Blackpink's second album 'Born Pink' earns rave reviews on Billboard

Blackpink [BILLBOARD]

Blackpink is earning rave reviews from music critics with its second full-length album “Born Pink.”

On Tuesday, Billboard released an article titled “Five Burning Questions: Blackpink Score First Career No. 1 Album With ‘Born Pink,” where the press interviewed five music critics about the success behind the girl group’s album.

“Blackpink didn’t need a No. 1 album to validate their rise to international fame, but the success of 'Born Pink' speaks to the continued expansion of the group’s U.S. fan base, after years of investment in listenership growth,” critic Jason Lipshutz said. “Blackpink would have kept soaring regardless of where ‘Born Pink’ debuted on the albums chart, but the No. 1 bow highlights their stateside popularity in a meaningful way.”

“Very few K-pop groups have managed to score a No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 — in fact, only BTS and Stray Kids have managed to accomplish the No. 1 album feat this year — making Blackpink part of a very exclusive class of K-pop stars.”

The critics also positively forecast the long-running popularity of its lead track “Shut Down.”

“The track is a delightful combination of swag and braggadocio-filled verses — which has admittedly been a little absent from mainstream pop releases in the past year — and a sticky chorus, which happens to have a rather fun portion in English (“Whip it, whip it, whip it, whip it”) and thus provides an A+ for listeners to sing along to,” said critic Starr Bowenbank. “With a strong label push, a few more late-night show performances of the track and possibly a viral dance moment, I think the chance [sic] has a strong chance of moving at least a few spots up the Hot 100.”

With “Born Pink,” Blackpink became the first Asian female artist to top both the Billboard 200 and UK Official Album Charts. It’s also the first in 21 years since Destiny’s Child in 2001 for a female group to simultaneously debut at No. 1 on both charts.

“Shut Down” debuted at No. 25 for this week’s Billboard’s Hot 100, while pre-released song “Pink Venom” sits on the chart for five consecutive weeks since it debuted at No. 22.

Blackpink debuted in August 2016 with the EP "Square One" and consists of four members: Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé and Lisa. It quickly became one of the county's top K-pop acts, releasing hit dance numbers every year including “Boombayah” (2016), “Playing with Fire” (2016), “As If It's Your Last” (2017), “Forever Young” (2018), “Kill This Love” (2019), “How You Like That" (2020) and “Lovesick Girls” (2020).

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]