|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
In a music industry saturated with talent, what qualifies as success? Perhaps, when you’re considered one of the most talented K-pop acts in the world, the question can only serve as mere rhetoric. At least, that’s been the fact of the matter for one indisputable quartet: Blackpink. Since their debut in 2016, Jennie, Rosé, Jisoo and Lisa have racked up an impeccable reputation as a unit of four. Between producing chart-topping hits, headlining major festivals and clinching ambassadorship contracts with top luxury fashion brands, there’s no mistake that Blackpink’s become something of an industry household name; a flagship of what K-pop looks like to the rest of the world.
Yet change has been afoot. Towards the tail end of last year, the swirling rumours of whether Blackpink would go on to renew their contracts with their prevailing entertainment agency, YG Entertainment, were finally drawn to a halt. The quartet, as a group, would indeed be continuing to perform as Blackpink under YG. But the same could not be said for the fate of their solo careers.
Since the former announcement, each one of the members has decidedly confirmed that they would not be renewing said solo contracts—leaving much of the industry wondering where they would go instead. Little did we know, the four already had it all planned out; they would take matters into their own hands. Beginning with Jennie’s Odd Atelier, the past few weeks have been relentless in surprise announcements: they were each launching their own agencies instead. With Lisa and Jisoo having since dropped news of their own—Lloud and Blissoo respectively—it seems news of Rosé’s isn’t much further away.
Some might ask: what does this mean for the future of Blackpink? Considering they haven’t rescinded or cancelled their contract for group activities, BLINKs can rest assured that there are still long-term plans for the quartet to release new music in the foreseeable future. But it’s the way they’re each approaching their solo ventures that should really have us all stirred—if only in anticipation for what this means for the K-pop industry at large. We’re not saying this hasn’t been done before; in fact, many K-pop stars have actively gone on to start their own smaller entertainment companies—and have succeeded in doing so. Take Jay Park, who now has a number of agencies to his name, such as the distinctive hip-hop label AOMG. Or Jackson Wang, who is behind Team Wang. There’s also four-man band The Rose, who started their own self-made label: Windfall. Yet for the most part, it’s very much been a male-centric endeavour. As for their female counterparts? Similar attempts have been made, but they remain few and far between. Many, such as Hyolyn’s attempt when she left Starship Entertainment, were propelled by a need for better contract conditions overall.
But the girls of Blackpink have always been quite divorced from that overwhelming need. With their level of stardom, it’s crystal clear that their bargaining power is quite possibly a behemoth on its own—and we’re sure the world is their oyster. But rather than attempt to find and negotiate terms with a pre-existing agency, they’ve made the active choice to step away from a patriarchal system built on business acumen and multi million conglomerates—choosing instead to go in the direction that would serve their own needs best. So their decision to do so—in a heavily-manicured industry that has long been both praised for and critiqued for its immense level of control and need for perfection—is enough of a statement in the making. They’re taking things into their own hands and standing up for themselves, quite simply because they can.
It’s probably why Lisa could make that sudden acting swerve into the third season of The White Lotus, and why Jisoo could be more active in choosing the brands she wishes to be associated with (recall her recent campaign with Alo Yoga). If Rosé were to announce an upcoming jazz album, we wouldn’t be surprised. Who knows? Jennie might even end up starting her own fashion label.
After all, their fans remain steadfast in support of whatever they might each choose to do—giving them the strength they might have initially needed to break out on their own. Between them, it’s quite possible that they all made the decision to do it all; to break their individual contracts and leave together; start their own agencies; and remain fast friends who would support each others’ solo careers. The sense of female solidarity has never rung truer, and it’s a step in the right direction for the industry as a whole—and most especially for its female idols. For whatever it is, all this means is that they’ll continue to work on their group promotions, plan their solo albums, launch their acting careers and be the CEOs of their own lives, all at the same time. So we’ll gladly let Blackpink whisk us away again. For if they’re not the revolution, we don’t know who is.
