BLACKPINK In Your Area: How the K-Pop Princesses Have Taken Over the World

BLACKPINK has been waiting for this moment.

It’s been four years since the K-pop girl group first arrived on the scene with Square One, their “single album” comprised of debut tracks “Boombayah” and “Whistle.” In that time, they’ve broken records, toured the world, amassed a global legion of fans—affectionately known as BLINKs—and begun racking up awards, including The Group of 2019 at last year’s E! People Choice Awards. (The group just earned two nominations at this year’s ceremony, to be held on Sunday, Nov. 15, as well.) And yet, a proper full-length album eluded them.

Until now.

On Friday, Oct. 2, the quartet comprised of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa finally released The Album, their long-awaited LP that’s both a culmination of their breathtaking accomplishments thus far and a promise of the domination still to come. And though the BLINKs may feel it’s been a long time coming, for BLACKPINK, the timing of the drop is just right.

As Rosé told GRAMMY.com in a recent interview, “We had four years to kind of build our own colors as BLACKPINK. Throughout the four years, we got to explore different genres and really find out our exact, distinct colors. So, I feel like [in] this album, we were able to put our prepared music style and contribute with new music genres that we’re still exploring recently. [That’s why] I think now is the best time to come out, because any later would be too late and any earlier, we might have been in a rush. We definitely feel like, right now, we are fully ready to put out a full completed album.”