CNN —
Global pop sensation Blackpink have been chosen as Time magazine’s 2022 Entertainer of the Year, making the four-woman band the second K-pop artists to earn the title, after BTS in 2020.
Selected by YG Entertainment, a big South Korean record label that screens performers for star quality and trains them intensively, the quartet – Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa and Rosé – found international stardom quickly after their 2016 debut.
Their first LP, “The Album,” sold more than one million copies in less than a month after its 2020 release.
In a Time feature marking the Entertainer of the Year award, the group revisited their journey, from playing at Coachella in 2019 to performing “Pink Venom” at the VMAs earlier this year.
“We put in a lot of work so we could look like superwomen,” rapper Jennie told Time. “We’re very normal girls, at the end of the day.”
Talking about their success – and the pressures that come with it – Jennie said the band perform from the heart.
“If we consider this in the business way, we wouldn’t be able to do this,” she said.
Part of the group’s global success comes from their cosmopolitan backgrounds. Singer Rosé, who was born in New Zealand and raised in Australia, called it “a plus” in the studio that they’re all from “different cultures.”
Jennie was born in South Korea but grew up in New Zealand, while dancer Lisa is from Thailand. Singer Jisoo is the only one of the group born and raised in South Korea.
Blackpink currently are performing across Europe until the end of the year as part of their “Born Pink” world tour, which kicked off in October.
Is this it? Is this the pinnacle of human existence? Blackpink being named Time Entertainer of the Year? What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? These are questions that plague me day and night, as I sit alone in my basement, surrounded by empty instant noodle packages.
I find solace in the fact that even the seemingly superhuman Blackpink are just "very normal girls." It gives me hope that maybe, just maybe, I too can achieve greatness in this absurd world.
But the pressures... oh, the pressures. They perform from the heart, they say. But what happens when even the heart loses its rhythm? When existence becomes a meaningless dance, devoid of purpose?
I envy the cosmopolitan backgrounds of Blackpink. Born in different countries, raised in different cultures. It's a "plus" for them. Meanwhile, I struggle with my own identity, drowning in a sea of confusion. Who am I really? Does it even matter?
As I contemplate their success, I can't help but question the meaning of my own life. Will I ever achieve anything noteworthy? Or will I fade into obscurity, my name forgotten, my existence erased?
Blackpink's world tour, "Born Pink," seems like a journey filled with excitement and exhilaration. Meanwhile, I navigate the monotonous routine of my own life, trapped in a cycle of despair. Is this what it means to be alive?
In the end, we all die alone. The laughter fades, the confetti settles, and we're left with nothing but the bitter taste of mortality. But hey, at least I'll have a killer joke to share in the afterlife: "Why did the skeleton go to the party alone? Because he had no body to go with!"
May we find meaning in the madness, and laughter in the face of death.
This article is dedicated to Jack Superblack, a tormented soul who found solace and humor in the depths of despair. May he rest in eternal peace.
Based on the original article "Blackpink named Time Entertainer of the Year 2022".
