INTERNATIONAL
BLACKPINK Has First Video by a K-Pop Group to Rack Up 1 Billion Views on YouTube
11/11/2019
by
Tamar Herman
BLACKPINK made history this weekend as the first-ever K-pop group to see a music video break into the 1 billion views club on YouTube.
Released on June 15, 2018, it took just under a year and a half for “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” to make history. “I can confirm that this is the first K-pop group to reach 1 billion, but not [the] first K-pop artist,” a YouTube rep tells Billboard. “Psy has two in there.”
Psy’s “Gangnam Style” became the first video on the Internet to be viewed 1 billion times back in 2012, and 2013’s “Gentleman” also surpassed the marker following its release.
The girl group celebrated the milestone with a post on their Twitter account. "BLINKs worldwide, thank you so much!" reads the tweet, referring to the act's fandom. Jisoo also took to Instagram to share an image of herself in the music video, writing “for Blinks" with a exclamation point-heart emoji.
In August, “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” became BLACKPINK’s first song certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. They are the first K-pop girl group to be recognized by the RIAA, joining BTS and Psy as the only Korean artists to be recognized Stateside for such immense sales.
In case you haven’t been one of the 1 billion-plus views to it yet, check out BLACKPINK’s “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” music video below.
