BLACKPINK is a K-Pop girl group who made it big in the United States around 2018 after signing with Interscope Records. The group consists of four young women; Jisoo (vocalist), Jennie (rapper/vocalist), Rosè (dancer/vocalist), and Lisa (rapper/dancer/vocalist). Surprisingly, Jisoo is the only member who was completely born and raised in Korea. All of the other members were Third Culture Kids (TCKs) and are now Adult TCKs.
TCKs Within the Group
Jennie was born in Seoul, Korea, but moved to New Zealand at the age of 10, according to marieclaire.com. She then moved back to South Korea at the age of 15 when she decided she wanted to be a performer.
Rosè is a New Zealand citizen who has also spent a considerable amount of time growing up in Australia. She moved to Korea when she was 16 to begin her music career.
Lisa is originally from Thailand. She is fluent in multiple languages including Japanese, English, Thai, and South Korean according to capitalfm.com. She, like the other girls in the group, moved to South Korea to start her music career.
BLACKPINK’s Global Mobility
This K-Pop group is one of the first and biggest to reach the U.S. with their music. From having their songs go viral on TikTok, to playing at Coachella in 2019. Some of this success may be because they signed with Interscope Records a few years ago, just before they blew up. In an interview with Forbes, John Janick (CEO of Interscope Records) says ““BLACKPINK are global superstars in the making. The music and visuals are so immediately striking and so different from anything else happening in pop music. We are beyond excited to partner with YG in pursuit of their vision for BLACKPINK world domination.”
As we can tell, there are multiple language barriers that these girls can break. as a group. We can also see that their TCK identities have contributed to this. When you have a group that is well traveled and diverse, it makes global and cultural mobility easier to accomplish. It is likely that any of these girls could have been successful on their own, but have become a powerhouse together.
