Arguably the biggest group in K-Pop today, BLACKPINK has already solidified their impact in K-Pop history. Though the group only debuted in 2016, they’ve already shattered numerous records held by other artists across the globe. In celebration for the girl group finally getting a comeback after a full year, we are diving into the group’s successes in just four short years. 

Formed by YG Entertainment in 2016, BLACKPINK marked the first girl group to debut under the company in six years, with the last being 2NE1. Three of the four members have foreign backgrounds—Jennie was born in Korea but spent much of her life in New Zealand, Rosé was born in New Zealand but grew up in Australia, and Lisa is a native of Thailand, making Jisoo the sole member born and raised in Korea. Jennie was a fairly well-known trainee, having participated in filming music videos for G-DRAGON and LEE HI, and was the first member publicly released followed by Lisa, Jisoo, and Rosé.

August 26 marked the debut single album SQUARE ONE, with both tracks “Boombayah” and “Whistle” getting the title treatment. They were immediately well-received, with both tracks shooting up to the first and second place on the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart, making them the fastest group to accomplish this and join labelmates PSY and BIGBANG at the top. 13 days after debut, they grabbed their first music show win on Inkigayo, breaking the record for the shortest time for a girl group to win on a music program.

Single album SQUARE TWO, the group’s first comeback, came swiftly in November of 2016, with another double title comeback in “Playing With Fire” and “Stay.” Despite only having four tracks to their name, the girls won a myriad of major awards during 2016’s awards season, including big names like the Asia Artist Awards, Melon Music Awards, and Golden Disk Awards.

2017 only saw the quartet releasing single “As If It’s Your Last,” a song that took a different turn from previous releases with a heavier EDM influence and a different approach to the group’s capitalized girl crush concept. While BLACKPINK enjoyed massive success in Korea and general recognition worldwide, the true complete breakthrough came in 2018 with the release of their first mini-album SQUARE UP and title track “DDU-DU DDU-DU.” As it currently stands, the title track music video holds 1.1 billion views on YouTube, surpassing the massively popular “Gangnam Style” from 2012 and becoming the most viewed K-Pop video on the Internet.

“DDU-DU DDU-DU” is proof YG producer Teddy’s staying power coupled with the growing girl crush movement as the track made it onto such worldly charts  that other K-Pop songs had yet to travel. This release brought on worldwide massive success to the girls and lead to their first world tour at the end of 2018, despite only having nine songs on their discography. The quartet also became one of the first highly recognized K-Pop acts to begin collaborating with Western artists (alongside BTS and other major K-Pop artists)—Dua Lipa being the first singer to release a collaboration with BLACKPINK in 2018.

YG Entertainment stated in 2018 that they intend to have each member of BLACKPINK have a solo debut, the announcement shortly followed by a schedule for Jennie’s solo release. Late 2018 saw her first single “SOLO,” with reception and success on par with her groups’ full releases. Two full years later, YG finally announced the intent to have the other girls release their solo work after the full album release in September 2020.

Blinks would have to wait another ten months to hear something new from the group, which came in the form of title track “Kill This Love” and mini-album of the same name in the first half of 2019. Shortly after the release, the girls became the first K-Pop girl group to perform at the massive Western music festival Coachella. Over a year later, a new comeback was finally announced after months of being pushed back, along with a new collaboration with pop sensation Lady Gaga.

The most common complaint many have about BLACKPINK is something that isn’t necessarily their fault, but lies more with their company management. Despite coming up on their fourth year in the industry, the girls only have two mini-albums and three single albums to their name, while groups from the same debut time have released far more music. It’s not uncommon to hear the girls of BLACKPINK be described as Instagram models with a side music career rather than idols, as they are more often seen at social events than actually in the studio preparing new music. Fans of YG groups are likely not unfamiliar with this cycle, though it seems that BLACKPINK gets the short end of the stick more than their other artists, particularly boy groups.

However, the future looks bright for the group in 2020, as they are finally slated to release their first full length album in the fall. Pre-release track “How You Like That” is finally out, and the hype for their return is palpable!