star" (the theme song from Sixteen) is only available on the CD version of the album.[8]

Twice performing "Cheer Up" at the showcase

On April 25, 2016, Twice held a media showcase at Yes 24 Live Hall in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.[9] They performed "Woohoo", "Touchdown", "Precious Love" and "Cheer Up" for the first time at the showcase, which was broadcast live via Naver's V app.[10][11][12] The group then promoted the album with a series of televised live performances on various music shows. Their first music show appearance was on M! Countdown on April 28, where they performed "Cheer Up" and "Touchdown".[13] The choreography for "Cheer Up" was slightly changed after Sana's "shy shy shy" line (pronounced "sha sha sha") became a viral meme.[14][15] Twice won their first music show award on M! Countdown the following week on May 5,[16] and also won on Music Bank and Inkigayo that same week.[17][18] They concluded promotion for the album on May 29 with a performance on Inkigayo, winning a total of eleven music show awards. The trophy on the May 27 edition of Music Bank was initially awarded to AOA before the show's producers admitted they had miscalculated the album points.[19][20]

Kim Hyang-min of Korea JoongAng Daily gave the album a mixed review, describing the songs as "high-spirited and cheerful" and "generally refreshing and witty" but regretting the album's lack of genre diversity. Kim noted that the tension in the title track's lyrics was "well-expressed" through its hip-hop and electronic sounds, though the song was too repetitive, and praised "Touchdown" for its "powerful sound" and energetic feeling.[21]

Page Two debuted at number two on the Gaon Album Chart and number six on the Billboard World Albums chart, with 80,686 units sold during the month of April.[22][23][24] It had the highest first-week sales volume for a K-pop girl group in 2016.[25] According to JYP representatives, the pre-order of 30,000 limited edition albums sold out before its official release.[26][27] By September, the album had sold over 150,000 units.[28]

The songs from the album also performed well digitally. "Cheer Up" charted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart and number three on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart.[29] "Precious Love" and "Touchdown" also charted on the Gaon Digital Chart, at numbers 73 and 86 respectively.[30]

Credits adapted from Naver

Credits adapted from album liner notes.[34]

Locations

• Recorded, engineered and mixed at JYP Entertainment Studios, Seoul, South Korea
• Mastered at Suono Mastering, Seoul, South Korea

Personnel