BLACKPINK Announce New Singles This Summer, Full Album For September

BLACKPINK will make their highly anticipated return to the music scene with a multi-pronged approach that strays from the usual K-pop model.

On May 18 local time in Korea, BLACKPINK's Korean label YG Entertainment GDEN shared an update on the group's impending comeback, originally teased for June. The company shared that more than 10 songs were recorded that will make the group’s first full-length album.

While the music is "completed," June will bring a "pre-release" buzz track single for which the ladies have nearly completed preparations for its accompanying music video and stage performances. A second single is planned for either July or August with the full-length LP coming in September, which will likely also come paired with another single.

YG added, “As we’ve prepared for this album for a long time, we will release contents in three different terms so that the group will get opportunities to visit the fans with more contents and performances.”

While the release of two summer singles before a fall album release may seem standard for most pop stars, this model is rather atypical for K-pop. Most acts tend to put out their full projects with one focused single when they’re prepared and make their return to the K-pop scene within a few months. Even earlier this year, BLACKPINK's label mates WINNER released their pre-release track "Hold" on March 26 with their full-length album Remember dropping a few weeks later on April 9.

BLACKPINK’s current break of one year and two months between new-music releases is remarkably lengthy. For comparison sake, in that same amount of time fellow chart-toppers like BTS put out two Korean projects, one soundtrack album and a Japanese EP while girl group TWICE will have put out three Korean projects and two Japanese albums.

Still, the multilayered approach should bode well for BLACKPINK who tend to hit gold with every one of their releases. Having multiple singles and videos should allow them to rack up several new chart accomplishments (like extending their record for most No. 1s from a female K-pop group on Billboard’s World Digital Song Sales chart) and video-view records (they’re currently the only K-pop group boasting a video with more than one billion views on YouTube).

While it’s been a long wait, this announcement should be exciting for BLACKPINK fans who have been not-so-patiently waiting for new music and bring with it a slew of new records and accomplishments to further cement the group’s legacy. And hopefully this will lead to increased activity for the group after its release.