Diva Spotlight: Blackpink

One day in early 2020, I was playing through a few songs of Just Dance 2020 on my Switch when I came across a song I'd never heard before. By the time this particular song was over, I was already on my phone downloading it and everything else the band had done so far because I was immediately captivated by them. The song? Kill This Love. The band? Blackpink.

This is our first Diva Spotlight where I'm highlighting a group instead of a solo artist, so our info dump is going to look a little more crowded today (information current as of November 2021):

-Members include 27-year-old Jisoo (birth name Kim Ji-soo), 26-year-old Jennie (birth name Jennie Kim), 24-year-old Rosé (birth name Roseanne Park), and 24-year-old Lisa (birth name Lalisa Manoban). Jisoo and Jennie are both Capricorns, Rosé is an Aquarius, and Lisa is an Aries.

-Jisoo is from Gunpo, Gyeonggi, South Korea; Jennie from Seoul, South Korea; Rosé from Auckland, New Zealand; and Lisa from Buriram, Thailand.

-All four ladies are vocalists with Jennie and Lisa also providing raps and Rosé and Lisa being trained dancers.

-They are a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment in 2016 (although all members began intensive training for the group's formation back in 2010).

-Have won 67 awards and 5 Guinness World Records

-Have released 2 studio albums and 3 EPs as a group with each member also releasing solo singles (Jisoo 6, Jennie 1, Rosé 1, and Lisa 2)

Blackpink has become known as one of the biggest names in K-Pop over the last several years and has an immense social media following across virtually all platforms. In addition to music, each member has their own fashion influence as well and has been selected as a global ambassador for brand names such as Dior (Jisoo), Chanel (Jennie), Yves Saint-Laurent (Rosé), and Bulgari (Lisa). Obviously, my favorite thing about them is their music. Before we jump in, I have a couple of disclaimers this week:

-As I stated above, the group has released 2 studio albums and 3 EPs. I will be focusing on the two albums and one EP because the songs from that specific EP do not show up on either album (as is the case with the other EPs).

-I won't be doing a lyric breakdown this week for a reason similar to why I didn't for Nicki Minaj: rap lyrics take up a LOT of room on a post and I don't want to bog you down. I highly encourage you to listen to the songs yourself because the blend of Korean and English lyrics is just about seamless and really fun to experience on your own.

All that being said, let's get started!

BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA (2018)

Blackpink's debut J-Pop/K-Pop album was released November 23rd, 2018 by YGEX. With a run time of 32:14, it produced 1 "new" single: Ddu-Du Ddu-Du (8/22/18). The album was a compilation of all of the group's released music up to that point, so other tracks had been released as singles previously including Boombayah and Whistle from the Square One EP in August 2016 and Playing With Fire and Stay in November 2016 on the Square Two EP. The physical release of BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA is actually a double album with Disc 1 being Japanese versions of the songs and Disc 2 being the Korean versions, but when you stream the album digitally you only get to hear the Japanese versions. This album is really high energy and a lot of fun to listen to all the way through. I didn't have a difficult time at all picking my Top 3 here:

Track 1: BOOMBAYAH (written by T. Park, R. Johnson, S. Shipushu)

This song is such a blast. It holds the title of first K-Pop debut music video to surpass 1 billion views on YouTube, which is a pretty impressive feat in and of itself. It's energizing and fun all the way around and is a great introductory song to both this album and the band itself.

Track 2: WHISTLE (written by J. Vau, D. Pac, T. Park, R. Johnson, S. Shipushu)

This song is a total bop. The drumbeat mixed with the heartbeat and whistle sounds make it almost impossible to not dance to at least a little bit when you hear it. It keeps the flow of the album going while switching gears soundwise a little bit, which is always good to keep the listeners interested and on their toes.

Track 6: DDU-DU DDU-DU (written by T. Park, S. Shipushu, R. Johnson)

This song gets stuck in my head all the time and I'm not even mad about it. It has a more trap sound to it than the other songs on this album, which I'm glad the girls ended up expanding on in later albums. This music video did pretty well for itself as well: most viewed online video and second most-watched video of all time within the first 24 hours, first and fastest K-Pop video to reach 1 billion views, and current most-viewed music video by a K-Pop group on YouTube.

KILL THIS LOVE - EP (2019)

Blackpink's third pop/EDM EP was released April 5th, 2019 by YG/YG Plus/Interscope. With a run time of 16:13, it produced 1 single: Kill This Love (4/4/19). The EP has been certified Platinum by the KMCA (the South Korean counterpart to the RIAA) for having sold roughly 494,000 copies worldwide. KILL THIS LOVE got Blackpink their first charted single in the US, landing them in the Top 50. This EP is obviously quite a bit shorter than a full length album, but it deserves its own attention nonetheless. Once again, it wasn't very hard to pick my Top 3:

Track 1: Kill This Love (written by T. Park, R. Johnson)

Absolute. Banger. This is still my favorite song by them until further notice, and I'm clearly not alone as the song charted in 27 different countries. It's a great song all the time, whether you're using it to wake yourself up or to push yourself farther in a workout.

Track 3: Kick It (written by T. Park, D. Chung, H. Park, S. Hun)

This song has more of a bubblegum pop feel to it than Kill This Love, but it's still a bop. It's a little less intense but still holds its own very well. I also really like the rap section in this song, I think it's very well done.

Track 4: Hope Not (written by H. Park, L. Paek, T. Park, W. Seo)

On another album, a musical shift like this would've been a little too jarring for me, but Blackpink made it work. I like this more acoustic feel for hem, and that this is a more melodically vocal song for them to show off with. It's relaxing but still fun and a good way to wind down.

THE ALBUM (2020)

Blackpink's second pop/R&B/hip hop/trap album was released October 2nd, 2020 by YG/YG Plus/Interscope/Universal. With a run time of 24:28, it produced 3 singles: How You Like That (6/26/20), Ice Cream (8/28/20), and Lovesick Girls (10/2/20). The album has sold 223,000 units in the US since its release 13 months ago and showcases the ladies collaborating with well-known names in American music. All three singles from THE ALBUM have charted on the Billboard Top 40, and the album itself debuted #2 on Billboard, becoming the highest charting album by an all-female group since Danity Kane in 2008. This album is super fun to experience and provides a different sound from the group while still absolutely remaining identifiable as a Blackpink album. Here's my Top 3:

Track 2: Ice Cream with Selena Gomez (written by R. Johnson, V. Monét, T. Park, S. Gomez, T. Brown, A. Grande, S. Franks)

I LOVE this song. Gomez's voice blends super well with the group, it's catchy as hell, and the music video aesthetic is awesome. This is one of their first songs that's in primarily English (except for Lisa's rap), so it's easy to sing along to.

Track 3: Pretty Savage (written by J. Rhee, Løren, D. Chung, T. Park)

Another banger. A few of the songs on this album have a slightly grittier feel to them than the others and I totally dig that. This is another great hype song to add to your workout playlist.

Track 4: Bet You Wanna ft. Cardi B (written by T. Brown, S. Franks, R. Tedder, M. Fontana, B. Almanzar, T. Carr, J. Descartes)

I love Blackpink and I love Cardi B, so when I saw this on the tracklist I knew this was going to be a top one for me. Cardi actually keeps her lyrics in her verse under control, which she's on record saying was pretty difficult for her, but it's perfect for the song and I love what they created together. Apparently this was supposed to have been the fourth single for the album in the US but for some reason it never got released to radio...maybe someday.

If you're not familiar with K-Pop, I may be a bit biased but I think Blackpink is a great place to start. Hopefully you found some new music to enjoy and a new group to follow. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!