Seoul, 21 December 2022 (GNP): This year was a big one for women in K-pop, with girl groups like AESPA, NMIXX, Le Sserafim and even rookie group New Jeans breaking album sales records. But the iconic girl group BLACKPINK has reached new heights this year by topping international charts and becoming the face of luxury brands. Here’s how the group managed to dominate the world despite having only 32 songs.
Making history
Since their debut in 2016 with a mini album Square One, which featured pop songs like “Whistle” and “Boombayah”, the quartet has released one hit after the other without a single album flopping.
Every member has also landed brand endorsements and are reported to have had a dorm in the Han River Bamseom Apartments, one of the most prestigious complexes in all of Seoul, according to Koreaboo.
Blackpink’s combined multimillion-dollar fortune and success have made them one of the richest K-pop groups in the industry and STYLE magazine has compiled a list of the richest K-pop groups that stand alongside Blackpink.
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Being busy with solo projects
Blackpink, during their career, once went on a hiatus for so long that fans were furious with the group’s label YG Entertainment and said that they would boycott Blackpink merch stating “no music, no money”. However, the members Lisa, Rosé, Jennie and Jisoo have all become global icons, with each representing a different French fashion house. When they aren’t promoting as a group, the members are busy working on solo projects and pursuing opportunities to showcase their individual talents and skills.
Every member’s million’s worth of empire
The K-pop group members have managed to build for themselves dollars worth empires from selling their music and touring to modeling for global luxury brands like Dior, Calvin Klein, Samsung, and Saint Laurent.
Jennie is called the ‘Human Chanel’. Not only is she the brand ambassador, but she’s seen wearing Chanel almost every day casually! Aside from Chanel, she also works with Calvin Klein, Hera, and Samsung, while Lisa’s music video for “Lalisa” crossed even Taylor Swift’s most viewed son on YouTube. Furthermore, Rosé is the brand ambassador of Tiffany and YSL whereas Jisoo made her lead acting debut in Snowdrop and has had brand deals with LG, Nikon, Samsonite, Dior and Cartier. The group as a whole also had brand deals with KIA, Pepsi and even the famous mobile video game PUBG! How awesome is that!
The members have a combined fortune of about US$62 million reportedly.
Rumours of disbandment
According to some rumours circulating on social media, it has come to netizens’ knowledge that Blackpink’s Born Pink album might be it’s last. Its 7-year anniversary is coming up next year and many bands like Sistar, 4Minute and 2NE1 disbanded due to the alleged seven-year curse.
For the record, the term means the trend of K-pop groups disbanding or losing members near their seventh anniversary as their agency contracts expire. BLACKPINK has been rumoured to be soon experiencing this curse.
With the group members of BLACKPINK successfully pursuing individual careers, signs of hostility between some members during their current world tour, and Jisoo’s candid words in an interview, fans are worried about the future of Blackpink.