BLACKPINK
Formed in Seoul with members from Thailand, Australia and New Zealand, the group is the case in which K-pop evolved into its most international form.
At a glance 🔭💭
Some coordinates adapted from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) · Pleiades (CC BY 3.0)
The people around them ⏳🌊
- ProducerYang Hyun-suk
Founder of YG Entertainment, he spent years preparing a group to succeed 2NE1.
- ProducerTeddy
The core songwriter of the YG camp, he wrote the group's major hits from the debut single on.
- MemberLisa
The Thai-born main dancer, she embodies the group's international identity.
- MemberJennie
Main rapper and the first to debut as a soloist, she set the precedent for balancing solo and group work.
- FriendshipSelena Gomez
A relationship that, through the "Ice Cream" collaboration, opened a point of contact with the American pop market.
I. Girls from four countries · 2010–2016
(Recruitment) In 2010, in Seoul, South Korea, YG Entertainment began gathering trainees from around the world with a new girl group in mind. At the time YG stood at the summit of the girl-group market with 2NE1, and it spent years preparing the team that would follow in its footsteps. (Jisoo) Jisoo was born in 1995 in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, and became a trainee after passing a YG audition in 2011. Over some five years of training Jisoo honed vocals and dance, and is said to have gone through a hard stretch as the debut was postponed again and again. (Jennie) Jennie was born in 1996 in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, grew up in Cheongdam-dong in Seoul, and learned English while studying in New Zealand as a child. After returning home Jennie became a YG trainee, and before debuting appeared briefly in the music video for G-Dragon's “That XX” (2012), making a presence known even without a name. (Rosé) Rosé (born Park Chae-young) was born in 1997 in Auckland, New Zealand, and raised in Melbourne, Australia. In 2012, at a father's urging, Rosé entered a YG audition held in Sydney, Australia, and became a trainee after placing first among 700 applicants. (Lisa) Lisa (born Lalisa Manobal) was born in 1997 in Buriram, Thailand, and raised in Bangkok. Chosen in 2010 at a YG audition held in Thailand, Lisa was the agency's first foreign trainee and chose to come to Korea alone, into an unfamiliar language and culture.
II. Monster rookies · 2016
(Veil) Throughout the long years of preparation, YG kept the group's name and concept a closely guarded secret. When the name 'BLACKPINK' was revealed in the summer of 2016, it came with the explanation that it joined the familiar image of pink, standing for loveliness, with the intensity symbolized by black. (Debut) In August 2016, in Seoul, South Korea, the group debuted as a YG Entertainment quartet. The two title tracks from the first EP “Square One,” “Whistle” and “Boombayah,” simultaneously topped the country's major digital charts on the day of release. (Teddy) Both songs were the work of Teddy, YG's longtime producer. Within the so-called camp, the lineage of producers descending from Seo Taiji, Teddy had written hits for G-Dragon and 2NE1, and stamped BLACKPINK's sound, too, with a signature of lean, forceful hooks. (Reception) From the moment of their debut the press called them 'monster rookies.' The verdict reflected both a trainee period of around six years and the expectation that they would carry on 2NE1's lineage, and it was also a burden, a demand for a polish no rookie is expected to have.
Released together with the debut, the song showed a stage manner full of a confidence unusual for newcomers.
- The thick synthesizer sound and brass-like samples of the intro pull the listener straight into the center of the stage.
- Lisa's rap part just before the chorus, delivered low and crisply enunciated, anchors the center of gravity of the whole song.
- Choreography in which the four members take turns staring straight into the camera reads as an effort to stress a presence that holds its own despite their rookie status.
- The dance break in the latter half borrows the EDM club sound wholesale, aiming at the domestic and international dance trends popular in the mid-2010s at once.
III. Setting new world records · 2017–2019
(Momentum) From the year after their debut, BLACKPINK rapidly widened their reach onto overseas stages. The 2017 digital single “As If It's Your Last” and the 2018 mini-album “Square Up” swept the charts once again, and their YouTube music video view counts became records broken with every release. (DDU-DU DDU-DU) Released in 2018, “DDU-DU DDU-DU” set the record for most YouTube views within a day of release, establishing a new standard for K-pop girl groups. Its structure, swinging between heavy bass and a restrained chorus, became the template for the BLACKPINK sound. (Jennie solo) Around the same time, Jennie released the 2018 solo single “Solo.” The practice of pursuing group and individual work in parallel set a precedent the other members would later follow, and YG adopted it as a strategy for extending the group's lifespan. (Coachella) In 2019 they became the first K-pop girl group to play the Coachella festival in the US, and in 2023 the first K-pop group to take the headliner's stage. The same year “Kill This Love” climbed high on the Billboard 200, proving K-pop's presence alongside BTS, who had knocked on the door of the American market before them.
Setting a new record for most YouTube views within a day of release, it became the group's signature song.
- The title itself becomes the key phrase of the chorus, so that the rhythm, more than the lyrics, serves as the hook that sticks in the ear.
- Heavy 808 bass and sound effects evoking gunfire give the song a gangster-movie image.
- In each verse the tones of the two rappers (Jennie·Lisa) and the two vocalists (Jisoo·Rosé) cross distinctly, letting the ear confirm how the four divide their roles.
- Exaggerated sets in the music video, such as a tank and a throne, were devices that visually inflated the song's aggressive sound.
IV. Going global amid the pandemic · 2020
(Pandemic) In 2020 the novel coronavirus swept the globe, and concerts and tours ground to a halt. In place of the stage, BLACKPINK broadened their reach through releases and collaborations, and the era in which YouTube and streaming stood in for the concert hall began in earnest. (Pre-release) The music video once again broke YouTube's record for most views the moment it was released. (The Album) That same year they released their first full-length album, “The Album.” The track “Lovesick Girls” drew readings as the group's autobiographical narrative, and the album reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, the best showing ever for a female K-pop group. (Ice Cream) “Ice Cream,” recorded with American singer Selena Gomez, entered the Billboard Hot 100. Collaborating with a mainstream American pop artist showed that they were no longer seen as 'a K-pop group popular overseas' but as players within that market itself.
Released after a long hiatus, the song is steeped throughout its arrangement in a resolve to stand at the top once more.
- The choral overdubs in the intro (many voices layered on top of one another) were designed to sound like a grand choir.
- The short hook repeated in the chorus rides on a trap beat, producing a texture closer to American hip-hop production than to Korean pop.
- The high-note ad-libs from Jisoo and Rosé in the bridge are singled out as the moment that lifts the song's emotion to its peak.
- A move in the choreography where the four circle around one another meshes with the rising melodic line of the chorus to create a visual climax.
The title track of the first full-length album, it carries a refusal to be broken by failed love and is sometimes read as the group's autobiographical narrative.
- The intro, opening on a flamenco-style guitar riff, announces the song's exotic identity.
- The chorus begins in a low register and is sung with a slight break at the end, expressing not simple sadness but defiance tinged with resignation.
- The flow of the rap part drew attention for pronunciation that mimicked a Spanish accent.
- The arm movement repeated in the dance break lines up precisely with the descending passage of the chorus melody.
V. Silence and standing alone · 2021–2023
(Hiatus) From 2021, group activities grew sparse. As their contracts neared expiration, speculative reports about whether they would re-sign kept coming, and the members filled the gap under their own names. (Lisa) In 2021 Lisa set the record for best-selling album by a female K-pop soloist with “Lalisa.” (Rosé) Rosé made a solo debut in 2021 with “On The Ground,” praised for an arrangement that focused on the voice itself rather than flashy performance. (Jisoo) Jisoo appeared in the 2021 drama “Snowdrop” and released the solo EP “ME” in 2023. Of the four members, Jisoo was the last to begin solo activities. (Re-signing) In 2023, YG re-signed the group on terms that kept group activities with the agency while each member pursued solo work independently of YG, and the members went on to found their own labels one after another. It was not a breakup but a compromise rare in K-pop, with each building a name of their own while still returning as a team.
VI. Taking the stadium · 2022
(Pink Venom) The 2022 pre-release single “Pink Venom” drew attention with an arrangement that blended the taepyeongso, a traditional Korean instrument, with electronic sound. It served as a kind of trailer for the second full-length album, “Born Pink,” which followed soon after. (Born Pink) “Born Pink” went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 upon release. It was the first time an album by a female K-pop group had topped that chart, and the track “Shut Down,” which samples a classical melody, added to the buzz. (Tour) In 2023, in the encore leg of the “Born Pink” tour, they headlined major stadiums such as the Stade de France in Paris and MetLife Stadium in the US. It was the fruit of years of building an overseas career, and the size of the venues themselves became the most direct measure of how their stature had changed.
Previewing the second full-length album, the song drew attention with an arrangement that set the taepyeongso, a traditional Korean instrument, over electronic music.
- The taepyeongso melody that appears in the intro brings Korean traditional music and trap beats into head-on collision.
- The brief silence just before the chorus is a classic tension-building passage (pre-chorus) that maximizes the hook about to explode.
- Lisa's rap part uses a slower tempo than usual to emphasize space, and some say this makes it sound all the more menacing.
- In the music video, a hand gesture like gripping a weapon became the signature move of the chorus choreography, directly visualizing the image of venom that the title evokes.
A song that borrows and reinterprets a classical melody, it lays bare the confidence of a group standing once more at the summit.
- The Paganini-style violin line that opens the track is a case of sampling a classical masterpiece and turning it into a pop hook.
- In the chorus, rap and vocals take turns over a sweeping string arrangement, binding the unlikely materials of classical music and hip-hop into one.
- As if to underline the blunt ring of the title, the beat cuts out for an instant at the end of every chorus, an edit repeated again and again.
- In the choreography, the arms chopping downward give literal shape to the image the title carries: bringing something to a halt.
VII. Under two names · 2024–2026
(Dual track) After renewing their contracts, BLACKPINK settled into a rhythm of alternating between solo work and group activity. Each member released music through her own label, and at set times the four came back together. (Deadline) In 2025, marking the ninth anniversary of their debut, they reportedly launched the “Deadline” world tour alongside a new single. Coming back after a long hiatus, they showed how their standing had changed: the mere fact of returning as a group was itself news. (Hallyu) In any discussion of K-pop in the 2020s, BLACKPINK became one of the first names mentioned, alongside BTS. One a girl group and the other a boy group, the two are credited with pushing the Korean Wave, at roughly the same time and in different ways, into the mainstream of the global pop market. (Today) As of 2026, the four members, moving from their late twenties into their thirties, are guarding both their individual careers and the group's name. They have never announced a breakup, a staying power regarded as rare even across several generations of K-pop girl groups.
Lesser-known stories
When Lisa was chosen at a 2010 audition in Thailand, YG is said to have selected just one person out of more than 4,000 applicants. Lisa reportedly joined knowing almost no Korean and struggled to adjust in the early days. Rosé is said to have entered the audition because her father heard about YG's tryouts and urged her to go. She reportedly brought her guitar only to accompany a friend. In 2013–2014, before their debut, Jennie and Lisa appeared in music videos and on stage with senior YG artists such as G-Dragon·Lee Hi. They were, in effect, talked about among fans as anonymous trainees before ever officially debuting, and after the debut this footage was rediscovered, becoming material that filled in the story of their pre-debut years. Jisoo was the only one of the four who had not released a solo album as of 2023.
Notes on terms 📚🔎
Trainee
(Literally) Yeonseupsaeng means, taken word for word, 'a student who practices.' (In K-pop) It refers to an aspiring singer who has signed with an agency and trains for years before debuting in singing, dancing, and sometimes even foreign languages. They report to the practice room every day as if to a job, yet debut is never guaranteed, much like a student cramming for entrance exams who can study for years with no promise of passing.
Sadan
(Literally) Sadan (師團) joins sa (師), 'teacher,' and dan (團), 'group,' meaning a band of people gathered under one teacher. (In K-pop) It is used for the circle of singers, songwriters, and choreographers who have worked for years with a particular composer or producer. Just as students who learn from the same teacher for many years come to share a similar style, songs from the same sadan often have a similar color. (Elsewhere) In the military, sadan is an entirely different word, meaning a division of troops.
Comeback
(In K-pop) It refers to a singer who has been on a break returning to broadcasts and stages with a new song or album. Picture an athlete coming back from injury to play again, and it is easy to grasp. (Elsewhere) In the English-speaking world, the word is used mainly for someone staging a return after retirement or a long slump, unlike the Korean usage, which applies it even to a new song after just a few months.
Title track
(Literally) The term comes from the idea of a song that represents the album's title. (In K-pop) However many songs an album holds, this is the single one singled out to receive the focus of broadcast promotion and publicity. It is like setting the main dish, the one prepared with the most care, in the center of a guest's table amid many side dishes.
Point choreography
(In K-pop) It refers to a short move, designed to be easy to copy and memorable, that goes into the most important passage of a song's choreography, such as the chorus. It is like that one move in a gym-class dance routine that all your friends pick up especially well, except that in K-pop this move is treated as important enough to decide a song's success.
Billboard 200
(Literally) Billboard is the name of an American music trade magazine, and 200 refers to its weekly ranking of the 200 best-selling and most-streamed albums. (In K-pop) It serves as the leading yardstick for measuring Korean artists' achievements internationally. Like an international assessment that compares students from many countries at once, it ranks album sales and streams pooled from many countries, which gives it great symbolic weight. (Elsewhere) Its method and criteria are entirely different from the 'No. 1' awarded by Korean music shows.