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BLACKPINK: What You Need to Know About K-Pop's Biggest Girl Group

BLACKPINK rose to the top of the U.S. pop charts in 2020, but this is not the group's first time in the spotlight

The four-member South Korean girl band — who get their name from the mixture of tough "black" and flirty "pink" of their songs — have been global superstars since the release of their 2016 single " Boombayah ." And, in 2023, the group is rumored to be Coachella headliners , where they would reportedly make history as the first K-pop headlining act.

Why are they called BLACKPINK?

Formed by YG Entertainment under the famous K-pop trainee system in South Korea, the members auditioned with the entertainment agency to become students or "trainees," hoping to one day make their debut as recording artists. When BLACKPINK debuted, their label YG Entertainment said the name intends to convey that the group embodies more than beauty — there's a toughness, too.

"The meaning of BLACKPINK aims to contradict the common perception of the color pink," the statement read. "Pink is commonly used to portray prettiness, but BLACKPINK actually means to say that 'Pretty isn't everything.' It also symbolizes that they are a team that encompasses not only beauty but also great talent."

How is BLACKPINK different from other K-pop groups?

Between their debut in 2016 and the 2020 release of The Album , BLACKPINK released fewer than two dozen songs, all singles. Despite the small discography, the group's glam look and fun choreography were quickly replicated by other K-pop groups and fans in their social media videos.

The most significant part of BLACKPINK's popularity lies in the group's undeniable stage presence and their songs and bilingual lyrics, which talk about independence and vulnerability. BLACKPINK is also known for their video styling or "concepts" for each song. Where some K-pop videos might have two or three concepts in their music videos, BLACKPINK will often have five or six completely different concepts (complete with varying hair colors and clothing) featured in their video.

Who are the members of BLACKPINK?

Kim Jisoo is a singer who is often referred to as "adorable" by BLINKs (the official name of BLACKPINK fans). She's known for her steadiness and composure — and for balancing random objects on her head or shoulders. Previous videos showed her with a cup or an award on her head. Jisoo acted in commercials before BLACKPINK and has starred on the JTBC historical K-drama series Snowdrop (also available to stream on Disney+ ) since December 2021. Although she is the only member who does not speak English fluently, the singer speaks Korean, Japanese and Chinese.

During a 2019 appearance on The Late Show with James Corden , Jisoo's unflappable calm impressed the host.

Jisoo will soon be in familiar company with the rest of her bandmates with the release of her long-awaited solo album, which is expected later in 2023 after BLACKPINK's rumored headlining performance at Coachella.

YG Entertainment issued a statement in January 2023, confirming the exciting news.

"BLACKPINK's Jisoo is currently working hard on recording her solo album. While carrying out a busy world tour schedule since last year, she finished the album jacket photo shoot and worked on music production whenever she got the time in order to keep the promise with fans. She will greet fans soon with good news."

Kim Jennie was in the trainee program for nearly six years — the longest of the members. Jennie lived in New Zealand before moving back to South Korea in 2010 and speaks fluent English, Korean and Japanese. She was the first member of BLACKPINK to release an individual track in 2018 titled "SOLO."

In 2021, Jennie was named the new face of Hera , a Seoul-based beauty company. She is set to make her acting debut in 2023 opposite Lily-Rose Depp on the HBO drama The Idol under the stage name Jennie Ruby Jane. The series is co-created by singer The Weeknd and Euphoria writer and director Sam Levinson.

Park Chaeyoung (Rosé) was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia — where she auditioned for YG Entertainment. Rosé is fluent in English and learned Korean after moving to South Korea to participate in the trainee program. She is the group's main singer, and fans claim her distinct voice is easily recognizable. On a promotional appearance for The Album , Rosé impressed fans (and Shakira herself) with her impressive take on the 2010 song "Waka Waka."

Rosé released her solo album, R , in March 2021, featuring the songs "On the Ground" and "Gone."

Lalisa Pranpriya Manoban (also spelled Manobal) is known for both her rap and dance skills. Born and raised in Thailand, Lisa (like Rosé) learned Korean after moving to South Korea in 2011. Lisa also speaks English and Japanese. During promo appearances, Lisa often showcases her impromptu dancing skills, creating viral moments for the group.

Lisa released her debut single album, LALISA , in September 2021, which features the songs "Lalisa" and "Money." The title song's music video won the MTV Video Music Award for best K-pop video in 2022 and was honored by Guinness World Records as the "most viewed YouTube music video by a solo artist in 24 hours" and "most viewed YouTube music video in 24 hours by a solo K-pop artist."

Lisa shared with Billboard how she chose the two songs for her album.

"I heard 'Money' first and told Teddy, 'Oh my God, Teddy oppa , I have to do this song, I want this to be my solo song.' And he was like, 'OK, let's do it!' And then we heard [an early version of] 'Lalisa,' but the hook was another thing," she said. "Teddy had the idea to put my name in the hook. At first, I was like, 'Whaaa … I think it's kind of weird to keep repeating my name. How's it going to sound?' And then we tried it, and it came out so cool. I really like it."

How long has BLACKPINK been together?

BLACKPINK debuted in 2016 with the mini album Square One, which consisted of only two songs — "Whistle" and "Boombayah." The debut was heavily promoted in the K-pop scene as BLACKPINK was the first girl group from YG Entertainment in seven years. "Boombayah" galloped straight out of the gate to hit No. 1 on Billboard 's World Digital Songs chart, and their popularity continued with additional releases in the following year.

In 2018, BLACKPINK made headlines again with their single "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" from the EP Square Up . A few months later, the group branched out by working with Dua Lipa on the track "Kiss and Make Up."

YG Entertainment positioned BLACKPINK for a global market by partnering with Interscope Records and Universal Music Group in October 2018. BLACKPINK then focused on the U.S. market with performances on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert , Good Morning America and the 2019 Coachella music festival .

What about BLACKPINK songs?

For an introduction to BLACKPINK music, start with their debut single, " Boombayah ." The video for the song has an upbeat and fun girls-night-out vibe (ending in a party at a retro roller-skating rink). The video offers viewers a peek at the group's impending stardom with sharp choreography and a flair for visuals.

Next, move on to "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" — the 2018 comeback single is a rapid-fire whirlwind of tough-girl cool. Follow up with "Whistle," "As If It's Your Last," "Lovesick Girls" and "Playing With Fire," each of which has introspective melodies with lyrics full of love, eagerness and passion.

On the other hand, the 2020 track " Ice Cream ," featuring Selena Gomez , is a rare sexy song from the group , showcasing double entendre lyrics against a hypnotic beat. Check out the animated version of the video to see BLACKPINK rendered as Zepeto — an app that allows users to turn themselves into 3D animated characters.

"Pretty Savage" and "Crazy Over You" from the band's debut album highlight the group's vocal prowess, with maple syrup smooth lyrics against a can't-get-it-out-of-your-head melody. "Bet You Wanna," featuring Cardi B , is a fun song for the brand, with bubblegum pop lyrics meant for summertime pool parties or dancing in the kitchen while you make dinner.

End with fan favorites " Kill This Love " and " How You Like That " to see how the group has grown into its own: The two songs showcase girl power, sick beats and in-your-face optimism.

Once you've added those tracks to your playlist, listen to BLACKPINK's 2022 album, BORN PINK , featuring the singles "Pink Venom" and "Shut Down," which both hit No. 1 on Billboard 's Global 200 chart .

What does "BLACKPINK in your area" mean?

The band's signature phrase, first uttered in their debut song, "Boombayah," declares the group's global domination plan. With every new song, BLACKPINK teases snippets of new concepts, hair colors and clothing. And the publicity has paid off. The group now has amassed over 83 million subscribers and counting on its YouTube channel — with the video for "Kill This Love" reaching over 1.7 billion views as of January 2023.

Loyal fans count everything from each member's line distribution on songs to who keeps the center position in the choreography. BLACKPINK, eager to give the fans what they want, often uploads practice videos of the group practicing their choreography, like the popular instructional video for "Lovesick Girls."

Fans also flock to what's known as "fancams" — concert videos that focus on one member of the group's performance. Search for " BLACKPINK fancam " on YouTube, and you'll find dozens of videos from their live performances, each highlighting one member at a time. The popularity of BLACKPINK means new business ventures for its members: Jisoo has worked as a Dior ambassador, Jennie for Chanel, Rosé for Saint Laurent and Lisa for Celine.

Netflix also paired with BLACKPINK to air their 2020 documentary BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky — a look behind the scenes of the band's inner workings. For a peek into the (almost) off-duty personality of the band, look for " BLACKPINK 24 365 " on YouTube. The program, a reference to a line from their song "Whistle," was set in a Big Brother -type camera-outfitted house and was a hub where the bandmates lived during promotional periods surrounding new singles.

Don't speak Korean? Fan-produced videos are here to help, with a color-coded who's-singing-this-line guide to lyrics in Korean, Korean-to-English translation and English.

2016: Debut, "Square One", "Square Two"

On June 29, 2016, YG Entertainment revealed the final line-up and name of the group. [1] BLACKPINK is the first girl group to debut under YG Entertainment since 2NE1's debut in 2009. [2] The group debuted on August 8 with their first digital single album, " Square One ". [3] The single album has two songs, "Whistle" and "Boombayah" which are the title tracks for the album. "Whistle" was composed by Teddy Park, Future Bounce, and Bekuh BOOM and written by Teddy Park and Bekuh BOOM. [4] "Boombayah" was composed and written by Teddy Park and Bekuh BOOM. [5] Beomjin J directed the music video for "Whistle" while Seo Hyun-seung did for "Boombayah." [6] [7]

"Boombayah" debuted at #1 and "Whistle" debuted at #2 on the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart. They are the third Korean artist to hold the top spots, alongside PSY and Big Bang. [8]

"Whistle" topped the digital, download, and streaming monthly chart of Gaon Chart for August 2016. [9] [10] [11]

"Whistle" also reached #1 on the weekly, popularity, music video, and K-pop music video chart of China’s biggest music-streaming website QQ Music. BLACKPINK made their first music show performance and performed "Whistle" and "Boombayah" for the first time at Inkigayo on August 14. [12]

The group took home their first music show win for their song "Whistle" on August 21 at Inkigayo. It took them 14 days to achieve their first win and are the fourth fastest girl group to win their first. [13] They wrapped up their promotions for "Square One" on September 11 at Inkigayo and scored another win for "Whistle". [14] [15]

BLACKPINK released their second digital single album, " Square Two " on November 1 with " Playing With Fire " and " Stay " serving as the title tracks. [16] Both songs were produced by Teddy, R.Tee, and Seo Won Jin. [17] " Playing With Fire " debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, making it their second song to do so. [18] The group had their comeback stage at Inkigayo on August 6 and M Countdown on August 10 where they performed "Playing With Fire" and "Stay". [19] [20] [21] [22]

2017: Japan Debut, "As If It's Your Last"

On May 17, it was announced that the group would be debuting in Japan with their debut album which was released on August 9. It was also revealed that they would be holding their debut showcase on July 20 at Budokan in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. [23]

BLACKPINK's first digital single, " As If It's Your Last ", was released on June 22, 2017. [24] The single peaked at #2 on the Billboard Kpop Hot 100. It reached 2.5 million downloads on Gaon in 2018 [25] and sold 9,000 copies in the United States. [26]

On July 17, an article was posted on the YGEX website announcing that BLACKPINK would be releasing their debut Japanese mini album, Blackpink , on August 9. The music videos for the Japanese versions of "Boombayah" and "Whistle were released on August 30. [27]

2018: Square Up , 2018 Tour (In Your Area) Seoul x BC Card, World Tour

On June 1, 2018, a moving poster was posted on the group's social media accounts announcing that the group would be releasing their first mini album, Square Up , on June 15. [28] " Ddu-Du Ddu-Du " served as the album's title track. [29] The song debuted at #2 for the month of June on the monthly Gaon Chart. [30] It then peaked at #1 the following month. [31] " Ddu-Du Ddu-Du " also debuted at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100, breaking the previous record held by "Nobody" by the Wonder Girls and became the highest highest-charting song by a Korean girl group. [32] [33]

On September 12, it was announced that BLACKPINK would be having their first solo concert, BLACKPINK 2018 Tour (In Your Area) Seoul x BC Card , in Seoul, South Korea the Olympic Gymnastics Arena. [34] YG Entertainment released a statement on October 23, stating that BLACKPINK has signed with an American label, Interscope Records. [35]

On November 1, it was revealed that the group would be having their first world tour, BLACKPINK 2019 World Tour (In Your Area) . It began on January 11 in Bangkok, Thailand at the IMPACT Arena. [36]

2019: Kill This Love , Coachella

On February 9, 2019, BLACKPINK performed at the CEO of Universal Music Group's Showcase party. This was their first US performance. [37] On February 11, the group performed at The Late Show, making it the first US television appearance . [38] They performed at Good Morning America the following day. [39] BLACKPINK was the on the cover for Billboard's magazine for the month of March. [40]

BLACKPINK released their third mini album, Kill This Love , with the same name title track on April 5. [41]

On April 12 and April 19, BLACKPINK performed at Coachella, which made them the first Kpop girl group to perform there. [42]

On October 16, the group's second Japanese full-length album, Kill This Love -JP Ver.- was released. [43] The BLACKPINK 2019 World Tour (In Your Area) ended on July 14 in Fukuoka, Japan at the Fukuoka Dome. [44]

2020: "Sour Candy", "How You Like That", "Ice Cream", The Album

In April 2020, Lady Gaga revealed that she would be releasing " Sour Candy " which is a collaboration with BLACKPINK. A lyric video for the song was posted on June 16. [45] The song debuted at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100. [46]

In June, YG revealed that BLACKPINK would have a three-part comeback with two pre-release singles and the album to end it. The first pre-release, " How You Like That ", was released on June 26. The second pre-release would be released either in July or August and their first Korean full-length album in October. [47] YG also stated that Jisoo, Rosé, and Lisa would be making their solo debut after the group releases their first Korean full-length album. YG said, "Rosé and Lisa have already wrapped up their recordings, whereas Jisoo is enthusiastically working on her music." [48]

On July 23, a teaser poster was posted which teased that the group would be releasing a collaboration single by an unnamed artist in August [49] On July 28, a teaser poster revealed that BLACKPINK would be releasing their first album, The Album , on October 2. [50]

August 11, Selena Gomez was revealed to be the unnamed artist. [51] The song was revealed to be titled, " Ice Cream " two days later. [52] " Ice Cream " was released on August 28. [53]

24/365 with BLACKPINK, BLACKPINK's first reality series, began airing on July 4 and ended on October 24. An episode was posted on the group's YouTube channel every Saturday. [54]

On September 8, Netflix and BLACKPINK announced that BLACKPINK: Light Up The Sky will premiere on October 14 as an all-access documentary, covering the four years since BLACKPINK's explosive debut in 2016 with video footage from their days training, the members' home lives, behind the scenes stories and honest interviews with the members.

On November 20, American lifestyle magazine Variety announced that the group would be named "Group of The Year" in their 2020 Hitmakers issue. On December 2, the group announced their first online concert, entitled BLACKPINK: The Show , would be held on December 27 (later postponed to January 31, 2021) exclusively on YouTube.

2021: BLACKPINK: The Movie, 4+1 Project

On May 12, 2021, YG announced that BLACKPINK would have their comeback in the later half of 2021.

On June 16, 2021, it was announced that BLACKPINK: The Movie will air on August 8, as part of their "4+1 PROJECT" to commemorate the group's fifth anniversary. On July 14, YG announced that BLACKPINK would be joining WEVERSE on August 2, as part of the “4+1 Project”. [55] On July 28, YG announced BLACKPINK’s 2021 Summer Diary as part of the “4+1 Project," it is set to be released on August 25. To celebrate their 5th anniversary, a BLACKPINK island, ‘In Your Area Island’, will be released on Animal Crossing: New Horizons on August 6. [56] As the final part of the "4+1 PROJECT," a special pop up exhibition will be opening on August 21 until August 30. The exhibition will reflect the concept of the songs BLACKPINK has released so far.

2022: BLACKPINK: The Virtual, "Pink Venom" and "Born Pink"

On July 6, 2022, YG Entertainment announced that BLACKPINK are in the final stages of recording their new album and it will be released in August. It was also stated that they will be going on a world tour later this year. [57]

On July 12, 2022, YG Entertainment revealed that BLACKPINK would hold a virtual in-game concert in PUBG Mobile from July 22 to 30, including performances of the group's hit songs as well as a special track titled " Ready For Love " to be previewed during the event for the first time. It was released in full on July 29, 2022. [58]

On July 26, 2022, YG Entertainment stated that BLACKPINK are in the middle of filming a music video and added that it's the most highest production cost they have ever spent on an MV. [59]

On August 1, 2022, a Born Pink announcement trailer was posted on the group's social media accounts announcing that the group will be releasing a pre-release single in August, an album in September, and starting a world tour in October. [60] Later that day, YG explained that Born Pink is the project name for their upcoming releases. [61] On August 8, a teaser poster was posted which revealed that the group will be releasing the pre-release single, " Pink Venom " on August 19. [62] The next day, a schedule announcement was posted which announced that the world tour, BLACKPINK World Tour 'Born Pink' , will start on October 15 at Seoul, South Korea. [63] On August 10, a teaser poster was posted which revealed that the group will be releasing their second studio album, Born Pink on September 16. [64]

On August 16, BLACKPINK announced that they will be performing at the MTV Video Music Awards on August 28, this makes them the first Korean female act to perform there. [65]

On August 24, YG Entertainment revealed that BLACKPINK are filming the music video for the title track for Born Pink at Gyeonggi province. They also added that the title track will shock the fans and that the music video will raise the status of Kpop quality to something that hasn't been seen before. [66]

On September 16, Born Pink and its title track " Shut Down " were both released.

BLACKPINK was named the 2022 Entertainer Of The Year by TIME Magazine which makes them the first girl group to receive the title of Entertainer Of The Year. [67]

All members were awarded Members of British Empire (MBE) by King Charles III in 2023 for the group's contribution to Music. Only Rosé is realistically possible to later become a Dame and be called Madam, as she is still a citizen of a Commonwealth country, as she was born in New Zealand and gained citizenship by birth.

Endorsements

Within three weeks of debut, BLACKPINK placed second behind EXO for brand reputation based on a study by Korea Institute of Corporate Reputation in August 2016. Another study targeting girl groups revealed that the group's brand influence had already surpassed that of Girls' Generation and Twice for September. The chief of the reputations research lab described the feat as a "first". They became endorsers for several brands including Reebok, Moonshot and Saint Scott. They were also featured as models for major magazines including Nylon Korea, South Korean 1st Look, and Singapore's TEENAGE.

• Moonshot (2016)
• Reebok (2016)
• Saint Scoot (2016)
• Mise-en-scène (2018)
• TREVI Stylish Sparkling Water (2017)
• LG G6 (2017)
• Olens (2017) (2021)
• Sprite (2018)
• Adidas Korea (2018)
• Puma (2018)
• CRUUM Japan (2018)
• Shopee Indonesia (2018)
• Woori Bank (2019)
• Paradise City Hotel & Resort (2019)
• KBank (2019)
• Samsung (2020)
• Bugatti (2020)
• Globe Telecom (2020)
• Pepsi Thailand (2020)
• PUBG Mobile (2020)
• Tokopedia (2021)

Discography

Videography, music videos, music video appearances, other releases, filmography, concert and tours, headlining concerts, blackpink japan premium debut showcase (2017), headlining tours, blackpink arena tour 2018 (2018), black pink world tour [in your area], blackpink: the show, external links.

• They’re the 4th K-Pop Group overall.
• They are the second most followed Korean act.
• BLACKPINK has spent 39 weeks at #1 on Gaon Social Chart.
• BLACKPINK and BIGBANG are the only Korean groups to hit 1 million unique listeners in 24 hours on MelOn. (Before the chart reform)
• BLACKPINK is the first K-Pop act to have 3 M/V's with over 1.1 billion views on YouTube.
• BLACKPINK is the first and only girl group to have 6 M/V's surpass 1 billion views on YouTube. They're tied with Coldplay as the second group to achieve this.
• They’re tied with BTS for the most music videos with over 1 billion views (6).
• BLACKPINK is the third female artist with the most music videos with over 1 billion views.
• They’re the most streamed female group on the platform.
• They gained over 300 million streams in 2022 so far.
• They gained over 2 billion streams in 2021. They're the only group to achieve this. This is their third consecutive year to achieve this, and are now the fastest female group to hit the mark of 1B streams in a single calendar year (23 weeks).
• They were the 20th most streamed female artist in 2021.
• They're the 31st most streamed female artist in the platforms history.
• BLACKPINK is the 9th most followed female act on Spotify. (29M followers)
• BLACKPINK is the most streamed female group in 2021 with 2.88 billion combined Spotify and YouTube streams.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female K-Pop artist with the most monthly listeners overall. (16.119M)
• They’re the second female artist to surpass 60M subscribers on the platform.
• They are the fastest artist in history to achieve 30M, 40M, 50M, 60M & 70M subscribers on YouTube.
• BLACKPINK has the top 3 most liked music videos by a lead female artist on YouTube. (HYLT 20M, KTL 19M, DDU-DU DDU-DU 17.489M)
• BLACKPINK is the second female artist to have a music video surpass 20 million likes along with Halsey.
• BLACKPINK is the first 3rd generation group to have 3 songs spend 4 months each in the top 10 on MelOn monthly chart. (DDU-DU DDU-DU, How You Like That, Lovesick Girls) They’re also the first idol group to achieve this.
• BLACKPINK ranked at #1 as the best-performing female group for digital, physical, and overall on Gaon in 2020. (1,724,461 album copies sold)
• BLACKPINK had the highest gain in followers for a K-Pop female act on Spotify after the streaming service’s launch in South Korea. (52,875)
• BLACKPINK is ranked as the 2nd highest-grossing female group in tour concerts for 2020. $10.53M (3 shows)
• BLACKPINK is the 30th most followed act on Spotify. They’re the only female group in the top 50.
• According to RollingStone, BLACKPINK received 392.7 million on-demand audio streams in the US in the Top 500 Artists of 2020. They’re also the only K-Pop female act listed.
• They’ve spent 40 weeks total at #1.
• BLACKPINK was the most streamed female group in 2020 with over 2.2 billion streams.
• BLACKPINK's YouTube channel earned a total of 6.8 billion views and gained 22.7 million subscribers in 2020.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group with the most songs to surpass 100 million streams on Spotify. (18)
• The Independent named BLACKPINK as one of the 50 women who broke barriers in the music industry. [68]
• They are the sixth most followed group on Spotify surpassing One Direction.
• They gained over 8.9 million new followers on Spotify in 2021. They’re the first female group to do so in 2021.
• They have gained over 1 million new followers in 2022 on the platform.
• BLACKPINK was the most streamed female act on YouTube in South Korea (341 million streams), Indonesia (1.070 billion streams), Vietnam (554 million streams) and Thailand (749 million streams) in 2020.
• BLACKPINK was the most streamed act on YouTube in the Philippines during 2020, with 764 million streams.
• BLACKPINK was the top streamed K-Pop female act on YouTube in 2020, with over 9 billion streams. (#8 overall)
• BLACKPINK had the most unique listeners for a female group on MelOn in 2020. (HYLT 60.383M)
• BLACKPINK was the first and only K-Pop group to perform at Coachella in 2019.
• BLACKPINK is the only K-Pop girl group that reached #1 on the Billboard World Albums chart in the last 3 years.
• BLACKPINK has over 16.4 million followers on VLIVE.
• BLACKPINK has over 18 million followers on Facebook.
• BLACKPINK has over 30.4 million followers on TikTok.
• They’re the 25th most followed female artist on Instagram.
• BLACKPINK surpassed 800K followers on MUBEAT.
• BLACKPINK Official has over 7 million followers on the platform.
• They’re the 9th most followed group on the platform.
• They're the third most followed female group in the platforms history.
• BLACKPINK and OH MY GIRL are the only female groups with multiple tracks (2) inside the 2020 MelOn Yearly Chart.
• BLACKPINK is Pepsi’s new brand ambassador in Cambodia and the Asian Pacific.
• BLACKPINK is the first ever Female Group in Gaon history to sell over 1.5 million total copies of an Album in a single year (SU, KTL, HYLT, THE ALBUM).
• BLACKPINK surpassed 2.4 million albums sold on Gaon. They are the 2nd best selling female group with only 4 Albums (2 Mini, 1 Single, 1 Full Album).
• BLACKPINK is the first female group to have 10 songs surpass 200 million streams on Spotify. They are also tied with Little Mix as the female group with 4 songs surpassing 400 million streams.
• BLACKPINK ranked #1 in brand reputation for a female group in February 2021.
• BLACKPINK becomes the first female group in history to have all members enter the Top 10 of South Korea’s Girl Group Member Brand Reputation, 6 times.
• BLACKPINK (2.595M overall sales) is now the 6th best selling girl group in K-pop in history.
• It gathered over 2.6 billion views in 2021.
• It is the most viewed YouTube channel by a female artist in history.
• It’s the fourth most viewed channel for an artist on the platform.
• It’s the most viewed Korean channel on YouTube.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 K-Pop female group with the most cumulative days of songs charted on Spotify Daily Global Top 200 chart. (16 songs within 1,070+ days)
• They are also the first K-pop artist to surpass 200 million views on 6 dance practices/dance performance on YouTube.
• BLACKPINK is the only female act to have the most music videos surpass 11M likes on YouTube. (6)
• BLACKPINK ties with Little Mix as the female group with the most songs that have surpassed the mark of 300M streams on Spotify (5 tracks each).
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group with the most music videos over 400M views on YouTube. (9)
• BLACKPINK is the only K-Pop female artists with the most music videos over 7M likes in history. (8)
• They're the #1 female artist/K-Pop act with the most M/V's with over 16 million likes on YouTube. (4)
• They’re the #1 female artist with the most M/V’s with over 10 million likes on YouTube. (8)
• BLACKPINK is the fourth female group with the most weeks in the top 10 on MelOn weekly chart (91 weeks).
• BLACKPINK is the first K-pop female act to enter the Top 10 of Spotify South Korea Official Chart.
• BLACKPINK is the 2nd most viewed Korean Act Channel on YouTube. (15.9B)
• BLACKPINK are the only female artist with the most entries on Spotify South Korea Weekly chart with 16 songs charted during the 1st week of the launch.
• BLACKPINK has over 200 million certified streams in Japan. They are the second K-pop female act and the third overall to do so. (6 songs)
• BLACKPINK’s YouTube channel revenue alone makes up 6% of YG Entertainment's sales in 2020. Digital sales increased by 39.3% year-on-year to 13.7 Billion won overall.
• BLACKPINK has over 2.1 billion combined streams (Spotify + YouTube) in 2021 alone. Making them the first girl group to do so and the most streamed girl group so far.
• BLACKPINK currently has 8 songs charting in the top 200 on MelOn daily chart (during February 24), the most for any female group.
• BLACKPINK along with Brave Girls are the only female groups to surpass 400 million digital index points on Gaon in 2021.
• BLACKPINK was appointed as the Public Relations Ambassadors at the United Nations Conference for Climate Change in 2021. [69]
• BLACKPINK are the current ambassadors for Adidas (Korea) Originals in 2021, with the “Watch Us Move” campaign. (“The campaign aims to uplift all women, stand against prejudice, and champion their freedom of expression”.)
• BLACKPINK has over 100 million streams in the US this 2021 combined via Rolling Stone Artist chart & YouTube US Artist chart. They're currently the most streamed female group in the US so far. (56.2M on-demand streams; 54.15M YouTube streams.
• BLACKPINK has over 5 billion digital points on Gaon. They’re the second K-pop girl group and the #1 YG artist to do so.
• BLACKPINK is the only female group to have all Korean title tracks (9) surpass 100,000 likes on Melon.
• BLACKPINK has 25 certifications in 10 countries.
• BLACKPINK has the 1st and 2nd best charting (peak) K-pop female act albums on the US Billboard 200 chart. (The Album at #2 and KTL at #24)
• BLACKPINK joins IU as the only female artists in history to have a song chart for 20 weeks in the Top 10 of MelOn’s Weekly Chart. (LSG)
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group with most days at #1 on Melon Female Group Chart in 2021. They became #1 for the whole month of February. (46 days total)
• BLACKPINK has the most songs inside the Top 10 of the most streamed songs by female groups on Spotify. (3) (#7 KTL, #8 Kiss and Make Up, #10 HYLT)
• BLACKPINK has been charting in the top 10 on MelOn monthly chart for 8 consecutive months so far.(July/2020-February/2021)
• BLACKPINK has the top 4 female group albums with the most points on Worldwide Apple Music Album chart (since July 2017) ( #1 SQUARE UP – 1.889M) (#2 THE ALBUM – 1.789M) (#3 Kill This Love – 1.683M) (#4 SQUARE TWO – 972K)
• BLACKPINK is the female group with the most B-sides that surpassed 50,000 likes on Melon. (6)
• Variety mentioned BLACKPINK as one of the “Women That Have Made an Impact in Global Entertainment.” [70]
• BLACKPINK is the first and only Korean act to win at the Gold Derby Music Awards.
• Spotify's official playlist for 'This Is #BLACKPINK' has surpassed the mark of 2 million followers. It's the first 'This Is' playlist for a female group to do so in the platform's history. It is the sixth most followed female playlist overall.
• BLACKPINK is the 7th most followed female artist on Melon (197,663 total followers).
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group with the most songs that have surpassed 170,000 likes on MelOn (6).
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group with the most songs that have surpassed 150,000 likes on MelOn (7).
• BLACKPINK is the second 3rd generation girl group with the most songs that achieved over 2,500,000 downloads on Gaon. (5)
• BLACKPINK is the #1 top viewed female act on YouTube in 2021 so far. (753M)
• BLACKPINK has surpassed 1.5 million searches on MelOn in 2021. They’re the top searched female group so far.
• BLACKPINK is the fourth girl group to surpass 200,000 followers on Melon.
• BLACKPINK are tied with Twice as the only female groups with multiple songs to achieve this.
• BLACKPINK is the only Korean act with the most top 10 entries on Global Apple Music Daily Chart (2) and reached a new peak at #6.
• BLACKPINK is the first ever female group to peak at #1 on Global Digital Artist Ranking.
• BLACKPINK extends their record as the only K-pop girl group with the most song entries in UK official singles chart. (5)
• BLACKPINK is the only K-pop act with 2 top 20 hit songs in the UK official singles chart.
• BLACKPINK are the only K-pop act with the most UK top 40s hits. (4 songs)
• BLACKPINK were mentioned in Apple Music’s “Women Making History” short film.

(“In this short film, red carpet’s worth of music’s leading ladies & Opening up about what it means to have agency, power and sisterhood”.)

• BLACKPINK has sold over 100,000 albums copies in 2021 on Gaon Chart. They’re ranked at #3 in overall sales on Gaon’s charts in 2021 so far.
• BLACKPINK is the first female group to rank in the top 10 of IFPI's year end global pure sales sales chart since Destiny's Child in 2004. They join PSY as the only YG Entertainment Artists and K-Pop female act to rank on IFPI year-end charts.
• BLACKPINK is the second girl group in history to have 3 members rank #1 on Girl Group Individual Brand Reputation Ranking after Red Velvet.
• BLACKPINK is the first girl group to have 2 members reach #1 on Korea’s Individual Girl Group Brand Reputation in 2021. Both Jennie and Rosé have achieved this.
• BLACKPINK is the first K-pop act in history to win 6 consecutive and 2 triple crowns in a row on SBS Inkigayo.
• BLACKPINK had the #1 highest-peaking monthly listeners for a Korean female act on Spotify. (29.4M+)
• BLACKPINK are the second female artists in history to have at least one album surpassing 400,000 copies sold on Hanteo.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 K-Pop female act with the most weeks on Billboard Hot 100 (19 weeks).
• BLACKPINK is the third girl group with the most PAK (Perfect All-Kills) overall. (125)
• BLACKPINK is the second K-pop artist to enter the Top 10 of both Billboard’s Global 200 Singles Chart & Excl. US Chart.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 K-Pop female act with the most weeks on Billboard 200 (31 weeks).
• BLACKPINK is the first K-pop girl group to reach #1 on UK iTunes song chart.
• BLACKPINK is the highest charting girl group on Apple Music UK, US, Canada and China chart.
• BLACKPINK is the first girl group in history to reach 62 #1s on iTunes.
• They're the only girl group to top #1 twice (Sour Candy & Kill This Love ).
• Each single release charted in all top 10 markets making them the only girl group to do so in 2020.
• BLACKPINK has been the most streamed female group for 329 consecutive days on Spotify.
• BLACKPINK surpassed 20 billion streams worldwide (across YouTube, Spotify, MelOn, Genie).
• BLACKPINK has 129 million on-demand audio streams in the US within 16 weeks of 2021.
• BLACKPINK has over 1.7 billion video streams on YouTube Music chart in 2021.
• BLACKPINK is the only female group in history to have all singles released since debut reach 100 million streams on Spotify.
• BLACKPINK is the only Kpop girl group to enter on the Portugal Top 3000 singles Year-end Chart (2020) with 7 songs entries.
• BLACKPINK has been certified in 11 countries recording industries. The most countries for any Korean female act.
• BLACKPINK is the first female group in history to have 2 EPs surpass 700M streams on Spotify (Kill This Love and Square Up).
• BLACKPINK has sold over 891,000 tickets (physical & online) with their 4 concerts.
• BLACKPINK owns the record of most successful & highest grossing tour by Kpop girl group of all-time with "IN YOUR AREA WORLD TOUR, $56M; 472K tickets sold" & also the most successful & highest grossing online concert by a girl group with "THE SHOW, $10M; 280K membership".
• BLACKPINK is the only female group to have multiple albums with more than 1 song over 500M digital points on Gaon (SQUARE UP and The Album).
• BLACKPINK is the only female group with multiple songs to surpass 100M digital points on Gaon in 2021.
• BLACKPINK was Spotify’s most streamed female group for the month of March in 2021 (193,108,871 streams; up 2.5% compared to February).
• BLACKPINK is the only K-Pop female act & Korean girl group on the all-time ranking of Most Streamed Albums on Spotify. They are also the youngest group on the list (2016 debut).
• BLACKPINK joins Fifth Harmony as the only female groups to have an album spend half a year on the Billboard 200 Chart (Within the 2010 decade).
• BLACKPINK is the only Korean female artist to have an album rank in the best selling albums (all formats) in 2020.
• BLACKPINK ties with Twice as the female group with most songs to be certified Platinum Streaming on Gaon (3).
• BLACKPINK is the only female group to appear on both Year-end IFPI Album charts.
• BLACKPINK was the best selling female group in March 2021 with 47,121 cumulative sales.
• BLACKPINK joins Ariana Grande in having the most songs in the Top 10 biggest debuts for an all-female collaboration in Spotify history (3).
• BLACKPINK is the most streamed Korean female act of all-time with about 22 billion streams worldwide.
• BLACKPINK is the fastest artist in history to surpass 17 billion views on YouTube (4.75 years).
• BLACKPINK is the #1 searched female group on MelOn (Over 1.7M searches).
• BLACKPINK ranked within the top 20 Top Music Influencers on Instagram, April 2021. They are the only female kpop artists and kpop group in the Top 20.
• BLACKPINK has 3.2 billion streams this decade on Spotify. They are the most streamed female group of this decade.
• BLACKPINK is the first K-Pop artist to enter the Top 10 on Worldwide Apple Music Song Chart Artist Totals (Since April 2013).
• BLACKPINK’s North American sold-out arena show at Forum, is the highest grossing single-concert by a female group in North America history ($1,876,188).
• BLACKPINK has 14 songs on the MelOn Daily Top 1000 songs in Korea last April 20, 2021. The most for any female group.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 K-Pop act to have the most songs surpass 2.5 million unique listeners on Genie. (3)
• Each of BLACKPINK’s singles since debut have ranked within the Top 10 on Gaon Digital Chart in South Korea.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 K-Pop female act with the most weeks on the UK Singles chart. (39 weeks)
• BLACKPINK is the most streamed female group on United States YouTube music insights with over 127 million streams accumulated in 15 weeks of 2021.
• BLACKPINK is the female group with the most songs to chart for 300 days in the top 100 on MelOn Daily Chart (5).
• BLACKPINK reached 250 million certified streams in Japan (RIAJ; 7 songs).
• They’re the first and only artists from YG with the most RIAJ (Japan) certified streams.
• BLACKPINK ranked #2 on Forbes Korea Power Celebrity Overall Power Ranking in 2021.
• NYLON mentioned each of the members of BLACKPINK in their list of The Best Kpop and Fashion Crossovers We’ve Seen So Far.
• BLACKPINK is the first and only female K-Pop act to be nominated at the Billboard Music Awards in 2021. They’re the first female group that debuted in the 2010’s to receive a nomination.
• BLACKPINK is the 5th most streamed female act on Spotify in 2020 with their songs released only that year. (1.630B streams; 9 songs released)
• BLACKPINK ranks among the top 10 most followed female acts of all-time on Spotify they’re the only female group inside the top 10.
• BLACKPINK was Spotify’s most streamed female group in April 2021 with 166,966,722 streams.
• BLACKPINK is the first Kpop female act in history to have 10 songs sell over 500K units in the US.
• Gold House named BLACKPINK as one of the 100 Most Impactful Asians of 2021, BLACKPINK are the only Kpop act on the list.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group in 2021 with the most cumulative days of songs charted on Spotify Daily Global Top 200 chart. (103 days, 3 songs)
• BLACKPINK is the first female group in 2022 with the most song entries on Spotify Global Chart (4 songs).
• BLACKPINK is the first female group to hit #1 on the Spotify Global Chart.
• BLACKPINK is the first girl group with the most songs to chart on Spotify Global Chart Top 50. (13)
• BLACKPINK is the first K-pop female act with the most songs entered on Spotify Global Chart Top 200. (17)
• BLACKPINK is the most streamed female group for the past 13 consecutive months on Spotify.
• BLACKPINK is the first K-pop group to hit #1 on the ARIA Singles Chart.
• BLACKPINK is the first female group to spend 30 weeks on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart since the Pussycat Dolls.
• BLACKPINK has 5 songs with 100 million on-demand streams each in the US. The most for any Korean female act.
• BLACKPINK has the most entries for the most viewed female music videos on YouTube. They’re the only group in the top 100. (5 songs)
• BLACKPINK is the first act in Gaon history to receive a certification for all of its existing categories (Album, Streaming and Download).
• BLACKPINK is the most streamed YG artist on Genie. (563M).
• BLACKPINK is the 16th female artist with the most followers on the main streaming and social media platforms (Spotify, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and Deezer).
• BLACKPINK is the most streamed K-Pop female group on Pandora with 91.1 million streams, surpassing Girl's Generation 81.1 million streams.
• BLACKPINK is the 1st Korean act ever to be eligible for a VEVO certification.
• BLACKPINK is the first group & female act in history to be on the cover of Vogue Korea (multiple times).
• BLACKPINK ranks among the top 10 most followed female acts on YouTube and Spotify. (#1 female group on Youtube #2 overall, #9 on Spotify #33 overall)
• BLACKPINK has spent over 400 cumulative weeks in the top 100 on MelOn weekly chart.
• BLACKPINK and and OH MY GIRL are the only female groups with the most song entries on the Melon Daily chart Top 1000 (14).
• BLACKPINK’s Official YouTube Channel has been recognized by Guinness World Records as the “Most Subscribers for a Band on YouTube”.
• BLACKPINK is the 29th best selling digital artist in the world. They’re the only female group in the Top 70 of the list.
• BLACKPINK is the 8th best performing female act across digital platforms.
• BLACKPINK is the only YG Artist to enter Spotify Japan Weekly Top Albums Chart.
• BLACKPINK is the first and only K-Pop female artist to have an album spend more than one week on the Billboard 200. (KTL)
• BLACKPINK is the first and only K-Pop girl group to be certified in the UK multiple times. (3 certifications)
• BLACKPINK is the first female group to have four songs spend 50 weeks in the top 100 on MelOn weekly chart. (PWF, AIIYL, DDDD, HYLT)
• BLACKPINK has 3 billion views on YouTube in 2021 alone (only MVs & Dance Practice). Overall they have 3 Billion cumulative chart views on YouTube Music chart in the first 23 weeks of 2021.
• BLACKPINK has the most streamed song by a female group each year since 2017 on Spotify. (AIIYL, KMU, KTL, HYLT)
• BLACKPINK has been the K-Pop female act with the most monthly listeners on Spotify for 36 consecutive months (since June 2018).
• BLACKPINK is the only female group to have multiple songs with over 5.4 unique listeners on MelOn. (2)
• BLACKPINK has over 200 million on-demand audio streams in the US in 2021.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group with the most songs to spend at least 40 weeks each in the top 50 on MelOn weekly chart. (3)
• BLACKPINK is the only Korean female group to enter UK Spotify Daily Chart with 12 song entries.
• BLACKPINK has the most top 10 entries among female groups on the global Spotify chart. (7)
• BLACKPINK is the first K-pop Act to enter the top 3 in history on the Billboard Hot Dance/Electronic Songs Chart.
• BLACKPINK is the first girl group to debut in the top 15 in history on the US Rolling Stone Top 100 Chart.
• BLACKPINK is the first female artist with the most videos over 20M likes on YouTube in history. (2)
• BLACKPINK is the only female group/act in the Top 25 most liked videos on Youtube. They’re the only female act with four videos on the list.
• BLACKPINK becomes the female group with the most songs (3 songs) to surpass 800 million Digital Points on Gaon.
• They’re the only YG Artist to reach a million wever (followers).
• They are the most followed female group on the platform.
• BLACKPINK becomes the first female group in history to have multiple albums surpass 400M streams on MelOn (2).
• BLACKPINK has seven songs in the top 200 of the most streamed songs on Genie.
• BLACKPINK is the first female act in history with 60 videos reaching 1 million likes on YouTube.
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group with the most non-single tracks to reach 100 million streams on Spotify (7).
• BLACKPINK is the first girl group on Gaon with 2 albums with at least 2 songs to be certified Platinum on Streaming (100,000,000 streams).
• BLACKPINK has accumulated 4.096 billion views on YouTube Music Global Chart in 2021.
• They’re the #1 female group with the most #1s in South Koreas brand reputation index (20).
• BLACKPINK ties with Oh My Girl as the only girl groups with multiple songs that exceeded 60 weeks each on the MelOn Weekly Chart Top 100. (2)
• BLACKPINK is the #1 female group with the most songs to spend at least 50 weeks each in the top 100 on MelOn weekly chart.
• BLACKPINK ranked #2 as the ”Highest Earning K-Pop Artist YouTube Channels of 2021” by Forbes Korea with the total estimated earning of 13.5 Billion Won ($11.6 Million)
• BLACKPINK is the best selling 2010s female group worldwide with over 17 million album sales combined.
• BLACKPINK is the first & only Kpop female artist in the Top 300 most streamed albums on Spotify.
• BLACKPINK is the fourth female group in history to have an album sell over 6M worldwide (CSPC).
• BLACKPINK was the first and only Korean female act to perform at MTV Video Music Awards in 2022.
• BLACKPINK is the first K-Pop female group in history to win the category for best Metaverse Performance.
• BLACKPINK becomes the 6th female group to have a song with over 500 million streams on Spotify. (HYLT)
• They're tied with Fifth Harmony as the female group with most songs to do so (2).
• BLACKPINK is the first K-Pop female act with an album certified in the UK.
• BLACKPINK was the most streamed girl group globally on Deezer in 2021.
• BLACKPINK was the top most streamed female group of Spotify wrapped in 2021 (#2 globally).
• BLACKPINK ranked at #36 on Billboard Global Excl. US Artists Year-end chart in 2021. They’re the highest-charting female group.
• BLACKPINK is the first female group in history to reach 100 award wins for an album (The Album).
• BLACKPINK has over 50,000 followers on Vibe Naver, the second most followed female group on the platform.
• BLACKPINK is the only girl group to appear on Gaon Year End Digital Chart Top 50 for 6 straight years from 2016-2021.
• BLACKPINK is the first and only K-Pop female group to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 singles chart.
• BLACKPINK is the first female group to simultaneously debut at #1 on the US and UK albums charts since Destiny's Child in 2001. (Born Pink)
• BLACKPINK is the first Korean girl group to debut at #1 on the Billboard 200. (Born Pink)
• BLACKPINK's code is 757, so called because it's their birthdates added together.
• As of November 2023, all members were awarded Members of British Empire by Prince Charles III for their services to Music.

Latest Releases

• The news comes as Blackpink wraps up its "Born Pink" world tour, in what has been described as the largest world tour by a K-pop girl group.
• The last two days of the tour, held in Seoul on September 16 and 17, will be hosted by Blackpink. [71]
• ↑ @ygent_official on Twitter (June 29, 2016)
• ↑ Korea Herald: Black Pink is newest YG girl group
• ↑ @ on Twitter (August 3, 2016)
• ↑ Genie: "Whistle" Song Information
• ↑ Genie: "Boombayah" Song Information
• ↑ IMDB: Blackpink: Whistle
• ↑ IMDB: Blackpink: Boombayah
• ↑ Billboard: Blackpink’s Major Debut: New K-Pop Girl Group Lands No. 1 & 2 on World Digital Songs Chart
• ↑ Gaon Chart: Digital Chart 2016.08 Month
• ↑ Gaon Chart: Download Chart2016.08 Month
• ↑ Gaon Chart: Streaming Chart 2016.08 Month
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK Tops 3 Charts On China’s Leading Music Site
• ↑ AllKpop: These 10 groups are the fastest to win a music show
• ↑ DK Pop News: Black Pink to End Their Promotions With Goodbye Stages At 'Inkigayo' on Sept 11
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK Wins “Inkigayo” With “Whistle”; Performances By MOBB, Red Velvet, NCT DREAM, And More!
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK Reveals Second Comeback Title Track “Stay” Teasers
• ↑ Genie: Square Two Album Information
• ↑ [ Billboard: Blackpink Earn Second No. 1 on World Digital Songs, Debut on Social 50
• ↑ YouTube: BLACKPINK - '불장난 (PLAYING WITH FIRE)' 1106 SBS Inkigayo
• ↑ 《Comeback Special》 BLACKPINK (블랙핑크) - STAY @인기가요 Inkigayo 20161106
• ↑ YouTube: (BLACKPINK - PLAYING WITH FIRE) Comeback Stage M COUNTDOWN 161110 EP.500
• ↑ YouTube: (BLACKPINK - STAY) Comeback Stage M COUNTDOWN 161110 EP.500
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK To Officially Debut In Japan
• ↑ Soompi: Watch: BLACKPINK Last MV
• ↑ Gaon Chart: 100 Million Streams/ 2.5 Million Downloads
• ↑ Billboard: Blackpink Score Third No. 1 on World Digital Song Sales Chart, Lead K-Pop Females
• ↑ YGEX: Released on 8/30 (Wed.) M/V (JP ver.) from Japan debut mini album "BLACKPINK" released!
• ↑ @ygent_official/ on Twitter (June 1, 2018)
• ↑ @ygent_official/ on Twitter (June 4, 2022)
• ↑ Gaon Chart: Digital Chart 2018.06 Month
• ↑ Gaon Chart: Digital Chart 2018.07 Month
• ↑ Billboard: Billboard Hot 100
• ↑ Billboard: BLACKPINK Makes K-Pop History on Hot 100, Billboard 200 & More With ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’
• ↑ @ on Twitter (September 12, 2018)
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK Signs With U.S. Label Interscope Records
• ↑ @ on Twitter (November 1, 2018)
• ↑ Billboard: BLACKPINK, Greta Van Fleet To Perform GRAMMY Eve At UMG Party
• ↑ Billboard: BLACKPINK to Perform on ‘The Late Show’
• ↑ Good Morning America: Female K-Pop group BLACKPINK performs live on 'GMA' as North American tour is announced
• ↑ Billboard: Blackpink: See All 5 Billboard Covers
• ↑ Soompi: Update: BLACKPINK Unveils Preview Of Physical Album For “Kill This Love”
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK And HYUKOH Confirmed To Perform At U.S. Music Festival Coachella
• ↑ Allkpop: BLACKPINK reveals album cover for the Japanese version of 'Kill This Love'
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK’s “In Your Area” World Tour Named As Most Successful Tour By K-Pop Girl Group
• ↑ Sweet 'Sour Candy'! Blackpink, Lady Gaga collaboration confirmed, finally
• ↑ Forbes: Blackpink Reached A New Hot 100 Peak With ‘Sour Candy,’ But Their Next Single Could Chart Even Higher
• ↑ Pink Villa: Countdown begins for BLACKPINK's epic three-part comeback; To drop pre-release single on THIS day
• ↑ Korea Times: BLACKPINK members to release solo tracks
• ↑ YG Life: BLACKPINK to Release Second New Single on August… Shocking Collaboration Coming Up
• ↑ @ygent_official on Twitter (July 28, 2020)
• ↑ Billboard: Selena Gomez Confirms BLACKPINK Collaboration
• ↑ Billboard: Blackpink & Selena Gomez Just Confirmed the Title of Their Collaboration & It’s a Treat
• ↑ Headline Planet: “Ice Cream” Music Video Also Arrives On August 28, BLACKPINK & Selena Gomez Share Teaser
• ↑ @BLACKPINK on Twitter (July 1, 2020)
• ↑ BLACKPINK WEVERSE Announcement
• ↑ BLACKPINK Island Released on August 6
• ↑ Billboard: Here’s When BLACKPINK Will Be Back With New Music & A World Tour
• ↑ Release date confirmation .
• ↑ YG Entertainment Shares That BLACKPINK Has Started Filming Music Video
• ↑ 'BORN PINK' Announcement Trailer .
• ↑ (KR) Naver: 블랙핑크, 9월 정규 2집으로 돌아온다…10월부터 월드투어
• ↑ @BLACKPINK on Twitter (August 8, 2022)
• ↑ @ygent_official on Twitter (August 9, 2022)
• ↑ @BLACKPINK on Twitter (August 10, 2022)
• ↑ @BLACKPINK on Twitter (August 16, 2022)
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK Revealed To Be Filming MV For Upcoming Studio Album “BORN PINK”
• ↑ Soompi: BLACKPINK Becomes First Girl Group In History To Be Named TIME Magazine’s Entertainer Of The Year
• ↑ 50 Women Who Broke Barriers in the Music Industry
• ↑ BLACKPINK Ambassadors For Climate Change
• ↑ Variety Names BLACKPINK As Women That Have Made An Impact in Global Entertainment
• How You Like That
• Pretty Savage
• Bet You Wanna
• Lovesick Girls
• Crazy Over You
• Love To Hate Me
• You Never Know
• Ddu-Du Ddu-Du
• Forever Young
• See U Later
• Kill This Love
• Don't Know What To Do
• Ddu-Du Ddu-Du (Remix ver.)
• Playing With Fire
• Whistle (Acoustic Ver.)
• On The Ground
• All Eyes On Me
• As If It's Your Last
• Whistle (Acoustic ver.)
• Ddu'Du Ddu-Du
• 2 BLACKPINK

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How Blackpink Became The Biggest K-Pop Girl Band On The Planet

By Taylor Glasby

It’s taken just four years for Blackpink to become one of the biggest girl bands in the world, with members Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé and Lisa continuing to smash new records and forge new ground. They were the first K-pop girl group to play at Coachella and to reach 1 billion YouTube views — now they’re the most-subscribed-to music group on the platform — as well as being the first girl group from any country to feature on Forbes Asia ’s 30 Under 30 list. Read more: 7 K-Pop Stars Shaping Fashion In 2020 In 2019, they broke three Guinness World Records with the single “ Kill This Love ”, which has had more than 312 million plays on Spotify and over 824 million YouTube views — a mere fraction of the quartet’s billions of streams, downloads, views and followers. That same year they also undertook the most financially successful concert tour by a Korean female group. They’ve been front-row fixtures at runway shows and the faces of mega brands including Chanel, Puma, Louis Vuitton and Dior. And all this with just a handful of songs in their repertoire. How on earth did they do it?

New-gen girl band

As the first girl group in seven years out of YG Entertainment (home to K-pop legends Bagbang, 2NE1 and formerly, Psy), excitement prior to Blackpink’s August 2016 debut had built to fever pitch. There were big shoes to fill; the beloved, trailblazing four-member girl group 2NE1 were over and Blackpink were expected to revive the bold EDM pop sound they’d embodied. Their debut, Square One , was an overnight smash, the insistent build of “ Whistle ” and cocky chorus on “ Boombayah ” making for a short but thrilling introduction.

In November 2016, second single album Square Two featured a pop banger (“ Playing With Fire ”), an acoustic version of “Whistle” and “ Stay ”, a country-influenced track that allowed them to flex their vocal wings away from their ‘girl crush’ concept (K-pop vernacular for a fiery look and sound that’s proved immensely popular with international audiences).

Though dubbed ‘the new 2NE1’ during their rookie days, watching some of their first appearances on Korean variety shows brings into focus not only Blackpink’s chaotically entertaining presence but the determination to carve out their own identities. Vocalist Jisoo has become a face for beauty brands Kiss Me and Dior; rapper and vocalist Jennie has branched out as a soloist and a powerful influencer; New Zealand-born Rosé ’s distinct vocal has seen her on hits for G-Dragon, while Thailand-born rapper and dancer Lisa is the most-followed K-pop star on Instagram.

By Philipp Wehsack

By Ellie Pithers

By Elise Taylor

Then, and now, they recognise the need for each other to complete the group alchemy that’s endeared them to millions. “I don’t think a specific member should do more dancing or one member does more singing. I think Blackpink’s harmony is complete because of each person’s energy,” Jennie told Vogue Korea earlier this year.

The Blinks  

Avril , a 16-year-old Blink (Blackpink’s fandom name) from Peru discovered them in 2018. “Everything about them made me become a fan,” she tells Vogue over Twitter. “The way they perform, their iconic songs and choreos, their friendship, even the way they dress. Blackpink were on a whole new level.” Meanwhile, McElvin , a 22-year-old long-time K-pop fan in the Philippines, was on board even before their debut. “Blackpink has this engaging, charismatic feeling,” he explains via Twitter. “They’re the visualisation of pure talent and energy that a K-pop girl group must have. They’re the whole package for me.”

The longstanding vision of K-pop as a blinged-out, ultra-slick fantasy world was created by three labels — YG Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and SM Entertainment. YG is renowned for maximalist visuals and a heavy, club-friendly sound devised by in-house writer/producer Teddy Park — the man behind some of K-pop’s biggest, hookiest hits. On Blackpink’s 2018 “ Ddu-du-ddu-du ” (“DDDD” for short) all these elements aligned to produce an irresistible pop package.

Nineteen-year-old Ally (not her real name), a Singaporean who runs a sizeable fan account on Twitter calls “DDDD” “their total breakthrough”. Success lay in the catchy titular refrain, the memorable finger-gun dance and a gloriously excessive video, but also in Blackpink themselves as aspirational but emulatable, aesthetically fierce but not intimidating, killer on stage but adorable off it. The four-track EP, Square Up , would go platinum in South Korea, “DDDD” would reach gold in the US, becoming their first billion-view video, and “ Kill This Love ” would make them the first-ever Korean girl group to enter the UK singles chart.

Is less more?

These milestones came via a fandom that had grown rapidly since late 2016, but who had to wait eight months for 2017’s single “As If It’s Your Last”, then an entire year for its follow-up “Square Up”. One release per year was once standard in K-pop, when there were fewer groups fighting for a share of a small domestic market. Groups now average two or three releases (known as ‘comebacks’) a year in a bid to grow and maintain fandoms, but YG Entertainment — one of South Korea’s oldest K-pop agencies — remained unapologetically committed to less is more.

It’s not a failsafe plan — it draws constant fan criticism, petitions and boycott threats — but the old-school approach, in an era of oversaturation and instant gratification, has created heightened desire and demand. It’s turned every comeback into a global event and has funnelled the fandom’s streaming power into the kind of headline-making, spreadsheet-melting numbers that have seduced many a label executive.

Fashion’s FROW favourites

Like many successful musicians, Blackpink understands the power in marrying the worlds of music and fashion. Their innate understanding of style has made them hot property, with the girls now FROW fixtures at Fashion Week. In September 2019, Jisoo popped to London for Burberry, while Rosé wowed at Saint Laurent (and was also asked by Anthony Vaccarello to be brand ambassador). Meanwhile, Jennie found herself next to Cardi B at Chanel, for whom she is also a brand ambassador .

In February 2020, Lisa — currently muse for Hedi Slimane’s Celine — took a trip to Milan for Prada’s autumn/winter 2020 show. Given their proven selling power — magazines have reported needing to print quadruple copies to supply demand, their tours sell out in seconds — the relationship between the band and fashion’s leading houses will long continue to flourish.

Lisa with Miuccia Prada at the Prada autumn/winter 2020 show in Milan.

A global plan

Blackpink signed to US-based Interscope Records in late 2018, a direct play for the American market and something no South Korean girl group had tried since Girls’ Generation in 2012. Despite their skill and experience, Blackpink’s awkward, lacklustre February 2019 performances on Good Morning America and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert were widely panned. But in front of a vast, mostly K-pop-unaware audience at Coachella, the universality of the group’s songs bloomed, earning rave reviews. A high point was the rousing “ Kill This Love ”, the title single from their new EP.

“Kill This Love” would go UK top 40 and US top 50, making Blackpink and BTS the only South Korean pop groups to have impacted these hard-to-reach singles charts. There will always be those dismissive of K-pop for reasons such as the language barrier yet, for decades, non-Korean-speaking audiences have connected in meaningful ways to its songs, and Blackpink is no exception. “They have [tracks] that can make you sentimental, songs to boost your confidence, you can literally dance all your sadness away just listening to them,” says McElvin, while Sansi, an 18-year-old French Blink, describes their tracks via email as “a mix between sad and joyful. Blackpink puts so much love into everything they do, their energy and positive auras are so strong.”

It’s rare that the members aren’t busy, even when there isn’t a release to promote. They often turn to Instagram to communicate with their combined 128 million followers (including the main Blackpink account), and have focused on solidifying their A-list status as fashion icons (such as Jennie’s recent collaboration with luxury eyewear brand Gentle Monster), industry mentors and accidental viral queens (Lisa’s stint on survival show Youth With You and her performance video that became a Did it work? meme).

And finally, a year after their last record, the wait is almost over. There’s the forthcoming Lady Gaga collaboration, Sour Candy , on her album Chromatica , and a June comeback from the band itself. Blinks are ecstatic. “They never disappoint,” says Avril. “Their name is becoming bigger and bigger, and I couldn’t be more proud. They deserve it.” Undoubtedly the new material will be a success; there’s nowhere for the quartet to go except up.

The question might be, what exactly does this success look like? Could they eventually be the first K-pop girl group to break the west? The opportunity is there for the taking, but that means new successes must be capitalised upon and old strategies reexamined and refined. Now is the time for Blackpink to really be the revolution.

Blackpink will release a new album in June.

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Smashing records around the globe, BLACKPINK have quickly become the biggest girl group on the planet. Here are ten things you need to know about them.

Published on

Since releasing their debut single, “Boombayah,” in August 2016, South Korean girl group BLACKPINK have been nothing short of a phenomenon, smashing chart, and streaming records while gaining success way beyond K-Pop’s traditional heartland. Ahead of the release of their new Kill This Love EP and history-making world tour, here are ten things you need to know about the world’s hottest girl group.

Got any favorite facts you think we should know about BLACKPINK? Tell us in the comments section.

Listen to the best of BLACKPINK on Apple Music and Spotify , and scroll down to read the ten things you need to know about the group.

ATEEZ Announces Details Of Third Japanese Single ‘Not Okay’

‘blackpink: a vr encore’ set to premiere on december 26, bts’ ‘monuments: beyond the star’: how to watch, 10 things you need to know about blackpink, 1: they hold the record for most-viewed music video by a k-pop band.

Despite only being released in June 2018, the music video for BLACKPINK’s single “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” has already leapt ahead of their rivals’ videos. Breaking records from the start (within 24 hours of its release, it became the most viewed video on YouTube), it has since rocketed to over 734 million views in nine months.

2: They’re the highest-charting South Korean girl group of all time

“Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” rewrote history when it debuted at No.55 on the Billboard Hot 100, also reaching No.39 on the streaming songs tally. The single was released as part of the Square Up EP – which itself broke records for a South Korean girl group by peaking at No.40 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

3: They have more YouTube followers than anyone else

With over 20 million YouTube subscribers to date, it’s safe to say that BLACKPINK have got the viewing platform nailed. Astonishingly, despite their huge popularity in their homeland, South Korea (with 162 million views over the last year) represents only their sixth most popular market, behind Indonesia (644 million views), Thailand (401 million), the Philippines (296 million), Vietnam (246 million) and the US (164 million), according to YouTube’s music charts and insights tool.

4: They speak five different languages

While all the members of BLACKPINK are fluent in Korean and Japanese, their international backgrounds also give them the advantage of being able to communicate freely with fans across the world. Jennie grew up in New Zealand; Rosé was born in New Zealand but was brought up in Australia; and Lisa was born and raised in her native Thailand. Only Seoul-raised Jisoo is yet to fully master English, though she also speaks Chinese.

5: They’re signed to YG Entertainment

Which agency you come from makes a huge difference in the South Korean pop industry. Known as one of the “big three” alongside SM Entertainment and JYP Entertainment, YG’s past and present artists such as Big Bang, Psy and 2NE1 have always offset their pure pop leanings with a healthy dose of hard-edged hip-hop. BLACKPINK carry on that tradition in fine style with Jennie and Lisa’s fierce raps counterbalancing Jisoo and Rosé’s honeyed vocals.

6: BLACKPINK fans have their own name

Like most K-Pop acts, BLACKPINK’s loyal fans have been given their own unique collective moniker. While followers of boy band BTS and girl group Twice have been labelled, respectively, as ARMY and Once, dedicated BP obsessives are known as Blinks.

7: They have their own television show

Want to get to know the girls better? They have their own reality TV series, BLACKPINK House . Over 12 episodes, you can follow them going about their daily life, doing everything from cleaning and the laundry to visiting Korean-style saunas and paragliding in Thailand. Originally shown on TV in Korea, it’s now available on YouTube.

8: Quality is key

Having released only nine tracks up until now, BLACKPINK is something of an anomaly in the fast-paced, multi-release world of K-pop. But with each song fine-honed by YG’s songwriting/production supremo Teddy Park, alongside various songwriters, there’s a consistency to their output that’s almost unparalleled in the genre. Simply put, BLACKPINK songs are all-killer, no-filler.

Of the songs released prior to the Kill This Love EP, their previous EP, Square Up , features the hard-hitting club banger “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du,” the uplifting pop of “Forever Young,” the groove-heavy “Really” and the sassy “See Ya Later.” After that, be sure to check out the swaggering electro of their first two singles, “Whistle” and “Boombayah,” the thumping house anthem “Playing With Fire” and the acoustic ballad “Stay,” before acquainting yourself with the moombahton-laced bubblegum pop of standalone single “As If It’s Your Last.” The girls also featured on Dua Lupa’s “Kiss And Make Up,” which appeared on the deluxe edition of her debut album and peaked at No.93 in the Billboard charts.

9: They’re going solo

With projects planned for each individual band member, there will be plenty more opportunities to appreciate each of the girls’ unique strengths and flavors. Jennie was the first member to release a solo effort, putting out the trap-influenced electro banger “Solo” in November 2018. The single became the most viewed video by a female K-Pop solo artist in the first 24 hours of its release.

10: They’re about to play live near you

BLACKPINK will kick off the US leg of their In Your Area world tour on April 12. Beginning with a headline-making appearance on both weekends at Coachella (making them the first K-Pop act to play the Californian festival), the group will play a series of arenas across the US and Canada before heading to Europe and Australia.

BLACKPINK’s Kill This Love EP is out on 5 April. Listen to it here .

Looking for more? Dig deeper into the history of K-Pop .

April 5, 2019 at 7:19 pm

“Blackpink have quickly become the biggest K-Pop group on the planet”

Not when BTS exists. I have to laugh.

April 6, 2019 at 6:14 pm

July 31, 2019 at 10:38 am

June 30, 2020 at 6:23 am

when i saw blakpink has the most youtube followers but um pewdipie tseires cant spell btw

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Blackpink: How You Like That scores the biggest premiere in YouTube history

• Published 26 June 2020

Blackpink, the Korean band whose lavish videos regularly attract millions of viewers, have set a new record for the biggest music video premiere on YouTube

A total of 1.65 million fans tuned in for the unveiling of their new song How You Like That, breaking a record set by fellow K-pop stars BTS in February.

The highly-anticipated track marked the band's return after a year-long hiatus.

Last year, the quartet became the first K-pop group to have a video reach a billion views on YouTube .

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How You Like That is billed as a "pre-single" that sets the scene for the band's first full-length studio album, due in September.

The video sees Lisa, Jennie, Rosé and Jisoo in a variety of dramatically-lit settings, from a lush rainforest and an ice palace to a room filled with scorched umbrellas, and a grand domed hall, where the quartet are surrounded by dancers and statues of horses.

The hip-hop-infused track also blends elements of Arabic music during Lisa's second verse rap, while the lyrics deliver a "positive and hopeful" message.

"We sang to give the message of not being daunted by dark situations and to not lose the confidence and strength to stand up again," said Jisoo in a pre-release press conference.

The band are set to perform the song for the first time on Jimmy Fallon's US chat show on Friday, 26 June.

Blackpink were formed in 2016 in Seoul, and rapidly became one of Korea's most popular pop bands.

They became the first K-pop girl band to perform a set at the Coachella music festival, and scored their first UK chart success with the single Kill This Love last year.

The quartet are also the most-subscribed music group on YouTube, with 37.5 million followers who call themselves "Blinks".

After taking time off to work on their debut album, the stage was set for their return when they featured on Lady Gaga's recent single Sour Candy. The track reached number 17 in the UK earlier this month, giving the band their biggest hit to date.

How You Like That premiered on their VLive and YouTube channels at 10:00 BST on Friday.

The audience narrowly eclipsed a record set by BTS earlier this year, when the premiere of their video On attracted 1.54 million concurrent viewers.

Follow us on Facebook , or on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts . If you have a story suggestion email [email protected] .

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Blackpink: 11 facts you need to know about the Shut Down girl group

1. everything you need to know about blackpink.

Over the course of the past decade, Blackpink have become one of the biggest girl groups of all time. Get to know the talented band here.

2. Who are the Blackpink members?

There are four members in Blackpink. There’s Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa. Lisa is a rapper, Jisoo and Rosé are vocalists and Jennie is a rapper and a vocalist.

3. How old are the members of Blackpink?

Jisoo was born on January 3, 1995, making her 28 years old. Jennie is 27 years old and her birthday is January 16, 1996. Rosé was born on February 11, 1997 and is 25 years old. Meanwhile, Lisa is also 25 years old her birthday is March 27, 1997.

4. Who is Jisoo from Blackpink?

South Korean singer Jisoo is one of the vocalists in Blackpink. The star became a YG Entertainment trainee in 2011, training for five years to become a singer. She joined Blackpink in August 2016, and released her first solo single 'Flower' in 2023.

5. Who is Jennie from Blackpink?

Jennie Kim is a South Korean rapper, singer and model. The Blackpink member studied at ACG Parnell College in New Zealand from the age of 9, but moved back to South Korea in 2010. She released her debut solo single 'Solo' in 2018 and plays the role of Dyanne in The Idol on HBO.

6. Who is Lisa from Blackpink?

Lisa was born in Bangkok, Thailand, but is now based in South Korea. Her real name is Lalisa Manoban. With over 95 million followers on Instagram, she is one of the most followed people in the entire world. In 2021, she released her hit singles 'Lalisa' and 'Money'.

7. Who is Rosé from Blackpink?

Rosé's real name is Roseanne Park. She can play piano and guitar. Rosé was born in Auckland, New Zealand. She grew up in Melbourne, Australia before moving to South Korea to pursue her singing dreams. In 2021, Rosé released her debut solo single 'On the Ground'.

8. When did Blackpink release their first music?

Blackpink made their music debut in 2016 with their first single album Square One. The project contained the hit singles 'Whistle' and 'Boombayah'.

9. Blackpink made K-Pop history with their Coachella 2019 performance

Bagging yourself a slot at Coachella is no mean feat. And not only did Blackpink managed to get the gig, they changed history by becoming the first female K-Pop group to perform at the festival in 2019. Blackpink then went on to headline Coachella in 2023.

10. What are Blackpink’s biggest songs and how many do they have?

Some of the Blackpink’s biggest hits include ‘Kill This Love’, ‘How You Like That’, ‘Ddu-Du Ddu-Du’ and ‘Shut Down’. In total, as of June 2023, the band have released two albums, three EPs and multiple single albums.

11. Where are Blackpink from?

Jennie was born in South Korea, but lived in Auckland, New Zealand for 5 years. Jisoo was born in Seoul and was raised in South Korea. Rosé was born in Aukland, New Zealand, but grew up in Melbourne, Australia. Finally, Lisa was born in Bangkok, Thailand.

12. Do Blackpink have Instagram?

Blackpink fans can follow the K-Pop band on Instagram @blackpinkofficial. You can follow the girls too via @roses_are_rosie, @jennierubyjane, @sooyaaa_ and @lalalalisa_m.

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BLACKPINK on the Message of New Single ‘How You Like That’

F or many artists, reaching 10 million YouTube views is a commendable feat. But hitting that number is hardly a challenge for K-pop giant BLACKPINK , whose teaser for the new single “How You Like That”—a mere 20-second glimpse of the music video dropping on June 26—surpassed that many views within one day. That kind of immediate engagement is no surprise, given how long fans have waited for new music from one of the top girl groups in the world. After more than a year since the EP Kill This Love , Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa are back with a new single releasing ahead of BLACKPINK’s full-length album slated for September.

In South Korea, idol groups typically release songs or albums two to three times a year—in part to help keep them front and center in an already competitive industry in which dozens of new acts debut each year. BLACKPINK, which came onto the scene in 2016, has maintained its megastar status with a much smaller discography than most other groups, favoring quality over quantity with their releases . Dynamic music and fierce choreography are a given in the music videos, but what has elevated the group’s popularity is the attention given to fashion and beauty in every project. BLACKPINK members have been the faces of global brands including Chanel , Dior, Yves Saint Laurent, Celine and more. The teaser photos for “How You Like That” could easily pass for the pages of an avant-garde fashion magazine, suggesting that, again, the styling of the single will be discussed as much as the sound.

Despite not making a comeback since April 2019, BLACKPINK has continued to break records. In addition to being the most-subscribed-to music group on YouTube, their single “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” became the first music video from a K-pop group to reach one billion YouTube views last November. The members also embarked on the highest-grossing world tour by a K-pop girl group. Most recently, BLACKPINK collaborated with Lady Gaga on the track “Sour Candy” from her new album Chromatica . The part-English, part-Korean song marked BLACKPINK’s highest entry on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 33.

Prior to the release of “How You Like That,” the group spoke to TIME over email about the message of the new single, the role that fashion plays in BLACKPINK’s releases and dropping music during a global pandemic. “This might sound grand, but we wanted to give a hopeful message,” the group says. “In whatever dark times or situations we encounter, we want everyone to have the strength and confidence to be able to rise up again.”

This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

TIME: It’s been more than a year since you released your last EP, Kill This Love . How have you been spending your time, individually and as a group?

BLACKPINK: After releasing Kill This Love , we were pretty busy with our World Tour for a few months. We then started different projects while continuously working on our music. However, we were able to rest, spend time with family and friends, and recharge our personal lives.

This single is being released during the global pandemic and as coronavirus cases in multiple countries continue to rise. Do you think that changes the way in which listeners will process the message of “How You Like That”?

We believe that this song contains the message that even in the darkest times, we should persevere and fight through. We want everyone to find strength through our music.

Could you share an example of a time when you’ve personally persevered and fought through a darker time?

Last year, we had the opportunity to introduce our music to people around the world through our various activities including our EP release, world tour and Coachella . Although we were given such amazing opportunities, we were worried about how to relay our music in the best way possible. Through the fans’ support and with all of the members together, we were able to take it one step at a time.

Jisoo said in the “24/365 with BLACKPINK” prologue that if your previous songs gave off the vibe of being “strong and powerful,” this single is “more hip” and shows “swag.” Why did you take this new direction?

To show our unique BLACKPINK sound, we thought about what our fans wanted to see from us the most and what we could do best.

What do you think the unique BLACKPINK sound is?

We want BLACKPINK to not be defined as just one sound but a group that will always be able to change and develop. This song is a more intense hip-hop song that can be expressed while maintaining BLACKPINK’s original color and individuality. It includes powerful beats and an explosive drop so we’re really excited to see how our fans will react.

In terms of “what our fans wanted to see from us the most and what we could do best,” what do you think each of you do best? How are your individual strengths highlighted through BLACKPINK’s releases?

We keep thinking and longing about showing a new side of ourselves. It is important to be confident in ourselves and about the music and visuals we want to show. This eagerness and confidence were expressed in the overall message of the song, “to rise high in the midst of darkness.”

The teaser posters for “How You Like That” have received millions of engagements on social media, with heavy discussion around everything from your new hair colors to nail designs. How do your individual looks for this release help convey the message of “How You Like That”? More generally, what roles do beauty and styling play in BLACKPINK’s releases?

We believe that fashion plays a very important role when expressing our music. We feel like there is a synergy that really maximizes the power of our music when all of the vocals, emotions, dance, and fashion come together. Therefore, our stylists are very involved in the album-making process with us so that we are able to obtain the best results in terms of our fashion.

Your fandom has grown significantly since your debut in 2016. How have you changed the most in the four years since? What has made you proud?

We don’t think we’ve changed significantly since our debut and have maintained the same mindset. We are proud that as a group, we continue to release music that we are all satisfied with.

You are performing “How You Like That” for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon . What role do you see BLACKPINK playing in bringing K-pop to the world?

We think we are just fulfilling our roles as artists and continuing to be the best we can be. We obviously want to make music for our fans, and want to keep reaching larger audiences because music is universal.

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Blackpink review – K-pop juggernaut with world-beating attitude

O2 Arena, London Despite arriving late, and rumours of rifts behind the scenes, the South Korean superstars unleash their expertly blended mega hits with total commitment

K -pop prides itself on vertiginously high standards in all aspects of production, from its choreography to the carefully curated public images of its stars. So it’s surprising that the European leg of the biggest tour ever by an all-female K-pop act begins a tad late. A bemused American voice apologises for “technical difficulties” over the PA. (Blackpink’s world tour has transferred from a successful run in the US.) There’s little for “Blinks” – Blackpink fans – to do but watch the band’s videos and bash their heart-hammer light sticks , which produce a polite squeak, on the nearest hard surface.

When the assault on the senses finally begins, though, it is in earnest. Arena pop is known for its OTT staging and pyrotechnics. K-pop puts a rocket under all that. One of the drivers of the genre’s ubiquity in the past decade is the ability of the all-powerful South Korean production houses to cherrypick the most impactful aspects of western pop – trap beats, Swedish production signatures, anthemic pre-choruses, 1980s keyboard lines – and throw them in a blender, then sell them back to the world in enhanced forms.

Now on their second official studio album, having broken all sorts of records – the band sold 2.2m copies of the latest outing in just 48 hours in South Korea alone – Blackpink are especially skilled at this copy-paste shock and awe. For a tour promoting that long-awaited follow-up – Born Pink , released in September – minimalism was never an option. Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé come armed with as many dancers as they do hydraulics, plus a live band, umpteen costume changes and confetti cannons.

The four entertainers do not disappoint. From 2020’s The Album , Pretty Savage boasts a nagging motif and Korean-English raps, encapsulating the appeal of this most successful of girlbands: tough-girl “attitude”, but delivered with big, soaring choruses and sharp choreography. Every accusation that critics can level at pop – that it is mass-produced, that its cookie-cutter blandness feels unchallenging and repetitive – goes double for a lot of K-pop. But the very best of the genre (and Blackpink are huge for a reason) simply does away with everything musically boring. Soppy ballads are the very worst thing about pop. There are none here.

Tally , a banger from Born Pink , moves the attitude plot along significantly. “No one’s keeping tally, I do what I want with who I like,” sing Blackpink, boasting of their sexual freedom in a lyric liberally sprinkled with F-bombs. K-pop contracts are infamous for their restrictiveness , with trainees allegedly prevented from having relationships, and reportedly banned from fraternising with the opposite sex in the talent academies, allegedly until three years after their debut . Six years in, Blackpink are well clear of that clause (on paper at least), but tonight it feels as if they may still be singing this particular song from the heart.

Alternatively, they might just be very good at cosplaying a lot of swagger derived from US hip-hop and R&B. K-pop has long had huge issues with cultural appropriation that it has yet to satisfactorily resolve. Although not on a par, the band’s playful attempts at British accents tonight are pretty cringey too. You’re just grateful they don’t twerk.

For the uninitiated, there are introductions. Rosé – part-raised in Australia, her hair a pinky-blond colour – does a lot of the talking in between songs. Lisa, from Thailand, is one of Blackpink’s two rappers and seems to embody the Blackpink USP of sleek pugnaciousness a little more naturally than the others. The demure, enigmatic Jisoo draws particular affection from both the crowd and her bandmates, while rapper Jennie, who spent some years in New Zealand, handles more fan niceties. “Show me all your energy!” she asks.

Ah, energy. There is a common complaint among Blinks that Blackpink have actually produced very little music since debuting in 2016 compared with their more prolific K-pop peers. Although three of the four have released successful solo albums, all have side gigs in TV and film, and very visible tie-ins with French fashion houses , which has seemingly slowed their workrate. The upshot of all this alleged “laziness” (the internet fandom can be cruel) is that you get to hear a great deal of Blackpink’s potent, fat-free back catalogue over the course of a nearly two-hour show, with solo tunes from each member. Jisoo, yet to produce solo material, sings a cover; Rosé and Lisa – whose Lalisa single broke records on release last year – have the upper hand here. This is a slick show, delivered with commitment and the odd glimpse of human error. While trying to cover her bandmates with confetti, Rosé drops her mic off the stage.

The internet suggests that there might be rifts between members , and some previous legs of the tour have seen Blackpink accused of lacklustre performances. Speculation is intense about whether they have signed another contract with YG Entertainment, given that the standard seven-year contract many K-pop acts sign before fracturing is theoretically up for renewal in 2023. But Blackpink are booked to play what video ads tonight are claiming to be the biggest ever K-pop gig outdoors in Hyde Park next summer. Whatever the snafus at the O2, their careers seem to be running right on schedule.

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BLACKPINK Members Profile

BLACKPINK Fandom Name: BLINK BLACKPINK Official Fan Colors: Black & Pink (Not officially announced, but officially used on group’s logo and merchandise)

BLACKPINK Official Accounts: Instagram: blackpinkofficial Facebook: BLACKPINKOFFICIAL Twitter: ygofficialblink / BLACKPINK Youtube: Blackpink TikTok: Weverse: BLACKPINK

Jisoo Facts : – She was born in Gunpo, a city in the province of Gyeonggi, South Korea. – Jisoo has an older brother (named Kim Junghoon) and an older sister. – She trained for 5 years (2011 July). – Jisoo was the third member to be revealed. – She can speak Korean, Japanese and basic Chinese. – According to Jennie (V Live App), Jisoo doesn’t speak English (because she’s embarrassed to do it) but she can understand it very well. – Jisoo is called “Man Heart’s Destroyer” and “Boy Crush”. – Jisoo’s Chinese zodiac sign is Dog. – Jisoo can play the drums and the piano. – She has a 4D personality. – Her shoe size is 235mm. -Her fans often call her the unofficial sub rapper of BLACKPINK, after her rap in Pretty Savage(2020). – According to Jennie, Jisoo is the mood maker of the group. – Her ‘My Sweet Home’ Merch character is a bunny, named SOOYA . – Jisoo has a dog named Dalgom. – Her favorite number is 4. – Jisoo loves the color purple. – Jisoo really likes Pikachu (she has a lot of Pikachu merchandise). – Jisoo is a white belt in taekwondo. – Regarding food, she can eat almost everything (except organs), but she especially likes rice. – She is close friends with Twice’s Nayeon (since trainee days) and with Red Velvet’s Seulgi . – Jisoo was an Inkigayo MC (starting from Feb 5 2017 to Feb 3 2018). – She had a cameo appearance on KBS’s ‘The Producers’. – She acted in HISUHYUN ’s ‘I’m Different’ MV, EPIK HIGH – ‘스포일러(Spoiler) + 헤픈엔딩(Happen Ending)’ MV. – She appeared in different CFs such as Samsonite Red CF with Lee Minho (2015), Nikon 1 J5 CF (2015), Smart Uniform CF with iKON (2015, 2016), Angel Stone CF (2015),  LG Stylus2 CF (2016). – Jisoo ranked 78th on TC Candler “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2019”. – Jisoo ranked 26th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021”. – Jisoo, Rose, and Lisa all prefer cute guys over sexy ones. (Blackpink Live Radio Interview) – Jisoo said if she was a guy, she would date Rose because she would sing her songs. (AIIYL v-live) – Jisoo had a cameo appearance in Arthdal Chronicles . – In August 2020, she was confirmed as a leading actress for drama   Snowdrop . – Jisoo debuted as a soloist on March 31st, 2023 with single album “ME”. – On August 3, 2023, it was reported that she’s dating actor,  Ahn Bohyun , both of their agencies confirmed the relationship. – On October 24, 2023, it was revealed that the couple has since broken up due to their busy schedules. – Jisoo’s ideal type:  Someone who is really into her or who smiles pretty. Show more fun facts about Jisoo…

Jennie Facts : – She was born in Cheongdam-dong (Gangnam District) Seoul, South Korea. – Jennie lived in Auckland, New Zealand for 5 years. (“Knowing Brother”) – She studied in New Zealand at ACG Parnell College. – She doesn’t have any siblings. – She trained for 5 years 11 months (2010 August). – Jennie was the first member to be revealed (publicly). – Jennie can play acoustic and electric guitar. – Her nicknames are “Human Gucci” (because she wears expensive clothes), “Human Chanel” (because she is a brand ambassador), Jendeukie and NiNi. – She has 2 puppies, Kai and Kuma. – She is fluent in Korean, Japanese, and English. – Jennie’s Chinese zodiac sign is Pig. – Her ‘My Sweet Home’ Merch character is a bear, named GOMDEUKI . – Jennie can play the piano and the flute. – She has her driving license. – Her shoe size is 235mm. – Her favorite foods are anything that is Korean food. – Her favorite number is 1. – She is close friends with Nayeon (Twice) , Irene (Red Velvet) , Yerin (GFriend) , Chahee ( Melody Day ) and Lime ( Hello Venus ). – She acted in G-Dragon’s ‘That XX’ MV. – She was featured in BIG BANG G-Dragon’s ‘Black’, Lee Hi ’s ‘Special’ and BIG BANG Seungri’s ‘GG Be’. – She acted is several CFs for Sprite or CASS beer. – She is a regular member of the show “Village Survival, the Eight”. – Jennie prefers sexy guys over cute ones. (Blackpink Live Radio Interview) – Jennie said if she was a guy, she would date Jisoo because she makes her laugh. (AIIYL v-live) – On November 12. 2018, Jennie debuted as a soloist with the song “ SOLO “. – Jennie is ranked 13th on TC Candler “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2018”. – Jennie ranked 19th on TC Candler “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2019”. – Jennie ranked 30th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021”. – On January 1, 2019 it was revealed that Jennie and EXO ‘s Kai are dating. – On January 25, 2019 SM Entertainment confirmed that Jennie and Kai broke up,  in order to focus on their personal careers. – On February 24, 2021, Dispatch revealed that G-Dragon and Jennie have been dating for around a year. YG Ent. refused to comment on the matter. – Jennie’s ideal type:  Someone who is a hard worker. Show more fun facts about Jennie…

Rosé Facts : – She is Korean, but she was born in Auckland, New Zealand and raised in Melbourne, Box Hill (Australia), where she attended Canterbury Girls Secondary College. – She has an older sister, named Alice. – She moved to Korea back in 2012. (according to Rose during Weekly Idol) – Rosé has adopted a dog Hank: @hank_says_hank . – Rosé was the last member to be revealed. – Rosé placed first in YG auditions in Australia. – She can speak Korean, English, Japanese. – Her Chinese zodiac sign is Ox. – She trained for 4 years 2 months (2012 May). – Rosé is known as “Blackpink’s Goddess”. (Vlive Start Road from Jennie ep 2-3) – Pre-debut, Rosé used to be a cheerleader in Australia. – She’s known for her unique voice and slim waist (24 inches (60,96cm) wide). – She can play the piano and the guitar. – Rosé is left-handed (according to Jisoo during Channel+ Vapp) – She really likes Kimchi stew. – Rosé doesn’t like jokbal. – Her ‘My Sweet Home’ Merch character is a cat, named ROSIE . – Her shoe size is 240mm. – Rosé’s favorite number is 5. – Rosé loves mangoes. – Her hobbies are playing guitar, drawing, and riding the bicycle. – Rosé prefers to be called by her real name. – Chaeyoung (Rosé) is close to Twice’s Chaeyoung and Tzuyu , with Red Velvet’s Joy and Yeri , and with Ladies Code ‘s Ashley Choi. – She collaborated with G-Dragon for the song ‘Without You’. – Rosé appeared on the King Of Masked Singer. (Passed the first round) – Rosé ranked 66th on TC Candler “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2019”. – Rosé ranked 17th on TC Candler’s “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021”. – Rosé, Jisoo, and Lisa all prefer cute guys over sexy ones. (Blackpink Live Radio Interview) – Rosé said if she was a guy, she would date Jennie because she can cook well. (AIIYL v-live) – Rosé doesn’t like avocados. – Rosé debuted as a soloist on March 12, 2021, with first single album ‘-R-‘. – Rosé’s ideal type: Someone nice and genuine, with a good/ unique voice. She said there are many sunbaenims with great voices, but among them, Big Bang stand out. Show more fun facts about Rosé…

Lisa Facts : – Lisa was born in Buriram Province, and moved in Bangkok, Thailand at age three. – Lisa is an only child, according to SBS Cultwo Show (July 6 2017). – Lisa can play guitar and piano. – Lisa’s stepfather, who’s a top certified Swiss chef in Thailand, is Marco Brüschweiler. – She was born with the name Pranpriya, and her friends called her by the nickname Pockpack. It was changed to Lalisa after a fortune telling. (Lalisa means the one who is praised.) – She was the only person accepted to YG in the YG Audition in Thailand 2010. – She’s childhood friends with GOT7′s BamBam as they were both part of the dance crew We Zaa Cool. – She trained for 5 years 3 months (2011 April). – She became a trainee during middle school and lived in Korea since. – Lisa was the second member to be revealed. – Her ‘My Sweet Home’ Merch character is a Chick, named PPEU . – She can speak Korean, English, Japanese, Thai and basic Chinese. – Her Chinese zodiac sign is Ox. – Lisa is referred to as the “Thailand Princess” in her birthplace. – Members said she’s really playful and mischievous off stage. – Her favorite food are French fries. – Her favorite number is 27 because it her birthday. – Lisa loves make-up a lot (revealed on Get It Beauty). – Lisa plays Ukulele. – Her Korean favorite dish is Gamjatang (spicy pork spine soup). – Lisa’s friends with GOT7’s BamBam , CLC ’s Sorn, NCT’s Ten and (G)I-DLE ’s Minnie. – She appeared in BIG BANG Taeyang’s ‘Ringa Linga’ MV. – She acted in NONA9ON CF (2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017) – Lisa is one of the cast members in the show “Real Men 300”. – Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose, all prefer cute guys over sexy ones. (Blackpink Live Radio Interview) – Lisa said if she was a guy, she would date Jennie because she’s sexy. (AIIYL v-live) – Lisa is ranked 9th on TC Candler “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2018”. – Lisa ranked 3rd on TC Candler “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2019”. – Lisa ranked 2nd on TC Candler “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2020”. – Lisa ranked 1st on TC Candler “The 100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2021”. – Lisa was chosen as the dance mentor of Chinese show Youth With You 2 & 3. – She’s debuted as a soloist on September 10, 2021 with first single album “Lalisa”. – Lisa’s ideal type: She said she likes older guys, who can take good care of her. Also she likes kindhearted men, who can cook and who have a lifestyle that fits hers. Show more fun facts about Lisa…

You may also like: Quiz: How well do you know BlackPink? (Var.1) Quiz: How much do you know about BlackPink? (Var. 2) Quiz: Who’s your BlackPink girlfriend? Poll: Which is your favorite BlackPink ship? Poll: Which is your favorite BLACKPINK title track? Poll: What’s your favorite BlackPink Official MV? Poll: Who owned each era? (BLACKPINK version) BlackPink Discography Playlist: All BLACKPINK Official Collaborations BLACKPINK Awards History BLACKPINK Pets (PetPink)

Note: Please don’t copy-paste the content of this page to other sites/places on the web. If you use info from our profile, please kindly put a link to this post. Thanks a lot! 🙂 – Kprofiles.com

Note 2:  The  current listed positions  are based on the  official   BLACKPINK ’s   profile  in Melon, as well on the Korean show ‘ Get it Beauty ‘ where the member positions have been revealed. We may have a different opinion on the positions but we are respecting the publicly announced positions. When any updates regarding the positions will appear, we’ll update the profile again. Jisoo : Link Jennie : Link Rosé : Link Lisa : Link

For reference on MBTI types: E = Extroverted, I = Introverted N = Intuitive, S = Observant T = Thinking, F = Feeling P = Perceiving, J = Judging

Note 3: Jisoo updated her MBTI in June 2022 to INFJ (Her previous result is ESTP). (Source: Weverse) Jisoo updated her MBTI to INTP (Her previous results were ESTP & INFJ) in April 2023. (Source: WIRED ). Jisoo updated her MBTI to ISTP in May 2023. (Source: [오늘의 지수] EP.5 MBTI TEST )

(Special thanks to alwaysdreaminghigh, legitpotato, ivxx, Grace, Mina, Abhilash Menon, Blaackpiink, Ell Magnifico, No, Megha, Yolanda Diaz, Wandy, 임매진, Grace, Kei An Lendio, Limario, tra shh, Christian Kyle Forever_kpop___, well, Clorox Bleach, blackpink_daisy, Ahmad Adryan, Ayty El Semary, irem, Santi A, Chloé, Chichi, Jisung’s_flower, aboutzusvt, Zoya, yunjinvenom, Karren Ojas, cherryy, angel baee )

• Rosé 26%, 692208 votes 692208 votes 26% 692208 votes - 26% of all votes
• Lisa 25%, 680407 votes 680407 votes 25% 680407 votes - 25% of all votes
• Jennie 25%, 667134 votes 667134 votes 25% 667134 votes - 25% of all votes
• Jisoo 25%, 663742 votes 663742 votes 25% 663742 votes - 25% of all votes

Latest Korean Comeback:

Latest Japanese Comeback:

BLACKPINK: Who is Who?

Who is your BLACKPINK bias? Do you know more facts about them? Feel free to comment below. It can help new fans find more info about them. 🙂

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Gender and genre: BTS versus Blackpink

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As any inhabitant of planet earth with access to a computer or TV will have noted, boy band BTS and girl group Blackpink are seismically moving and shaking the global music scene, surfing a tidal wave of K-pop as it crashes upon global shores.

The exposure of the two supergroups recently sky-rocketed to ever greater heights when, one after the other, they smashed YouTube records of “Most Viewed Clips in the first 24 Hours.” Blackpink was first with “Kill This Love” – ringing up 56.7 million views.  Barely 24 hours later, BTS shattered that number, raising it by 20 million views, with “Boys with Luv.”

Both have also performed on massive American stages – Saturday Night Live  for BTS and the Coachella music festival for Blackpink.

So has K-pop as a genre truly gone global? Or is it simply that, as the world goes gaga over the Bantang Boys, BTS is dragging Blackpink in its foaming wake?

Sorry Blackpink, but…

The two groups come from the same place and are often mentioned in the same breath. But when it comes to  sales, the chasm between them is glaring.

In 2019, Blackpink’s EP  Kill This Love  broke the record for the highest first-day sales for a girl group album with 78 275 copies sold, according to Hanteo. Compare that to BTS: The Bantang Boys pre-sold 2.6 million copies of their latest album  Map of the Soul : Persona , according to Billboard.

BTS is also a phenomenon in a way that Blackpink just are not.

On Wednesday night, BTS paid homage to pop gods The Beatles – who they’ve been compared to repeatedly in terms of their effect on fans, and in the transformative power of pop culture – when they appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Their performance there deliberately mirrored the Fab Four’s world-shaking appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.

While Blackpink might be garnering YouTube views by the million and filling concert hall seats by the tens of thousands, they cannot compare with the thunderous buzz that surrounds BTS – who are, arguably the biggest band in the world today and the biggest Asian act of modern times.

Of course, this is nothing new in the music world. Some acts were always more popular than others and this has never stopped a genre from having massive success.

But there is a boy band-girl group undertone to the BTS-Blackpink dynamic, and on the gender-expectation front, Blackpink have limited room for manoeuvre. That is not the case with BTS and other Korean boy bands, who are turning Asian and global norms of “masculinity” on their heads.

K-pop or gay-pop? 

“How do we blur gender norms?” asked Michael Hurt, a professor of Cultural Studies at the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. “One way to do that is dressing up women as tomboys – but that’s nothing new. On the contrary, Korea is creating another definition of sexiness – for men.”

In today’s social media era, when gender neutrality and fluidity is very much to the fore, Korean boy bands are redefining maleness with the “flower boy” concept of the pretty, pure, gentle man. K-pop men do things that are have traditionally been associated with, well, women: They wear make-up, dress up, act cute and show that they care.

Among some Western males, this form of masculinity is derided as being “gay.” Millions of Western girls and women, however, have clearly been smitten. And as online pundit  Ask a Korean has often noted: Korean boy groups have tens of thousands of women screaming their names during concerts. If that’s not masculinity – what is?

Hurt calls the “flower boy” trend a new form of “hyper-masculinity” and compares it to a fashion show: Models hit catwalks sporting styles that are not designed for everyday wear, but will spark and define trends and conversations in the real world.

This is new. Meanwhile, girl groups like Blackpink are stuck with a sexualised presentation format that dates back to pre-history.

Boys challenge norms, girls reinforce them 

”Pretty dancing girls is an old formula and Korea does it well,” said Hurt. “They maxed out the way you can harness the female body for economical gain.”

“Maxed out,” indeed. However, the problem for Korean girl groups does not stop at being unable to upgrade an already highly sexualized image. At home, girl bands are subject to societal pressures that their male counterparts have been able to challenge.

“Blackpink is just a harder sell than BTS,” John Lie of UC Berkeley’s Sociology Department told Asia Times. “Boy groups project an image that they’re well-built physically and they’re nice, romantic guys. It’s the contrary of what South Korean society actually is, which is, at the core, very masculinist and misogynistic.”

So, while the boy bands are bringing something new to the table – the “flower boy” look and concept – girl groups are stuck.

“While boy groups reflect a difference with Korean culture itself, girl groups are closer to what Korean society projects,” Lie said. “In K-pop, women are submissive, cute and sexy: their self-presentation is not that much at odds with how South Korean women are expected to act.”

Still, even “flower boys” can be very, very bad boys.

Lie noted that the ongoing  Burning Sun scandal – in which multiple A-list K-pop male celebrities have been named and shamed in a sex trafficking, drugs and bribery ring centred on the Burning Sun night club in Seoul’s funky Gangnam district – exposes the hypocrisy of at least some male bands’ idealistic images.

The scandal, though, probably won’t affect K-pop as a whole: After all, the genre’s top names, BTS and Blackpink, are not implicated. The question now is what will drive the genre forward.

Being real is the new deal

According to Bernie Cho, a Seoul-based industry player with DFSB Kollective, the future of K-pop is not about gender, it is about how truly global they the genre can go. In that sense, both BTS and Blackpink point to a new future.

“BTS can sing, rap, or chat comfortably in Korean, English or Japanese,”  Cho said. “Blackpink goes even further as they have members who can also communicate in Chinese and Thai.” Moreover, unlike most Asian music, K-Pop artist names and song titles are often provided in a bilingual Korean-English format, Cho noted.

For the music industry executive, BTS and Blackpink represent a new kind of act in K-pop where being highly trained singers or dancers is not enough.

BTS are “actual authentic artists who play key roles in producing, composing, and writing lyrics to their own hits,” he said. “Even Blackpink can’t be placed in the ‘just cute’ category. If they ever wanted to be a live band, they could pull it off.”

Rather than being carefully curated products manufactured on factory-line production process – the previous formula for K-pop acts – BTS and Blackpink indicate that it is now about being artists, rather than simply performers.

“The ‘fake it ’till you make it’ days are over,”said Cho. “Being real is the deal now…authenticity has displaced automation as the new normal.”

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See pics for more Rosé

New Zealand

• Introduction

Park Chae Young (박채영), known for her stage name Rosé (로제), is a South Korean singer who was under YG Entertainment in 2012-2023. She is best known as the main vocalist and lead dancer of the girl group BLACKPINK . Rosé was born on February 11, 1997 in Auckland, New Zealand, but she grew up in Melbourne, Australia. When she was sixteen years old, she participated in YG Entertainment's Australia Audition and passed. Because of this, she moved back to South Korea and started her journey as an official trainee of the agency. In 2013, she was featured on a G-Dragon track called "Without You". After four years and 2 months of training, Rosé made her debut with BLACKPINK on August 8, 2016 and went on to become one of the most well-known artists of her generation. On March 12, 2021, Rosé made her highly-anticipated solo debut with the single album " -R- ".

• Discography

Music show wins (6) most song wins total wins

• Music video views

News BLACKPINK's Rosé To Sing "I-LAND 2" Signal Song

Feature k-pop stars who ranked among top global influencers for autumn/winter 2024 fashion weeks, news blackpink's rosé reportedly will establish own agency for solo promotions, news blackpink's rosé to release exclusive season's greetings with yg entertainment, rumor blackpink rosé’s meeting with columbia records ceo sparks rumors of upcoming solo.

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K-Pop Group Asks U.S. Court for Help Finding YouTube User in Defamation Case

The request by NewJeans is the latest effort by the K-pop industry in its struggle to stem rumors on platforms based outside South Korea.

By John Yoon

Reporting from Seoul

NewJeans, one of the biggest K-pop acts, has asked a federal court in California to order Google to release the identity of the person behind a YouTube account that the members say is spreading defamatory statements about them.

The group said that a YouTube user with the handle @Middle7 made the statements in dozens of videos that were viewed more than 13 million times, according to the court filing. The group’s lawyer, Eugene Kim, wrote that the account had also engaged in “name-calling or other mocking behavior” targeting NewJeans. The videos “continue to inflict significant reputational damage,” according to the filing.

The move, made on March 27, is the latest example of K-pop stars responding to the pressures they face from the fervid online fan culture in South Korea. The request, if granted, would allow the group to sue the YouTube user in South Korea for defamation and insult, which are criminal offenses in the country.

“We regularly take legal action for violations of artists’ rights,” Ador, the management agency for NewJeans, said in a statement, confirming that it was pursuing a case against the videos.

Mun Hui Kim, a lawyer representing NewJeans in South Korea, declined to comment. Google did not respond to requests for comment. The YouTube account’s owner could not be reached.

NewJeans, which has five members, reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 list last year with its second album, “Get Up,” as part of the newest generation of South Korean girl groups dominating K-pop.

South Korean stars have long been exposed to floods of hateful comments and cyberbullying regarding their looks, singing skills and their private lives. Their managers have in turn zealously guarded the stars’ reputations, often using defamation suits that lead investigators to identify and arrest those social media users in South Korea.

But hateful and defamatory statements have been difficult to patrol on social media platforms operated outside of South Korea, according to Kyongsok Chong, a South Korean lawyer who successfully obtained information about another YouTube account through the same court, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, last year.

The South Korean authorities are better able to identify users on domestic platforms like Naver and Kakao, said Chong, who represents Starship Entertainment, the management agency for IVE, another K-pop group. Defamation cases about content posted on websites like YouTube, Instagram and X have stalled.

As a result, people have flocked to those platforms because they believe they can hide, Chong said.

“Most of the victims of defamation who have come to me for advice have because of YouTube,” he said in an interview, adding that the platform was a “blind spot” for the authorities seeking to uproot users who defame stars while profiting from their videos.

Chong obtained information about an anonymous YouTube account that Starship Entertainment had accused of defamation, insult and business obstruction. In one example, the YouTuber appeared to use South Koreans’ negative perceptions of China to spread a rumor that Jang Won-young, a South Korean member of IVE, was Chinese, Chong said. Using that information, Chong won a civil suit against the YouTuber in South Korea.

The YouTuber, a woman who was not named by the South Korean authorities, argued that the claims were truthful and made in the public interest, Chong said. But the woman was ordered to pay Jang, one of her main targets, damages of 100 million South Korean won, about $74,000, in a civil case. The YouTuber appealed, Chong said.

“The defamation and insulting resulted in mental distress,” he said.

In the NewJeans case, the members of the band filed a criminal complaint against the YouTuber with a police station in Seoul. But the case could not go forward because the YouTube account was anonymous, according to the filing.

Eugene Kim, the lawyer for NewJeans, wrote that he had asked Google, which operates YouTube, for information about the YouTube account. After he was unsuccessful, he filed the motion with the court in California under a federal statute that allows people to obtain documents needed in a foreign proceeding.

Seamus Hughes contributed research.

John Yoon is a Times reporter based in Seoul who covers breaking and trending news. More about John Yoon

Inside the World of K-Pop

The popular music genre hailing from south korea has won over a global fanbase with viral hits, precision-drilled dancing and custom-groomed artists..

As K-pop continues its long march to American awareness, what are the potential risks of that embrace ?

Musical acts like Balming Tiger are challenging the idea  that K-pop is nothing but polished, perfectly synchronized boy bands and girl groups.

Fans of the K-pop band BTS have known for years that a day would come when its seven members would all be doing mandatory service in the South Korean military. That day arrived on Dec. 12, 2023 .

Over the past few years, the musical group Blackpink has emerged as a worldwide force , reaping the benefits of K-pop’s globalization. But younger acts are now charting the way forward .

In conservative South Korea, few L.G.B.T.Q. entertainers have ever come out. The young members of QI.X, a fledgling K-pop group, don’t see the point of staying in .

The 2012 viral hit “Gangnam Style” helped pave the way for K-pop’s global ascent. But Psy, the artist behind it, spent years being  haunted by the song’s success .