Blackpink is the first Japanese extended play by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released digitally in Japan on August 29, 2017 by YGEX, and was released physically on August 30. The six track EP consists of Japanese versions of their previously released Korean singles. The EP debuted atop the Oricon Albums Chart in its daily and weekly charts. The group became the third foreign artist to top the chart with a debut release since 2011.
A reissue of the EP titled Re: Blackpink was released on March 28, 2018.[3]
Background and composition
In May 2017, it was reported that the group would be holding a debut showcase at Nippon Budokan on July 20 and would release their debut album on August 9.[4][5]
On July 13, it was officially announced that the debut album of the group would be an extended play called Blackpink and would be released on August 30. The music video of "Boombayah" was also released.[6][7] On the same day, the details from the album were revealed, including the track list. It has two versions: CD+DVD, containing the Japanese and Korean-language versions of the group's singles plus five music videos; and only CD, containing just the Japanese-language songs.[8] The Japanese-language EP compiles three singles previously released in Korean; "Square One" (containing "Boombayah" and "Whistle"), "Square Two" (containing "Playing with Fire" and "Stay") and "As If It's Your Last".[9]
Promotion
In order to promote the upcoming Japan debut on television and internet. The group released the full version of Japanese music video, starting with "Playing with Fire" on MTV Japan on July 10, 2017,[10] "Whistle" on Music On! TV on July 10, 2017,[11] "Stay" on GYAO! on July 11, 2017,[12] "Boombayah" on GYAO! on July 13, 2017,[13] and the last song, "As If It's Your Last" on AbemaTV (K World Channel) on July 16, 2017.[14]
In addition, The group uploaded short versions of their singles in Japanese on the YouTube, starting with "Boombayah" on July 13, and continued with "Whistle" on July 14, "Playing with Fire" on July 15, "Stay" on July 16, and "As If It's Your Last" on July 17.[15][7][16][17][18]
On August 8, the Japanese version of "Boombayah" was released on iTunes Japan as the promo single of the EP.[19]
Commercial performance
Blackpink debuted atop the Oricon Daily Album Chart on August 29, 2017, with 21,583 physical copies sold in its first day.[20] In its second day, the EP stayed atop the chart.[21] The EP debuted atop the Oricon Weekly Album Chart with 39,100 physical copies sold in its first week.[22] They became the only third foreign artist to record first place on Oricon weekly chart with a debut release.[23][24] The EP was the fourth best selling album in Japan for August 2017, with 39,100 copies sold.[25]
^作品詳細画面 | J-WID [Work details screen | J-WID]. JASRAC (in Japanese). Retrieved October 18, 2021. Enter Blackpink in the bottom right box and click the purple box, then search for Whistle/Japanese version.
月間 CDアルバムランキング 2017年08月度 [Monthly CD Album Ranking August 2017]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 1. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
月間 CDアルバムランキング 2017年09月度 [Monthly CD Album Ranking September 2017]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 2. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
月間 CDアルバムランキング 2018年03月度 [Monthly CD Album Ranking March 2018]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 5. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved May 10, 2018.
^Citations regarding the release of "Blackpink" for digital download and streaming in various countries:
