I know I complained about their live performances before but Coachella made me realise it's not them. They absolutely destroyed their set, the energy was incredible and the band took everything to another level. It was insane. I need an mp3 rip of the whole thing.
The Coachella set made me go from being a bit "meh" about them and their output to loving every single song they've released so far. I was really surprised at how free they were during the performance. I hate that their concert tickets are so expensive, though. If they were about 100 euros cheaper I'd absolutely love to go.
Help I can’t stop listening to these girls. I never “got” k-pop and to be honest I still don’t ddd but something about these girls is really getting me. I’m hooked!
I’m really not here for people saying they only like BLACKPINK but still thinking 99% of k-pop is icky. It’s literally pop music sung in Korean.
dddd @Fascination is bae, though, he means well I'm sure. I can get through to him and make him one of our own, just give me time. xoxo
I never said k-pop was “icky” and that wasn’t my intention whatsoever. I do apologize if it came off the wrong way - what I meant moreso was that I never really understood the widespread appeal that K-pop has (it’s genuinely always astounded me that these groups were pulling such massive numbers) but BLACKPINK has opened up that door for me where I’m starting to see something special about it. It’s genuinely interesting. We’ll see where else it takes me but for now I’m really vibing with BLACKPINK’s output.
The amount of casually racist comments made about K Pop truly disgusts me. However I still can’t get behind groups with more than 5 people which is my main issue with K Pop. The way their labels and industry work is very different to “western” (problematic?) pop so I understand why it might not be appealing to pop fans who prefer solo artists, or artists who became famous more organically
I'm the same way. I knew of them because one of my friends is a huge fan and she tried her way to get me to listen to them when Square Up was released and I did listen to them but never got into them until this past November. Funny story, it was actually watching a Jenlisa reaction video that made me do a deep dive into their music and everything about them. The past few months have been nothing but me watching reaction videos, dance practice videos, BLACKPINK House, radio interviews (subbed and un-subbed), Korean show performances, Korean variety shows they've appeared in...yeah, I think there's nothing else left for me to consume. Anyway, this all leads up to me throwing money at them and buying tickets to both of their NJ shows which is next week already (!). I'm not ready. I don't know how I'll survive being in the same room as them. Also, I tried to listen to other K-pop artists but I can't seem to get into them because I find the music just a bit too cute-sy for my taste. Like, I love Irene from Red Velvet and want to like her group but I just can't. Maybe I just need to listen to that one song that will be my gateway to that group? Anyone a fan? Which song of theirs would be classified as the closest to BP?
Check their Velvet concept songs: Bad Boy, and definitely check the parent album Perfect Velvet. This is their r&b side, whereas their Red side is their more bonkers (and cutesy) one. Check also one of their earlier tracks, Automatic. Red Velvet have a really great discography, even if you don’t like their crazier title tracks, there’s always really good album tracks (Body Talk, You Better Know, Butterflies). Groups closer to Blackpink in sound and style could be CLC (single: No, mini album: No1); and GIDLE (check their singles Latata, Hann, Señorita); maybe try LOONA ODD EYE CIRCLE (mini album: Max & Match). Another cool group with more mature sound would be EXID.
None. Out of all the currently active groups, I'd say (G)I-DLE is the closest in feel to BP, but their music is very different. If you're interested in groups with a more "mature" sound, you should check Brown Eyed Girls and EXID out.
I do feel like, despite the repetitiveness of TEDDY producing all of their tracks, BP's music has a unique marketability toward western/US listeners. An article about them on Billboard or a similar source said that their songs sound like they would play on US radio stations and I agree, like I could easily see songs like Boombayah, Don't Know What To Do, As If It's Your Last, etc. being big hits if they had been produced by Western artists/if they had been in English. Interesting to think about.
Everyone here forgetting to mention 2NE1? Literally BLACKPINK's older sisters musically and they have the same main producer, Teddy. If one is not into "cutesy" then 2NE1 literally broke the mold in the genre and carved out the lane BP currently occupy. Brown Eyed Girls, EXID, 4minute, AOA, f(x) and After School would be other non-cutesy groups. Unfortunately post Apink cutesy became the trend again so there are a lot more cute concept groups these days than not, but even Apink has abandoned that sound with their recent singles so I think a shift is coming again.
Have been meaning to say, but saw them live at Coachella last weekend & it was the highlight of the entire event for me. I’d become intrigued by Blackpink in the last few months after initially brushing off their material for being ‘too noisy,’ but they fully converted me after seeing them in person. The choreo, the energy, the charisma, the big beats....it all makes for an incredible live show. The massive crowd around me was hung on their every word & it was infectious; I had a shirtless gay on one side of me & a ‘primary school age’ girl on her dad’s shoulders on the other, and seeing the pure joy on both their faces as they recited every single lyric left me with an immense amount of feels. I knew this crowd of Blinks was something I wanted part of, and while I’ve stanned the occasional KPop track, this is the first group with an entire discography I can get behind. I’m excited to see if they inspire me to be more open to the genre, and I’ll stan all things Lisa in the meantime.
f(x) is great, even if they are essentially a defunct group... They aren’t quite as edgy as Blackpink sound-wise, but SM allowed them to stray pretty far from cutesy concepts...
f(x) was damn "edgy" in their time. More than BP is now, to be honest. Their sound and visuals may seem less special or even mundane in the current era now that Red Velvet, LOONA, BTS and many, many others have followed behind them with the whole avant garde/art film aesthetic, but at the time of release these were genuinely a breath of fresh air in K-Pop: If anything I'd like to see more groups who are similarly transgressive with the boundaries of the genre, rather than simply replicating the past. Especially within YG, as much as Iove and enjoy BP, the YG aesthetic and sound has essentially been fossilized in amber for about a decade now. What was once genuinely aggressive and even dangerous about 2NE1 has largely become toothless now, which isn't BP's fault but rather the label's. But, even that being said, it took f(x) a few years to finally arrive at Red Light and 4 walls, so it's not like BP can't do the same. The only thing that worries me is how their global fame might constrain more experimental approaches going forward. But, then again then again, not every group needs to be the quirky bitch. If they can just deliver MEGA-bops like BBY or DDDD on a consistent basis that's fine too.
My original post was going to include a dissertation about Amber being among the great revolutionaries of human history but I figured most people take a casual suggestion more seriously...
It's nice for a MeU to hear a Blink give f(x) some props. Blackpink does remind me a little of them from time to time, mostly in their chemistry and swagger more than their sound. f(x) did things that nobody else would touch, going back even further than Pink Tape - their Electric Shock E.P. is about as stunning and perfect as a mini-album gets, and reminds me a little of Square Up. They were also tremendously charismatic on stage, which I saw from BP for the first time in the Coachella stream.
I know the Blackpink thread isn’t the place to post this, but for anyone else looking to explore K-pop after getting into Blackpink, f(x) is incredible and 4 Walls is one of my all-time favorite albums...
