Son Chae-young (
Korean: 손채영; born April 23, 1999), known mononymously as Chaeyoung, is a South Korean rapper and singer. She is a member of the girl group
Twice, formed by
JYP Entertainment.
Life and career
Early life and pre-debut activities
Chaeyoung was born in
Seoul,
South Korea on April 23, 1999.[1][2][3] She took interest in performing arts from a young age and used to model for a children's magazine.[1] Chaeyoung decided she wanted to become a singer before joining
JYP Entertainment and took dance lessons for over one year.[1] At age 13, she passed the auditions and ended up joining the company. Later in 2014 and 2015, she appeared in the music videos for both
Got7's "Stop Stop It" and
Miss A's "Only You".[4]
Chaeyoung participated in the
reality television competition Sixteen in 2015.[5][6] Ranking sixth place out of the nine debut spots, she went on to join the newly formed girl group
Twice as one of its rappers and singers.[5] On October 20, 2015, Twice officially debuted with the release of their first extended play (EP) The Story Begins.[7][1][4][8][5]
Chaeyoung became the first member of the group to receive writing credits when she wrote a rap verse for Twice's version of
J. Y. Park's "Precious Love" as part of their 2016 EP Page Two.[9] Since then, Chaeyoung has participated in writing lyrics for multiple songs by Twice. For the group's second Japanese studio album &Twice, on the track "How U Doin'", Chaeyoung took part in composing for the first time, making her the first member to do so.[10] She also designed the limited edition cover of Page Two[11] and three different pairs of SPRIS shoes.[4]
As a soloist, Chaeyoung released covers of "Alone" by
Cheeze[1] and "
Off My Face" by
Justin Bieber as part of the Melody Project series.[12] In 2022, she began learning to play the guitar in anticipation of a potential solo debut.[13] She then performed an unreleased solo track titled "My Guitar" on Twice's
Ready to Be World Tour.[14] In October 2023, Chaeyoung collaborated with pop duo
Coco & Clair Clair on a remix of their song "Pop Star".[15]
Endorsements
In September 2023, Chaeyoung was selected as a Japanese brand ambassador for Italian fashion house
Etro.[16] In November, she was chosen as the brand muse for Japanese cosmetics brand CipiCipi.[17]
Personal life
Chaeyoung attended
Hanlim Multi Art School with fellow bandmate
Tzuyu, graduating in 2019.[18][19] In 2020, Chaeyoung's personal phone number was leaked on social media; JYP Entertainment released a statement about the incident, and she responded directly on Twice's Instagram page.[20][21][22]
On March 18, 2023, Chaeyoung appeared wearing a shirt with imagery of
QAnon, an
American far-right conspiracy theory movement, during a promotion of "
Set Me Free" on
MBC's Show! Music Core.[25][26] The crop top showed a large Q in American-flag print with the words "We Go All" below it, a prominent slogan of the conspiracy theory group.[27] Three days later, on March 21, the singer posted a picture on Instagram in which she was wearing a T-shirt with
Nazi imagery.[28] The T-shirt specifically featured an image of
Sid Vicious, bassist of the
Sex Pistols, wearing a tilted right-facing
swastika identical to the one used by
Nazi Germany.[29] Chaeyoung subsequently removed the Instagram post and issued an apology.[30][31] In the apology, she wrote, "I didn't correctly recognise the meaning of the tilted swastika in the t-shirt I wore."[32] Chaeyoung's label, JYP Entertainment, also issued an apology with regard to her Instagram post taking responsibility "for not thoroughly reviewing it from the label side."[33] The apologies by Chaeyoung and her label did not address the QAnon shirt.[34][35]
^Song, Mi-kyung (October 25, 2023).
"TWICE チェヨン、米ポップデュオCoCo & Clair Clairとコラボ!「Pop Star」リミックスバージョンをリリース" [TWICE's Chaeyoung collaborates with American pop duo CoCo & Clair Clair! "Pop Star" remix version released]. Yahoo (in Japanese).
Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
^Choi, Bo-yoon (September 11, 2023).
"트와이스 채영, 일본의 첫 에트로 앰배서더 발탁" [TWICE's Chaeyoung selected as Japan's first Etro ambassador]. The Chosun Ilbo (in Korean).
Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved September 11, 2023.