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The Korea Times

By Lee Gyu-lee
When Blackpink made their debut in the summer of 2016, the four-piece act garnered much attention for being K-pop powerhouse YG Entertainment’s first girl group in seven years since the debut of 2NE1.
The group, who have set astonishing milestones, celebrated their eighth anniversary on August 8, and released their concert film Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] in Cinemas on July 31.
The film brings to the screen the group’s concert in Seoul last year, a finale performance of their record-breaking world tour “Born Pink”. The group travelled to 34 countries for 66 concerts to perform in front of over 1.8 million fans.


The group were well received from the out, storming to success with their debut single album (distinct from a full-length album) Square One, which was released on August 8, 2016. The album’s two tracks, “Boombayah” and “Whistle”, came in at No 1 and No 2 on Billboard’s World Digital Songs chart, making Blackpink the first rookie girl group to do so with their debut songs.
Pop culture critic Kim Do-heon noted that Blackpink changed how K-pop artists are perceived in the global music scene.


“In the past, when K-pop groups made their way into the global music market, they were viewed as challengers trying to compete with their music … but Blackpink … live up to the reputation of true pop stars,” he said.
“They’ve created an image that many people aspire to, being on the same footing as Western pop stars, which makes them noteworthy.”
Blackpink have set various records since their debut, such as having the most views in the first 24 hours of releasing a song and being the fastest K-pop group to surpass 100 million views on YouTube, with “Pink Venom” in 2022.
The music video for “Pink Venom” received over 90 million views on the first day of its release and, with 94.5 million followers, Blackpink are also the most-followed music act on YouTube.
The group also reached first place on the album chart of the United Kingdom’s Official Charts and the United States’ Billboard after they released their second studio album, Born Pink, becoming the first K-pop girl group to do so.


Blackpink also recently hit 13 billion streams on Spotify and they were the world’s most streamed girl band last year, according to the streaming platform.
Their most-streamed songs – “How You Like That”, “Kill This Love”, “Pink Venom,” “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” and “Shut Down” – have surpassed 4 billion streams on the platform.
They made history again last year as the first Asian act to headline the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in the US and they were the first K-pop act to headline the UK festival BST Hyde Park.
Kim says Blackpink have become more than just a K-pop group. “Blackpink don’t have as many album releases or singles compared to other K-pop groups. Regardless, they’ve become a group with enormous influence worldwide.
“With their unique image and the individuality of each member, as well as their confident attitude reflected in their music, the group have built an extremely successful career, transcending music group to [become] their own brand.”


The members have also pursued solo careers, starting with Jennie in 2018.
Jennie became the first K-pop solo artist to make it into the US iTunes top 10 chart with her solo debut song “Solo”. Rose and Lisa made their solo debuts in 2021 with “On The Ground” and “LaLisa”, respectively.
Rose became the first artist to top Billboard’s Global 200 chart with both group and solo acts. Lisa garnered 1 billion streams for her debut album’s track “Money”, while “LaLisa” won her the best K-pop awards at the MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards in 2022.
Jisoo released her first solo album, Me, last year and she became the first female K-pop solo artist to sell over a million copies of an album, by selling 1.17 million albums within the first week of its release.
Last year, the members renewed their group activities contract with their agency but parted ways to separate labels for their solo acts.


Jennie was the first to establish her own label, Odd Atelier, last December. Lisa and Jisoo started their own labels, Lloud and Blissoo respectively, this February. Rose has recently signed with hip-hop label The Black Label, led by producer Teddy.
The members continue to make headlines with their coming projects. Lisa is set to release her new single, “New Woman”, this week, while Jisoo will star in Coupang Play’s new zombie series Newtopia.
Read the full story at The Korea Times.


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The girl group, who debuted in 2016, have changed how K-pop artists are perceived in the global music scene, says one pop culture critic


K-pop girl group Blackpink have gone from strength to strength since the release of their first singles in 2016, and ‘become a group with enormous influence worldwide’, according to a pop culture critic.
