KPop’s largest girl group has come to take over America, this time individually. How's each member holding up?

This article is part of The G Spot, a weekly segment where criticista Gordistotle gives insight into the pop culture happenings of now through opinions or anecdotes on his life living in Toronto.

While I’ve sprinkled it into past articles, I’m a bigger fan of KPop than I lead on to be - those who know me personally can attest. I have calmed down in recent years though, or at least now I keep it relatively private. But now that Blackpink, my introduction to the genre, has been making waves with their solo music careers, I feel I have to say my piece on the matter. How could I miss my opportunity to finally have a topical KPop G-Spot?

Debuting in 2016 under YG Entertainment, Blackpink has been one of the biggest names in KPop since hitting the scene. I’m specifying their label because it’s very important in KPop. A label defines a group’s entire aesthetic and sound. It’s sort of like you know what you’re getting when you go see a Disney movie, you know what you’re getting when a KPop label announces a new group. Blackpink debuted as the “prettier 2NE1”, YG’s previous girl group, sporting an almost identical image (but according to him, prettier). These groups are simply vessels for a product, with the company having total control of all artistic decisions.

Each member of Blackpink has released solo projects under YG, but only a single or two. While I’m sure each of them had some creative input behind the sound, it’ll always be the label that has the final say. It’s this lack of control that pushed the girls to pursue other options outside of YG. 

The girls’ contracts finally (thank god) came to an end on December 29th, 2023 - a special day for all of us Gordonators. After years of repetitive concepts, delayed comebacks, and long hiatuses, each member ultimately decided to part ways with the company for their individual ventures. Not long after, each member began to announce their own management companies, as well as which American record label they’d signed with. 

Here’s what each of Blackpink’s members have been up to since leaving YG, and how well it’s worked out for them. 

Lisa

Under the partnership between her newly founded management company, LLOUD, and RCA Records, Lisa released “Rockstar” this June. With this single, Lisa beat all the other girls to the punch, being the first of the members to release since departing from YG. The song was an instant success due in part to Lisa’s dedicated fan base of teenage girls and gay guys around the world, as well as the entirety of Southeast Asia. “Rockstar” was a strong choice for a lead single, but it’s a little too familiar to her pre-established YG image. The song’s a little disjointed, with an out-of-place Tame Impala (uncredited?) sample at the bridge. But I’ll give it to her, my boyfriend and I will randomly spurt “Oh shit, Lisa repping” on the regular.

As a follow-up, Lisa collaborated with beloved conquistadora, Rosalia, for “New Woman”. Bringing in heavy hitters like Max Martin, Tove Lo, and Ilya on composition, Lisa ditched the conventional Blackpink sound and delivered a solid pop song, albeit a generic one. With a Dave Meyers-directed video, her budget actually kind of scares me.

I’m not even going to talk about “Moonlit Floor”, that was a corn convention. I know I said I want versatility from Lisa, but not like this.  

Unsurprisingly, Lisa’s seen a lot of success globally, with her music charting high on Spotify, debuting on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, and accumulating lots of YouTube views. She’s very visible right now, recently performing at the VMAs and Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, as well as headlining the Global Citizen Festival.

I’m hoping Lisa breaks away from the generic sound she’s carving for herself. With a large fan base like hers, Lisa could fart into a microphone and it’d do well. I hope for her next single, she doesn’t play it as safe.

We know you have it in you, Lalisa. Manoban.

Jennie

As part of her acting stint as “Dyanne” (her name on the show was Dyanne??) on Sam Levinson’s “The Idol”, Jennie featured on The Weeknd’s “One Of The Girls” alongside Lily-Rose Depp. Soundtracking many a thirst fancam, the song has gone on to amass 1.3 billion streams on Spotify. That’s more than any Blackpink song by the way. I just thought people should know #ShadyAFJennieFacts. 

Like the other members, Jennie announced her management company Odd Atelier in late 2023. After signing with Columbia in September of this year, it was revealed that Jennie would be coming back with a new single the following month. 

This brings us to the release of “Mantra” on October 10th. Even if the track was met with only moderate success domestically and internationally, it went Number 1 on my Google Nest. Insane to think that moderate success is Top 10 on Spotify Global and Top 3 on South Korea’s top music chart, Melon, but that’s the standard Blackpink is held to. But that’s because it was a surprise release with no promo, only on Apple Music the first day, it just went up on motherf*cking Melon 9 days ago.

We don’t care about the streams, the song is for the streets. 

“Mantra” is easily my favourite of the Blackpink solos thus far, and I’m excited to see what Jennie cooks up next. My hopes are that she keeps the same energy for the follow up and doesn’t switch on us with something phoned in and low tempo. “One Of The Girls” is not a good song, we do not need more of those. Every move the Blackpink girls make at this stage is critical to how successful they’ll be later on. I need her to keep it coming with the WeHo gym bangers, none of that sappy shit. 

Rosé

To my surprise, Rosé’s had the biggest solo since cutting her contract and signing with Atlantic. My hopes were initially low, since she signed with The Black Label, a subsidiary of YG, to manage her individual activities in Korea. Like oh, we're getting some shitty ass music coming soon. But she surprised me!

Her latest release, “APT.” featuring Bruno Mars (had no idea she was connected like that, Atlantic pulled some strings), has smashed records. Currently topping Spotify Global and all Korean music charts, it’s on track to debut in the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. This is like, “Gangnam Style” level numbers guys. 

Having already announced her debut album ‘ROSIE’, releasing December 6th, Rosé is on track to break records for solo Korean acts. Not the member I thought it would be to do this, but hey. Rosé, congratufuckinglations. 

I’m still a little weary of her being signed to The Black Label. If I could have it my way, I’d want all these girls as far away from YG as possible. No more year-long hiatuses between albums (for context, KPop operates in dog years, entire generations last less than 5 years), please.  

Jisoo

So far the only member of Blackpink to not announce any new music, Jisoo has assured fans that it’s on its way. Having yet to sign to an American label, she did establish her own company, Blissoo. 

Now Jisoo is the doll in Korea, but she hasn’t necessarily had the same level of popularity as the other girls globally. Some may chalk this up to her being the only non-English speaking member of the group, some her lackluster stage presence. She did however have a viral TikTok moment last year with her single “Flower”, so don’t sleep on the Queen. I suspect Jisoo‘s sitting on a Perfect All Kill. I’m talking 1000+ hours, NewJeans “Ditto” numbers.

Jisoo, whatever you do, we’re anticipating it. Prove to them that a classy elegant lady can hang with these young girls.

What’s next for the girls of blackpink?

There’s definitely more solo music on the horizon with each member gearing up to release proper albums. All of the girls currently promoting are on the typical press run, live performances, interviews, and well, more interviews. There’s only so much you can do to get your music out there. 

Each artist now has to learn to navigate global success individually without leaning on each other as crutches, so as a fan, it’ll be fun to see the girls’ real personalities and not YG’s controlled image of them. 

Blackpink Comeback

I’ve been specifying individual contracts this entire article, as the girls are still (unfortunately) signed as Blackpink under YG. All group activities and copyrights are managed by YG. Interscope (Blackpink’s American label) needs to bite the bullet and buy them out, we don’t need YG anymore. The music isn’t good and hasn’t been for a long time. 

My hypothesis is that they’re all releasing solo music relatively around the same time so they can fulfill their contractual obligations and reunite as Blackpink in 2025, while keeping their solo careers on track. However, as we’ve seen with “APT.”, their solos have the potential to be bigger than anything the group has released prior and have real crossover success into the global market. So will the girls be performing their solo music at the reunion concert, or will it just be music released under YG? I guess we’ll have to wait for 2025 and the imminent comeback announcement to find out. Please god, let it not be a “DDU DU DDU DU” for the 4th time.  

Fan Infighting 

As someone who may have perchance partook in KPop stan wars on Twitter, I‘m well aware that each member has their own fans. However, that was years ago when the group was still young and promoting together. I had no idea just how bad it had gotten, I was always more concerned with Girls’ Generation and Red Velvet. 

In doing research for this article, I’ve seen nasty comments hurled by each member’s fans, saying things like Jennie’s a flop, Rosé’s only successful because of Bruno Mars, or accusing Lisa of paying for streams. While all of these things may be true, you would think Blinks would be celebrating their bias’ accomplishments, rather than trying to tear the other girls down.

With their reunion on the horizon, I’m curious to see if fans can put their differences aside and support the group, or will certain fans boycott the group’s comeback? It wouldn’t be the first time.