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[Herald Interview] Black Pink still finding its color

By Rumy Doo

Published : Nov. 3, 2016 - 16:32

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Returning with another EP just three months after its debut, YG Entertainment’s newest girl group Black Pink hopes to differentiate itself from other female K-pop performers through its dance skills.

“We practiced on our performances a lot during our time off,” Jennie, 20, told reporters at a press interview Wednesday in Samcheong-dong, Seoul.

The four-member group’s second album, “Square Two,” was released Tuesday with two new tracks, “Playing with Fire” and “Stay.” The album comes after the group’s August debut EP “Square One,” comprised of tracks “Whistle” and “Boombayah.” All songs were produced by YG’s favorite in-house songwriter Teddy, who has been creating the bulk of hit tunes for the K-pop agency’s biggest groups, Big Bang and 2NE1.

From left: K-pop group Black Pink’s Lisa, Jennie, Jisoo and Rose pose for a photo before a press interview Wednesday in northern Seoul. (YG Entertainment) From left: K-pop group Black Pink’s Lisa, Jennie, Jisoo and Rose pose for a photo before a press interview Wednesday in northern Seoul. (YG Entertainment)

YG conducted a long promotion campaign for Black Pink that started in 2012, when it revealed that a handful of its trainees would debut as its first female team since 2NE1. After much drawn-out anticipation, Black Pink hit the stage this year. For now, however, it still remains somewhat overshadowed by its predecessor 2NE1, YG’s first globally successful girl group which debuted in 2009 and enjoyed the status of K-pop trendsetter until lead singer Park Bom’s drug smuggling scandal last year.

Black Pink’s similar vocal and performance styles, along with its hip-hop-infused tracks provided by Teddy, have made it hard to shake off the moniker of “little sister” group to 2NE1.

“I think it’s inevitable that we’ve been influenced by 2NE1,” said Jennie. “Our agency has been monitoring our debut performances, and we want to focus on our dance and onstage performances and keep developing that.”

“We’re still a rookie group, so we haven’t gotten around to studying songwriting or writing lyrics yet,” said Jennie. Meanwhile, YG brought in global choreographers to train the girls in different dance genres, from krumping and popping to ballet, the group said.

From left: Black Pink’s Rose, Lisa, Jisoo and Jennie speak to the press Wednesday in northern Seoul. (YG Entertainment) From left: Black Pink’s Rose, Lisa, Jisoo and Jennie speak to the press Wednesday in northern Seoul. (YG Entertainment)

Black Pink’s members were careful with their responses during the interview, appearing timid. “We’re not used to giving media interviews,” said Jisoo, 21, adding that the members preferred being on stage.

“We have to practice speaking in front of the camera,” she said.

On the popularity of the group’s new title track “Playing with Fire,” which topped major Chinese music streaming site QQ Music upon its release, Jennie said, “We’re glad that people have shown us so much love. We still have so much more to show.”

The group, which consists of Jennie, Lisa, Rose and Jisoo, will perform on SBS’ “Show! Music Core” on Saturday.

By Rumy Doo (doo@heraldcorp.com)