Meet Blackpink, the first K-pop girl group to perform at Coachella

As the artist line-up for Coachella 2019 has finally been announced and we couldn’t be more excited to hear that South Korean pop idol group Blackpink will be performing on the Fridays (April 12 & 19), becoming the first K-pop girl group to perform at the celebrated festival the second K-pop group to ever perform, after Epik High  at Coachella 2016. 

Here is what you should know about the group and why you shouldn’t miss their performance if you’re heading to Palm Spring for one of the most anticipated events of the year: 

The group consists of four members

Jennie

The first member to be publicly revealed was Jennie (Kim Jennie), who is the main rapper and vocalist of the group. She is known for her amazing sense of airport fashion and she’s been nicknamed “Chanel’s muse.” She made her solo debut on 2018 with her single Solo. Jennie also appeared in Big Bang’s  That XX music video before Blackpink debuted.

Lisa

The second member to be revealed was Lisa (Lalisa Manoban) who is the main dancer, a rapper, sub vocalist and the maknae (a term that refers to the youngest) of the group. Being from Thailand, She is the only foreign member of the group. Lisa is known as one of the  best female dancers in the K-pop industry and ranked 9th on the TC Candler’s list of “100 Most Beautiful Faces of 2018. “ 

Jisoo

Jisoo (Kim Jisoo), the lead vocalist of the group, is the eldest member. She was an MC for a year at Inkiyago, a South Korean music programme, before joining Blackpink and also appeared in many commercials and Epik High’s Happen Ending + Spoiler music video. 

Rosé

The last member to be revealed was New Zealand-born Rosé (Park Chaeyoung), the other main vocalist of the group. Outside the group’s activity, she was featured in Big Bang member G-Dragon’s song Without You and got the first place in the YG Auditions in Australia. According to Jennie, she is known as “Blackpink ‘s goddess.”    

They are the second girl group to debut under YG Entertainment after 2NE1

After passing the YG Auditions, a competition to showcase their talent to become trainees under the YG entertainment, every member of Blackpink trained more than four years before they debuted in 2016. After 2NE1 disbanded, they became the only girl group active under the entertainment. 

They don’t have a leader

In the K-pop industry, most of the idol groups have one member that is elected as the leader, who speaks and represents the group during public appearances. in YG’s senior girl group 2NE1, for example, CL (Lee Chae-rin) was the leader. Like the name of the role suggests, the leader must lead and speak for the group. 

They are the first K-pop girl group to reach 500 million views on YouTube

Blackpink’s hit single Ddu Du Ddu Du ,from their first mini-album SQUARE UP , became the most viewed K-pop music video of 2018 with 589 million views. The song also ranked at no.55 at the Billboard Hot 100 and no.1 on the World Digital Song Sales Chart.  In addition, they also were the first female K-pop girl group to rank at no.1 on the Billboard’s Emerging Artists Chart. 

They don’t sing only in Korean

Last December, they released their first Japanese album which consisted of the Japanese translations of other songs previously released in Korean. The studio album includes the songs Boombayah, Whistle, Playing with Fire, Forever Young, Stay, Really, and many more.  They also sang the song Kiss and Makeup with Dua Lipa

They are on their world tour now

Blackpink are currently on their 2019 world tour called  BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA. The tour opened with a concert in Seoul on November 2018 and will continue in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok and more locations in Asia. Unfortunately, most of dates are sold out, but the group just announced that they will also be performing in North America, Europe and Australia 

They release their dance practise videos

It’s common practice in the K-pop universe to release behind the scenes practice videos for fans. Blackpink also release their dance practise videos regularly, which became extremely popular thanks to signature dance moves that are easy to follow. 

Their fans are called Blinks

If you plan to listen to their music after reading this article, you ought to know that Blackpink’s fandom is called Blinks, as you might become a part of it soon.