Born Pink
Born Pink is the second studio album by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released on September 16, 2022, through YG Entertainment and Interscope Records. It marked the group's first full-length record since The Album in 2020 and their final release under Interscope. Production of the album was handled by various producers including Teddy Park, 24, Freddy Wexler, Nohc, and Paro. Blackpink conceived Born Pink as "the essence" of the group, taking inspiration from hip-hop and combining various genres.
Born Pinks English-heavy sound draws mostly from pop, hip-hop, rock, and EDM, with melodies characterized by more uptempo production than in its predecessor The Album. The songs incorporate eclectic styles ranging from disco and bubblegum pop to pop-rock and stadium rock. Lyrically, the album discusses themes of love, self-confidence, self-encouragement, dealing with fame and detractors, and more. Blackpink members Jisoo and Rosé co-wrote the fourth track "Yeah Yeah Yeah".
Born Pink was supported by two singles, both of which reached number one on the Billboard Global 200. The pre-release single "Pink Venom" topped the national charts of 10 countries, peaking at number two on South Korea's Circle Digital Chart and at number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The album's second single "Shut Down" peaked at number three on the Circle Digital Chart and at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Ready for Love", previously released as a promotional single in collaboration with battle royale video game PUBG Mobile, was also included on the tracklist. To promote the album, Blackpink embarked on the Born Pink World Tour beginning in October, which broke the record for the highest-grossing concert tour by a female group.
The album was met with positive reviews from critics. The album's stronger production and more personal lyrics received praise; however, criticisms were made for its lack of innovation and musical development. Commercially, it debuted at number one on the Circle Album Chart with 2.2 million copies sold in less than two days, becoming the best-selling album by a female act in South Korea and the first to surpass two million sales. In the United States, it became the first album by a female group to reach number one on the Billboard 200 since Danity Kane in 2008. Additionally, Born Pink became the first album by a K-pop girl group to land atop the Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart, which earned Blackpink two Guinness World Records. The album has since been certified double million by the Korea Music Content Association, gold by Recorded Music NZ, and silver by the British Phonographic Industry. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the album was the eighth best-selling album worldwide across all formats in 2022, and the seventh best-selling album in pure sales.
Background
On March 7, 2022, Jennie appeared on the variety show The Game Caterers in an episode featuring YG Entertainment artists, revealing that Blackpink had been working on their new album: "Blackpink is also making a comeback soon. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but since I'm the only Blackpink member here, I'll just say it: please look forward to it". In a Rolling Stone interview published on May 23, 2022, Blackpink said that "they were working hard on the preparation of the album and that they were ready to comeback into the swing of things."In collaboration with battle royale video game PUBG Mobile, "Ready for Love" was released as a promotional single, with an animated music video published on YouTube on July 29, 2022. On July 31, 2022, YG Entertainment officially released the album trailer video on the group's official social media accounts, announcing that the group's new world tour would start in October, following a pre-release single in August and the album itself in September. The label later confirmed that two music videos were filmed to support the album, reportedly with the highest production budgets they have ever invested into a music video. The album's pre-release single, "Pink Venom", was released on August 19. The same day, Blackpink performed the single at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, marking their American awards show debut and making them the first female K-pop group in history to do so.
On September 6, 2022, the teaser poster for the title track, "Shut Down", was released on Blackpink's social media accounts. On September 7, the album's eight-song track list was released. It was further revealed that both Jisoo and Rosé helped write "Yeah Yeah Yeah". From September 10 to 13, promotional posters of each of the members were released. On September 16, the album was released alongside the music video for "Shut Down".
Recording and development
In an interview with Newsen, Rosé stated, "If The Album focused solely on music, this album tried to express the essence of Blackpink as its title 'Born Pink', where we keep trying new things while keeping our original identity." Furthermore, she added: "Based on the hip-hop sound throughout the album, various genres were combined, focusing on expressing the light color of Blackpink. I pride myself on creating music that we've never done before". Regarding the creative process and style for the songs, YG Entertainment stated after that "a lot of music that is Blackpink-esque has been completed with much effort over a long period of time", and that the new album was expected to include numerous tracks that "feature the band's signature music style that the members have worked on for a very long time". The label further explained that the album's title Born Pink "portrays Blackpink's confidence and self-esteem for being born different" and that the album lives up to the group's reputation and "unrivaled presence".In an online press conference in Seoul for the release of "Pink Venom", Jennie explained how the single was chosen to represent Blackpink's identity: "Since our album's title is Born Pink, we wanted to relay our identity in the song as much as we could. Since 'pink' and 'venom' have contradicting images, we thought they were kind of reminiscent of us." During the group's live stream broadcast for Born Pink, Lisa shared the group's first impression of "Shut Down" and how they chose it to be the album's second single: "We listened to the demo version of 'Shut Down' in the studio, and when we first heard it, we exchanged looks and knew that this had to be the title track. I was able to sketch how we'd perform this song". She also revealed that the track is "distinctly Blackpink" and is something the band can express well.
In an article by Variety, several songwriters whose work was featured on Born Pink discussed the stories behind their contributions to the record. The writer of "Typa Girl", Bekuh Boom revealed that she had written the demo for the song in 2021 at The Black Label's studio and that she had originally "thought Lisa might use it for her next solo single". She further described it as a "song to empower women". American songwriter and producer Freddy Wexler conceived "Hard to Love" during a jam session with his friends. He sent the demo to Teddy in June 2022 and was video called by him, Lisa, and Rosé the next day. He described the song as "an overwhelmingly organic — and fast — process". Over the next month, he would FaceTime with Park and the group, who suggested changes.
The writers of "Tally" discussed the story behind the track: "Judgment is something that a lot of women come across. These lyrics are so impactful coming from ". The song was inspired by co-writer Soraya LaPread, who brought up the subject in a session with production duo Saltwives. During the interview with Rolling Stone, LaPread confessed she worked on the song years ago and had actually forgotten about it. The producer then revealed that she only remembered the song after Australian songwriter Nat Dunn showed interest in the track and offered to buy it. He played the demo for Brian Lee in London and later sent it to Teddy Park, who had handpicked every song on the album. Prior to its release, the recording process of "Ready for Love" was shown in the Netflix documentary, Light Up the Sky in October 2020, as it was
cut from The Album's final tracklist.
Record producer Ryan Tedder, who last worked with Blackpink on their debut studio album, confirmed in an interview with Good Morning America that he wrote songs with members Jennie and Rosé for the upcoming album. Describing the process, Tedder said it was very much Blackpink's work with him supporting and contributing. Despite working on several songs, none of them made the final album tracklisting, however, one of the tracks, "The Girls", was later released as the official soundtrack to Blackpink: The Game on August 23, 2023.
Music and lyrics
Composition
Born Pink is twenty-four minutes long and consists of 8 songs. Three of the album's tracks are labelled explicit. It features genres such as hip-hop, pop, disco, ballad, alt-pop, pop-rock, stadium rock, punk, EDM, bubblegum pop and classical interludes. Blackpink worked with many producers, including Teddy Sinclair, Willy Sinclair, Bekuh Boom, R.Tee, Kush and Teddy Park. The first half of the album contains lyrics that show the group's "extremely confident" and "untouchable exteriors", while the second half reveals the insecurities in "emotionally charged" ballads. The uptempo, "English heavy" album was described as "faster" and "shinier" than its predecessor The Album.Songs
The record opens with the pre-release single, "Pink Venom", a hip-hop based track that blends elements of traditional Korean instruments with EDM, pop-rap and Middle Eastern influences. Lyrically, it expresses Blackpink's confidence and dual identity as both sweet and deadly and the group's growing international popularity. The song includes several lyrical references from the 1990s and 2000s: Jennie opens the first verse with "Kick the door, waving the Coco", a play on the lyric "Kick in the door, wavin' the.44" from the Notorious B.I.G.'s "Kick in the Door", while one of Lisa's verses interpolates the lyrics "One by one, then two by two" from Rihanna's debut single "Pon de Replay". "Shut Down" samples the classical composition "La campanella", originally by Niccolò Paganini, mixed with hip-hop and trap hooks, strings and an insistent bass sound. Lyrically it contains self-referential lyrics about the group's fame and success, while telling "their haters and doubters to take a seat". Longtime collaborator Bekuh Boom primarily wrote and produced the third track "Typa Girl", an electronic hip-hop and pop song with a trap beat and strong 1980s sound that speaks "confidently" about being the "type" of person everyone wants and highlights "the potential of a different kind of music".Members Jisoo and Rosé participated in the writing process for the fourth track, the pop-rock, synth-pop and new wave "lush" love song "Yeah Yeah Yeah", which features retro synths in its arrangement and recalls 1980s music in its composition. The song's production "rides on a jagged guitar riff with lavish flourishes of over-the-top synth-disco." Park Jun-hee of The Star noted that "The disco-style tune that gives off '80s vibes enters the 50-second mark and sketches out a euphoric moment of young love and youthful energy. It reminds us of spending summer nights with a lover under the bright light of the moon". Many critics compared its production to the group's 2020 single "Lovesick Girls". In the lyrics, Blackpink explore the apprehension and pain of falling in love again with someone completely unexpected. Singer-songwriter Freddy Wexler contributed to the composition of the fifth track, "Hard to Love", as co-writer and co-producer, performed by member Rosé as a solo. The guitar pop track incorporates elements of 90's rock and roll, is led by soft piano and a "vintage intro that contrasts with the powerful rhythm of the drop beat", building into a lite-disco and pop-rock sound with funk-inspired guitar and bass groove. In the lyrics, the singer expresses hidden insecurities about their ability to be loved.
Teddy Sinclair and Willy Sinclair co-produced the sixth track, "The Happiest Girl". A downtempo piano ballad track characterized by grand piano instrumentals, the lyrics centers on the narrator's strong will to find happiness despite missing someone, using a "melancholic" melody to convey the desire for contentment. The rock infused ballad "Tally" is a midtempo pop song with elements of hip-hop and rock and "crunchy" guitar in the introduction. The lyrics discuss positivity and the beauty of achieving life's goals. The song "embodies a free, yet elegant mood", allowing the group to present their free spirit while speaking openly about the importance of being oneself. The closing track "Ready for Love" is a pop and dance-pop song with "sparkling" EDM chorus and horn flares with the likes of a house-pop "euphoric" instrumental. The song finds the group truly ready to leave their doubts behind and celebrate the future. On Born Pink as a whole, Park noted that "All the members have moments to shine, infusing a fresh sound into Blackpink's musical vessel".