SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA – JANUARY 23: Girl group BlackPink performs on stage during the 8th Gaon Chart … [+]
Earlier this week, Blackpink broke barriers and made very important history on Spotify, as their biggest hit yet (in some respects) reached a very impressive milestone. Now, just a matter of hours after they did what none before them had managed, the band accomplished the same feat a second time, proving themselves to be one of the most popular acts on the planet yet again.
Blackpink’s single “Kill This Love” has just passed half a billion plays on Spotify, making it one of a very small number of tracks by South Korean musicians to reach that figure. When looking at female-only acts, the four-member band is truly in a league of their own.
About two days ago, Blackpink’s other single “How You Like That” also reached 500 million plays on Spotify, bringing them to that mark for the first time. It was certainly a huge win for the quartet, but also for all female-fronted acts from their home country. Until now, “How You Like That” stood as the only song by a South Korean girl group to rack up half a billion clicks on the world’s most popular streaming platform, but now that sum has doubled.
“Kill This Love” served as the title track and lead single (the only single, actually) from their EP of the same name. The tune narrowly missed out on becoming the first-ever top 40 hit by a South Korean girl group in Hot 100 history when it rather frustratingly stalled at No. 41. The cut was still a big win for the band and for all female musicians coming from the Asian territory, and it was one more sign that the four singers of Blackpink were quickly becoming not just names to watch, but proper hitmakers.
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Kill This Love, the EP, peaked at No. 24 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in the U.S., powered in part by the lead single.
Blackpink might not need to wait too long before they land another hit with half a billion streams on Spotify, and it’s possible they’ll claim a third such smash within the next year. The band teamed up with pop superstar Dua Lipa back in 2018 for her album cut “Kiss and Make Up,” which at the time was a huge collaboration for them and a real hit on several rankings around the world. That track only needs a little more than 50 million plays to reach the milestone number, and while that is not a small number, it’s not actually a lot when compared to 500 million.
