(LEAD) BLACKPINK aiming at global market with second studio album 'Born Pink'

(ATTN: UPDATES with music video for 'Pink Venom' surpassing 300 million YouTube views, other background info in 5th para)

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- K-pop girl group BLACKPINK will drop its second full-length album, "Born Pink," on Friday.

"As indicated by its title, the new album depicts the confidence of the four members who were unique from the beginning," the band's agency YG Entertainment said in a release. "The album will paint the team's discography deeply with its unique music color."

The album set to hit music services at 1 p.m. has eight songs, including the lead single "Shut Down" and the prereleased track "Pink Venom."

"Shut Down" contains a sample of "La Campanella," composed by Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840), a legendary Italian violinist and composer in the 19th century, combined with a trendy hip-hop beat, according to the agency.

"Pink Venom" has topped iTunes' top songs charts of 75 countries around the world upon its release on Aug. 19, and stayed atop the U.S. Billboard's Global 200 chart for two consecutive weeks. Its music video surpassed 300 million views on YouTube on Friday morning, only 28 days after its release, according to YG.

"The members' solid vocals and dynamic rapping maximize the mysterious charm of the song," YG said of the main single. "The direct lyrics expressing a confident attitude ironically shine more as the dark atmosphere rises."

The six other tracks are "Typa Girl," "Hard to Love," 'The Happiest Girl," "Tally," "Ready For Love" and "Yeah Yeah Yeah," an '80s-style song for which members Jisoo and Rose participated in writing the lyrics,

The upcoming album is expected to easily become the first-ever double million seller from any K-pop girl group as it has already surpassed 2 million copies in preorders. It is also drawing attention from the music industry as to whether it will create new K-pop girl group records on the Billboard 200 main albums chart.

In the K-pop industry, only three groups -- BTS, SuperM and Stray Kids -- have risen to the top of the Billboard 200, and they are all boy bands.

BLACKPINK achieved a record as the highest-charting K-pop girl group, when its first full-length album, "The Album," debuted at No. 2 in 2020.

The new album's lead track, "Shut Down," is also expected to rank high on the Hot 100 main singles chart considering the group's strong presence in the global music streaming market.

After the release, BLACKPINK will begin a world tour, which will start with two concerts in Seoul on Oct. 15-16 and is expected to attract a total of 1.5 million fans in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)