Twice’s MiSaMo reference a Beyoncé video (or two...or three) for “Do Not Touch”

JYP continue to push the shit out of their girl groups, keep SM and YG on their toes, and also place a foothold on the Japanese market. NiziU are *shimmies out of breath* doin’ tha thang. And now a Twice sub unit consisting of the groups’ Japanese members Mina, Sana and Momo (hence the name MiSaMo) has debuted in Japan. JYP clearly had a plan which involved the Japanese market when he shortlisted the members for this group. Having members of a K-pop group who are Japanese and can speak it fluently, that can break off and be active in Japan is kinda genius.

From I saw the preview I was intrigued, because the look was great. But then I watched the whole video and couldn’t help but notice ‘Wait a minute. Are these Beyoncé references!?’.

Take a look for yourselves.

You may not see it. Because the references aren’t the most obvious ones that I think most would associate with Videyoncé. Which makes the reference choices not only smart, but a lil’ inspired too. Because it’s clear that somebody in MiSaMo’s team or even MiSaMo themselves are part of the Beyhive.

So let me walk you through the moments that I feel are from Referoncé. Starting with the shot that I have no doubt in my mind is from Gayoncé.

MiSaMo - Do Not Touch | JYP / Warner Japan

The other references in this list, we can argue about. But we are not arguing about this. This is absolutely a Beyoncé reference. Because look at th-

Beyoncé - Renaissance | Parkwood / Columbia

A shot from which many of us feel is from the elusive “Break My Soul” music video, due to it being the same look she wears on the single cover art. The look is just too specific for it not to be a Beyoncé reference. Beyoncé is not the only woman on Earth to wear a hat with holes in it. But c’mon now. 

MiSaMo referencing this threw me, because in the grand scheme of Beyoncé, it’s not a look or a moment that those outside of her core fanbase would know, which is why there is no doubt in my mind that it is a Beyoncé reference, and that somebody in MiSaMo’s team is a part of the Beyhive. Because it’s not just one of the girls wearing silver with a horse. It’s a moment which was shown in a video for a split second.

But when I saw this...

MiSaMo - Do Not Touch | JYP / Warner Japan

Granted. It could be a stretch to call this a Beyoncé reference, because it is just somebody posing before a stained glass window. And yet, my mind still went straight to...

Beyoncé - Renaissance | beyonce.com / Parkwood

I truly feel that Mina’s stained glass moment is a “Church Girl’ moment. The specificity of the “Break My Soul” reference just put me in the mindset of ‘Whatever seems like a reach probably isn’t’. Which is just as well. Because as the video kept going, more moments came.

Moments like...

MiSaMo - Do Not Touch | JYP / Warner Japan

Which to me is a reference from Beyoncé and the au pair’s 2018 “Apeshit” music video.

The Carters - Apeshit | Parkwood / Columbia

The setup. The colour palette. It’s too much of a coincidence. And you could even argue that maybe the whole of MiSaMo’s music video is inspired by “Apeshit” to a degree. A video of which was shot in the Louvre and also uses art as a central theme, just as “Do Not Touch” does. But without the Louvre. It still blows my mind that Beyoncé was able to shoot a whole music video there.

And then there was...

MiSaMo - Do Not Touch | JYP / Warner Japan

Mina, Sana and Momo. Three single ladies in formation. Which brought to mind two Beyoncé moments.

Beyoncé - Formation World Tour | beyonce.com / Parkwood

Beyoncé - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) | Columbia

“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” had alotta the girls doing choreographed scenes shot on white sound stages with lighting changes for a minute. Some of ‘em still be doing it.

And then finally there was...

MiSaMo - Do Not Touch | JYP / Warner Japan

Which, I know is in reference to Botticelli’s ‘The birth of Venus’, something which has famously been referenced countless times. But within the context of the other Beyoncé references...

Beyoncé - Renaissance World Tour | beyonce.com / Parkwood

I’m gonna go right ahead and say that MiSaMo and the director of this video saw clips on Twitter of Beyonce performing “Plastic Off the Sofa” and “Virgo’s Groove” in her Renny Clam Shell on the Renaissance World Tour (which is also very clearly a reference to Botticelli) and said ‘Yep, so let’s do that’.

I find it cool that MiSaMo, their creative team and director all sat down, planned a video and chose to pull some Beyoncé references for it. It’s not liked they ripped off an entire video of hers. Some probably would blame MiSaMo for doing just this, given the allegations against Plaigaroncé over the years.

The “Break My Soul” reference threw me, because in the grand scheme of Beyoncé it’s not a look or a moment that those outside of her core fanbase would know. And it’s also such a very recent reference, and not something that even those who got into Beyoncé at Renaissance would necessary know, because the strongest visual motif in Renaissance is the horse and the colour silver. 

HENNYWAY.

Beyoncé has very clearly pulled references from others - some more blatant than others. Pop music is very cyclical. And Beyoncé is one of the biggest stars in the game who has made a name for themselves via their visuals. So it makes sense that others would reference her and pull inspiration from her. And then there is the whole history of K-pop and J-pop pulling from Black pop and R&B artists, but that’s a whole ‘nother post.

MiSaMo - Do Not Touch | JYP / Warner Japan

The music video looks great, and MiSaMo also look great. The black look with the floppy wide brimmed hats was the one.

I’m not overly keen on the song though. I like the sound, but not the execution. I find with these types of songs in K-pop, that it helps if you have at least one member in the group who can sing and can give just a lil’ something R&B-like. For instance, TaeTiSeo woulda sounded good on a song like this. It’s not their core sound at all, but all three members of the group would be able to vocally give the song that something that it needed.

MiSaMo - Do Not Touch | JYP / Warner Japan

It’s really cool to see K-pop companies put their own resources and imprint into the Japanese releases for their acts now. Not that long ago, Twice and its sub-units woulda been handed off to a Japanese record label, which is when we get a slightly different sound and aesthetic for the group - which is sometimes better than what we get for the Korean releases. But it does result in a lack of cohesion, and you end up with what feel like two different acts. We started to see this happen with BoA around 2006. When her Japanese career took precedent, Avex was steering the ship, and her image and sound really started to shift. And we saw it happen with Girls’ Generation too, where their image in Japan was less bubblegum and their sound was more contemporary. And it made sense at one point given how different the South Korean and Japanese markets are.

But now that K-pop is truly global and we’re starting to see the influence of it even within J-pop to a degree - which is crazy given that K-pop pulled so much from J-pop at periods when J-pop was pulling from the US. But, here we are. And now K-pop companies are taking the reigns more of their acts’ forays into the Japanese market, which is working out better given how the landscape of music has changed in South Korea and Japan. We saw how BoA benefitted from this with “The Greatest”, where the song and video was of the high quality of her K-releases, and not the pits of what her J-releases had unfortunately become. And the Hallyu is a massive part of it. K-pop doesn’t have to try and shape shift by market the way it used to when it was trying to make it happen. It can just be what it is and their acts get to maintain a stronger unified brand, and JYP have been smart in doing this with Twice since the start.