Asked about the extraordinary success of K-pop, South Korean popular music that is invading the world, American singer Billie Eilish confided: “K-pop groups are sweeping the planet like a giant wave.”
According to the pop star, "the only phenomenon to have had such an impact was that of the 'British Invasion' initiated by the Beatles in the 1960s."
Among the K-pop groups of this ilk, Billie Eilish puts in first place the Korean girl band Blackpink, one of the most famous K-pop groups in the world, if not the most famous.
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In video, Blackpink, the K-pop group of all records
The fruit of the highly lucrative YG Entertainment stable – an agency in South Korea that gave birth to K-pop legends and singer Psy's
Gangnam Style
– this female quartet is a formidable war machine that moves crowds, sparks riots and advances well beyond the borders of South Korea.
Both singers and dancers, Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie and Rosé, the four members of the group, are between 25 and 28 years old.
Since their debut on the international scene in 2016, these Spice Girls version 2.0 have continued to multiply hits, break records and weave their web with titles sung in Korean mixed with English on electro rhythms and rap flights. .
Lisa is wearing a jacket and an embroidered mini dress, Celine by Hedi Slimane, as well as a high jewelry necklace, in white gold and diamonds, Bulgari.
Photo Hunter & Gatti
At a time when the K-pop market has doubled in size internationally, Blackpink has managed to hoist its hits to the top positions of the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the numbers of its success are dizzying: is the group with the most subscribers on YouTube – more than 84 million followers, versus Justin Bieber (70.9 million), Ariana Grande (52 million) and Rihanna (40 million).
Their clips have reached one billion views on the channel.
One of their songs surpassed 600 million streams on Spotify, and this year they released an album,
Born Pink
, which shattered all records on multiple platforms.
Through the colossal success of their rap rhymes chanted in Korean – and not in the official language of pop, which until now was English – the members of Blackpink crowned the high hopes of a man, a pioneer of K-pop, a Korean entrepreneur called Lee Soo-man.
After a brief career as a DJ, he studied computer science in the United States in the 1980s before returning to Seoul with "the dream of globalizing Korean music" and "imposing
hallyu
(the spread of southern culture -Korean, editor’s note) in the world”.
K-pop is quickly becoming a phenomenon.
As early as 2000, the
Shanghai Evening Post
speaks of a "Korean wave", accompanying his article with an eloquent photo showing a large audience with a Korean flag sewn on the backpacks.
"For the first time, at this time, young Koreans have the feeling that Korea is cool and fashionable," writes the journalist.
Lisa is wearing an Atlein dress, Celine boots, a B.zero1 necklace, bracelet and ring, a Serpenti Viper bracelet and ring, and a Bulgari fine jewelry ring.
Photo Hunter & Gatti
This Korean “coolness” has flourished around the world over the past decade – not only in music, but also through film (
Parasite
, by Bong Joon-ho, won four Oscars in 2020), series (the blockbuster
Squid Games
on Netflix), video games and fashion.
Its influence is currently celebrated with a major exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, entitled
Hallyu!
The Korean Wave
,
through
June 25.
We discover all aspects of K-mania, and the members of Blackpink are widely represented through all kinds of images and
memorabilia
.
"I've been training since I was little to make this dream come true."
While the fashion for girl bands seemed to have been buried, bands like Blackpink are resurrecting it, but through a very different model than those of the past.
“They are above all phenomena, fruits of the entertainment industry, with skilfully concocted recipes and specific objectives”, deciphers the writer and journalist Olivier Cachin, specializing in urban music.
“K-pop artists come out of factories where stars are made: they are taught dancing and singing the same way we train gymnasts, with iron discipline.
They have coaches to learn how to speak to the media, to be perfect and to please everyone.
Their music is largely impregnated with Anglo-Saxon codes, and they also take up the aesthetics of the clips and choreographies of artists like Beyoncé,
Rihanna and Ariana Grande.
To this, a girl band like Blackpink adds, in addition, a seductive exoticism from manga culture, Asian lolitas outfits and looks of superheroines brandishing their
lightstick,
a luminous stick that they wave on stage to the rhythm of their songs.
If the hit factories and the made-to-measure groups (the Supremes) are not new, the particularity of this girls band is to make you forget all the anxieties of the time.
“We are less interested in rebellion than in maintaining kindness and inclusiveness,” assures Lalisa Manobal, the rapper and dancer of the Blackpink quartet.
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Small size and frail silhouette in this Parisian morning of December, Lalisa Manobal is of a striking beauty.
She has the same charm that she deploys on stage, a mixture of strength, grace and elegance that she made to measure.
Her bright and determined gaze goes beyond the concept of
girl crush
(Korean neologism designating a powerful and confident woman who gives power to others).
“I have long dreamed of being an artist capable of performances like those I produce with Blackpink, she explains.
I've been training since I was little to make this dream come true."
During her appearance at the Californian festival of Coachella, wearing a 1920s dress à la Zelda Fitzgerald but in a mini version, the singer caused a sensation.
In front of her, an audience of chilled fans.
An indicator of Super Lisa's omnipotence?
The number of followers of his Instagram account: he has 86.9 million subscribers, an armada of
blinks
– the official name of the quartet's fans who like and share their posts without moderation.
Among her subscribers are celebrities like Dua Lipa (with whom she has collaborated), Selena Gomez, Rosalía and even Angèle.
Lisa is wearing a crystallized shirt dress and tie, Alexandre Vauthier and a set of Serpenti Viper and B.Zero1 rings, Bulgari.
Photo Hunter & Gatti
Lalisa Manobal was 14 when her life changed in an instant.
Born Pranpriya Manoban in the Thai province of Buriram (which translates to “city of happiness”), she grew up with her Thai mother, a film lover, and her Swiss stepfather, a chef.
In 2010, supported by her mother (her biggest fan), she participated in an audition for the YG Entertainment agency, and was the only candidate to be selected among 4,000 aspirants.
Soon after, she moved to Seoul, alone, without knowing a word of Korean (now she speaks it fluently, like English).
My goal was to become an icon who sets a good example and positively influences others, but I didn't expect this success.
Lalisa Manobal
“I called my mother in Bangkok every day.
It was very difficult at times to adapt to a foreign culture, but I knew why I was there.
Since my childhood, I wanted to be a dancer, and here I am in the right place to achieve my ambitions.
Singing came later, over time, in this very serious school.”
Lisa says that during her training of more than five years in the ranks of the YG agency, in Seoul, she learned to dance, sing and perform with the other members of Blackpink whom she met on square.
"It was crazy !
My goal was to become an icon who sets a good example and positively influences others, but I didn't expect this success."
"If we had looked at our career from a business perspective, we wouldn't have been able to come this far."
K-pop generates over $10 billion a year in revenue… and immense pressure.
But Lisa, clairvoyant, assures that it does not disturb her: “If we had considered our career from the commercial angle, we could not have come all this way.
What I especially want to share with my fans are the motivations inside me and what I promised myself when I arrived in Korea.
I want to tell them: if you work harder than anyone to make your dream come true, it will come true one day.”
In other words, the dialectic of the American dream made in South Korea.
Described by those around her as an artist totally dedicated to her profession, always in a good mood and working tirelessly, Lisa, a force of nature, is capable of
Lisa is wearing a Victoria Beckham outfit as well as a set of Serpenti Viper and B.Zero1 Bulgari necklace, rings and bracelets.
Consultant Min-Hee Park.
Hairstyle Seon-Yeong Lee.
Makeup Myung-Sun Lee.
Manicurist Julie Arslanian.
Photos taken thanks to the kind collaboration of the Bulgari hotel, in Paris.
Photo Hunter & Gatti
On the strength of her success, she pushed the cursor even further by allowing herself to explore a solo career.
In 2021, she released an album in her name, titled
Lalisa
: "I wanted to express the differences between how I show myself as 'Lisa from Blackpink' and as a solo artist."
The disc is a mix of rap, brass riffs, and even traditional Thai instruments.
“I like to add more of my own color.
So I can't leave aside the musical history of my country, Thailand."
From the sets for Lisa's clip, through the design of the cover and the choreography, the young woman actively participated in the entire process.
"I felt I had to do it," she says.
Like all influential stars of the time, she became a champion of fashion.
“Fashion and I are inseparable.
All styles inspire me and I have learned to be confident in my choices.”
All styles inspire me and I learned to be confident in my choices
Lalisa Manobal
Lalisa Manobal frequents the front rows of parades.
Brands woo her.
She is one of Bulgari's prestigious ambassadors.
“This house is rich in heritage, traditions, heritage, she underlines.
The know-how deployed for each of the jewelery pieces is exceptional.
I was absolutely delighted when I was asked to collaborate with this legendary brand, in particular to co-create two versions of the Bulgari watch with its “sunburst finish” dial and the design of my favorite flower, the edelweiss, engraved in the back."
Jewelry, says Lisa, is an inseparable part of her personality: “The simplest look can become extraordinary with the right choice of jewelry.
If one day I had to select a piece to pass on to my future children, I would give them the Bulgari B ring.
From a small Thai province to the heyday of K-pop, the Blackpink star has already lived several lives.
In a scene from
Light Up the Sky
, a Netflix documentary devoted to Blackpink, Lisa confides with great sincerity that at times she needs a home base far from the media hubbub to which she is exposed: "Of course, my life has completely changed. since I am a member of Blackpink.
However, I recharge with my family, my friends and the people I love.
With mine, I feel comfortable and relaxed.”
At 25, the glorious Lalisa Manobal has her life ahead of her and an army of
blinks
ready to support her.
In video, the clip of
Pink Venom
, by Blackpink