BLACKPINK, 2NE1, and other Kpop artists have made history at Coachella
Most Kpop artists who performed at Coachella seem to be from YG Entertainment.
Epik High, BLACKPINK, and 2NE1 are all from YG Entertainment.
Coachella is an annual music and art festival held in California, USA. Regarded as the biggest musical festival in the world, the stage of Coachella is filled with globally famous acts, including Harry Styles, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, The Weeknd, and many more. Recent years, however, Coachella has seen several changes, and Kpop artists are starting to enter the festival’s lineup. Below are the acts that have proven the power of Kpop on this stage of the world:
Epik High
As the most respected hip hop act in South Korea, Epik High first performed at Coachella in 2016. They were once again invited in 2020, and are the first in Kpop history to receive such an honor. The Kpop icon Big Bang was also supposed to perform in the same year, however, due to Covid-19, the 2020 Coachella ended up getting canceled.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, the hip hop act, who is formerly of YG, shared that their current goal was to deliver the best performance to fans.
“The past 2 years has been tough on everyone, so we are going to perform at 1000% and make the crowd forget about their struggles while enjoying themselves,” they said.
BLACKPINK
YG’s top girl group BLACKPINK is the first female Kpop artist to ever hit the stage at Coachella. Their appearance in the 2019 festival was an iconic highlight in the group’s career, and basically launched them to superstar status outside of Korea.
BLACKPINK’s experiences at Coachella can be viewed in detail in their Netflix documentary BLACKPINK: Light up the sky. There, the girls had discussed their mixed feelings and emotions while performing on such a big stage.
2NE1
2NE1’s leader CL was one of the few Kpop soloists that got to perform at Coachella 2022. What really shook the ground, however, was the surprise appearance of 2NE1’s other members, including Dara, Park Bom, and Minzy at the very end of CL’s performance.
Together, the group performed their super hit I am the best, and basically took the world by storm.
To Blackjacks (2NE1’s fandom) as well as all Kpop fans, 2NE1’s reunion means more than just a performance. Fans were moved to tears, for it has been 7 years since the group’s last stage together at MAMA 2015, and 6 years since their official disbandment. This also makes 2NE1 the second female Kpop artist to ever appear on Coachella.
Jackson Wang
Jackson Wang, member of boy group GOT7, is one of the few Kpop acts that got to perform solo at Coachella. Alongside his strong dancing moves and powerful music, Jackson also drove the crowd insane when he took off his shirt and showed off god-like abs.
Jackson’s appearance at Coachella had quickly gone viral on the Chinese social platform Weibo, and the keyword “Jackson Wang Coachella” had attracted massive reactions from Chinese netizens.
Bibi
After the remarkable Head in the clouds stage of Coachella 2021, the singer-songwriter Bibi once again wowed the audience in 2022.
Bibi’s free-spirited stage, runway-worthy style, and seductive physique totally fired up the crowd. Her performance of The weekend!, alongside rapper Yoon Mirae was so memorable, it seered itself into the minds of the audience, and totally took over TikTok.
