SEOUL, July 9 ― Each album they release is more hotly anticipated than the last. In just a few years, Blackpink has become one of the most iconic K-pop groups. The four members of the girl band are a sensation in the world of music, but also on the fashion scene. We take a closer look.

Blinks have had to wait two years before their idols, the Blackpinks, announced their big return. The South Korean girl band has indicated that new songs would be released in August. These will be included on their second studio album, the title of which has not yet been revealed.

According to their label YG Entertainment, these to-be-released tracks will mark the beginning of "a continuous large-scale project which will extend through the second half of the year.” And it is likely that they will be as successful as the group's previous songs. The video for one of their earlier hits, Kill This Love, had the best YouTube video debut in history back in 2019. It also crossed the 100 million views mark at a record pace.

The golden touch

A little bit of history: Blackpink was created from scratch by the powerful South Korean record company YG Entertainment with the sole purpose of achieving such success. Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé joined the group in 2016, after training in an academy of sorts for years. There, they honed their singing, rapping and dancing skills while competing with a dozen other young women who also aspired to become K-pop stars. "Somebody would come in with a piece of paper and stick it on a wall, and it would say who did best, who did worst, who's going home,” Jennie told Billboard in 2019.

And ever since, everything seems to be on track for Blackpink. The quartet's debut album, simply titled The Album, reached #1 on the iTunes charts in 57 regions around the world. It also stayed on the prestigious Billboard 200 chart for 26 weeks, a first for a K-pop girl band.

Much of this success is down to the loyalty of their fans, the Blinks, and social media. Lisa, the youngest of the group, is also the most followed with 79.8 million followers on Instagram. However, all four of Blackpink's stars wield considerable influence, particularly in fashion. Lisa is a spokesmodel for Celine, Jisoo for Dior, Jennie for Chanel and Rosé for Saint Laurent and Tiffany. Lisa even appears in the video that Celine made to present its spring-summer 2022 collection, the heights of fashion stardom.

In the footsteps of BTS

The four young women intend to cement their idol status by touring concert halls around the world at the end of the year. According to YG Entertainment, this will be the biggest international tour ever done by a female K-Pop group.

And there's no shortage of indications that Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa and Rosé are becoming key figures in Korean soft power, just like their male counterparts in BTS. The superstars of the boy band phenomenon recently made headlines after announcing putting the group's music career on pause. They explained their decision by citing the pressures of fame and their desire to focus on solo ventures.

But the members of Blackpink don't seem ready to put their meteoric rise on hold. The documentary that Netflix dedicated to them, Blackpink: Light Up the Sky, shows the many sacrifices they made to get to this point. And they're certainly continuing their upward momentum with the release of their second album just weeks away. ― ETX Studio