YG’s jewel box has been opened. It took a long time for YG to form a group whose members have the looks and the talent to make it to the top, but the group is now ready to take its first step.

At 3 PM on August 8, BLACKPINK’s debut showcase was held at a studio in Sinsa-dong. The members, who have trained at YG for four to six years, said, “We’re so nervous. We’ve waited for this for a long time, and we will do our best. Please send us your support.”

It was the first time that JISOO, JENNIE, LISA, and ROSÉ stood before the public, and they answered the questions with trembling voices but with smiles. When they were asked about 2NE1, they seemed to be put in a difficult position, but they were confident enough to say, “We admire them. But, we have set the color of our team first.”

Four years have passed since YG announced that they will launch a new girl group. It took quite a long time for BLACKPINK to debut, and members commented, “We were not worried. We were happy to wait because the most important thing is to be well prepared for the debut.”

YANG HYUN SUK stood beside BLACKPINK members at the showcase and said, “I said I debut them years ago. I think it was four years ago. The biggest complaint we receive from fans is that YG artists release so few new songs or new albums. Compared with before, YG has grown greatly. Creating contents is not something that you can put a time limit on. I want to make the fans happy, but it’s more important that YG releases contents that are at a satisfactory level. Making great music is of utmost priority for me even if people resent me for it.”

BLACKPINK members have the talent and the looks. This is unusual for YG, a label that used to focus on talent over looks. Regarding this, YANG HYUN SUK commented, “I wanted to try a different direction with BLACKPINK. Of course, looks are important, especially because they are stars and entertainers. I do think that being pretty is a good thing. But, this was never a priority for me as seen in the cases of BIG MAMA and 2NE1. This also goes for BIGBANG too. In the beginning, BIGBANG was criticized for their looks.”

He went on to say, “We’ve been working under the same system for 20 years, and I thought that this time I want to make a group with the looks as well as the talent. It took such a long time because I wanted all the members to be pretty and talented.”

BLACKPINK’s new singles—“BOOMBAYA” and “WHISTLE”—will be released at 8 PM on August 8. The group consists of JISOO, JENNIE, LISA, and ROSÉ, going against the trend of large groups. It shows that BLACKPINK members are the selected few who have enough charisma to jump into the game.

BLACKPINK has lot of cards under the sleeve. First, all the members have gone through rigorous training at YG for as short as four years to as long as six years. Since BLACKPINK is YG’s first new girl group after 2NE1, it has been receiving full support from the label. YG’s main producer TEDDY was put in charge of producing BLACKPINK’s debut album, and the title song has been written and made by TEDDY.

In addition, four renowned choreographers from outside of Korea made the choreography for BLACKPINK. This was YANG HYUN SUK’s idea. Earlier on, BLACKPINK’s dance practice video was released, and it posted more than six million views in just a month after its release. This demonstrates the phenomenal amount of attention a group that hasn’t even debut yet has been getting.

“BOOMBAYA” is a fast-tempo song with a beat exciting enough to chase the heat away, and “WHISTLE” is a sexy, hypnotizing hip-hop song with a simple beat about whispers of love.

cr. YG LIFE