Selena Gomez Announces Collaboration With South Korea Pop Group BLACKPINK

Selena Gomez took to Twitter on August 11th to announce an upcoming collaboration with BLACKPINK, the girl pop group from South Korea. The title has yet to be revealed, however the song will be released on August 28th, as teased by the promotional picture she shared. The popularity of Korean Pop (K-Pop) groups in the United States and other western countries has been increasing rapidly within the last decade. While the majority of their music is in Korean, their fan base includes speakers of all languages, all over the world. And while it’s reaching an international fanbase, K-Pop has caught the ears of international artists as well. Gomez is not the first western artist to collaborate with a K-Pop group - earlier this year Lady Gaga released a song featuring BLACKPINK on her newest album, Chromatica . Nicki Minaj, The Chainsmokers, and Zedd have collaborated with BTS, and Travis Scott with Kris Wu of the group EXO, just to name a few. The songs that come from these collaborations have a unique blend of aspects of both Korean pop and western music. Korean pop is known for their fast-paced, quickly changing melodies which stay prevalent in their collaborations. Typically each party sings a verse in their own language and in the main artist’s language in the chorus, such as in Dua Lipa and BLACKPINK’s “Kiss and Make Up.” K-Pop groups don’t limit themselves to joining forces with just English-speaking artists, either - the group Super Junior featured Leslie Grace, a Dominican-American musician on their song “Lo Siento,” which included Korean, English, and Spanish, and became a hit on the Latin music charts.

The rising popularity of K-Pop is definitely making waves in the western music industry. Streaming music has changed the game in many ways, and often it is credited for making international music such as K-Pop much easier to be shared and enjoyed. In addition to the big-budget live productions, flashy dance numbers, and storytelling music videos they’re known for, it’s no wonder K-Pop is gaining worldwide attention so quickly. Selena Gomez and BLACKPINK’s collaboration will be continuing this fusion of cultures. The still-untitled crossover will be available on August 28th.