**Intro**\_

I am a 38 y.o. man, who has been a rock- and metalhead all of his life. Grew up with classic & heavy rock (Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath) and later added more extreme genres (from nu-metal over symphonic and thrash to black and a lot of death metal). But I’ve also always had an ear open for other types of music, as long as they catch my attention with strong energy, high professionalism and generally something interesting to offer. That’s why next to Six Feet Under and Lamb of God, you’ll find bands like Prodigy, Gorillaz and even the Sugababes in my playlist…

**BlackPink**\_

Despite being open to different genres, I never really cared for K-pop, though. I knew it existed, but didn’t think it would really fit my taste, so I ignorantly never gave it a chance.

This was until the end of November, when my 8 y.o. daughter showed me her new favorite song. It was Jisoo’s Flower (the dance performance MV). The song cought my attention and – as the interpret was new to me – I did some research on who she was. Obviously, I found out that she is a part of BlackPink – and this time the name rang a bell (spending a lot of time on social media, I knew that bands like BP and BTS have been massively popular in the recent years – not only in Asia, but worldwide).

So we started listening to the big hits – How you like that, Kill this love, Boombayah, Ddu-du Ddu-du and we all (this time the whole family) found out that we actually really, really dig them. We listened non-stop and constantly added new tunes to our favorites list – Pink Venom, Shut down (my personal fav), Typa Girl, Savage, The happiest Girl… And then also the Solos of the 4 girls.

**Becoming a BLINK**\_

I don’t know if I can call myself that. It is actually not that important. Fact is however, that BlackPink has brought a lot of light and joy into my life. I have spent countless evenings, watching YouTube compilations or shows, featuring Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa & Rosé and totally adore them. Not because of their beauty, but for who and how they are: the way they treat and support eachother, the non-intrusive and well-mannered way they behave, their down-to-earth attitude, their professionalism etc. I prefer over 99%+ of Western celebs, really root for them and wish them all the success they deserve.

**Blackpink vs. YG**\_

With all the lines above being said, I am not quite sure how to feel about the current state of the band. On the one hand I am truly happy the all the girls get to have their solo freedom and can shape their futures exactly the way they see fit.

On the other hand however – I am not quite sure if they will manage to produce amazing songs like before, without YG behind their backs.

Before you tear me apart, let me explain:

YG gets a lot of (seemingly reasonable) hate for their poor management (especially with cases like 2NE1 and GD), for not keeping up with modern times, not supporting and promoting their idols etc. and I truly understand the anger of the fans in this regard. But I also spent a lot of time listening and watching MVs of other K-pop bands during the last weeks and and must admit, that with a few exceptions (Stray Kids, for example), they don’t manage to (musically) stick out the way BlackPink does. And – correct me if I’m wrong – the musical part is mostly something we gotta thank YG (Teddy etc.) for. It kinda seems like that “quality instead of quantity” recipe worked fine – at least, when it comes to BlackPink.

Again, I am not trying to be Devil’s advocate and defend the company. If the BP girls were truly happy there, they would probably also sign their solo contracts under the YG label, right.. So the issues everybody’s mentioning are obviously (at least partially) there and the 4 girls only stick with YG, in order to keep the(ir) beloved band going.

Admittedly, it’s from a purely egosticial POV of a music enthusiast, that even though I am very happy for their newly acquired freedom, I lowkey don’t want them to lose that certain something, that made their sound feel special and unique. That’s it.

Gladly share with me your thoughts on all this.

by Wild-Persimmon9348