“Everybody’s so interested in K-Pop right now.”
“It’s surreal. We’re kind of moving along but we’re like whoa where is this
going? So glad to be a part of it.”
Before BlackPink would become the first female K-Pop group to perform at Coachella
Before BlackPink would have over 2 million followers on Twitter , over 17.1 million followers
on Instagram, more than 23 million subscribers on YouTube, and more than 5 BILLION views.
With songs like “Playing With Fire” which is sitting at more than 373 million views,
“As If Its Your Last” racking up more than 568 million views, and of course, “DDU-DU
DDU-DU” with over 750 million views.
I really just love to say the name of that song…
“Hi, I’m Jennie from BlackPink.” “Hi, I’m Rose from BlackPink.”
“Hi, I’m Lisa from BlackPink.” “Hi, I’m Jisoo.”
Jisoo, Jennie, Rose and Lisa have become one of the biggest musical groups in the world.
As K-Pop continues to make its way into the North American mainstream, I have a feeling
their star power will only continue to get brighter. But all of their didn’t happen
overnight. The girls were training rigorously over years and landing small gigs before ever
getting a shot at the world stage. One of the members was even worried that she would
never get her chance to debut, can you guess which one it was? We’ll get into all of
that and their journey to stardom in this video.
What’s going on good people in the comment section? I hope you’re having one Hecht
of a day, my name is Jeremy Hecht here for you on Before They Were Famous. First of all,
shout out to all of the Blinks out there, and welcome if you’re new to this channel!
Be sure to subscribe for other bios on all types of celebrities and let us know who
else we should cover in the comments down below! We’ve covered other groups in videos
like BTS and members of One Direction so be sure to check those videos out after you finish
watching this one! I spent a lot of time practicing names and words and places, but I’m bound
to say some things wrong so if I pronounce anything incorrectly, I apologize in advance,
you can let me know how I should have said it, and I know the Blinks are hardcore fans,
so if I missed any information, or you have some good stories about your favourite group,
let me know in the comments down below! And for those of you asking, Michael didn’t
go anywhere, I’m just here to help out with the content. Alright, now let's get into the
show!
Jisoo Kim was born in Seoul, South Korea on January 3rd, 1995. She has an older brother
and an older sister. She can speak Korean, Japanese and basic Chinese and although she
doesn’t speak much English, she can understand it very well, so if you’re watching this
Jisoo, what’s up? In school, she was popular, but it wasn’t just because of her looks
or clothes, she was a kind person to her classmates. Everyone in her family likes to sing so she
was singing melodies from a young age. Jisoo would even dance and sing in front of her
entire family during their gatherings. This made her want to perform in front of a larger
crowd. She can also play the drums and the piano. In terms of her musical inspirations,
she loves TVXQ. But her talents go beyond music as she is a white belt in Taekwondo.
Jisoo is a big Pokemon fan and has always loved Pikatchu. She even has a lot of Pikatchu
merch. Apparently she also loves telling dad jokes too. I’ve been a big fan of Pika,
and if you’ve ever watched this show, then you KNOW I love a good dad joke. So I feel
like me and Jisoo have a connection. Apparently Jisoo doesn’t know how to use sissors properly,
but I guess it doesn’t matter because in terms of the group, she made the cut.
See what I did there? Ya. Okay I’ll go.
But besides Pokemon goods, she doesn’t like shopping because she never knows what to buy,
and she is also scared of heights. For fun, she likes to play with her dog named “Dalgom”
likes to play “Overwatch” and read manga. She also likes to write in her diary as a
form of stress release and has been doing so for about 2-3 years now.
When she was old enough, she pursued that dream and auditioned for the YG Entertainment
trainee program and was accepted in the summer of 2011.
Jennie Kim aka “Human Gucci” was born an only child on January 16, 1996 in South
Korea, but she moved to Auckland, New Zealand when she was just 10 years old to study abroad.
When she was young, her nickname was Jerry based on the show Tom and Jerry and she was
also called “mandukie” because of her cheeks. Apparently they looked like dumplings,
which in Korean is “Mandu.” She’s fluent in Korean, Japanese and English and lived
and studied in New Zealand at ACG Parnell College. While attending school there, she
was interviewed for a documentary that made her the first of the group to ever appear
on TV. While in New Zealand, she began to listen to K-Pop music and decided that she
wanted to become a singer. Jennie learned how to play the piano and the flute while
she worked on her vocals. But she also studied more contemporary music like Lauryn Hill and
TLC. For fun, she is interested in photography, designer clothes and also and likes to hang
out with her puppies Kai and Kuma.
“Oh my god!”
She had the plan to move to the US and told her mom that she wanted to have a career in
music. So, Jennie headed back to Korea and began to audition for musical roles. One of
the places that she auditioned for, was YG Entertainment. She signed on as a trainee
in August of 2010.
Rose aka “Blackpink’s Goddess” was born Roseanne Park on February 11, 1997 in Auckland,
New Zealand, but was raised in Melborne, Australia. Her mother was a businesswoman and her father
was a lawyer, and she has an older sister named Alice, who is also a lawyer now. Rose
was always interested in music learning how to play the piano and guitar, and joining
an Australia church choir when she was younger. It was in Melborne that she attended Canterbury
Girls Secondary College and was also a cheerleader at one point. In terms of her musical influence,
she really looks up to Gummy. She also cites Malibu Nights by the band LANY as an inspiration.
“I wish I could be able to listen to a song and be able to find the chords for it and
just play it. Like, on the spot.”
She has no dogs, but she does have a pet fish named Orange. She hates avocados because of
their mushy texture. I completely agree. But I do like guacamole, it’s just a better
texture. For fun, she likes to play guitar, draw and ride her bike.
Eventually, Rose moved to South Korea to chase after her dreams of becoming a professional
singer. And her dreams weren’t just some far off plan, she was working for them. But
it was actually her father who booked her a ticket to the city where the audition for
YG Entertainment was being held. In an interview, she said:
“I used to live in Australia. It was a rural neighborhood, rather than a metropolis. So
I stayed home playing the piano or the guitar and singing. My dad noticed that I liked music,
so he took me to audition. Before I auditioned, music had been a hobby, but once I came to
Korea and realized where I stand in terms of skills, I became more passionate and competitive
about it.”
But it was no easy task to successfully make it through those auditions. The odds of actually
making it through were allegedly 700 to 1. But after getting to the audition, she was
that one. She signed on with YG Entertainment in May of 2012.
Lisa aka the “Thailand Princess” was born Lalisa Manoban as an only child on March 27,
1997 in Bangkok Thailand and is the youngest member of the group. Originally her name was
Pranpriya and her friends called her Pockpack. But after getting a fortune telling, she changed
her name to Lalisa, which means “the one who is praised.” She attended Praphamontree
II School. Her step-father, Marco Brueschweiler is a top certified Swiss chef in Thailand,
but apparently it didn’t get passed down because everyone in the group says that Jennie
is the best cook in the group. Instead, Lisa was interested in dancing ever since she was
young. When her mom saw how good she was, she enrolled her in dance classes.
“Lisa Lisa Lisa!”
She wanted to sing too so she practiced. But it was Lisa’s rapping ability that set her
apart, looking up to American rappers like Tyga because of their swag, she learned how
to flow over beats. Lisa moved to Seoul in middle school. She is childhood friends with
GOT7’s BamBam and the two danced together in the same crew called We Zaa Cool.
While Lisa doesn’t have any dogs, or goldfish, she does have two cats named “Leo” and "Luca"
In 2010, Lisa passed her audition for YG Entertainment and signed on as a Trainee in April of 2011.
Although now, she can speak English, Japanese, Thai, basic Chinese, and Korean she admitted
that she barely spoke ANY Korean when she first started. So she had to take Korean classes
every day. She thanks the other members of the group for helping her learn the language.
Alright so now that you know the girls. Let’s take a look at how they all came together
as a group. In 2010, massively successful Korean music executive, Yang Hyun Suk, I hope
I’m pronouncing that right, revealed that he was putting together a girl group. For
those of you who don’t know much about The YG Entertainment group, first of all, it’s
not owned by the rapper from LA, and second of all, it’s sort of like a boot camp for
superstars. For aspiring artists who are lucky enough to be hand-picked for the trainee program,
their work is only beginning. They are trained in performance, song structure, dancing, singing
and every aspect of becoming a superstar. And it’s not just like an after-school program,
you train for 12 hours a day and in X-Factor like competition, you’re performing alongside
10-20 other aspiring artists. And not everyone would get to stay, some artists would be sent
home if they weren’t performing up to par. In a way, it’s like a label because you
are under the company’s umbrella, but on the other hand, they focus heavily on artist
development, a lot more than most American labels do today. So after all four of the
girls were signed, they each began to get their chance at exposure through commercials,
guest appearances on songs, and other opportunities to show their skillset. But like in Baseball,
it’s up to you to perform in the minor leagues to get your shot at a debut in the MLB.
For BlackPink, when they all arrived separately, each of the group’s members began to build
their own portfolio:
Jisoo has been working hard on her craft for a long time, spending 5 years training with
YG Entertainment. She was also scouted by an agent at competitor, SM entertainment,
while ironically attending a YG Entertainment concert, but turned down the offer as she
had already accepted a deal with YG. During her training days, Jisoo became close friends
with Nayeon from the group Twice and Seulgi from the group Red Velvet. Jisoo appeared
in commercials with actor Lee Min-ho and was even featured in music videos for Epik High’s
songs “Spoiler” and “Happy Ending.” She appeared in HISUHYUN’s “I’m Different,”
she had a cameo on KBS’s “The Producers,” she was an MC for “SBS Inkigayo’s Super
Concert” and in commercials for Nikon and the LG Stylus2. When she appeared on the Korean
series “Running Man,” she helped boost their ratings to an all-time high.
Jennie says that for her, the training was stricter than school. When Jisoo met Jennie
she thought she was very stylish. But Jennie was a little bit more skeptical, she thought
that Jisoo didn’t know what she was doing. But it only took a day before she was proven
wrong and say her talents shine through pretty clearly. In fact, Jennie said that when she
heard Jisoo’s ability to harmonize, she was blown away, telling Billboard.
“Jisoo would be the quiet one, but then she’d be like, ‘How about this?’ She’d
make this harmony, and we were like, ‘That’s so good!’ She’d stay quiet and act like
nothing happened, and then in an hour she’d say, ‘How about this?’ And she’d have another amazing
harmony. Even to this day, I’m like, “I can’t find the harmony, Jisoo what is it?’”
Jennie starred in the music video for G-Dragon’s song “THAT XX” and was featured in Lee
Hi’s “Special” and BIG BANG Seungri’s “GG Be.” She also acted in Sprite and
beer commercials and became a regular cast member on the show “Village Survival, the
Eight.”
When Rose began training, she would call her parents crying because of the rigorous schedule
and high expectations. Rose said that at first, she was a little bit confused as to what she
should be doing at YG, so the other members gave her tips and helped usher her in. When
she first arrived, the four of them all bonded together over an all-night jam session. She
trained for 4 years and 2 months and worked tirelessly on her craft. She was a contestant
on “The King of Mask Singer” which was actually the inspiration for Fox’s show
“Masked Singer.” On the show she made it past the first round, but got eliminated
in the next one, losing by just one vote! She also collaborated with G-Dragon for their
song “Without You,” but since her name wasn’t listed on the song when the album
dropped, she still remained relatively unknown. Rose had the shortest period of training and
was announced as the final member of BlackPink.
In 2012, YG released a video of Lisa dancing without giving her name out and fans were
excited about her potential. Lisa trained for 5 years and 3 months starting in middle
school. She plays the Ukulele and learned how to play guitar after Rose taught her during
their training days. She also appeared in BIG BANG Taeyang’s “Ringa Linga” music
video, as a cast member on the show “Real Men 300” and in ads for the fashion brand
NONA9ON.
Lisa described the training process to Billboard as:
"We all tried rapping, we all tried singing, we all tried different kinds of styles and
performances, so we naturally found our perfect spot."
She said that there were a lot of trainees coming in and out of the program but one by
one, those artists left, and it ended up just being the 4 members of the group. Once Lisa
was officially announced as a part of the group, her parents were so happy for her,
to see her 6-year journey finally become worth it.
The group of 4 girls was paired with producer Teddy Park, who is a rapper, songwriter and
record producer, who has been signed to YG Entertainment since he flew out to South Korea
during a summer vacation with his friend when they were just 17 years old. Since then, he
has been a part of some massive hits, but perhaps none bigger than the ones he’s produced
and written with BlackPink.
But not all of the members were confident that they would break through and debut. Jennie
admitted that she was terrified her shot would never come. And there’s the answer to your
question from the beginning of the video.
She was wrong. The shot came, and it came in a bigger way than any of the girls could
have imagined.
In June 2016, BlackPink debuted for the first time as a group, becoming the first girl group
to debut under YG Entertainment in 6 years! And the reception, well let’s just say it
was pretty good. Their first two singles charted at number 1 and 2 on the Billboard World Digital
Song Charts, becoming the fastest act to do so.
BlackPink Signed a record deal with Interscope Records who is now a creative and business
partner to YG Entertainment. The group became the highest charting female K-Pop group, landing
at number 55 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” and at number 40
on the Billboard 200 albums chart with their EP, Square Up. They made their US television
debut on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on February 12.
As for the future, the group plans to release a new album together and continue touring
for their Blinks all around the world. And the individual members will also be dropping
solo work as each member is set to drop individual music. Jennie told Billboard:
“We all had to know how to perform on our own, that’s always been there.”
And with their success, the group has given back a lot to their communities. In early
April of 2019, each of the 4 members donated 10 million won to the Hope Bridge Association
of the National Disaster Relief for victims of the Sokcho wildfire in South Korea.
Jennie said to the Hollywood Reporter:
It's such an honor to be receiving so much love, and we never want to take this moment
for granted. We feel very blessed and we hope to see you guys soon.
But as for the rest of the story, well you know it because this is Before They Were Famous.
My name is Jeremy Hecht, you can follow me on Instagram @jeremy_hecht and let me know
what you thought of the video and who to cover next. If you haven't subscribed to our channel
be sure to do that right now. Also check out these two other videos we've hand picked for
you. You can find me on social media @jeremy_… I think I already gave you my social media…
alright Dream Good Live Better, I hope you have one Hecht of a day, and I’ll see you
in the next video.