Kpop has certainly made big waves in the Western pop music scene lately – first with BTS’ release of their summer English megahit Dynamite, which broke several records including ‘most streamed MV on Youtube within 24 hours’ and also landed them the #1 spot on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Not long after their release, Kpop’s power girl group Blackpink dropped their latest English-language track, Ice Cream which featured America’s sweetheart Selena Gomez. The group set a new record as the fastest artist to reach 10 million views – in less than three hours.
Interestingly, BTS’ Dynamite has now beaten Blackpink’s How You Like That record to become fastest Kpop group MV to reach 200M views. Blackpink’s song surpassed 200 million views within seven days and 46 minutes, according to Soompi.
It’s hard not to find similarities between the two releases – both emanate a preppy pop vibe, with a retro pastel hue dominating both music videos that transport you back to the 80s. Another thing in common is their lyrics, with catchy repetitive lines like ‘Dyn-na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na, na-na-na, life is dynamite’ and ‘Ice cream chillin’, chillin’, ice cream chillin’ – not the most profound of lyrics from either band, but catchy nonetheless.
Here are BTS’ Dynamite and Blackpink’s Ice Cream for comparison:
Blackpink’s latest song title seems to be a popular one among other female Kpop performers: singer-songwriter HyunA and girl group TWICE also had songs titled Ice Cream, while Red Velvet has Ice Cream Cake.
It seems that retro pastel colours and feel-good beats are the mood of 2020!
