''Masterpiece'' is the debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

by MiSaMo, a sub unit of girl group

Twice Twice (; Japanese language, Japanese: トゥワイス, Hepburn romanization, Hepburn: ''Tuwaisu''; commonly stylized in all caps) is a South Korean girl group formed by JYP Entertainment. The group is composed of nine members: Nayeon, Jeongyeon ...

. It was released by

Warner Music Japan Warner Music Group (WMG) owns, has a joint share, or is associated with the record labels listed here. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records *Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Music Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * A ...

on July 26, 2023. The EP contains seven tracks, including the lead single " Do Not Touch" and pre-released single "Marshmallow".

Background

Momo Momo may refer to: Geography * Momo (department), Cameroon, a division of Northwest Province * Momo, Gabon, a town in the Woleu-Ntem province * Momo, Piedmont, a town in the province of Novara, Italy People Given name or nickname Athletes * ...

, Sana, and Mina released the song "Bouquet" for

TV Asahi JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as , and better known as , is a Japanese television station serving the Kanto region as the flagship station of the All-Nippon News Network. It is owned-and-operated by the a subsidiary of , itself controlled by ...

's television series '' Liaison: Kodomo no Kokoro Shinryōjo'' on January 25, 2023. On February 9,

JYP Entertainment JYP Entertainment Corporation () is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1997 by Park Jin-young, J. Y. Park. Operating as a record label, talent ...

announced that the trio would debut as MiSaMo with an extended play of six tracks, including "Bouquet", on July 26. On June 14, they confirmed ''Masterpiece'' as the title and revealed the tracklist, which now included seven songs. "Marshmallow" was pre-released digitally on June 16, alongside its music video. The lead single, "Do Not Touch", was pre-released digitally on July 14 with an accompanying music video.

Composition

''Masterpiece'' was in development for over a year, with MiSaMo contributing to the sound and creative concept of the album. In an interview with ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', they revealed that R&B track "Do Not Touch" was chosen as the lead single after "days of agonising over whether or not it was the right choice", and the vocals were recorded right before the North American leg of Twice's

Ready to Be World Tour Twice 5th World Tour "Ready to Be" was the third worldwide concert tour and the fifth overall concert headlined by South Korean girl group Twice, in support of their twelfth extended play ''Ready to Be'' (2023). The tour began on April 15, 2023, ...

. The lyrics, written by

Park Jin-young Park Jin-young (; born December 13, 1971), also known by his stage names J. Y. Park and The Asiansoul or the initials JYP, is a South Korean singer-songwriter, record producer, record executive, and reality television show judge. Park rose to s ...

and

Mayu Wakisaka is a singer-songwriter, composer, and lyricist based in Tokyo, Japan. Mayu grew up in Osaka, Japan, and studied law at Kyoto University. In 2007, she quit law school to pursue her career as a singer-songwriter and moved to Los Angeles. While stu ...

, are a play on the phrase "do not touch" often displayed near works of art in museums, and highlight the importance of consent and boundaries in relationships.

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

-inspired "Behind the Curtain" was not originally part of the track list, and was added later because it would be a great opening song for MiSaMo's debut showcase. "Marshmallow", the pre-release single, is a chill song with

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

elements and positive lyrics that encourage self-love. Each member co-wrote lyrics for a track on the EP, with Momo choosing "Funny Valentine" because she could imagine a performance stage with the song. Mina's lyrics for "It's Not Easy for You" were inspired by comments from fans, and the song is about "being totally obsessed with something, like being stuck in a swamp". Sana was inspired by Twice's " Cry for Me" (2020) when writing the lyrics for "Rewind You", a melancholy R&B song. The closing track, "Bouquet", conveys the positive message of "it's okay to be me".

Promotion

To promote the EP, MiSaMo performed "Do Not Touch" on TV Asahi's ''

Music Station , stylised in all caps, is a Japanese music television program. Broadcasting live weekly on TV Asahi since October 24, 1986, it currently airs from 9PM-10PM on Fridays. The program is also colloquially known as , , and . The show is currently sy ...

'', on July 21. All seven tracks from the EP were performed during the group's debut showcase, MiSaMo Japan Showcase "Masterpiece", held in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

and

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

over five days with a total audience of 40,000 fans. On August 19, the group performed "Behind the Curtain", "Marshmallow", and "Do Not Touch" on ''Venue101 Presents MiSaMo Masterpiece Show'', a special live broadcast of

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

's music program ''Venue101''.

Commercial performance

''Masterpiece'' debuted at number 1 on the weekly

Oricon Albums Chart The Oricon Albums Chart is the Japanese music industry standard albums popularity chart issued daily, weekly, monthly and yearly by Oricon. Oricon originally published LP, CT, Cartridge and CD charts prior to the establishment of the Oricon A ...

with 154,880 copies sold. This was the highest first week album sales for a female artist in 2023. The EP also topped the ''

Billboard Japan ''Billboard Japan'' is a sister organization of the U.S.-based music magazine '' Billboard''. It is operated by the Japanese Osaka-based company Hanshin Contents Link (a subsidiary of Hanshin Electric Railway), holding an exclusive licence fr ...

'' Hot Albums chart, selling 200,986 copies and 1,529 downloads. Data from SoundScan Japan revealed that the amount of albums sold in the

Kansai region The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropol ...

was greater than the typical percentage (23.4%, compared to the average of 16.9%), likely due to the fact that Momo, Sana, and Mina are from

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, and Hyōgo prefectures, respectively.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Monthly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{MiSaMo 2023 debut EPs Japanese-language EPs 2020s Japanese-language albums JYP Entertainment EPs Warner Music Japan EPs MiSaMo EPs