Jennie

**Kim Jennie** is a South Korean singer and rapper. She debuted as a member of the girl group BLACKPINK in August 2016 under YG Entertainment. In 2020, Kim was announced as one of the rap trainers of the Mnet program, Produce 5201314. This program will be the fifth season of *Produce 101*.

### Personal Life

Jennie Kim was born in the Seoul Capital Area, South Korea on January 16, 1996, as an only child. When she was eight years old, she went on a trip with her family to Australia and New Zealand. While in New Zealand, her mother asked her if she liked the place and if she wanted to stay, Jennie replied "yes". A year later, she was sent to study at Waikowhai Intermediate School in Auckland, New Zealand and lived with a home-stay family. Jennie spoke about her experiences on learning a new language on MBC's special documentary *English, Must Change to Survive* (2006). During her adolescent years, she dreamed of becoming a ballet dancer. After graduating middle school she transferred to ACG Parnell College.

Jennie heard about K-pop while residing in New Zealand, finding a particular interest in YG Entertainment's music. Her mother was planning to transfer her to the United States in Florida at the age of 14 so she could become a lawyer or teacher, but Jennie called her mother crying on the phone being against the idea. Jennie thought she might not be able to find work she liked while residing alone in Florida; her family supported her decision and she moved back to South Korea. Jennie participated in an audition held by YG Entertainment that same year and performed Rihanna's "Take a Bow". She later succeeded in joining the label as a trainee. Jennie told *High Cut* Korea that she was so afraid of strangers and terrible at taking the initiative to be funny, that she could barely say "Hello" during her audition. She initially auditioned as a vocalist, but the company thought she should be a rapper instead since she was the only trainee capable of speaking English, and most of the songs she covered included raps. She attended Cheongdam Middle School and Chungdam High School at the time.

### Career

On August 8, 2016, Jennie debuted in the girl group Blackpink with the release of their single album *Square One*. Jennie is the group's main rapper and vocalist (depending on the song she will be either a sub-vocalist or a lead vocalist with Jisoo). According to group-mate Jisoo, she is also responsible for the general organisation and group decision making. Jennie described her six-year trainee life as being a "cold-heart world" which was really "mean". She recalled her six-year experience as a trainee in a V Live, saying that at the end of each month one group, dance and solo song had to be performed and that the CEO, producers and artists were watching and evaluating their training. She further explained that a lot of things had to be done every month, she had to prepare outfits, songs, make the accompaniment, and practice the choreography. Regarding her trainee life, Jennie also said she had to film videos of herself rapping, singing, popping and krumping every week for mid-term evaluations as well.
Jennie appeared with fellow Blackpink member Jisoo on *Running Man* in July 2018. A video of her crying after going through a horror room with Lee Kwang-soo went viral in South Korea, gaining over one million views on a portal site, and a total of over three million views when counting total views on major portal sites, VOD, and social media. She was selected as the best variety star of 2018 discovered by *Running Man*. Jennie was immediately invited again after dominating searched keywords in real time and attracting big view ratings through her previous appearance. Jennie was said to rank first among casting choices and received multiple proposals from broadcasters for variety shows. On October 1, Jennie was confirmed to be cast member for Yoo Jae-suk's new variety show, *Village Survival, the Eight.*

In mid-October 2018, an announcement of Jennie's official solo debut was made. In the midst of preparation for her debut, she decided that her single "Solo" would first be revealed to fans at Blackpink's *In Your Area* tour in Seoul ahead of release on November 12. Jennie explained how "Solo" became the song for her debut at her press conference on November 12, saying that “When I'm at Teddy's studio, he'll make a song and I'll just record the guide for it. It wasn't that he was working on a solo track for me. He just said, ‘I have something new, let's try it.’ So I recorded the song he had, and it happened to be a great fit.” The song was described as a "hip-hop track with pop elements", and is designed to show the co-existence of Jennie's external and internal characters - showing the sides of a "delicate girl" and an "independent woman".

Jennie's song "Solo" dominated the Korean daily and weekly charts, and achieved an "All-Kill" after reaching number one in the real-time charts of major music sites for 15 consecutive days. "Solo" debuted on the Gaon Music Charts at number one and won a triple crown for topping the Digital, Download, and Streaming charts. The song remained the on the Digital and Mobile Charts for two consecutive weeks, and on the Streaming Chart for three consecutive weeks. Overseas, she topped the *Billboard'*s World Digital Songs chart and also reached the top ranking of iTunes in 40 countries in 24 hours, demonstrating strong global popularity. The song was featured in the *New York Times's* playlist. "Solo" became the most viewed music video by a female Korean solo artist of all time in the first 24 hours of release. Jennie then became the first and only female Korean solo artist to surpass 300 million YouTube views within six months. Jennie's first appearance as a solo artist on SBS' *Inkigayo* and MBC *Show! Music Core* was postponed as broadcasters had cancelled all the performances scheduled for that week, so YG Entertainment uploaded "Solo" choreography videos as an alternative for fans. On November 25, Jennie received her first music show win as a solo artist at *Inkigayo*.

In April 2019, she became the first Korean solo artist to perform at Coachella. Her performance was listed under "The 10 Best Things We Saw at Coachella 2019", with *Billboard* describing it as "mind-blowing" and "stunning" for fans and casual passersby. In 2020, Kim was announced as one of the rap trainers of the Mnet program, Produce 5201314.

## Albums[edit]

### Studio albums[edit]

List of studio albums, with selected details, chart positions and sales
* Label: YGEX
* Formats: CD, DVD, digital download
 "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

### Live albums[edit]

List of live albums, with selected details
* Label: YGEX
 *Blackpink 2018 Tour 'In Your Area' Seoul* | * Released: August 30, 2019
* Label: YG Entertainment
* Formats: CD, Digital download

### Single albums[edit]

List of single albums, with selected details, chart positions and sales
* Label: YG Entertainment
* Formats: Digital download, streaming
 *Square Two* | * Released: November 1, 2016
* Label: YG Entertainment
* Formats: Digital download, streaming

## Collaborations[edit]

(with Dua Lipa)
* FIMI: Gold
* BPI: Silver
(with Lady Gaga)

## Other charted songs[edit]

### Single albums

* Label: YG, Interscope
* Formats: CD, digital download

### As a lead artist

Hot
Hot
* US: 10,000

1. **^** The Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) introduced music recording certifications for albums, downloads and streamings in April 2018, for every record released after January 1, 2018.

1. **^** "Solo" was certified platinum for streaming in June 2019 and downloads in March 2020.

## Filmography

* *Blackpink House* (2018, Vlive / YouTube / JTBC2)
* *YG Future Strategy Office* (2018, Netflix)
* *Blackpink X Star Road* (2018, Vlive)
* *Blackpink Diaries* (2019, Vlive / YouTube)

## Concerts and tours

Main article: List of Blackpink concert tours

### Headlining concerts

* Blackpink Japan Premium Debut Showcase (2017)

### Headlining tours

* Blackpink Arena Tour 2018
* Blackpink 2018 Tour [In Your Area] Seoul x BC Card
* Blackpink 2019 World Tour (In Your Area)

## DVD & Blu-ray (BD)[edit]

List of video albums, with selected peak chart positions and sales
* Label: YGEX
* Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, digital download
 *Blackpink 2019-2020 World Tour In Your Area-Tokyo Dome-* | * Released: May 06, 2020
* Label: Universal Music
* Formats: DVD, Blu-ray, digital download

## Music videos[edit]

### Other releases[edit]

* Label: YG Entertainment
* Formats: DVD
 *Blackpink House* | * Released: March 13, 2019 (EP 1-6)
* Label: YG Entertainment, YGEX
* Formats: DVD, Blu-ray
 * Released: March 13, 2019 (EP 7-12)
* Label: YG Entertainment, YGEX
* Formats: DVD, Blu-ray
 *2019 Blackpink's Summer Diary [in Hawaii]* | * Release date: September 9, 2019
* Label: YG Entertainment
* Formats: DVD
 *Blackpink's 2020Welcoming Collection* | * Released: March 4, 2020
* Label: YG
* Formats: DVD