“Blackpink: Light Up the Sky” is a new documentary presented by Netflix on the success and  struggles of one of the most popular Korean pop girl groups of today. 

Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rose are the four members of the Korean girl group Blackpink. K-pop has taken over the world. From Billboard top 100 to iTunes top 10, there’s nothing that these girls have not charted on yet. 

“The best charting female Korean group of all time,” says Michael Strahan, a host on Good Morning America.

Their journey began in the city of Seoul, South Korea. In the studio of YG entertainment, we met Teddy Park, the producer behind all their smash hits “Kill This Love,” “How You Like That,” and many more. Through his perspective, we were able to learn more about our four megastars. Jisoo; born and raised in Korea, Jennie; born in Korea but spent her adolescent and teen years in New Zealand, Rose; born in New Zealand but grew up in Australia, and last but not least Lisa; born and raised in Thailand. 

K-pop is a cutthroat industry that expects nothing but perfection from its idols. From hair, face, makeup, down to body weight, nothing goes unseen by Netizens, the Korean public. At the end of the day, these idols are not just dancing and singing machines. Through this documentary we’re able to see the hardships and rigorous training sessions idols must go through in order to debut. 

“Singing, dancing, and rapping, I always enjoy it all the time, but we always have to be on stage looking perfect and performing the same thing,” says Jennie, who suffers the most from critics because of her health. She has a weak body ,and thus, her dancing lacked energy and she always looked tired. Because of this, Knetz (Korean netizens) began calling her lazy. Jennie explains in the documentary that she often exercises but gets easily tired which makes it difficult for her to dance as intensely as her fellow members. 

Behind the blinding lights and flashy outfits, these girls are just young adults who enjoy making music. Jennie, Rose, and Lisa had auditioned for YG and was chosen among four thousand people. Jisoo hadn’t auditioned but was scouted by a YG employee at a concert. In the beginning, it was only Jennie, Lisa, and Jisoo who had lived and trained together. It wasn’t until Rose came along that the group was finally complete. It had always been just the four of them from then on. Monthly evaluations to late night practices, Blackpink was formed through the strong bond of friendship and hard work. 

Coachella 2019 was Blackpinks’ stepping stone into the western music industry. “All races and all kinds of people came together there, so it helped emphasize this represents Blackpink,” says Lisa. Coachella helped spread the message that not only Blackpink but K-pop was music for everyone regardless of what language you speak and where you come from. By the next day, every news outlet had Blackpink as their headline. “Blackpink Rule Coachella With Electrifying Debut Performance” -Billboard. Blackpink’s American fandom had begun growing. Their comeback songs charting western charts like no other.