[POWER CELEBRITY] Group BLACKPINK
[중앙시사매거진=김민수기자] Dominates Billboard·YouTube and establishes themselves as a global girl group
It is the golden days for K-Pop. Who would’ve thought that K-Pop artists would overwhelm Billboard charts like this. While Psy’s ‘Gangnam Style’ made the whole world dance, BTS and BLACKPINK are laying their roots in the soil of the US, which is the country with the biggest entertainment market in the world, as the leaders of K-Pop. Forbes Korea selected BLACKPINK as the no. 1 power celebrity, since the group has surpassed BTS’ record as the no. 1 power celebrity of 2018. BLACKPINK is on their way of becoming ‘global rising stars’.
When the short and thick sound of ‘BLACKPINK in your area-’, was played at Coachella, people reacted with huge roars and camera lights. It was the signal notifying the performance of BLACKPINK, the K-Pop girl group. 4 girls from Korea stood tall at Coachella, which is the biggest music festival in the US and one of the 3 biggest music festivals of the world. They were the first K-Pop group to perform at Coachella. Their performance was livestreamed in Times Square, New York, heating up the entire nation. Members LISA and ROSÉ shared their thoughts with Forbes Korea by stating, “We were thrilled and deeply moved when the fans yelled, ‘BLACKPINK in your area!’.” They also stated, “It gave us unforgettable memories and lingers of our lives”.
YG’s Girl Group Presented in 6 Years
BLACKPINK established themselves as top class idols of K-Pop as soon as they made debut back in 2016. BLACKPINK’s debut song ‘WHISTLE’ and ‘BOOMBAYAH’, prepared by YG’s representative producer TEDDY for 2 years, grabbed the public’s ears in an instant with a fresh sound differentiated with existing songs by other girl groups. The unique and catchy song added on with fierce performances and flawless visuals made BLACKPINK heat up social media as ‘issue makers’ as soon as they made debut. Their songs ‘PLAYING WITH FIRE’ and ‘STAY’ released 4 months after also maximized the members’ musicality and charms, allowing them to shake up the K-Pop scene once again.
JISOO, JENNIE, ROSÉ, and LISA who have spent 4~6 years of training period started to be acknowledged overseas when they made debut. As LISA, the Thai member, leads performances as the main dancer, she receives dominant support from overseas fans. JENNIE’s solo debut with her song ‘SOLO’ also raised the awareness on BLACKPINK.
700 Million YouTube Views for the First Time as a K-Pop Group
The ‘major reason’ how BLACKPINK reached the highest point was through their title song ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ from their first mini album. ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ entered Billboard’s Hot 100 as no. 55 and became the most watched K-Pop MV on YouTube in 2018. The MV for ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ has recently surpassed 700 million views, while 94% of those views were generated overseas. It became the first MV by a K-Pop group to reach 700 million views. Their influence has gotten stronger, enough to be called as ‘two of the most prominent’ K-Pop groups along with BTS.
According to Chartmetric, a data analysis startup company based in Silicon Valley, the most streamed K-Pop group in Spotify compared to last year was BLACKPINK. The company aggregated the monthly listeners of Spotify, which is the biggest music streaming service in the entire globe. BTS had 9.7 million followers which surpasses that of BLACKPINK with 5.7 million, but BLACKPINK has caught up on BTS’ stronghold while they were vacant. Jo Sungmoon, the representative of Chartmetric explained, “BTS and BLACKPINK’s success made K-Pop more popular overseas and established it as a trending genre”.
Global Performances Comfortable as Home
With the major success of ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’, BLACKPINK’s comeback performance became even more glamorous. YG partnered with Interscope Records, the representative music label of Universal Music Group, last year on October to officially announce BLACKPINK’s debut in the US. Interscope Records manages global artists such as Maroon 5, Eminem, and Lady Gaga. As the members fluent in English were combined with hit songs and a major music label of the US, the synergy effects were amazing. Except for JISOO who was born and raised in Korea, all members of BLACKPINK are used to communicating in English. ROSÉ, the main vocalist, was born and raised in Australia, while JENNIE attended elementary school in New Zealand.
As a result, the group was able to leave a strong impression through smooth interviews and live performances on famous TV programs such as [Good Morning America], [Strahan and Sara], [The Late Show with Stephen Colbert], and [The Late Late Show with James Corden]. Their song ‘KILL THIS LOVE’ released last month topped global iTunes charts in many different regions of the world, including the US. Major media of the US have reported that a no. 1 on the US iTunes chart by a girl group was in 15 years since Destiny’s Child, which was a girl group led by Beyoncé. BLACKPINK is currently going through their first-ever North America and Europe tour after their successful performance at Coachella.
The following is an e-mail interview with BLACKPINK, the group selected as the no. 1 power celebrity of 2019 by Forbes Korea.
In your 4th year, you began your global activities in full scale. What are the biggest differences compared to handling promotion activities in Korea.
ROSÉ: We can meet fans all over the world, and it is meaningful since we can share music and perform in front of people who doesn’t know BLACKPINK.
JENNIE: As we began our global activities, we are grateful to experience and witness the world’s heated interest towards K-Pop with our own eyes.
What were the most concerning, difficult, and interesting points while preparing for your latest album.
ROSÉ: Since we had different concepts for every song, we worked hard on image training. The song ‘Hope Not’ from the album is actually a song we recorded before making debut. That’s why I feel more affection towards the song and I am happy that it turned out better than what we thought.
LISA: We focused on our group dance to present a more powerful performance. We tried hard to present a performance which makes all four members look as if we’re acting as one.
How did the collaboration with Dua Lipa come by? Do you have any other global artists you plan to collaborate with in the future?
JENNIE: I’ve enjoyed listening to Dua Lipa’s music as a fan. Thankfully, we got an opportunity to work together with Dua Lipa’s request, and we enjoyed the entire process.
LISA: It was the first time all members of BLACKPINK were participating in another artist’s album, and it was more meaningful since we were collaborating with a global Pop star. We would like to work with other artists as well, if we ever get a chance.
You became the first K-Pop group to perform at Coachella. What are your thoughts about it?
ROSÉ: It gave us an unforgettable memory and lingering images. I can still feel the crowd cheering and Palm Springs looked so beautiful while on stage. There were a lot of wind blowing during our performance, and it felt good to feel the warm breeze.
JENNIE: ‘Coachella’ was one of the festivals I really wanted to visit, ever since I was young. I still can’t believe that we actually performed there with the members. We were surprised by the large scale, and it was an honor for us to stand on the same stage with many global artists.
LISA: There were many thrilling moments. I was deeply moved when the fans yelled, “BLACKPINK in your area!” at once in sync with our song. We attempted to make a crowd wave in the middle, and we were happy that our fans responded.
Do you like your nickname, ‘Human Chanel’?
JENNIE: Since ‘Chanel’ is a brand I’ve admired for a long time, the nickname ‘Human Chanel’ was a bit burdensome at first. I thought it would be amazing if I get an opportunity to work with the brand ‘Chanel’ even just once, but it became a reality and I feel grateful and happy that people say I match well with ‘Chanel’.
There are many fans looking forward to your solo activities. What kind of genre or style of music would you like to present?
ROSÉ: I’ve covered Halsey’s ‘Eyes Closed’ and uploaded it through YouTube, Instagram, and Soundcloud, and the fans showed heated reactions. If I make debut as a solo artist, I would like to present music with Soul so that I can show my vocals in full.
Why did you become an artist of YG in Korea, and we wonder if you have plans to be active as an artist in Thailand in the future.
LISA: I’ve been interested in K-Pop ever since I was young and used to practice on songs of YG artists when I was part of a dance crew. Ever since I made debut, I wanted to do a concert in Thailand, my hometown, and my dreams came true since we began our world tour in Thailand. The warm hospitality and welcome by our fans became an unforgettable experience for me.
You’ve appeared on [PRODUCA] before making debut. Are you interested in acting?
JISOO: I would like to take a shot in acting if I ever get a chance, but I would like to focus on BLACKPINK for now.
2019. 5. 3.
