NEW YORK (AP) — Four years after they debuted as the next buzzed-about girl group on the K-pop music scene, BLACKPINK’s lofty dreams in music have come into fruition.
Perform at Coachella. Check.
Record a song with Lady Gaga. Check.
Collaborate with Selena Gomez. Check.
Get a verse from Cardi B. Check.
Another major objective: Record their first-full length album after being known for dropping hit single after single to showcase a deeper, more personal side of the group.
Boldly titled “The Album,” the eight-song project being released Friday highlights all the things BLACKPINK have become known for: fun, big, explosive songs that meshes sounds like pop, electronica, hip-hop, dance and trap.
“We had so many things to take a look into. When it comes to one song, the video, the choreography, the fashion, the visual, everything is just put into one — let’s just times that by how many. We were kind of freaking out at first, but then we have been working for it for a long time,” Jennie, 24, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It gave us enough time to perfect everything and make it into our own.”
BLACKPINK — which also includes Rosé, Jisoo and Lisa — debuted with the singles “Boombayah” and “Whistle,” which quickly topped the South Korean music charts. They’ve had success with other hits and marked their debut on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2018 with the gold-selling “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du,” which has more than 1 billion views on YouTube, and “Kiss and Make Up,” a collaboration with English hitmaker Dua Lipa. A year later, they nearly cracked the Top 40 with “Kill This Love,” while a pair of their EPs reached the Top 40 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
They performed on a worldwide tour last year, taking on U.S. arenas like The Forum in Inglewood, California, and Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. They became the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella when they hit the stage there last year.
Those moments have prepared them for “The Album,” partially recorded during the pandemic. Outside of the big beats and slick choreography, the members wanted to get deep on the songs.
“We feel like we tried to put as many personalities of us as we could in the album. We have some very personal songs; songs that are a little more close to our hearts, that speak our story a little more,” Rosé, 23, said. “Personal songs take a little more to record, definitely. We had to bring our souls into the recording studio. It was us being very vulnerable. We heard that our fans can kind of feel that.”