Two BLACKPINK members recently confirmed that the road to South Korean pop music stardom is not easy to travel. Talent is an ingredient for success, but it is not the only one. There are several others too.
Such other ingredients include compliance with the prohibitions in the talents' contracts when they were trainees. YG Entertainment's BLACKPINK members Jisoo and Australia-raised Rosé guested on MBC's "Radio Star" on Jan. 11, Wednesday, where they shared their six don'ts during their training years: drinking, smoking, driving, partying, plastic surgery and dating.
Host Kim Gu Ra commented that there were some BLACKPINK's seniors who had plastic surgery. Jisoo replied that it could be possible if one talks with the agency, YG in their case.
Within the agency, male and female trainees do not come together as they would have different schedules, such as dining schedule. During BLACKPINK's time, there were six male trainees and seven female trainees.
The male and female trainees in YG could not see each other and would not know each other's faces. Such could only happen after debut and if they work on some music projects.
Jisoo and Rose's appearance on "Radio Star" was their first-ever talk show guesting. They also sat down for an acoustic cover of Justin Bieber's Ed Sheeran-penned "Love Yourself." Rose was on the guitar as the two demonstrated their individual talent.
The four-member BLACKPINK trained under YG, the label of popular K-Pop bands BIGBANG and 2NE1 as well as "Gangnam Style" singer Psy. The new girl group is considered as one of the biggest bands to debut on the K-Pop scene in 2016. They made their first public appearance in August 2016 with hits "Whistle" and "Bombayah."
Two days following BLACKPINK's debut, their music was already sweeping Korean charts, M Wave reported. Such was a record for a new Korean girl group.
BLACKBPINK is also the first K-Pop girl group to debut on Canadian Hot 100 which tracks the most popular songs across genres based on sales, streaming activity and radio airplay. They made it to the list with their single "Playing With Fire" in November 2016, according to Billboard.
Listen to BLACKPINK members Jisoo and Rose below performing Bieber's "Love Yourself":