Finally, BLACKPINK is back with their 2nd full-length album [BORN PINK]! Even during their hiatus, which lasted for about 2 years, they set new records. And with their new comeback this time, it already seems like they’ll set new records.
Let’s check out their accomplishments during their hiatus and fun facts about their new album.
Blackpink New records even during the hiatus
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Billboard ranked Yeah Yeah Yeah as the 3rd best song in Born Pink, and like many others they were really impressed with the voice of the songwriter Jisoo, and they also expressed their excitement for her upcoming solo project.
Even during their hiatus, BLACKPINK got tons of love and set new records. In fact, they recently accomplished something big on YouTube.
On Sept 5, BLACKPINK’s official YouTube channel hit over 80 million subscribers, thereby becoming the most subscribed artist on YouTube. Previously, it was Justin Bieber.
The #1 position, which Justin Bieber maintained for about 2 years and a month, has been taken by BLACKPINK. Out of all the artists in the world, BLACKPINK has the most subscribers, and the view counts of their MVs are unbelievable.
As of Sept 15, BLACKPINK’s ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’ has 1.9 billion views, which is almost 2 billion views! Not only that, ‘Kill This Love’ has about 1.6 billion views, ‘Boombayah’ has about 1.4 billion views, ‘As if it’s your last’ has about 1.1 billion views, and ‘How You Like That’ has about 1.1 billion views too.
So, including ‘DDU-DU DDU-DU’, BLACKPINK has as many as 5 MVs with over 1 billion views.
And besides the MVs, BLACKPINK has another video with over 1 billion views. It’s the dance performance video of ‘How You Like That’. As of Sept 15, the video has about 1.2 billion views.
BLACKPINK also has Guinness World Records related to their MVs. BLACKPINK’s MV of ‘How You Like That’ hit 86.3 million views on the first day of its release. As a result, BLACKPINK set a world record for the most views within 24 hours on YouTube.
Also, BLACKPINK had 1.66 million fans logging in on YouTube Premiere. With that, they set a Guinness World Record for the most viewers on YouTube Premiere.
In addition, the MV of ‘How You Like That’ hit 100 million views in only about 32 hours since its release and became the video that hit 100 million views in the shortest time ever on YouTube. And it was BLACKPINK themselves who broke this record.
The MV of their recent pre-released song ‘PINK VENOM’ hit 100 million views in only about 29 hours. And the new title song ‘Shut Down’ is getting a lot of views really fast, which is making us wonder what new record will be set next.
BLACKPINK’s popularity can be felt in the number of their Instagram followers as well.
As of Sept 15, BLACKPINK’s official Instagram account has about 49.2 million followers, which is the highest among Korean female singers. But BLACKPINK members each has even more followers on Instagram than BLACKPINK’s official account.
As of Sept 15, Jisoo has 63.9 million followers, Jennie 69.9 million followers, Rosé 62.8 million followers, and Lisa 81.7 million viewers.
Out of all the artists in Korea – male or female – the 4 members of BLACKPINK are the 4 most followed artists on Instagram.
Lisa, who has the most followers among Koreans, has the 41st most followers worldwide.
Currently, the most followed female singer in the world is Selena Gomez, who sang ‘Ice Cream’ with BLACKPINK.
On YouTube and Instagram alone, BLACKPINK’s global popularity is apparent. And on Spotify, the number of followers and the number of monthly listeners show people’s love for BLACKPINK.
As of July, there are about 31 million followers on Spotify, which made BLACKPINK the 9th most followed female artist in the world, and BLACKPINK had as many as about 31 million monthly listeners, which made them the girl group with the most monthly listeners in the world in the history of girl groups.
Such consistent love for BLACKPINK’s music as well as BLACKPINK’s popularity led to 2 million pre-orders of BLACKPINK’s 2nd full-length album [BORN PINK].
BLACKPINK is already selling so many copies of the album on the first day of its release.
I’m curious if BLACKPINK will once again set historic records in the Kpop scene.
[Meaning behind ‘Shut Down’] The name of the title song ‘Shut Down’ means to close or to stop operating. So even before the song came out, fans put many meanings into this.
BLACKPINK has less than a year until their contracts expire, some fans speculated that ‘Shut Down’ might refer to BLACKPINK’s anxiety or mean that BLACKPINK is ending their first chapter to prepare for the next chapter. But if you look at BLACKPINK members’ recent interviews, it may ease the anxiety about their contract renewal.
First, during an interview with RollingStone in May, Jennie said,
“OK, how do I prepare myself for my next busy two years?” This basically means that there is no need to worry about the next year, which is when her contract will expire.
With that, she said, “I don’t think BLACKPINK will ever end in my heart. Regardless of what I do, I will always be Blackpink. It’s a part of my family.”
Plus, Jisoo, who is the only member that hasn’t made a solo debut, made a positive comment about her solo album during a video call with a fan in January of this year. So most people are speculating that ‘Shut Down’ means
that BLACKPINK is ending their first chapter and is preparing for Chapter 2.
In an interview before their comeback, BLACKPINK said that they only focused on music itself in their 1st full-length album [THE ALBUM],
while in this album, [BORN PINK], they tried to express BLACKPINK’s essence. So they said that if you watch the MV of ‘Shut Down’ closely, you can find details of BLACKPINK’s previous hit songs here and there. But fans already found all of BLACKPINK’s hit songs hidden in the teaser video. Plus, ‘La Campanella’, which was sampled for the song ‘Shut Down’, is one of the songs by Paganini, known as the Devil’s Violinist, that have been rearranged and made into piano songs. Apparently, it’s a song that pianists play to show off their techniques.
As such, BLACKPINK members showed off their music and skills wholeheartedly through the title song ‘Shut Down’.
An album prepared over a long time, BLACKPINK’s 2nd full-length album [BORN PINK] properly shows BLACKPINK’s unique identity. [Special elements of the album]
Currently, BLACKPINK members are goodwill ambassadors for the 26th UN Climate Change Conference. Ever since being named goodwill ambassadors in Sept of last year, BLACKPINK has warned many fans about climate change through many videos.
BLACKPINK addressed this issue at the celebratory event for the British queen’s 70th year as a monarch this year as well.
Recently, as idols’ album sales rocketed, the environmental problems related to it have been a big topic.
Being goodwill ambassadors for the UN Climate Change Conference, BLACKPINK made the physical copies of their 2nd full-length album with eco-friendly material. The box set albums, which are available in 3 colors – black, pink, and gray are all made with paper that is approved by Forest Stewardship Council, low carbon eco-friendly paper & soy ink, and environmental protective coatings. The kit albums are made with biodegradable plastics and packaging envelop made with cornstarch.
As goodwill ambassadors, BLACKPINK members are at the forefront of protecting the environment.
[The all-time production costs of an MV] When BLACKPINK announced their upcoming comeback and started shooting the MV, it was said that YG spent the highest production cost ever.
Through the fantastic videography and various production sets of ‘PINK VENOM’, it was apparent why BLACKPINK and YG brought up the production costs and showed so much confidence.
And it seems that BLACKPINK members’ outfits and accessories in the MV attributed a lot to the high production costs.
In the MV of ‘PINK VENOM’ where the members are wearing in various outfits, the members’ outfits and accessories were mostly luxury items.
BLACKPINK members each work as an ambassador for a luxury brand that fits their image.
Jisoo is an ambassador for Cartier and Dior, so most of her accessories in the MV are Cartier items. Her earrings and ring were Cartier items that cost about 3 to 4 million won, and her necklace is also a Cartier item, which costs as much as 16.7 million won. Rosé, who is an ambassador for Tiffany & Co., is wearing a Tiffany Wrap Necklace, which costs as much as 29.65 million won.
Chanel’s ambassador Jennie, who is called the Human Chanel, showed a unique Chanel product.
This cage, which looks like a bird cage, is actually a bag that costs about 37.24 million won.
Lisa is the member with the most expensive accessories in the MV. Being a Bvlgari ambassador, Lisa is wearing a Bulgari Serpenti Necklace, which is about 87 million won.
And her Bvlgari rings are said to be over 10 million won.
So in total, Lisa’s accessories are worth over 100 million won.
Now that we’ve learned the prices of the accessories on BLACKPINK members in the MV of ‘PINK VENOM’, the members’ outfits in the MV of ‘Shut Down’ look extraordinary too, don’t they?
This has been an overview of BLACKPINK’s comeback and accomplishments.