Jennie’s to-do list is growing by the minute. For the last year, the pop star has been so consumed with the launch of her own label and arrival of her highly anticipated solo debut album — plus, now, the impending reunion of Blackpink, the globally renowned K-pop quartet she is part of — that she hasn’t had a moment to envision her ideal release-night party. That is, if she even has time for one.
“I like planning parties. I like creating an album,” Jennie says. “It’s fun, but sometimes it gets hard. I’m just trying to make sure everything is perfectly done.”
Sitting on a cozy couch in a small back room of a photo studio in Seoul’s Gangnam district, Jennie’s post-shoot look on this late-October afternoon calls to mind Gossip Girl “It” mom Lily van der Woodsen after a particularly tiring day. Leaning back in matching black pants and zip-up hoodie after hours spent staring at a camera, Jennie slides on a pair of dark-lensed Gentle Monster sunglasses to give her eyes, and perhaps herself, a bit of a break. (She partnered with the eyewear brand in April 2024 on her own line, Jentle Salon.)
The 28-year-old appears at ease despite the chaos swirling around her. She’s also strikingly self-aware, which seems to be both freeing and consuming for her — she knows the pursuit of perfection is exhausting and never-ending, and yet she’ll settle for nothing less. Recently, this has manifested in the secrecy surrounding her upcoming album, which for the self-described “workaholic” is far from manufactured marketing mystique. Rather, it may well be a way to buy time until she feels the project she has dreamed of for so long is as close to perfect as possible — even as pressure to release it builds.
Blackpink member Jisoo and award-winning actor Park Jeong-min‘s upcoming Korean zombie apocalypse series “Newtopia” is set to debut on Prime Video, the streaming service revealed on Wednesday.
The series will premiere globally on Prime Video Feb. 7 and on Korean streamer Coupang Play on the same date. It follows a couple’s journey to reunite amid a zombie outbreak in Seoul. Park plays Lee Jae-yoon, a man completing his mandatory military service, while Jisoo takes on the role of Kang Young-joo, his girlfriend navigating early career challenges.
“Having started his mandatory military conscription at a later age, Jae-yoon faces anxiety about his future. Due to challenges from being apart from his girlfriend Young-joo, they have a sudden break-up after an argument. However, a zombie outbreak spreads across the city, forcing Jae-yoon to step up as leader of his squad,” the official synopsis reads. “Meanwhile, Young-joo experiences her own difficulties as a rookie in the workforce. She is frustrated with Jae-yoon due to him misunderstanding her heart. While on her way to see him, she witnesses the zombie rampage and adapts in order to survive. The first look stills foreshadow a dynamic story encompassing happy times between the couple as well as the world thrown into chaos by zombie attacks. Thinking of each other first as boyfriend and girlfriend, the pair run across a zombie-laid city to be together again.”
“Parasite” co-writer Han Jin-won teams with “A Shop for Killers” scribe Jee Ho-jin on the screenplay. Director Yoon Sung-hyun, who previously collaborated with Park on “Bleak Night” and “Time to Hunt,” helms the project.
The series marks Jisoo’s second major acting role following her lead performance in Korean studio JTBC’s “Snowdrop.” The K-pop idol-turned-actress previously made appearances in “The Producer” and “Arthdal Chronicles.”
Park brings significant critical acclaim to the project, having won best new actor honors at both the Baeksang Arts Awards and Blue Dragon Film Awards for “Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet,” as well as supporting actor recognition for “Deliver Us From Evil.”
“Newtopia” will release weekly episodes from Feb. 7 through March 21 and will stream in more than 240 territories on Prime Video. The series promises to blend action, romance and comedy elements within its zombie apocalypse framework.
In her Billboard cover story published Thursday (Nov. 14), the 27-year-old K-pop superstar gushed about her plans with groupmates ROSÉ, JENNIE and JISOO to launch back into full-band activities next year after spending the past year and a half focusing on solo projects. “I can’t wait,” she excitedly told writer Nolan Feeney of the planned comeback.
“We know each other so well and know how much energy we have to put into every single project,” she continued. “So we want to support and say, ‘You did really well!’ Like, JENNIE and Rosie just released their own songs, and we’re on texts, we’re on FaceTime. They’re like family. I’m just so happy that they’re releasing something. This is what we all wanted to do, so I just wanted to say that I really do love their songs.”
Following the July 2023 conclusion of the group’s Born Pink World Tour — which supported Billboard 200-topping album Born Pink — LISA has spent the past couple of months releasing independent singles such as Billboard Hot 100 hits “Rockstar” and “New Woman” with Rosalía. Meanwhile, ROSÉ has been gearing up to release a solo album, rosie; JENNIE filmed The Weeknd’s The Idol last year and dropped a new single titled “Mantra” in October; and JISOO has been focusing on acting in Korean TV and film projects.
Their individual paths, however, will once again intertwine at some point in 2025, with YG Entertainment announcing as much earlier this year. The company also promised that the comeback would be paired with another world tour — but that’s where they might’ve lost LISA, who seemed a bit uncertain while speaking to Billboard.
“That’s what they say?” she said — appearing slightly skeptical — of YG’s tour news. LLOUD’s Alice Kang added, “I don’t know … We’ll have to wait and see what YG confirms.”
LISA’s cover story comes a little more than a month since her last single, “New Woman,” dropped in October. On Tuesday (Nov. 12), she posted a mysterious teaser video set to “Rockstar,” with a cryptic countdown appearing on her website around the same time.
Fans were immediately hopeful that the latter was ticking down to an announcement related to her upcoming album, about which the Thai singer-rapper tells Billboard, “I’m trying to figure it out, the tracklist and everything, what I can change in there.”
“Everything’s there,” she adds. “I think they’re going to be shocked at how capable I am [at] doing so many things.”
Sources
ROSÉ is launching her solo era, and she’s bringing one of pop music’s biggest names along for the ride. On Thursday (Oct. 17), the BLACKPINK star and Bruno Mars announced that they’re teaming up on a new single titled “Apt.” — and it’s coming even sooner than you think.
Breaking the news to fans via a post on Instagram, the duo shared the track’s cover image and simply wrote: “💗 APT. ⚡︎ OCT 18 💗,” confirming that the collaboration would drop just one day after the announcement. The chic artwork shows a black-and-white photo of the “Locked Out of Heaven” singer behind a drum set and ROSÉ posing in a leather jacket bleeding through a bright pink foreground, the artists’ names and song title displayed in thick black lettering in the negative space.
“Apt.” will mark the K-pop star’s first release since announcing her December-slated 12-track album rosie Oct. 1, and Mars’ first release since teaming up with Lady Gaga on summer smash “Die With a Smile,” which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Billboard Global 200 chart for seven weeks. When sharing the news of her first-ever LP earlier this month, ROSÉ wrote: “I have poured my blood and tears into this album. I cannot wait for you to listen to this little journal of mine … With this album, I hope you all feel that much closer to me. And yes, it’s a full length album.”
Mars and the “On the Ground” musician first teased that they were working together the day prior to their announcement, when they both shared photos on Instagram from a recent hangout sesh and revealed that ROSÉ had taught Mars a Korean drinking game.
“Soon after, she tried to kiss me, and I was like ‘woah Rosie! what part of the game is this?’” the Silk Sonic band member joked in his caption. “She was like, ‘I ain’t playin games wit you anymore lil boy! Big Rosie bout that BIDNESS!’ Shaken, I replied ‘stop Rosie, I’m scared!’ But other than that, super chill night.”
In response to Mars’ wild version of events, ROSÉ commented, “what’s wrong with uuuu.”
How you like that! BLACKPINK‘s ROSÉ announced that her solo studio album, titled rosie, is set to arrive just in time for the holidays.
“I cannot believe I am finally announcing my first album release to you all,” wrote the K-pop star in an Instagram post featuring the album cover, a closeup of the singer that shows her lying down, blonde curls cascading around her face in waves as she looks at the viewer. In her caption, she goes on to explain that as BLACKPINK wrapped up its yearlong Born Pink World Tour, she found herself at a studio session in L.A., and spent the next year working on music with songwriters and producers, trying to figure out what was next for her.“I fell asleep many nights feeling confused and lost. But with the support of my dear friends and family, my team, and of course my number ones, I am sat here today excited to announce the date of my album release,” shared the global star, revealing that her album will arrive on Dec. 6 via Atlantic Records. “I have poured my blood and tears into this album. I cannot wait for you to listen to this little journal of mine. Rosie – is the name I allow my friends and family to call me. With this album, I hope you all feel that much closer to me.”
Before signing off, she confirmed one big piece of information for BLINKs: “And yes, it’s a full length album.”
According to the press release, ROSÉ coproduced and cowrote the album, which includes 12 tracks and is her “most personal and candid” project yet.
Aside from the K-pop supergroup’s world tour and working on her own music, ROSÉ has been busy the past year. Last September, she inspired a Tiffany’s capsule collection that included a locket, earrings and more; attended Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in February and sang along to all 10 minutes of “All Too Well”; partnered with Puma for a campaign in July and more.
ROSÉ isn’t the only member of BLACKPINK with new music. Bandmate LISA has been releasing new music in the past few weeks, including a collab with Rosalia called “New Woman,” as well as a new track titled “Moonlit Floor,” which she debuted at the Global Citizen Festival in NYC and arrives Oct. 3.
Singer, actor and Blackpink member Jennie Kim has signed as a solo artist with Columbia Records in partnership with her record label and entertainment company Oddatalier and will release her new solo single in October, the company announced on Sunday.
Jennie first emerged in 2016 as a member of Blackpink, the highest-charing female Korean act on the Billboard charts and the only artist from the country to headline Coachella. On her own, last year she teamed up with the Weeknd and Lily-Rose Depp on the song “One of the Girls,” and appeared with the two in the controversial HBO series “The Idol.”
Kim was born in Korea, but moved to and studied in Auckland, New Zealand when she was 10, for five years before returning to Korea and joining the entertainment powerhouse YG’s talent academy. Blackpink formed in 2016 and has gone on to become the first music group and Korean female act to have five music videos accumulate one billion views each on YouTube and are the most-followed girl group on Spotify.
in “The Idol,” created by Sam Levinson, Kim acts under the stage name Jennie Ruby Jane and plays a backup singer and dancer to Lily-Rose Depp’s pop star who gets the opportunity to break out on her own.
She spoke with Dua Lipa about the experience on the BBC Sounds “Dua Lipa: At Your Service” podcast last year. “Acting was definitely one of the things that I’ve wanted to explore, but when I do something, when I decide to really go for it, I know I need to do it right,” Kim said. “And first of all, I wanted the new acting part of my life to be authentic, rather than just me trying to grab any opportunities that came to me – I really was being patient with with my first ever acting job. Which means when I was spending some time in LA last year, I actually got to meet Sam in person and I got to talk to him. And he talked me through the role that he wanted envisioned for me and everything – it really moved my heart.”
Lisa, a member of the global K-Pop supergroup Blackpink, is Louis Vuitton‘s newest house ambassador, the luxury fashion house announced Tuesday.
The 27-year-old rapper and dancer was a guest at Louis Vuitton’s recent women’s Fall/Winter 2024 show in Paris. She joins other previously named ambassadors such as Saoirse Ronan, Stray Kids’ Felix and BTS’ J-Hope.
Lisa’s “bold sartorial choices notably reflect Nicolas Ghesquière’s own strong womenswear vision marked by individuality and empowerment,” the brand said in a release, adding that Lisa’s achievements speak to Louis Vuitton’s core values.
“I am very excited to welcome Lisa as a House Ambassador,” Ghesquière, Louis Vuitton’s artistic director of women’s collections, said in a statement. “She has a daring spirit and charisma that I find incredibly compelling. She is as bold and creative with her music as she is with her fashion, and it is a privilege to accompany her on this journey.
The ambassador news comes amidst an already busy July for the girl group member. Earlier this month, it was announced that she would be co-headlining the 2024 Global Citizen Festival at New York’s Central Park Great Lawn in September. The concert will be Lisa’s first solo festival performance. As a member of the K-Pop supergroup Blackpink, Lisa and her fellow group members (Jennie, Jisoo and Rosé) headlined the 2023 Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival. The four-piece girl group, formed under Korean entertainment company YG Entertainment, was the first K-Pop act to headline the festival.
Lisa recently released her latest solo single, “Rockstar,” at the end of June. The song is the first to come from her recently formed solo partnership with RCA Records. In December 2023, it was announced that Blackpink had renewed their exclusive contracts for group activities with YG Entertainment, however, it was later revealed that all four members decided to part ways with the label for solo activities.
In February, Lisa announced the formation of her new company LLOUD, which she described in an Instagram post as a “platform to showcase my vision in music and entertainment.” In April, RCA Records announced that Lisa and LLOUD were entering a partnership with the record label. According to a release from the label, the deal allows Lisa to release new solo music under RCA Records while maintaining full ownership of all her recordings.
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