Music / BLACKPINK

BLACKPINK in your area...

L - R: Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, Rosé

BLΛƆKPIИK is a South Korean Girl Group formed by YG Entertainment. They are the first girl group that debuted under YG after 2NE1. At the time of their debut they were YG Entertainment's only girl group^note with their other female group BABYMONSTER debuting in 2023, with Lisa being the agency's first foreign artist. On 2 October 2020, the group released their first Korean full-length album, which is titled The Album. Along with their domestic and international success, all of their singles produced impressive results and broke records in the Korean music industry.

The group debuted on August 8, 2016 with their single Square One, which featured the songs "BOOMBAYAH" and "WHISTLE"; the former was their first #1 hit in South Korea, while the latter was their first #1 hit on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart, and set the record for the most-viewed debut music video by a Korean act. The group's success led to the release of the single Square Two in November of the same year, containing "Playing with Fire" and "Stay", which became their second single to hit number one on the World Digital Songs chart.

In 2017, the single "As If It's Your Last" had a #1 debut on the same chart and gained more than 11 million views on YouTube within 17 hours of its release, becoming the fastest music video to exceed 10 million views by a South Korean group. In 2019, the music video for their song "Kill This Love" broke the record for the fastest video to reach 100 million YouTube views^note Previously held by the music video for PSY's "Gangnam Style". In 2020, the music video for "How You Like That" set five new Guinness World Records and became their most-viewed video in a span of 24 hours, a record that was in turn shattered by their 2022 single "Pink Venom".

A reality series based on the group, BLACKPINK HOUSE, was aired in 2018 on the official YouTube channel/V Live channel. The show follows the girls as they embark on a 100-day vacation given to them by Yang Hyun Suk, founder of YG, reportedly in response to the girls voicing their wishes for a summer vacation to relieve the stress of their work.

Their second full-length album, 2022's Born Pink, was the first album by a Korean girl group to top the Billboard 200.

Two of the members have branched out into acting. Jisoo had a main role in Snowdrop, and Jennie (credited as Jennie Ruby Jane) had a supporting role in The Idol.

In December 2023, YG Entertainment confirmed that Blackpink renewed their contract with the company, making them one of the few major-label groups to renew their contracts without losing any members. Three weeks later, though, YG Confirmed that this only applies to group activities; the individual members will be moving to different agencies for solo promotions, making the group's future uncertain.

Members

• Jisoo (Kim Jisoo, born January 3, 1995) - Main Visual, Lead Vocalist,
• Jennie (Kim Jennie, born January 16, 1996) - Main Rapper, Lead Vocalist
• Rosé (Roseanne Park^note Birth name Park Chaeyoung, born February 11, 1997) - Main Vocalist, Lead Dancer
• Lisa (Lalisa Manoban^note Birth name Pranpriya Manoban, born March 27, 1997) - Main Dancer, Lead Rapper, Sub-Vocalist, Maknae

Korean Discography

Singles:

• SQUARE ONE'' (2016)
• SQUARE TWO'' (2016)
• 마지막처럼^note As If It's Your Last (2017)

Mini Albums:

• SQUARE UP (2018)
• Kill This Love (2019)

Albums

• The Album (2020)
• Born Pink (2022)

Japanese Discography

Albums:

• BLACKPINK (2017)

Videography

• BOOMBAYAH
• WHISTLE
• PLAYING WITH FIRE
• STAY
• AS IF IT'S YOUR LAST
• DDU-DU DDU-DU
• Kill This Love
• How You Like That
• Ice Cream (with Selena Gomez)
• Lovesick Girls
• Ready for Love
• Pink Venom
• Shut Down

Social Media

• BLACKPINK: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, V Live, YouTube
• Jisoo: Instagram
• Jennie: Instagram
• Rosé: Instagram
• Lisa: Instagram

Tropes in your area:

Band and Member Tropes

• Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Rosé shows off that she can rotate her arm 360 degrees in Knowing Brothers.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Jisoo appeared as a cameo in Hi Suhyun's "I'm Different" MV and LG ads with iKON.
  • Jennie appeared in G-Dragon's "That XX" MV and featured in his song "Black".
  • Rosé was also featured in G-Dragon's "Without You", although initially uncredited. She was later credited after being revealed as a member of Blackpink.
  • Lisa appeared as a cameo in Taeyang's Ringa Linga MV, alongside the members of IKON and Winner.
• The Baby of the Bunch: Lisa, being the maknae, counts as this.
• Big Eater: In BLACKPINK HOUSE where they eat in every episode. Especially Rosé. Lampshaded multiple times in the editors' captions, or when ordering large amounts of food.
• Big Little Brother: Gender-Inverted. Rosé and Lisa are the tallest members.
• Born Unlucky:
  • On Running Man, Lisa. She somehow got into the only 'R' out of 64 tiles when all she had to do was avoid it. Lampshaded at the start of the episode where Blackpink were asked who the unluckiest member was, and they all pointed to Lisa. Contrast with Jennie, who is Born Lucky. Jennie proved this when she won a game against Lisa in one shot (once again, on Running Man).
  • Lisa lost every bet she made on BLACKPINK HOUSE, four to Rosé (three during archery and one for sledding) and one to Jennie (bowling).
• But Not Too Foreign:
  • Rosé was born in New Zealand and moved to Australia when she was 8, but her parents are Korean.
  • Jennie has shades of this as well, having spent her formative years in New Zealand.
• Butt-Monkey: Lisa, usually, but the other members have their moments.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Jisoo is the resident 4D, as shown in live streams and reality shows. She is known for balancing things on herself, randomly dancing and jumping, screaming, making songs, having her self-given English name “Jisoo Turtle Rabbit Kim”, confessing to a camera on a selfie stick what she wants to eat, and generally not being on the same planet as everyone else. The other members have their moments as well, especially Lisa when she’s with Jisoo.
• Cuckoosnarker: Jisoo can say the most random things with a completely straight face.
• Dancing Is Serious Business: Lisa is considered one of the best dancers of the new generation of idols.
  • Their first performance video was this.
• Deliberately Cute Child: Lisa, so much. The worst part is that it's adorable, so the members let it slide all the time.
• Even the Girls Want Her: A large portion of BLINKS are females, shown here where the audience goes WILD after Jennie sings "unnie" instead of "oppa".
• Expy: Somewhat to their seniors 2NE1.
  • Jennie -> CL (Main rapper, unofficial leader)
  • Lisa -> Minzy (Main dancer, lead rapper, maknae)
  • Jisoo -> Dara (Face of the group, sub-vocalist)
  • Rosé -> Bom (Main vocalist)
    • Jennie has also been compared to G-Dragon of Big Bang.
• The Fashionista: Jennie. She has earned the nickname "Human Gucci" as she often wears expensive clothing from Gucci. She is also a brand ambassador for Chanel Korea.
• Genki Girl: Lisa and Rosé. Best friends wreak havoc together.
• Gratuitous English: Averted. Jennie spent years of her childhood in New Zealand and Rosé was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, and even Lisa is fluent. Jisoo is not comfortable with speaking in English, but she understands it well.
• Informed Ability: "Jisoo is apparently pro at basketball..."
• Inseries Nickname: Jisoo is "Jichu", Jennie is "Jendukie", Rosé is "Pasta" and Lisa is "Nallalisa"/"Jolisa"/"Yolisa". They're all puns.
  • As of their second appearance on Weekly Idol we have Jaesu, Jero, Rosa and Limario.
• Jack of All Trades: Jennie can rap, sing, dance, and is cute as a button to top it off. Lampshaded in Weekly Idol Ep. 277 where she says "I'm above average for dance, rap, singing and visuals."
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Lisa is well known for her fondness of cats, having adopted five of them in three years. This led to some people being taken by surprise when she then adopted a dog (a Doberman, no less) in 2021.
  "Hey, I just wanna play"
• The Leader: Averted. They've said multiple times that they have no official leader.
• Leg Focus: Lisa's legs went memetic after a dance video where she wore thigh-high boots, with them being juxtaposed with many celebrities with the slogan "Did it work?"
• Like an Old Married Couple: Rosé and Lisa. The fact that they argue has been mentioned multiple times (by Jisoo on Running Man and by Rosè in BLACKPINK HOUSE) but each time they emphasize that the arguing is fine because they love each other.
  "We fight sometimes but I love you a lot!" - Rosé in BLACKPINK HOUSE Episode 5
• Mama Bear: Jisoo's reaction to a fan wanting to marry her dog if they can't marry Jisoo herself.
  Lisa: [reading the fan's question] If I can't marry Jisoo, can I marry Dalgom?
  Jisoo: NO! He's my son! No! No, never! [...] Never, Dalgom is mine! *Death Glare*

• Only Sane Man: Jennie, most of the time, but she can be just as dorky as the others.
• Older Than They Look: Jisoo is the oldest, but it's not a surprise that people mistake her for one of the younger kids.
• Pretty in Mink: Jennie wore one during a live performance at the Melon Music Awards.
• Stage Names: Rosé and Lisa. Short for Roseanne (Rosé's English name) and Lalisa respectively.
• Team Mom: The reason why Jisoo is considered the unofficial leader. She takes care of the members, supports them, and has even wiped their tears on stage.
• Tender Tears: Rosé cries often. In BLACKPINK HOUSE Episode 3, she cried because her pet fish died. Episode 4, she cried when Lisa's parents showed up and almost cried again at a good view. In episode 7, she cried tears of joy because the noodles tasted good (... and many more)
• Trying Not to Cry: Lisa in Episode 4 of BLACKPINK HOUSE when her parents arrived.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Jennie and Jisoo towards Lisa.
• World's Most Beautiful Woman: Lisa won the title from TC Candler voters in 2021. Jisoo came out on top in a survey published by Nubia in 2022.

Music Tropes

• Boastful Rap: Many of Jennie and Lisa's raps, such as in BOOMBAYAH and its Japanese version.
  "Imma take what's mine so get out my way
  Ain’t got time, I go hard and slay
  Middle finger up F you, pay me
  90's baby, I pump up the jam
  Whip it up whip it up
  Baby that lambo
  Dropping the top I be too hard to handle
  Savage, I'm killing them, stacking my millions
  Stopping my paper? Go Brrrr
  RAMBO"
• Bowdlerise: "Pretty Savage" softens the song's Precision F-Strike by making it "bishes" instead of "bitches." However, live performances take it another step; instead of "bishes," they sing "savage" ("Yeah, we're some savage you can't manage" instead of "bishes you can't manage").
• Caps Lock: The official Youtube channel had the English translations of the song titles always in caps lock, until Kill This Love.
• Chronological Album Title: SQUARE ONE and SQUARE TWO. And then there comes SQUARE UP.
• Break-Up Song: Several, often (but not always) of the "I'm breaking up with you" variant, with "See U Later" being probably the most blunt.
  "See U later, maybe never."
• Early-Installment Weirdness:
  • Only two of their first five songs ("Whistle" and "Playing with Fire") hinted at their usual sound, codified by the Square Up EP as being a mix of pop, EDM, and hip hop. "Boombayah" stands out in that it is not so much a pop song but a full-blown dance song.
  • Jennie was the first member to have a solo single, and is the only one whose solo doesn't have a B-side.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Blackpink's first full-length Korean album is creatively called The Album.
• Lighter and Softer:
  • STAY, compared to both BOOMBAYAH and PLAYING WITH FIRE. WHISTLE falls in the middle.
  • AS IF IT'S YOUR LAST is a much lighter song that strays away from the hip-hop genre completely.
• Love Hurts: "Kill This Love"
  "We all commit to love
  That makes you cry
  We're all making love
  That kills you inside
  We must kill this love
  Yeah it's sad but true
  Gotta kill this love
  Before it kills you too
  Kill this love
  Yeah it's sad but true
  Gotta kill this love
  Gotta kill let's kill this love"
• Melismatic Vocals: "BLACKPINK in your area..." in the middle of BOOMBAYAH.
• One-Word Title: WHISTLE, BOOMBAYAH, and STAY.
• New Sound Album: Born Pink scales back the EDM aspects of their sound in favor of more straightforward hip-hop and mainstream pop-rock, with one of the only EDM songs being an outtake from The Album.
• Silly Love Song: AS IF IT'S YOUR LAST.
• Singer Name Drop:
  • "BLACKPINK in your area..." in BOOMBAYAH, AS IF IT'S YOUR LAST, Kill This Love, "How You Like That", "Pretty Savage", and "Shut Down".
  • "BLACKPINK is the revolution" in Forever Young.
• Solo Side Project:
  • Jennie debuted as a solo artist in 2018 with the song "SOLO".
  • Rosé debuted as a solo artist in 2021 with the song "On the Ground".
  • In the same year, Lisa debuted with the song "LALISA"
  • Jisoo debuted in 2023 with "Flower".
• Stop and Go: "As If It's Your Last" has several pauses throughout, most prominently before the chorus.
• T-Word Euphemism: Lisa has "Middle finger up, f you pay me" in BOOMBAYAH and "F a love song, I need you to say it" in Really.
• Translated Cover Version: Each of their singles have a Japanese version, complete with music videos.

Music Video Tropes

• After the End: The "Stay" video has a post-apocalyptic feel, with the members being alone in a city with ashes and debris everywhere and some blasts of colored gases. A large group of people dressed in white appears near the end, but they don’t move.
• Call-Back: "Shut Down" is basically this, with itens, cenarios and scenes from other music videos. The most explicit one is Jisoo standing right in front of a wall with a shot of her scene in "DDU-DU DDU-DU" which she wears a pink wig.
• Design Student's Orgasm: The music video for "Kill This Love" doesn't really follow a clear narrative, but certain scenes feature stunning aesthetics that many have called some of K-Pop's most beautiful, such as the scene with Jisoo and her headpiece.◊
• Hotter and Sexier: Compare AS IF IT'S YOUR LAST with DDU-DU DDU-DU◊.
  • Then there's "Ice Cream" featuring Selena Gomez, which is blatant Intercourse with You, and a video that is loaded with fanservice.
• Mesodiplosis:
  • "Ice Cream": "like" Mesodiplosis, as part of Shout Outs to other movies, like Free Willy, Billie Jean and Hot Wheels:
    "Get it free like Willy
    In the jeans like Billie
    You be poppin' like a wheelie"
  • "The Happiest Girl"
    "The doors we slammed
    The plates we smashed"
• Minimalist Cast:
  • The "Whistle" video has no extras aside from the brief appearance of someone’s hand near the beginning.
  • Rosé is the only person on screen in both of her solo videos.
• Performance Video: BOOMBAYAH and AS IF IT'S YOUR LAST are basically these, due to the lack of one-shots compared to the other videos.