Black Pink

Concept: Girl Crush (Independent Woman), Cute
Debut: August 8th, 2016
Debut Song(s): Whistle and Boombayah
Status: Active
Agency: YG Entertainment
Fandom Name: BLINKS

Members
Group Biography
Main Tracks
Side Tracks
Latest Release(s)

Members

Prime Lineup

1. Jennie (Kim Jennie) 김제니

Role: Main Rapper, Lead (Main) Vocalist

Active

Arguably probably the most well known and most popular of all the group members especially in the international markets. I don’t know why people like Jennie Kim, maybe it’s something about her screaming in haunted houses or how she has not tried in past performances (although I’ll give that she’s been improving in stage presence). But one thing is for sure, that while she herself is probably not a toxic person, but it seems like her “stan” or her fans are very very…. Uh not the best people on the web (not her fault of course).
Jennie is very close with Jisoo since their trainee days, so the two are usually hanging out with each other. In terms of education she is most like Rose, meaning she ALSO study abroad (Jennie studied in Auckland while Rose was born in Auckland but study in Australia) so Jennie knows how to speak English fluent-ish, but she got a very heavy accent. In addition to English, she is also fluently in Korean (well obviously…) and Japanese. She is also the FIRST KNOWN (at least) Black Pink member to have dated somebody (brought to you by f(CHrystal) exO Kai) but their relationship was soon DISPATCHed after being outed. Maybe because Jennie didn’t get her privacy that Black Pink is force to name their first-one-after-Coachella-2019 concert to be “Black Pink don’t give a two cents about your private space”.

She’s also probably the most fashionable member on Black Pink (wearing designer stuff) and always posing for pictures with top designer brand in baguette country le francais.

In addition to all of this, she is the first Black Pink member to have a wikipedia page and a “Solo” single in which (as many youtube comments would say) she basically curse out her whole group and goes SOLO. That song won a triple crown (winning three time on one of the 5 Korean Music Award Show) SOMEHOW, but I guess Jennie (or well YG) is smart because starting your solo career when your group is big is the way to go!

2. Lisa (Lalise Manoban) ลลิสา มโนบาล

Role: Lead (Main) Rapper, Main Dancer, Youngest Member

Active

Not much to say about Lisa, I mean except for the fact that she’s like the quietest member of the group. Ok maybe not the quietest as in speaking, but about her personal life, which is fine. She’s also probably the most popular member among out of all her Black pink group-mates internationally (at least Western wise) being the most followed to date KPop-idol/star on Instagram. Some cool facts about Lisa, let’s see well she’s Thailanese from the Bang Kok and had practice a variety form of dancing at an early age, although according to most K-net citizens TWICE’s Momo is probably a better dancer than Lisa maybe even Red Velvet’s Seulgi is a better dancer but that’s not to say Lisa isn’t good. She began training with YG ever since middle school (near the end of her 8th grade year). She’s quadra-lingual, speaking Thai, Korean, Japanese, and English (wait what… I barely heard her SPOKE during Coachella). Lisa is probably closest with Rosé out of all the group members of Black Pink seeing how both are “foreigners” and uh Jisoo and Jennie been best buddies since their trainee day.

She trained for like 5 years (I think the longest out of all the members) until she debuted with Black Pink. She also loves make up more than any other person on her group.

3. Jisoo (Kim Ji Soo) 김지수

Role: Lead Vocalist, Visual, Noona Member

Active

Alright, Jisoo is a hard one to decipher. So, on one hand, she seems to be a very “cold” person, rarely crying on award shows or on TV for that matter.Then on the other hand, though, she has been described by her members as being the “mood maker” and by other people as having a “4D” personality which basically is code word for “has a unique personality”. iKon (a boy group) members describe as having the brightest smile in the group. Her variety show performances (including Knowing Brothers, Idol Room, uh… Running Man) also show the fact that Jisoo can sometimes be very very extroverted. WHAT A SLIPPERY TRICKY WOMAN! STEER CLEAR AWAY PEOPLE WITH UH THE ROD IN KOREA. FOR YOUR OWN GOOD uh BECAUSE among her various nicknames are Chi Choo, Jichu, Choo Choo, Ah Choo, Chu Chu TV, and oh my gosh “Man’s heart destroyer” and “Boy Crush”. I got to say, two of those nicknames are made up by ME.

Regarding education, she was popular in her school for being very pretty and being very nice (and then capturing boy’s heart and eating them to stay even more beautiful). She can speak Korean, Japanese, and a little of Chinese. English, on the other hand, well she’s like a first-generation Vietnamese immigrant if you get what I mean (understand the language but can’t really speak). Therefore, she refrains from speaking English on stage which might have contributed to her lack of participation at Coachella, and therefore I would say she has the least stage presence out of the other members but then again, that might be a little unfair cause I haven’t view any concert beside the American one.

She is the only one that is listed as an “actress” out of the four on YG “actress” list. She was supposed to debut as an actress at YG Entertainment but became an idol with Black Pink instead. She’s a big fan of TVXQ (the boy group who destroy the peace of Gen 1 and started the era of conquest of Gen 2 which is now continuing in the era of Gen 3) especially of Changmin (come on, why couldn’t you like the other one…. U-Know… the other one). Jisoo likes a certain big yellow rat, she has a lot of hats/mugs/uh posters of this CERTAIN RAT!

And likes to perpetuate Asian stereotypes of uh eating uh…. just watch the video you’ll see ( at 3:10)

4. Rosé (Park Chae Young) 박채영

Role: Main (Lead) Vocalist, Lead Dance

Active

We have Rose here, MY BAD ROSE-AY, who is surprisingly NOT FRENCH, but instead is technically a “Brit”. She was born in Auckland, New Zealand which is a FORMER British Colony (hence British since Queen Elizabeth can technically NUKE Canada and Australia and NEW ZEALAND with her awesome Royal Prerogative) to Korean parents. She was brought to Melbourne, Australia to be raise as a kid, and that’s where she attended grade school (K-12). She was a cheerleader and sing in a church choir when she was small. She has an older sister who is apparently a lawyer, and she herself was SUPPOSED TO BE A LAWYER but alas, the world was not kind TO ALL OF US and she ended up placing first in a YG audition that was held Australia. After training for around 4 and a half years she got place into Black Pink.

What probably stand out the most about Rose is probably her love of food, she eats a lot more than *ahem* Jennie or some of the other members. She usually also allows herself a “cheat” meal at the end of every workout. Now of course when I say eat more, I don’t mean binging on pizza and fries, I don’t think her idol life really allows that. She especially likes hot food, uh something like Hot Cheetos and in “As if it’s your last” vLive she’s munches on whole green peppers (which are UNLIKE THESE FAKE GREEN BELL PEPPERS. They are adequately spicy). I would say she has the best stage presence out of the four.
She has been praised for her vocals, although there are a couple of people who pointed out that she doesn’t have much “support” when going for the high notes. Take it how you will, she DID pass King of Masked Singer (first round got eliminated in the second round which isn’t that good….) and I mean she DID sing in a church choir which requires some high notes for gospel. She has been described to have a “dreamy” voice by many K-netcitizens and variety shows.

Overview/History

I would say Black Pink is the SECOND biggest girl group right now in Generation 3 of KPop (the first being TWICE). What they beat out other groups in though, is probably Instagram/Social Media follows (per member) and not only that they was place over BTS in the recent Forbes Korea Power Ranking 2019. I would venture to say that they have THE MOST average Youtube views on their music videos than any other KPop group right now. Even though they have a leg up against other girl group, debuting with one of the Top Three Entertainment Agency in South Korea especially in music (JYP, SM, and YG) how did these four young women (well to me they are noonas so….) achieve such quick accolades? Let’s take a trip down memory lane.

Beginning Years

Black Pink lineup was revealed by YG entertainment on June 29th 2016. They were the first girl group that YG has debuted ever since the stunning success of Queen CL and her antagonistic empire against Queen Taeyeon tripartite alliance of 2NE1. Black Pink had huge shoes to fill since their predecessor is literally one of the biggest KPop group ever, and if you are a Black Jack (Fans of 2NE1) you can see many similarities that Black Pink has with its predecessor (same concept although Black Pink has also more cutesy song, the two group love some more hip hop). Black Pink started out of the gate running, releasing their first two singles “Whistle” and “Boombayah” on August 8th, 2016 along with their extended EP “Square One”. These two singles were a huge success, charting on Billboard’s World Digital Song Chart literally in the span of a few months. The song “Whistle” also went on to topple the August Gaon chart (basically equal to spotify/itunes chart for the west) for a few weeks in August. The two songs was also popular in China, quickly climbing to number one on the QQ Chart. Not only that, Black Pink claimed their first music show win on Inkigayo (I feel like YG has HEAVY HEAVY influenced on Inkigayo) when they went on to have their first music performance with their single “Whistle” 13 days after their debut. That song ended up with 3 wins although “Boombayah” got zero.

Their second EP though, Square 2, was not as huge as their first one. The two leading song on the track “Playing with Fire” and “Stay” wasn’t as powerful as their first EP, since these two singles never got to number one on Gaon chart nor won a music award. I personally think these two tracks are better than Square One but alas, Black Pink two EP’s garnered enough credentials to win big at the various nominations at prestigious award shows across Asia including: Golden Disc Award in which “Whistle” was nominated for a Digital Bonsang and the group themselves took home “New Artist Award”. Gaon Chart Music Awards also awarded the group “Rookie of the Year” and awarded “Whistle” and “Playing With Fire” the “Song of The Year” award in those songs respective month of release (August for Whistle and November for Playing with Fire). Melon Chart Music Awards also gave Blackpink their “Best New Artist”. At the MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards) while Blackpink didn’t receive the “Best New Artist” award, but they did win “Best Music Video” for “Whistle” and score nominations for “Best New Artist” and “Artist of The Year” (sadly BTS has been dominating this grand award).

Stagnate Years: 2017-2018

As quick as Blackpink rose, they dig in for trench nugu (basically mean not “unknown” so much to say but not “MVP” level) defense status for really the next whole year. Not a whole lot of songs were made, and they only manage to produce one hit “As if It’s Your Last” which while a good song in its own right, didn’t really have spectacular performance like their previous releases. It did manage to achieve #1 on the Billboard World Digital Chart, but other than that it fell flat on the various Korean popular music charts (Gaon and Melon). On the music show front, the song garner Blackpink’s first triple crown, winning three consecutive times at Inkigayo and NOWHERE ELSE. Now I’m starting to really think YG Entertainment has a hand in this award show…. Probably the biggest achievement of Blackpink during the ’17 was its debut in Japan. The group did a showcase to a crowd of 14000 people on July 20th at Budokan Arena and then approximately a month later release EP “Blackpink” officially marking the group inland to Japan (which they haven’t done much since in Japan). Overall a very disappointing year for Blackpink, it only got a Digital Bonsang for “As if it’s your last” by Golden Disc Award and almost NOTHING ELSE. It seem like the group was headed towards a dank future like most other KPop groups……

Making it Big

On a cold cold crispy February morning of 2018, YG Entertainment found itself in big DU DU. Dragon the Conqueror right hand man T.O.P had recently been hit with an illegal marijuana possession. To make matter worse there was a small rumor. Very very tiny rumors one after another. Netcitizens had begun to notice their drinks laced with drugs in a certain club especially if they were “hot” female netcitizens. Many other net citizens claim that in a certain club for a buck twenty, one can have a f$$$ awesome time! Oh yes that’s right folks, Dragon the Conqueror Pet Seungri’s funhouse was about to be brought to the BURNING LIGHT. Not only that, the myth? the legend? the BOY CEO YG himself was discover giving a certain TAX-i the middle finger. These were dark dark times indeed….

*February 1st 2018. In CEO Yang Hyun-suk office*

CEO Yang: Come in
YG Servant: Your Majesty! Your Holiness! You-who-beat-Seo-Taiji! me little servant bring dire news!
CEO Yang: What is it plebeian?
YG Servant: Sire, one of your knights T.O.P has been found out taking hits!
CEO Yang: Taking hits? Servant stop bothering my time! You worked here for a long time, YOU KNOW WE HIRED THE FINEST THUGS I MEAN UH MANAGERS! MANAGERS, they are adept at taking HITS and DEALING MUCH MORE DAMAGE OUT IN RETURN!
YG Servant: No sir, Sir. T.O.P been taking hits from Blunt!
CEO Yang: What an EXTRAORDINARY NICKNAME. Short and STRAIGHT TO THE POINT. I love this thug already able to defeat one of my FINEST KNIGHTS! Yes yes, wait isn’t our new girl maids in need of managers? You know the four new ones? Likes Black and Pink?
YG Servant: Yes sire, you talking about the scrub maids? Yes sire, they are in needs of managers
CEO Yang: Yes yes! Make this BLUNT thug guy the manager of the vietnamese-looking one out of the four scrub maids. You know the one that speaks english well and that’s not a stuck up French person?
YG Servant: Sire, uh Blunt is not a person…..
CEO Yang: What is he then? *YG Servant motions to whisper in CEO Yang ears. CEO Yang invites him over*
*whispers whispers whispers*
CEO Yang: WHAT THE FLYING FEATHERS?? REALLY? WHILE IN THE ARMY??? I KNEW IT I SHOULD HAVE DROP THIS KNIGHT AND ADDED IN SQUIRE HYUN-SEUNG!
YG Servant: Also sire, this image also was published in the papers this morning….. *holds up a parchment*
CEO Yang: Let’s see……

CEO Yang: Oh NOES! UH, WE NEED TO DISTRACT THE PUBLIC FAST. I know JUST THE MAN TO DO IT, bring in Knight Seungri, you know I knighted him over Squire Hyun-Seung for this VERY SPECIAL REASON. He has a KNACK for business! Didn’t he open a club? Let’s post some news how his business is THE MOST TALKED about NIGHT CLUB RIGHT NOW!
YG Servant: Oh believe me Sire, it’s also in the news…… Everybody knows about it, but I’m not sure if they want to visit the place…… *whisper*
CEO Yang: OMO… Stress. Alright alright you know what, bring in those scrub maids, we need a new cash cow now
YG Servant: Sire, I heard the best songs come in moment of inspiration, tragedy, and happiness. Why don’t you write a hit song about YG experience for this upcoming year
CEO Yang: Good idea ole servant. Alright, we about to headed towards a shiz show. I think I will have the scrub maids sing this song to describe this situation. This “Ddu-du” of a situation…

What better way to start, than possibly with Black Pink breakthrough “DDU-DU DDU-DU”? This was the year of that Black Pink finally had their big break. Although “Du Du Du” didn’t win much music awards (it did win another Digital Bonsang), it was huge in the charts. It won a triple crown at Inkigayo (3+ total wins) and at M-countdown for a total 7 (I didn’t check the Show or Show Champion) show wins. Maybe more impressive, is that “Du Du Du” became the group first song to earn a “Perfect All-Kill” (which basically means becoming 1st in the biggest streaming chart for a week). The dance of the song was iconic in the “shooting” dance and I think this song is also when Western Markets woke up to Black Pink. If not for the Western Market, I wouldn’t place Black Pink as number #2 as of right now. Not only that “DDU-DU DDU-DU” probably gave the group enough credibility to sign with Inter-scope Records in America back in October of 2018. “Du Du Du” also charted on Billboard Top 100 at #40 (so at its peak it loses to the Shark Song. Good to know!) the highest position ever achieved by a KPop All Female group. Following “DDU-DU DDU-DU” was the release of “Forever Young” which while didn’t come close to outdoing “DDU-DU DDU-DU” saw success in its own right by peaking in Top 5 on the Gaon Chart.

After this breakout success, Blackpink began to look to oversee markets. They collaborated with Dua Lipa in the song “Kiss Up Make Up” which only peak at #93 on Billboard Hot Top 100. They performed their first concert in a dome stadium (which holds a lot of people. I don’t think it was sold out at Kyocera Dome Osaka. On the domestic front on September of 2018, Blackpink held their first concert in Seoul title “Blacpink in Your Area”. In October of 2018, YG Entertainment landed a contract with Interscope Records for Blackpink and around that same time, Blackpink announced that they were going to perform at Coachella Music Fesitival 2019 and also they were to bring their invasion of privacy to the Western World.

If that wasn’t all, YG Entertainment announced that each Blackpink member was going to have a solo career, with Jennie drawing first blood with her song “Solo”. YG Entertainment then manipulated Inkigayo yet again to award Jennie’s song a triple crown. Rose solo career is expected to follow Jennie although the dates have not been determined. Despite all this immense success in 2018, they couldn’t win big at MAMA (Mnet Asian Music Awards) falling to TWICE but at least they were the first LOSER.

The Present

Currently, Blackpink in 2019 looks bright so far. They took the stage in LA for Coachella 2019 to cheering crowds received a lot of good praises from the Western Music Industry after their performances (although I felt their stage presence was kind of bland. Read More ). Blackpink was the first Korean Idol Group ever to perform at Coachella and not only that their recent release of “Kill This Love” broke their best record of #views in 24 hours at like 45-55 Million? Their Western tour is now still active but I think it’s now headed toward its European Leg (going to London after Manchester). It remains to be seen how successful they will be in this year…… These 13 songs UPSTART OF A GROUP!