“BLACKPINK is the revolution” and as time passed, BLACKPINK have proven Kpop that they
are indeed what they claim because not only music-wise but also concept-and-idol-image-wise,
imprints of the members are seen everywhere.
That’s why people often think that gen4 girl groups are heavily influenced by BLACKPINK,
leading to many younger idols wanting to have some similarities with their renowned seniors.
Chiquita - Wannabe Lisa
Needless for netizens to spark the allegation about Chiquita’s trying to be the gen4 version
of Lisa, Yang Hyun Suk, the former CEO of YG Entertainment, has already talked about
this and while he didn’t specifically admit that the company was recreating a mini-Lisa
for BABYMONSTER, various hints found by netizens all point in this direction.
When appearing in BABYMONSTERS’ pre-debut documentary, he saved the most flattering
words for Chiquita, saying that she was a special kid and hoping that Chiquita could
soon become an international phenomenon like Lisa.
As the mastermind behind all iconic acts making up the reputation of YG Entertainment, it’s
very likely that Yang Hyun Suk was right about Chiquita but according to netizens, that didn’t
justify his and YG Entertainment’s intention of forcing the image of Lisa on Chiquita.
For example, when introducing her as the maknae of BABYMONSTER, the company styled Chiquita
similarly to Lisa by cutting her blunt bangs, keeping the hair length to the shoulders,
and mainly having it in bright colors only.
When watching the very first seconds of the “Introducing CHIQUITA” video, some said
it was literally like watching a younger Lisa in BABYMONSTER as her styling bore a huge
resemblance to Lisa’s in Pink Venom.
As YG Entertainment always places a huge emphasis on making each of their artists a unique individual,
the fact that Chiquita has a sharp, energy-packed, and big-move dancing style and also holds
a critical dancer position in BABYMONSTER is also believed to be another attempt to
remind people of Lisa.
While being prejudiced is 100% not good, it’s also hard for me to deny that YG Entertainment
has tried to a certain extent to make Chiquita a gen4 version of Lisa considering her nationality
and the stylings they have been doing for her.
However, for the dancing style, I think YG Entertainment isn’t totally to blame as
it’s likely that Chiquita has picked up the way Lisa dances as in her home country
Thailand, Lisa is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, role models for many the young
and Chiquita might just be one of them.
I also think people have turned a blind eye to the possibility that Chiquita indeed has
a similar vibe to Lisa as many have said she gave off an explosive positive vibe just like
Lisa with all the big smiles, bubbly reactions and fast-learning capability, which was seen
in the complement of Yang Hyun Suk saying despite her shortest training period, he has
already secured a ticket for Chiquita in BABYMONSTER’s project.
Still, I don’t agree with Yang Hyun Suk outright tagging Lisa when talking about Chiquita
as one, he was implicitly pressuring a four-teen-year-old kid to do things that Lisa has managed to
do and two, this was nothing but an act of pitting women against each other, a viewpoint
also shared by many netizens.
Ahyeon - Wannabe Jennie
Besides Chiquita, Ahyeon is also said to remind people of a BLACKPINK’s member and this
time, it’s Jennie that people are talking about.
However, a bit different from Chiquita, many believe YG Entertainment has nothing much
to do here and it’s Ahyeon herself that gives off a mini-Jennie vibe.
As fans found out, Ahyeon’s talent with music is as inherent as Jennie as back in
2017, she had already passed the first audition of Banana Culture Entertainment.
At the age of 11, she entered Ara Dance Academy.
One year after that, she passed the audition of YG Entertainment and here, she turned from
a raw diamond to one of the brightest gems, confidently slaying all areas from singing,
dancing to rapping.
Vocal-wise, Ahyeon stands out with the thick, warm and a little sticky pronunciation styles.
However, when rapping, she still knows how to separate each word clearly, creating a
special vibe.
Dancing-wise, her capability was Lee Jung-approved and FYI, this is the mastermind behind many
iconic choreographies of BLACKPINK. Lee Jung also cognized the center-material of Aheyon,
saying she had all it took to effortlessly draw attention even without standing in the
center, also one of the charms of Jennie
Outside the music realm, Ahyeon’s multilingual intelligence also gave off a strong Jennie
vibe as she could fluently speak three languages: Korean, English and Chinese.
In the era where Kpop is strongly pushed to take over the global market, many believed
Ahyeon would soon become an IT girl like Jennie and effortlessly slayed any games she entered.
Looking at the way Ahyeon carries herself, I think down the road, there are going to
be lots of talks discussing how she was trying to copy Jennie but because her charms are
legit and original, I also think these nonsense allegations will be soon shattered just like
the way BLACKPINK broke free from
the rumor of copy 2NE1 in their rookie era.
Jisoo - Wannabe Jennie
Didn’t expect that Jisoo's name is also on this list, right?
Me too It's hella ridiculous to say that Jisoo wants
to be like a BlackPink member while she’s a BlackPink herself.
However, people have reason to say so eventhough it sounds very counterintuitive.
Since the way Jisoo presents herself has always been drastically different from Jennie’s,
which is way more gentle, traditional and Eastern-inspired than Jennie's liberal, rebellious
and Western-packed aura, it didn’t take people long to realize that in her latest
solo debut, she was portraying an image not so “ME” like her album title.
When only looking at the outfits and makeup, many said YG Entertainment and Jisoo have
successfully executed their promise that Jisoo’s debut concept would be a blossom of Asian
cultures.
Music-wise, the song was also praised by many Knetz for being a “modern take on old Korean
songs,” or in more general, a combination of Korean, Chinese and HongKong traditional
songs.
After some listening, American Born Chinese netizens said the melodies and some verses
of FLOWER especially reminded them of songs their parents and grandparents loved.
Until now, the song had gotten them completely hooked as it gave them the feeling of going
back in time to hang out with their ancestors.
However, considering the MV scenes and how each scene was connected together to tell
a story, many expressed their disappointment and believed YG Entertainment was recreating
a more Asian version of SOLO with a view to pushing the song down the throat of audiences
from both the East and the West.
In the very beginning scene, people could already see the striking similarities with
the one where Jennie was redoing her makeup in SOLO.
In fact, not only was the color grading similar but so was the camera angle.
As the MV progressed, the analogies stood out even more and just several seconds forward,
netizens had already been caught in another familiar scene.
The part of Jisoo recklessly dancing in the hotel hall of Millennium Biltmore garnered
great attention as this was also the place appeared in Taylor Swift’s Delicate, Britney
Spears’ Overprotected and Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud, what netizens cared more
about was how Jisoo’s dress, the setting’s color palette and even the activity taking
place in the scene all scream Jennie’s SOLO.
While Jisoo’s ethereal beauty here was undeniable, many were let down to see it was literally
another version of this part in Jennie’s SOLO.
Especially considering Jisoo’s styling like her bling-bling dress, the platinum highlight
hair and even the nighttime setting, the resemblances to netizens were undeniable.
The series of similarities extended up until the end of FLOWER and in the ending scene
where Jisoo took-off her dark floral choker, supposedly accentuating the idea of her breaking
free from the previous agonies and starting a new chapter, which, of course, had a bittersweet
and crucial connotation to the whole story, some said they couldn’t really feel the
profound metaphor since there was a strong Jennie’s image and story lingering around.
Particularly, in SOLO, there was this scene of Jennie lying in the exact same pose as
Jisoo and also tossing away a flower, representing her being completely done with the messed
up past.
Overall, I see from netizens’ reaction is that what left for them is a scent of a disappointment
for the lack of Jisoo’s individuality and authenticity.
Seemingly Jisoo’s fans were also triggered because the MV has proven a sharp conflict
in YG Entertainment’s statement about FLOWER being the most invested MV out of the four
members’ with FLOWER being an alleged remake version of Jennie’s SOLO.
Personally, I agree with many points brought up here because the similarities were striking:
the color grading, the metaphors, the stylings and even the series of the characters’ actions
to tell her story.
However, since everything was assumptions, I also think people shouldn’t have jumped
on the hate bandwagon to throw hate and not support Jisoo as she had for sure put all
her mind into making this debut as perfect as possible.
YG Entertainment also doesn’t deserve the outcry because the mastermind behind FLOWER
is ​​Samin Han – also the Production Director for Jennie’s SOLO so if there are
indeed similarities, the only reason doesn’t come down to YG Entertainment and Jisoo’s
trying to copy Jennie but rather it’s being the signature style of Samin Han.
TWICE - Wannabe BLACKPINK
With the non-stop sliding performance on music charts as well as public recognition, many
said TWICE was desperately trying to save their face to live up to the past title Nation’s
Gen3 Girl Group and while it was all assumptions, some said the latest comeback of the act has
partly proven how this rumor might be true.
Similar to the previous comeback, TWICE was met with negative reactions from netizens
and besides the lackluster performances, the act was also accused of copying BLACKPINK.
The most apparently similar scenes to BLACKPINK, or specifically Rosé's ON THE GROUND, were
those where TWICE blew up real cars and later ran through the rain of fireworks shooting
nonstop in the background.
Even in the solo scene of Mina, the camera angle was also said to remind people of the
solo dancing scene of Rosé.
The part where Sana was staring at herself in the mirror was another similarity noticed
by netizens and while some defended that this idea was frequently used in Kpop, the fact
that JYP Entertainment used the same color palette as BLACKPINK was still suspicious.
However, according to many, those similarities were nothing compared to the set filled with
TWICE’s previous songs and as the palette and cinegraphic styles also scream a strong
resemblance to BLACKPINK’s iconic scene in SHUT DOWN, it’s hard to deny that JYP
Entertainment borrowed at least one or two ideas for TWICE’s latest comeback from BLACKPINK.
Personally, I think the fact that Twice's Set Me Free has some scenes similar to BlackPink's
Shut Down doesn’t necessarily mean TWICE and their company is copying BLACKPINK because
both MVs’ concepts are about breaking free from the past thus it’s normal to have some
idea colliding.
So, do you think these idols are really trying to be like BLACKPINK or it’s just netizens
forcing their assumptions on them?
Before answering, I hope you also count the fact that there are over eight billion people
on this planet and humans are actually not as unique as they think.