The third of our special topics in K-pop concerns the solo releases from three BLACKPINK artists this year.
Having established themselves as one of the best-selling girl groups of all time during the two years of their Born Pink Tour, BLACKPINK were looking like the final, albeit hugely successful, hurrah for YG Entertainment.
It is perhaps at this stage worth saying a few things about the importance of YG, because in many ways the company is the root of what we now think of as K-pop. Established in 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk, a member of Seo Taiji and Boys, a hybrid hip hip/rock act who are often consider the first K-pop group, YG came to prominence through several hugely successful groups: BIGBANG, Epik High and 2NE1, and indeed Psy’s Gangnam Style was also released on the label.
However in recent years, controversies including the Burning Sun scandal and Yang Hyun-suk’s conviction on charges of coercion and blackmail, gave the impression that YG , hopelessly mired in sleaze, was very much last year’s empire.
BLACKPINK arose during a period of lull when the members of BIGBANG had been forced into hiatus due to statutory national service. 2NE1 had also fractured and disbanded, and initially BLACKPINK looked an sounded not unlike a female counterpart to BIGBANG.
Over several years they became very much their own creature, playing Coachella in 2019, and collaborating with Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez in the following year, they had transcended the boundaries of merely Korean pop, and indeed their own hybrid origins have made them very much an international phenomenon.
BLACKPINK as a group released nothing in 2024. In the previous year all four members had chosen to break from YG Entertainment for their individual activities. They had all in previous years put out solo material, Jisoo’s Flower last year being a notable example, however Jisoo was apparently silent this year, perhaps due to her responsibilities as global ambassador for Tommy Hilfiger.
Lisa was the first of the group to break cover in 2024, with ROCKSTAR, which confidently knocked down everything around it with face-melting sass to spare. For any other act, this would have been sufficient, however her follow up collaboration with Rosalía, New Woman, proved that she had plenty more where that came from. Having said that, her final release of the year, Moonlit Floor, with its reference to a “green-eyed French boy” and rumours regarding dating Frédéric Arnault of the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton clan, is to our ears a slighter release.
Next up, Jennie’s Mantra was at least the equal of Lisa’s best two singles this year. And its line “make you wanna swing both ways” winks at the audience, leaving us intrigued, but we are still awaiting an album to consolidate her success.
Finally, and frankly unless you have been living under a rock you are most likely aware that Rosé, with her hit APT, with Bruno Mars has clearly won the crown this year. Not just for BLACKPINK solos, or K-pop, but in the whole world. Her media persona through numerous interviews this year, most of which involved playing a drinking game, have made her appear the most approachable of the four. Sadly however, as with Lisa, her two follow-up singles, Number One Girl and Toxic Till The End, while showing a range to her songwriting abilities, are nowhere near as dazzling as APT.
And so we are left wondering where this all goes next. Will BLACKPINK pull away from YG Entertainment, and will that finally cripple Yang Hyun-suk’s already beleaguered fortunes? Well, as with BLACKPINK replacing BIGBANG before, YG have been in the process of developing BABYMONSTER, who are already showing themselves as an act to be reckoned with, and the return of 2NE1 to the live stage earlier in the year has shown that the mystique is still there.
Moreover, while G-Dragon is no longer with YG. His monumental return this year, both alone and with BIGBANG mates, Taeyang and Daesung, show that the YG Family spirit still exists and their single together HOME SWEET HOME just reeks of the original YG sound.
It ain’t over till it’s over!
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