BLACKPINK has had an overwhelmingly successful 2022 after a long hiatus.
BLACKPINK made a full-group comeback in 2022 after a break of nearly two years, and their global power is overwhelming. Following the pre-release single “Pink Venom” in August, BLACKPINK succeeded in further solidifying their identity with their 2nd full album “BORN PINK” and the title track “Shut Down”.
In the domestic music industry, the 4th gen girl groups’ made up of “monster rookies” who debuted in the past 1-2 years have been active at the forefront, but BLACKPINK has taken the global pop market as their main stage beyond Korea. BLACKPINK is the first K-pop girl group to dominate the UK and US charts at the same time, and the first K-pop singer to top Spotify’s weekly streaming charts, showing their “girl power” to a whole new level with overwhelming global figures.
BLACKPINK’s music itself has also received good reviews. “BORN PINK” was ranked No.42 in Billboard’s year-end “50 Best Albums of 2022”, No.25 in Rolling Stone’s “Top 100 Best Albums of the Year”, and dubbed Global Spotify’s “Girl Group with the Most Streams of the Year”. BLACKPINK is also the first girl group in the world to be selected as the 2022 Entertainer of the Year by TIME Magazine.
BLACKPINK is the first K-pop girl group to change the world girl group history
BLACKPINK took the lead with the pre-release single “Pink Venom” in August. “Pink Venom” is a hip-hop genre song that shows off BLACKPINK’s unique charisma. Even in the midst of the so-called “Girl Group War”, BLACKPINK’s “Pink Venom” went straight to the top of the music charts.
“Pink Venom” captures listeners from the intro with the sound of traditional Korean instruments blended with the intense beat. On top of that, the sharp rap and catchy, powerful vocals maximize the charm of each BLACKPINK member. The harmony of black and pink is beautifully expressed in this song, which receives enthusiastic responses from domestic music fans as well as overseas music fans.
The song reached #1 on iTunes in 74 countries around the world, including the US and UK. The MV exceeded 100 million views in about 29 hours after its release. In particular, this song debuted at No.22 on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the first week of its release, proving BLACKPINK’s global power. British music magazine NME said, “‘Pink Venom’ is BLACKPINK’s confidence itself. Their courage in taking on another new challenge musically is respectable.”
In September, the 2nd full album “BORN PINK” was out. The physical album of “BORN PINK” recorded more than 2 million pre-orders during the pre-order period. BLACKPINK sold 2,141,281 copies (including exports to North America and Europe) of “BORN PINK” in just a day and a half, becoming the first K-pop girl group to become a ‘double million seller’. The first-week sales also surpassed a total of 1,5429,950 copies based on the Hanteo chart, setting a new record for K-pop girl groups.
In the global market, BLACKPINK also released unrivaled results. “BORN PINK” recorded sales of about 102,000 albums in the US and reached the top of Billboard’s main album chart Billboard 200 on October 1, writing a new history as a K-pop female artist. This is the first record for a Korean female artist. At the same time, it is BLACKPINK’s highest record, breaking the record of 2nd place on the Billboard 200 recorded by their 1st full album “The Album” released in October 2020.
Above all, BLACKPINK’s No.1 on Billboard 200 is also meaningful when looking at the entire music market beyond their own career high. BLACKPINK became the fourth Korean artist after BTS, SuperM, and Stray Kids to achieve this, but for a female group, it was the first No.1 in about 14 years and five months since the US girl group Danny Kane on April 5, 2008.
Prior to Billboard’s good news, BLACKPINK recently topped the UK’s official album chart for the first time as a K-pop girl group and the first time as a K-pop artist on the Spotify global top song weekly chart. The official chart is considered one of the two major charts in the pop music world along with the US Billboard chart. BTS has been the only Korean singer to reach the top of the UK official album chart so far, but with this achievement, BLACKPINK is standing shoulder to shoulder.
There has been no female group since Destiny’s Child, an American girl group in which Beyoncé and others belonged in 2001, that have topped both the US and UK charts at the same time. BLACKPINK rewrote pop history by topping the UK and US charts for the first time in 21 years.
It also topped Spotify’s ‘Top Song Global Weekly Chart’. This is the first time that a Korean singer has topped the Spotify weekly chart, both male and female. The title song “Shutdown” has been streamed a total of 39.186,127 times over the past week. As a result, they won the top spot on the U.S. Billboard, the U.K. official chart.
The group was also selected as ‘Entertainer of the Year’ by Time.
They made a winning move with music without relying on their star status as “BLACKPINK.” Unlike other girl group music since birth, BLACKPINK, which has captivated domestic and foreign music fans with its deep hip-hop music, has once again shown its own identity through “Born Pink.”
The album contains eight songs, including the title track “Shutdown and Pre-released Song “Pink Venom,” and “Typa Girl,” “Yeah Yeah Yeah,” “Hard to Love,” “The Happiest Girl,” “Taly” and “Ready to Love.” The tracks, which include hip-hop, ballad, and retro pop, are all in different genres and the high level of completion of the tracks is impressive.
After debuting in 2016, thanks to persistently pushing their own color despite going through countless variations over the course of 6 years, the color of ‘Blackpink’ became deeper and more intense. The group’s collaboration with producer Teddy, with whom they’ve been working since their debut album, is also perfect, creating an album with all good b-side tracks.
Black Pink’s “Born Pink” ranked 42nd on the “2022 Best Album” chart released by the U.S. music media Billboard, the only K-pop album released this year.
“The album soars not just because of its impeccable balance between English and Korean, or its general infectiousness – Born Pink shows the idols marrying the excitement of the old BLACKPINKwith and a more mature, grown-up version of the group, emboldened by a fanbase which endlessly supports them.” – said Billboard
In addition, BLACKPINKranked 25th on Rolling Stone’s “Best Album of the Year Top 100” and won the title of Global Spotify’s “Girl group with the most streaming of the year.” In particular, out of the 10 K-pop songs that recorded the most streaming times on Spotify this year, BLACKPINKrecorded as many as three songs, realizing its overwhelming global popularity.
In particular, before his regular comeback, BLACKPINKattended the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards in August and stood on stage as a performer. After TCL, Spice Girls, and Peeps Harmony, BLACKPINKbecame the fourth female global group to stand on this stage, solidifying its position. They also won Best Metaverse Performance and Best K-pop (Lisa’s solo).
BLACKPINK was chosen as one of the promotional advocates for the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs), proving their global impact and influence.
Thanks to this multifaceted move of musical achievement, BLACKPINKwas also named the “2022 Entertainer of the Year” by the U.S. weekly magazine Time. Beyond K-pop, BLACKPINKis the first girl group to be named as “Entertainer of the Year.” BLACKPINKhas not only made a page in pop history, but also made a new wave in the world’s girl group history
TIME said “BLACKPINK will continue to play its role as a trendsetting icon, not only in music, but also in beauty, fashion, and other industries.”
Source: k14
