On December 29, South Korean media reported that four members of Blackpink, Jennie, Lisa, Rosé, and Jisoo, will be leaving their agency, YG Entertainment, and they plan to continue their activities at YG.
YG said on the 29th that it had agreed not to sign additional contracts for individual activities, adding, "We will do our best to support Blackpink's activities" and "We will support the members' individual activities with a warm heart," and YG announced on the 6th of this month that it has signed exclusive contracts with all four members of the group.
YG Chief Producer Yang Hyun Suk said at the time, "We are excited to continue our partnership with Blackpink, and we will do our best to help Blackpink shine even brighter in the global music market in the future," however, in the music industry, there was speculation that it would be difficult for YG to sign individual contracts because the four members had become "world stars."
When asked about their exclusive contract, YG has maintained a position of "under negotiation", but today they officially announced their breakup. Meanwhile, Jennie's recent announcement of the launch of her independent label ODD ATELIER (OA) has attracted attention. BLACKPINK members will continue their group activities together with YG while conducting individual activities independently.
BLACKPINK debuted on August 8, 2016 with their double title songs 'Whistle' and 'Boombaya', and since then, each song they release has become a huge hit, making them K-pop stars. Their second full-length album, BORN PINK, became the first K-pop girl group to reach No. 1 on the US Billboard Main Album Chart "Billboard 200" and the UK Official Album Chart "Top 100", establishing themselves as world stars.
In addition, they successfully staged the largest world tour in the history of K-pop girl groups last year and this year, mobilizing 1.8 million people from all over the world in a single concert. Blackpink is expected to be united in team activities, as are other senior K-pop groups such as EXO and Super Junior, doing both individual and team activities, despite the differences in their agencies. What do you think about the fact that the Blackpink members will leave YG and only gather together during team activities?