“Blackpink is the revolution” is a line that every K-pop stan can fully recognize and agree with. With their energetic music that always centres on a strong female lead, its no wonder that Blackpink has been able to attract millions of fans from around the world, making them an instant global superstar overnight. Because of Blackpink’s strong aura, edgy concepts, and bad*ss lyrics, many people paint the group as self-centred, and overly cocky, which is far from the truth. Behind the chic stage outfits and fast-paced raps is a group of girls that are sweet, soft-spoken, sensitive, caring, and honestly… incredibly cute. Due to their catchy songs and fierce personas, Blackpink has been able to increase their following and records with each comeback.
Blackpink consists of four members; Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa.
Left to right– Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie and Rosé. Source: Official Charts
Kim Jisoo, the oldest member of Blackpink and the only member to be born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, is the lead vocalist and visual of the group. She trained for five years, before being revealed as the third member of Blackpink. Kim Jennie was born in South Korea but lived in Auckland, New Zealand for five years. She also trained for five years before becoming the first member to be revealed and is the main rapper and vocalist for Blackpink. Jennie is the first member to release a single titled “Solo” and set the record as the first Korean female artist to ever enter the iTunes Top 10 in the U.S. Park Chaeyoung, also known by her stage name as Rosé, is the main vocalist and lead dancer. She was born in Auckland, New Zealand and moved to Melbourne where she attended high school, but later left Australia at the age of 15 to train at YG Entertainment. She trained for 4 years and 2 months and was the last member of Blackpink to be revealed. Lastly, Lalisa Manoban or better known as Lisa is the youngest of the group. She is the main dancer, lead rapper and sub vocalist. She was born in Bangkok, Thailand, and is the only Thai member of Blackpink. Lisa is popular among Blinks for being the only one to beat out 4000 other applicants and passing YG’s first audition in Thailand at the age of 13. She trained for 5 years and 3 months and was the second person to be revealed as a member of Blackpink.
Even before Blackpink’s official debut on August 8, 2016, Blackpink were highly anticipated for being the first girl group out of YG Entertainment in seven years. People were curious if Blackpink would be similar to their seniors 2NE1, another 4 member girl group from YG Entertainment that disbanded in November 2016. When Blackpink debuted with their two singles, “Boombayah” and “Whistle”, no one could have expected that Blackpink would have become one of the leading girl groups for K-pop right from their debut. In the same year, Blackpink released “Playing With Fire” and “Stay”, showing their versatility as a group early on in their career.
Source: Billboard
A year after their single release, “As If It’s Your Last”, Blackpink came back with their first mini album Square Up, featuring four brand-new songs. Their title song, “DDU-DU-DDU-DU” broke records as the most viewed Korean music video on Youtube with 32.6 million views in 2018.”DDDD” remains their most viewed music video with more than 752 million views. Square Up also debuted at No. 40 on the Billboard 200 chart, while their single “DDDD” peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 55, the first song by a Korean girl group to do this since 2009. This amazing feat made Blackpink the highest-charting Korean girl group on both of the main Billboard charts. These accomplishments helped attract attention from overseas companies, and in 2018, YG Entertainment announced that Blackpink would be signing with Universal Music Group and Interscope Records.
In the same year, Blackpink collaborated with Dua Lipa on her song “Kiss and Makeup”, making this Blackpink’s second entry on the Billboard Hot 100, which debuted at No. 93.
In 2019, Blackpink released their second Korean EP, Kill This Love with five new songs including a remix of their previous title track “DDU-DU DDU-DU” and their new title track “Kill This Love”.
Blackpink made history once again as the first girl group to be number one on iTunes since Destiny Child’s “Lose My Breath” 15 years ago. Destiny’s Child was previously the only girl group to ever do it, making Blackpink the second girl group to top the iTunes chart and the first Korean girl group.
Earlier this year it was reported that Paul Tollett, the co-founder of Coachella, flew to South Korea to personally invite Blackpink to perform at Coachella. This makes them the first Korean girl group to ever perform at Coachella. Their performance was the only one to be broadcast in Times Square at 11 pm on April 12th. During and after Blackpink’s iconic performance, fans and non-fans both expressed their love for Blackpink, praising the group and individual members for their high energy performance, highlighting the groups’ entertaining choreography, live vocals, and overall charisma. The group was able to accomplish a moment like this in three years, further proving how amazing these group of artists are.
I Just watched coachella earlier and blackpink snapped! I think im going to stan that Lisa the girl with bangs. Her rapping is out of this world!
— R loves camz 💕 (@CCThatGirl) April 13, 2019
https://twitter.com/thorisablink/status/1117209726834622469
COACHELLA DAY 1 DONE! 👌🏼 Our faves from today we’re deffo BLACKPINK omg they were INSANEEEEEE! 💃🏼 pic.twitter.com/pfZKmaf44Y
— LUCYΛNDLYDIΛ (@LucyAndLydia) April 13, 2019
“Blackpink is the revolution” is a line that perfectly defines what Blackpink is to music and to fans of the mega group. Don’t dismiss Blackpink, because representation for Asian women in media is incredibly important, and despite the move in the right direction with Korean boy groups gaining attention, girl groups deserve just as much visibility, especially when they work just as hard as Blackpink.
Featured Image Credit: Rolling Stone
