Nayeon Only Ever Came Back in Summer. ‘NA-sty’ Is Her First Winter

Featured photo: TWICE’s Nayeon at Gimpo International Airport, June 27, 2026. Photo: K-POPIT, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

TWICE’s Nayeon has come back solo twice, and both times it was June. Both of those summers ended with No. 7 on the Billboard 200. Now, on November 20, Nayeon releases her third solo, “NA-sty,” and for the first time, she’s coming back in winter (TenAsia, October 26).

I’ll be honest: the moment I saw the logo film stamped “November 20,” I smiled before anything else, as a fan. As much as I loved the sparkling summer of “POP!”, I was thrilled that Nayeon chose to set that season down herself and show us her face in a season she’s never come back in.

The intro film had 171,287 views as of November 8 (JYP Entertainment official channel).

Two Junes, two No. 7s

Nayeon debuted with TWICE in 2015, and seven years later, in June 2022, she became the first member to release a solo album: the mini album “IM NAYEON,” led by “POP!” It reached No. 7 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for five weeks, making her the first K-pop female soloist ever to reach that chart’s top 10 (TenAsia, October 26; Top Star News).

“POP!” was aimed at summer from the start. Both of her earlier solo albums came out in summer and leaned into a bright, high-energy, seasonal feel (TenAsia, October 26), and the official “POP!” music video has now passed 262.95 million views (JYP Entertainment on YouTube, checked November 8, 2026).

Two years later, in June 2024, Nayeon came in summer again. Her second mini album “NA” and its title track “ABCD” went to No. 7 on the Billboard 200 once more (Top Star News, NewsQ). That made her the first K-pop female soloist with two Billboard 200 top 10s (Top Star News). Two Junes led to two No. 7s, so “summer Nayeon” was a formula proven in numbers, too.

The “ABCD” video stands at 82.48 million views (checked November 8, 2026).

Also read: It Took RESCENE Two Years to Hit No. 1. This Time It Took Two Hours.

‘NA-sty’ sets down the season she knows how to win

This time, she isn’t following that formula. The new single “NA-sty” and its title track “BABY ANGEL” come out worldwide at 2 p.m. Korea time on November 20, which is midnight the same day on the U.S. East Coast (TenAsia, October 26; Sports Donga, November 6). It’s her first release in two years and five months, since “NA.” In Korea, ipdong, the day on the traditional calendar that marks the start of winter, fell on November 7 this year, and early-winter cold swept the whole country that very day (JoongAng Ilbo, November 7). Nayeon’s third solo arrives after that threshold.

The playfulness starts with the title. “NA-sty” takes the “NA” from Nayeon and the idea of “Nayeon-style,” then layers on the English word “nasty” (TenAsia, October 26; The Fact). Here it isn’t “nasty” as in unpleasant: it’s the cheeky, bold, a-little-naughty sense of the word. If her first two albums gave us a bright, lovable “summer queen,” this one promises a more confident, fearless face (TenAsia, October 26).

The change showed first in her hair. In the intro film “EVERYWHERE BUT NOWHERE,” released November 5, Nayeon appears with blue hair and leads a strange story about a mysterious being called “Baby Angel” (Sports Donga, November 6; Herald Muse). Korean media called this return “the bold comeback of K-pop’s solo queen” (NC Press). The teaser released earlier has passed 720,000 views (JYP Entertainment on YouTube, checked November 8, 2026).

The day after release, her first winter stage

Nayeon isn’t keeping the new song to herself for long. On November 21, the day right after release, she’s on the lineup for day two of the MAMA Awards, alongside BIGBANG, IVE, LE SSERAFIM, Hwasa, WOODZ and ZEROBASEONE (Maeil Business, November 6). One day after “BABY ANGEL” comes out, we’ll get our first look at winter Nayeon on the year’s biggest year-end stage.

The woman who opened the door twice in summer is opening it this time after winter has begun. At 2 p.m. Korea time on November 20, blue-haired Nayeon brings us a winter song, and I’ve already set my alarm.

Sources

• TenAsia, October 26: https://www.tenasia.co.kr/article/2026102644964
• Sports Donga, November 6: https://sports.donga.com/ent/article/all/20261106/134976536/1
• The Fact, November 6: https://news.tf.co.kr/read/entertain/2385609.htm
• Herald Muse: https://www.heraldmuse.com/article/10928832
• NC Press: https://www.nc.press/news/articleView.html?idxno=630378
• Top Star News: https://www.topstarnews.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=16198576 , https://www.topstarnews.net/news/articleView.html?idxno=16237936
• NewsQ: https://www.newsq.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=500437
• Maeil Business, November 6 (MAMA lineup): https://www.mk.co.kr/article/12200551
• JoongAng Ilbo, November 7 (ipdong cold snap): https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/25476623
• YouTube views: JYP Entertainment official channel, checked 4:50 a.m. KST, November 8, 2026