Blackpink is on the cusp of dominating the world with its new single "Pink Venom"! With already over 262 million views watched on YouTube and performing at top American music award shows including last month's MTV's Video Music Awards, the global K-pop group has hit a snag in their home country.
It was announced on September 5 that South Korean broadcasting network, KBS, has deemed the group's new single "Pink Venom" ineligible for their "Music Bank" chart. "Pink Venom" has not appeared on KBS 2's television program "K-chart" over the past month since its release.
This has many fans questioning whether it is the problem with the lyrics in the song. Upon further inspection, it seems that the song has been deemed ineligible due to a reference to the luxury brand "Celine" mentioned in the lyrics. This is a violation of Article 46 of the Korean Broadcasting Act. Lisa is the one who mentions this brand during her rap:
“This da life of a vandal, masked up and I’m still in Celine.”
The four girls are the faces of multiple luxury brands: Jisoo with Dior, Lisa is the global ambassador for Celine and Bvlgari, Rosé's partnership with Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), and Jennie's Chanel and Calvin Klein collaboration. Blackpink is a marketing behemoth and fans doubt they are willing to drop partnerships with these fashion brands in order to make it on music charts.
The fact that the group's agency, YG Entertainment, has decided not to re-submit the edited song lyrics without the brand name proves that being on KBS's "Music Bank" is not their priority.
Meanwhile, Blackpink is gearing up for their second single "Shut Down" which is scheduled to be released on September 16 at 12 AM (EST)/ 1 PM (KST).
Let us know your thoughts about this situation! Can "Music Bank" really make or break a group? Or is Blackpink's success far beyond what "Music Bank" can really contribute?