BLACKPINK In Your Area!

Calling all BLINKs! This is a blog just for you and only you but for those of you who are wondering what is a BLINK, you have come to the right place. I have all the information you will need to learn about BLACKPINK from their fandom the BLINKs, what agency BLACKPINK came from, where to buy merchandise, their BLACKPINK Pop-Up, and concert. Who knows after reading this blog you might just become a BLINK yourself, but before I can really tell you anything about BLACKPINK and BLINKs I have to spread a little knowledge about YG Entertainment to you.

YG Entertainment

YG Entertainment is an entertainment agency in South Korea. If you did not know already YG Entertainment is known for being in the music industry for K-Pop (Korean pop) artists. The agency was created in March of 1996 by Yang Hyun-suk. YG is known as the one of the “big three” entertainment agencies in South Korea along with SM Entertainment, and JYP Entertainment. YG has become more than just an entertainment agency company. They have also created their own fashion line called YG Plus, and YGKPlus which deals with modeling and talent management. YG has played a huge role in what is K-Pop today and has given us some amazing artists along the way. Before there was BLACKPINK there was a girl group by the name of 2NE1. 2NE1 was the first successful girl group to debut with YG Entertainment in 2009. Other groups that are from YG Entertainment are BIGBANG, iKON, WINNER, and TREASURE. While they are especially known for being the K-pop world they have since moved into different genres such as hip-hop, and R&B. Even though they have so many groups you know that BLACKPINK is by far my favorite of them all.

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BLACKPINK

BLACKPINK debuted on August 8th, 2016. They have four members in their group: Jisoo, Lisa, Jennie, and Rosé. BLACKPINK is known for their unique music that consists of a lot of different genres like K-pop, hip-hop, pop and EDM. Jisoo is the oldest member in the group. She is only 28 years old. She is from Seoul, South Korea. Jisoo is known for her vocal abilities. She can also speak three languages: Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.

Jennie is the second oldest being 27 years old. She is also from Seoul, South Korea like Jisoo. Jennie is the main rapper in the group and she is also a vocalist too. Jennie can speak four languages: Korean, French, English and Japanese. Lisa and Rosé are both 26 years old. Lisa is the main dancer in the group and she is also a rapper like Jennie. Lisa is from Satuek District in Thailand. Like Jennie Lisa can speak four languages but she speaks Korean, English, Japanese and of course her native language Thai. Rosé is the main vocalist. She is most known for her emotional performance and her beautiful voice. Rosé is from Auckland, New Zealand and she also grew up in Australia before deciding to come to South Korea to be a trainee. She can speak three languages: Korean, English, and Japanese.

They debuted with their album “Square One '' featuring songs such as “Boombayah” and “Whistle”. Both songs were a huge success and helped them gain a lot of attention. They quickly became a very popular K-pop girl group who were able to break a lot of records and even gained international attention from all over the world.  If you remember in the intro of the blog, I told you they had a fandom and again that fandom is called the BLINKS. It has been said that BLINK was formed in 2017. BLINK is a blend of the words “black and “pink”. They are known to be one of the biggest fan bases in the world. There are over 38 million BLINKs around the world including myself. In order to become a member, it is actually pretty simple. You just have to go on the Weverse app and create an account then, join BLACKPINK group, and go to the Weverse Shop and buy a membership. The membership is 23.00 US Dollars, and there is a membership kit for Premium members for 50.00 US Dollars. The membership lasts for a whole year.

After becoming so successful they have been creating chart-topping hits that have landed them on international music charts. In 2019 they became the first K-pop girl group to ever perform at Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. Their performance at Coachella was so good that it ended up becoming a Netflix documentary named ‘BLACKPINK: Light Up the Sky’ where they were interviewed and their performance from Coachella was shown. They also had a documentary to come out for their 5^th anniversary in 2021 to Disney+ called “BLACKPINK the MOVIE” which was created for the BLINKs.

BLACKPINK now has three albums out: “BLACKPINK IN YOUR AREA” that came out in 2018 and which is also a Japanese album, “THE ALBUM'' which came out in 2020, and “BORN PINK” came out in 2022. They all have been able to create their own music outside of the group. Jennie made “Solo”, Lisa has “LALISA” that has two songs called “LALISA'' and “MONEY”, Rosé has a single album called “R” that has two songs “On the Ground” and “Gone”, and Jisoo also created a Single album called “ME” that has two songs as well called “FLOWER” and “All Eyes on Me”. Jisoo has decided to take on a different adventure from the others; she is also now acting in Korean dramas. She was in a Disney+ tv show called ‘Snow Drop’ and will be in a new Korean drama called ‘Influenza’. Now that you know more about BLACKPINK and have become a fan or are already a fan let me tell you about where you can purchase BLACKPINK merchandise.

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BLACKPINK Merchandise

There are two main places where you will be able to find BLACK merchandise and they are With MUU, and SameE café near YG Entertainment. With MUU has items from various artists. At With Muu you can find BLACKPINK light sticks, albums, and a toy called a Broken Heart Superstar. In the Broken Heart Superstars, you can find a heart case, a k-pop star, a trendy hairstyle, three outfits, and two accessories. The BLACKPINK Light Stick is 39,000 won (29.45 US Dollars) They sell every album that BLACKPINK has created. You can get the BLACKPINK album “THE ALBUM” for 23,500 won (17.69 US Dollars). If you love other K-pop artists I am sure you will find various items of theirs there as well. With MUU has two locations. One is located at I’Park Mall and the other is in AK Plaza. Here is all the information on the With MUU stores so you can see which one is closer to you.

Yongsan I’Park Mall

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Operating Hours:

11:00-20:30 Monday- Friday

11:00-21:00 Saturday-Sunday

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Homepage:

https://www.withmuu.com

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Address:

6th floor, Yongsan I'Park Mall Living Park, 55, Hangang-daero 23-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul

서울특별시 용산구 한강대로23길 55 용산아이파크몰 리빙파크 6층

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How to get there:

Yongsan Station (Line 1, Exit 1) 3 Minute Walk

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AK Plaza Hongdae

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Operating Hours:

11:00-22:00 Monday- Friday

10:30-22:00 Saturday-Sunday

Homepage:

https://www.withmuu.com

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Address:

2nd floor, AK Plaza, 188 Yanghwa-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul

서울특별시 마포구 양화로 188 AK플라자 2층

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How to get there:

Hongik Univ. Station (Line 2, Exit 5) 5 Minute Walk

Hongik Univ. Station (Airport Railroad, Exit 5) 1 Minute Walk

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SameE Café is a café owned by YG Entertainment. SameE café was created in 2021 for fans to enjoy their favorite YG artist. What is so cool about this place is that they are not just a café but they also sell YG artist merchandise like BLACKPINK. They have such a large section of various items you can buy that are BLACKPINK like their albums, light sticks, light stick keychain, BLACKPINK clothes, totes, and plushies. They even have hand fans, jewelry, BLACKPINK Monopoly, and a clear carrying case for the BLACKPINK light stick. What makes them different from With MUU is that they just have so much more for BLINKs to find. Each BLACKPINK member has their own little area of their own single albums and posters of them. I was able to purchase a BLACKPINK light stick, and a black “Kill This Love” hand fan. The hand fan was 23,000 won (17.37 US Dollars) and the light stick was 39,000 won (29.45 US Dollars). If you are a huge BLACKPINK fan this will be one of your favorite places to visit when in Seoul, South Korea. After going to both these places I just had to go to the BLACKPINK Pop-Up.

Operating Hours:

10:00-21:00 Everyday

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Homepage:

https://www.instagram.com/thesamee_official/

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Address:

6-3, Heewoojeong-ro 1-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul

서울시 마포구 희우정로 1길 6-3

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How to get there:

Hapjeong Station (Line 2, Exit 8) 12 Minute Walk

Hapjeong Station (Line 6, Exit 8) 10 Minute Walk

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BLACKPINK Pop-Up

After visiting With MUU and SameE café I was so glad that the BLACKPINK’s pop-up had finally arrived here in Seoul. It was amazing for me because I love BLACKPINK so much. The BLACKPINK Pop-up has been all over the world because of their world tour. The pop-up was held in Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea which is actually near the SameE Cafe. It was held from Thursday to Sunday. On Thursday it was at 14:00-20:00 and Friday to Sunday it was 11:00-20:00. If you were an American Express card holder you got to go in an hour early and you also got to purchase merchandise before anyone else. They had sweatshirts, shirts, hats, beanies, and keychains. They were even selling a BLACKPINK bike for 700,0000 won (528.53 US Dollars). I went a little crazy when I went to the pop-up and got a bunch of items. I got their plush hoodie, a black BORN PINK shirt, and a cute BINKY keychain. The plush hoodie was 180,000 won (135.99 US Dollars). All the shirts were 75,000 won (56.64 US Dollars) and the BINKY keychain was 35,000 won (26.43 US Dollars). With every purchase you were able to get a free tote bag. If you spent over 100,000 won (75.42 US Dollars) you got a photo booth chip and were able to take a photo at the photo booth. You only were able to get two tries using the photo booth before printing out your photo. The photo also had a QR code on it so you were able to download a digital copy. After the BLACKPINK Pop-up there was no way, I could not go to the BLACKPINK concert.

BLACKPINK Concert

After the BLACKPINK Pop-Up I was able to go to the concert. BLACKPINK has been able to perform all over the world and has finally come home to Seoul, South Korea for their finale. The concert and the pop-up were both going on at the same time. The concert was Saturday, September 16 and Sunday, September 17. It was held at Gocheok Sky Dome. BLACKPINK is the first girl group ever to hold a concert at Gocheok Sky Dome. The concert was sold out for both days. It did not start till 7:00pm but the merchandise for the concert was being sold at 10:00 until around 5:30pm. Doors opened for the concert at 17:30 that is probably why they stopped selling merchandise.

My friend and I decided to get the concert merchandise so we got there at 9:00am but the line was the longest line I had ever seen for merchandise. They were selling shirts, sweat shirts, character keychains, light sticks, reusable bags, bucket hats, character light stick covers, and the clear bag for the light sticks. People were buying so many things that they were filling up suitcases with all the items so I was scared that I would not be able to get anything. When we finally made it to the front of the line it was 1:00pm. In the end I was able to get everything I wanted. I got the black shirt, character light stick cover, and reusable bag. The shirt was 42,000 won (31.62 US Dollars), the character light stick cover was 20,000 won (15.06 US Dollars), and the reusable bag was 9,000 won (6.78 US Dollars). If you spent 40,000 won (30.12 US Dollars) you were able to receive two free photo cards.

The concert ticket I was able to purchase was 124,000 won. I sat in the 400 seat area. They did not come out until 7:30pm and the concert lasted till about 9:30pm. They sang so many different songs together and they even sang their own songs. They changed their outfits about five different times.  Their dancers came out and danced to the beat of their songs while they were backstage getting ready for the next thing. If you are a fan and were not able to make it to the concert it is okay, I am sure there will be more to come. We just have to make sure we keep celebrating all of their various activities till they are all able to come back together again.

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Summary

After learning so much about BLACKPINK are you now a BLINK or were you already one and just loved reading this blog? During the concert where I sat was pretty high up but I honestly did not care because I finally got to see them live. I felt like I was having an out of body experience. It is something I will never forget. I really did have such an amazing time; it is really something I will never forget. To be honest I even cried on a couple of songs, that’s how happy I was to be there. I will probably wear all of my BLACKPINK merch for a very long time. I cannot wait to see what they all do next. I wonder if they will all create more of their own music and will the others act besides Jisoo.  Hopefully we will have more to look forward too. Thank you for reading my blog on my favorite group BLACKPINK.

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