The Album is the debut studio album by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released on October 2, 2020, through YG Entertainment and Interscope Records. It is the group's first full-length work since their debut in 2016. For the album, Blackpink recorded over ten new songs and worked with a variety of producers, including Teddy, Tommy Brown, R. Tee, Steven Franks, and 24. Eight songs made the final tracklist, including two collaborations: "Ice Cream" with Selena Gomez, and "Bet You Wanna" featuring Cardi B. The album explores the themes of love and the complexities of growing up. Musically, The Album utilizes pop, R&B, hip hop, EDM, and trap elements.
The Album was supported by three singles in total, two of which were pre-released and became top-forty hits on the US Billboard Hot 100. Lead single "How You Like That" landed at number thirty-three; "Ice Cream" peaked at number thirteen to become Blackpink's highest-charting song in the United States; "Lovesick Girls" reached number fifty-nine on the chart. All three singles also became top-ten hits in South Korea, with "How You Like That" peaking at number one for three weeks, "Ice Cream" at number eight, and "Lovesick Girls" at number two on the Gaon Digital Chart. To promote the album, Blackpink appeared on several music programs in South Korea and talk shows in the United States, in addition to headlining a virtual pay-per-view concert, titled "The Show" on January 31, 2021. The Album received generally favorable reviews from music critics, who commended Blackpink's vocal ability and stylistic variety; however, a few critics found the album short and its production outdated.
The Album debuted at number one on the Gaon Album Chart and sold 1,092,550 copies in its first month, becoming the best-selling album by a female act in South Korea at the time and the first in the chart's history to surpass one million sales. It also debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 with 110,000 units moved and became the highest-charting female Korean album and the highest-charting album by an all-female group since Danity Kane's Welcome to the Dollhouse (2008). Elsewhere, it reached number one in South Korea and New Zealand and opened in the top ten in 16 countries. The Album has since been certified million by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) and gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ). According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the album was the fifth best-selling album worldwide in pure sales in 2020.
Background and development On May 4, 2020, it was reported that the group had finished recording their new album and were scheduled to shoot a music video later that month. On May 18, the group's Korean label, YG Entertainment, shared an update on the project, which was originally teased for June. The label revealed that more than ten songs were recorded for the album.
On June 7, YG Entertainment released a prologue of Blackpink's newest reality show, 24/365 with Blackpink, ahead of its launch on YouTube. The show documented the group's comeback while also sharing details of their lives through vlogs. On June 10, YG posted the teaser poster to the pre-release single on numerous social media platforms, revealing the date for the single's launch to be June 26. Starting on June 15, a series of teasers were posted every day on the group's official social media accounts with the featured single revealed as "How You Like That" on June 17. The music video teaser was released on June 24.
On July 23, YG Entertainment released a teaser poster for a new collaboration single between the group and a then-unconfirmed artist, set to be released in August. On July 28, the band announced that the album would be titled The Album and that it would be released on October 2, 2020. On August 12, 2020, the unconfirmed artist was revealed to be American singer-songwriter Selena Gomez. On August 21, 2020, it was revealed that the title of the collaboration would be "Ice Cream". On August 27, 2020, Blackpink released a teaser for the music video for "Ice Cream".
In a September 2020 interview with American DJ and radio host Zach Sang, Blackpink revealed that the album was "jam-packed with all these different surprises, as much as 'Ice Cream' was a big surprise". They added that record producer Tommy Brown collaborated on two songs for the album, including "Ice Cream". On September 27, the group announced a live comeback event scheduled on October 1. On September 28, it was announced that "Lovesick Girls" would be released on October 2 as the third and primary single off of the album. The same day, Blackpink revealed the album's track listing, which confirmed first-time songwriting contributions from members Jennie and Jisoo and additional collaborations with rapper Cardi B and record producers David Guetta and Ryan Tedder.
On June 2, 2021, Universal Music Japan announced that the group would release a Japanese version of The Album on August 3, 2021. The release included Japanese versions for four out of the eight tracks – "How You Like That", "Pretty Savage", "Lovesick Girls", and "You Never Know" – and came in 12 different physical editions.
Composition Music and lyrics The standard edition of The Album is about twenty-four minutes long. American singer Selena Gomez collaborated on "Ice Cream" and rapper Cardi B featured on "Bet You Wanna". The Album was written and produced by Teddy, Tommy Brown, Mr. Franks, Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Jennie, Jisoo, Brian Lee, and David Guetta, among others. Jisoo and Jennie participated in the composing and writing of "Lovesick Girls". At eight tracks, the album is the longest Korean material in Blackpink's catalog. Musically, The Album is a pop and EDM record with R&B, hip hop and rock influences. Blackpink explained that The Album is meant to show a more mature side of the group by singing about a diversity emotions experienced by girls growing up, rather than just singing about love.
Songs The opening track, "How You Like That", is a pop, trap and hip-hop song infused with regal horn blasts and a braggadocious hook, accompanied by elements of Arabic music during Lisa's second verse rap. The lyrics deliver a "positive and hopeful" message about "not being daunted by dark situations and to not lose the confidence and strength to stand up again". The second song, "Ice Cream" with Selena Gomez, is an electropop and bubblegum pop song with elements of trap. The song's lyrics are sung mostly in English, with the exception of a Korean verse. Lyrically, the song mainly consists of ice cream-related double entendres. "Pretty Savage", the third song, is a trap song with chanted vocals and a skittish, staccato-style beat with a prowling piano in the background. It is about how the group's success came from being different than everyone else. Rolling Stone labelled the song as the "sassiest kiss-off track since" Ariana Grande's "Thank U, Next". The fourth track, "Bet You Wanna", featuring Cardi B, is a song with bubblegum pop lyrics. The track features a simple beat enhanced by the group's voices and Cardi's rap flow. The song is about promising your significant other a good time until "said person is hooked".
The teen pop number "Lovesick Girls" is a dance-pop and electropop track with 2000s influences. Incorporating acoustic guitar and EDM sound, the song is about the pain after a heartbreak. Sputnikmusic compared the track positively to the band's 2017 disco single, "As If It's Your Last". "Crazy Over You", the sixth song, is a retro hip-hop song arrangement into a minimalist trap rhythm and Balkan whistle coupled with surf rock guitar sounds. The seventh song, "Love to Hate Me", is a dance-pop track, with a bass-heavy trap beat. The song is about dismissing a jealous and "stupid" ex-lover. The closing track, "You Never Know", is a heartfelt pop ballad with "majestic vocals and a sense of triumph". Thematically, the track is about patience and empathy.
Conception and recording Blackpink was scheduled to do a world tour in the summer of 2020, but their plans changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so they began work on their second album. Blackpink member Rosé stated "I think it has made us more focused into completing the album and making it the best thing we can give to our fans." The album was recorded from January to August 2020 at The Black Label studios in Seoul.
Title While promoting the album on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 21, 2020, member Rosé revealed they had had many naming ideas for the album. "We had a bunch of ideas," she stated, "but at the end of the day, we knew that our fans were waiting so much for our album that we decided to go with something that just described it the best: 'Blackpink: The Album' sounded straightforward."
Artwork and packaging The standard edition was physically released on CD, cassette tape, and vinyl, and made available for digital download and streaming. The deluxe edition comes in four box set versions, each containing a CD, a photobook, six postcards, two photocards, a sticker, a credits sheet, a mounted photocard, a poster and two group photo cards. On October 8, YG Entertainment revealed the official The Album and "Lovesick Girls" merchandise on its official shop, YG Select. 4 Polaroid cards with undisclosed selfies of the members were gifted for any purchase of items on pre-order status. On October 14, Limited Cashbee transportation cards were made available for sale at YG Select and on specialized retailers' websites.
The Japanese release of the album was released with twelve physical editions. Alongside the regular edition, there are three limited editions featuring visuals from one of the singles: "How You Like That" for Version A, "Lovesick Girls" for Version B, and "Ice Cream" for Version C. Each limited edition comes with A4 size photo booklets, B3 posters, circular BIG cards, and photo cards for its concept. There are additionally four solo versions, one for each member, each of which is a magazine-type luxury package that uses solo photographs for the CD jacket, design, and booklet. The special edition includes a video on DVD and Blu-ray of the online concert The Show held in January 2021.
Cover artwork The album's standard edition artwork depicts the group's logo in pink font under a shining pink crown against a stark black background, which was first unveiled in a teaser poster by YG Entertainment in July 2020 along with the album's official release date. The artwork was designed by a Seoul-based design studio, VBstudio. In August, the group unveiled that the physical editions would be available in four versions along with a limited edition LP.
Promotion Marketing On September 27, Blackpink released an exclusive playlist on Spotify which shows the music the members were listening to while they worked on the album. On October 1, the group held a comeback live event on a South Korean live video streaming service V Live in celebration of the release day of their debut studio album. On October 14, 2020, it was announced that Blackpink would hold a special live session on TikTok on October 21. YG Entertainment stated the event's purpose was to have the members grow closer to their fans. The group gave interviews on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Apple Music's New Music Daily hosted by Zane Lowe, and the Zach Sang Show. Blackpink appeared on the magazine cover of Elle's October issue.
Live performances