# What Is Love? (Twice song)

"What Is Love?" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Twice. It was released by JYP Entertainment on April 9, 2018, as the lead single from their fifth extended play of the same name. The song earned the group their third consecutive Song of the Year award at the 2018 Mnet Asian Music Awards.

## Release

"What Is Love?" was released as the lead single from Twice's extended play of the same name on April 9, 2018. The group's second compilation album #Twice2, released in March 2019, includes both Korean and Japanese versions of the song. "What Is Love? (Japanese ver.)" was pre-released as a digital single on February 7, 2019, along with an accompanying music video. The Japanese lyrics were written by Risa Horie. It was first performed on Music Station Super Live on December 21, 2018.

## Composition

"What Is Love?" was written and composed by Park Jin-young, who previously produced "Signal", and it was arranged by Lee Woo-min "collapsedone", who co-produced "Knock Knock" and "Candy Pop". According to JYP Entertainment, the song is about "the love girls would dream about or imagine after learning about it through books, movies or dramas" and it has a bright melody and uptempo dance beat incorporating trap. Tamar Herman of Billboard described the song as having "retro electro-pop styling" and an "addictive choral hook", with "digital quirks, sparkling chimes, and staccato'd percussion over the bubblegum melody".

## Music video

Similar to the music video for "Cheer Up", the members of Twice portray characters from famous films in the "What Is Love" music video. Nayeon is Mia from The Princess Diaries, Jeongyeon and Sana are Molly and Sam from Ghost, Mina and Dahyun are Vic and Matthieu from La Boum, Sana and Tzuyu are Mia and Vincent from Pulp Fiction, Jeongyeon and Tzuyu are Romeo and Juliet from Romeo + Juliet, Jihyo and Jeongyeon are Itsuki/Hiroko and male Itsuki from Love Letter, Momo and Tzuyu are Mia and Sebastian from La La Land, and Dahyun and Chaeyoung are Léon and Mathilda from Léon: The Professional. The music video also has scenes showing the song's choreography, Twice at a sleepover watching the movies on TV, and Dahyun's "commercial break" that includes product placement for Acuvue contact lenses.
The music video was ranked fourth on the 2018 YouTube's Most Popular Music Videos list in South Korea. It also ranked at number 5 on the 2018 YouTube's Top Trend Music Videos in Japan. In February 2023, "What Is Love?" became Twice's first music video to reach 700 million views on the platform.

## Commercial performance

The song debuted atop Gaon's Digital Chart and Billboard Korea's Kpop Hot 100. It also peaked at No. 3 and 6 on Billboard charts' World Digital Song Sales and Billboard Japan Hot 100, respectively. The song placed at number 29 at Billboard Japan Hot 100 year-end chart, and placed at number 14 in Top Streaming Songs.
"What Is Love?" surpassed 100 million streams in October 2019, becoming Twice's third consecutive Platinum certification single for streaming from the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA). In April 2020, "What Is Love?" earned Silver streaming certification from the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) for surpassing 30 million streams. In 2021, "What Is Love?" re-charted on several music streaming services after going viral on TikTok. Over 1 million videos on TikTok have used the song as their background music.

## Accolades

"What Is Love" received 12 first place awards on South Korean music programs.
Awards and nominations for "What Is Love?" :
| Award | Year | Category | Result |
| Genie Music Awards | 2018 | Best Female Dance Performance | Nominated |
| Mnet Asian Music Awards | 2018 | Song of the Year | Won |
| Mnet Asian Music Awards | 2018 | Best Dance Performance – Female Group | Won |
| Mnet Asian Music Awards | 2018 | Best Music Video | Nominated |
| Gaon Chart Music Awards | 2019 | Artist of the Year – Digital Music (April) | Won |
Music program awards :
| Program | Date |
| Show Champion | April 18, 2018 |
| Show Champion | April 25, 2018 |
| Show Champion | May 2, 2018 |
| M Countdown | April 19, 2018 |
| M Countdown | April 26, 2018 |
| Music Bank | April 20, 2018 |
| Music Bank | April 27, 2018 |
| Show! Music Core | April 21, 2018 |
| Show! Music Core | April 28, 2018 |
| Inkigayo | April 22, 2018 |
| Inkigayo | April 29, 2018 |
| Inkigayo | May 6, 2018 |

## Certifications

Certifications for "What Is Love?" :
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
| New Zealand (RMNZ) | Gold | 15,000$^‡$ |
| South Korea (KMCA) | Platinum | 2,500,000$^*$ |
| Streaming |||
| Japan (RIAJ) | Platinum | 100,000,000$^†$ |
| South Korea (KMCA) | Platinum | 100,000,000$^†$ |
| $^*$ Sales figures based on certification alone. $^‡$ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. $^†$ Streaming-only figures based on certification alone. |||