BLACKPINK

Blackpink (Korean: 블랙핑크 ) is a South Korean girl group formed by YG Entertainment, consisting of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa. The group debuted in August 2016 with their single album Square One, which featured "Whistle" and "Boombayah", their first number-one entries on South Korea's Gaon Digital Chart and the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, respectively.

Blackpink is the highest-charting female Korean act on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 13 with "Ice Cream" (2020), and on the Billboard 200, peaking at number two with The Album (2020), which is also the first-ever album by a Korean girl group to sell more than one million copies. They were the first Korean girl group to enter and top Billboard's Emerging Artists chart and to top the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart three times. Blackpink was also the first female Korean act to receive a certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) with their hit single "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" (2018), whose music video is currently the most-viewed by a Korean group on YouTube. Their 2018 song "Kiss and Make Up", a collaboration with Dua Lipa, was the first by a Korean group to receive a certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and a platinum certification from the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

Blackpink has broken numerous online records throughout their career. Their music videos for "Kill This Love" (2019) and "How You Like That" (2020) each set records for the most-viewed music video within the first 24 hours of release, with the latter breaking three and setting two Guinness World Records. They are the first music group and Korean female act to have five music videos accumulate one billion views each on YouTube; the most-subscribed music act on the platform; and the most-followed girl group on Spotify, with over 20 million followers as of March 2021. Their other accolades include the New Artist of the Year Award at the 31st Golden Disc Awards and the 26th Seoul Music Awards, the Mnet Asian Music Award for Best Female Group in 2020, the first MTV Music Video Award won by a Korean girl group, and recognition as the first female Korean group on Forbes' 30 Under 30 Asia. They have been recognized by Forbes Korea as one of the most powerful celebrities in South Korea, placing first in 2019, third in 2020, and second in 2021. In January 2021, Blackpink was credited by South Korea's President Moon Jae-in for spreading K-pop content across the globe and acknowledged them as a global K-pop phenomenon.

Blackpink began forming when YG Entertainment held tryouts worldwide for preteen or teenage recruits to create a new girl group after launching its first major girl group, 2NE1, in 2009. According to the members, joining the label as trainees was similar to enrolling in a full-time pop-star academy, with Jennie describing the experience as "more strict than school" and Rosé comparing it to The X Factor with dorm rooms. For members who had left their lives outside of South Korea, the pace of training alongside the culture shock was especially difficult. Preparations for Blackpink's debut began as early as 2011, when YG Entertainment revealed on November 14 that their new girl group would debut in the early half of 2012 and feature at least seven members. Since then, numerous news and rumors surfaced surrounding the new girl group's debut being delayed, although there had been no official information. It was only until May 18, 2016, that YG Entertainment confirmed the girl group would debut that July, stating that the members were selected through years of stiff competition. The label later confirmed that Jang Hanna and Moon Sua, who were introduced to the public as potential members of the new girl group, were not included in the lineup.

Boombayah

Promotions for their debut began in the first week of August 2016 with the release of teaser images, videos, and advertisements. The first girl group to debut under YG Entertainment in seven years, Blackpink released their debut single album, Square One, on August 8, 2016, consisting of tracks "Boombayah" and "Whistle". They charted at number one and two on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart, making Blackpink the fastest act to achieve such a feat and the third Korean artist to hold the top two positions simultaneously, after label mates Psy and Big Bang. "Whistle" quickly topped the Gaon digital, download, streaming, and mobile charts. The group also reached number one on the weekly, popularity, music video, and K-pop music video charts of China's biggest music-streaming service, QQ Music. Blackpink's first music show performance aired on August 14, 2016, on SBS's Inkigayo. They won first place on Inkigayo thirteen days after their debut, breaking the record for the shortest time for a girl group to win on a music program after debut. They wrapped up promotions for Square One on September 11, 2016, with another win on Inkigayo.

Blackpink released their second single album, Square Two, consisting of tracks "Playing with Fire" and "Stay", on November 1, 2016. The group began their promotions on Inkigayo on November 6 and on Mnet's M Countdown on November 10. "Playing with Fire" was Blackpink's second single to reach number one on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales chart and the first K-pop girl group song to chart on the Canadian Hot 100. In South Korea, "Playing with Fire" peaked at number three while "Stay" placed in the top ten. Blackpink's commercial success in their first five months earned them several rookie awards at major Korean year-end music award shows, including the Asia Artist Awards, Melon Music Awards, Golden Disc Awards, Seoul Music Awards,[and Gaon Chart Music Awards. Additionally, Billboard named them one of the best new K-pop groups of 2016.

Members

• Jisoo (지수) – vocalist
• Jennie (제니) – rapper, vocalist
• Rosé (로제) – vocalist, dancer
• Lisa (리사) – dancer, rapper, vocalist