Current Trends: Blackpink Makes Los Angeles Blink
Blackpink the superstar quartet from South Korean record label YG Entertainment made their USA debut by being the first ever Korean girl group to perform at the famous/infamous festival in Indio; Coachella. Followed by the beginning of their United States tour which kicked off in Inglewood’s own The Forum.
Wednesday, April 17th Blinks (official fandom name) were seen lining up as early as 7am to make sure to get a perfect spot in the General admission pit for BPs concert. Fans came from all over the west coast just to see the girls perform in their first official show in America. Fans were covered from head to toe in the quartets official colors which correspond to their name; black and pink. They were rocking fan gear from the official merchandise stand, and holding the official black pink lightstick.
Blackpink’s official lightstick
Blackpink’s first performance in American isn’t something to look past, it is monumental. They performed both weekends at Coachella, and have 8 dates lined up in their US tour, both are one of its kind for Girl groups that are from Kpop since the success of girl groups in the west hasn’t been as recognized as their male counterparts. During the week that they were in California, they networked with famous personalities and actors such as Will Smith and his family, famous DJ Zedd, and Justin Beiber, they are amongst the 20+ A list celebrities that became fans of the girls. Blackpink broke many records including most viewed video in 24hrs by ANYONE EVER by garnering 56million views in just 24 hours, (later beat a few days later by BTS) they sold over 500k copies of their latest EP “Kill This love” and have gained a massive US fanbase which is backed up by the 55 thousand heads in the crowd of Coachella’s Sahara tent watching their set.
Their success in the west isn’t new, and I think that their success is due to the girl’s diverse background. Three out of the four members are not from Korea. Rosé is from Australia, born and raised, Jennie is although born in Korea, lived most of her life abroad in Sweden, and Lalisa (Lisa) is from Thailand born and raised. The three international members are all fluent in English. Jisoo is the only Korean native in the group. They were the successor after 2NE1 disbanded in early 2016. Blackpink since their debut in 2016 have broken records since their Boombayah single was released. They instantly caught the attention of western audiences due to their hip-hop and R&B inspired sound and bad girl aesthetic which is a trademark in YG Entertainment. Because of this reason, they caught the public eye in the west and that skyrocketed them into instant stardom which is still till this day is reflected.
Balckpinks takeover in America is only the beginning, since every time they release a new EP or single they break their own record so I would not be surprised if they break their streaming and sales record the next time that they are in our area.
Blackpink when they finish their US tour will head over to Europe for next leg of their tour.
