Pink Venom

"**Pink Venom**" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Blackpink for their second studio album *Born Pink*. It was released through YG Entertainment and Interscope Records as a pre-release single on August 19, 2022. Described as a hip-hop, pop rap, dance and EDM song that incorporates Korean traditional instruments, the track was written by Teddy and Danny Chung and composed by Teddy, 24, R. Tee, and Ido.

"Pink Venom" was a commercial success and peaked at number one on the *Billboard* Global 200 chart for two weeks, becoming their first number-one hit on the chart. In South Korea, the track topped *Billboard*'s South Korea Songs chart and peaked at number two on the Circle Digital Chart. It became the first song by a K-pop group to top Australia's ARIA Singles Chart, and topped the charts in Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Vietnam. An accompanying music video was released alongside the single itself on Blackpink's YouTube channel. It received 90.4 million views within 24 hours, the biggest 24-hour debut for a music video in 2022.

## Contents

* 1Background and release
* 2Composition
* 3Critical reception
* 4Commercial performance
* 5Music video
* 6Accolades
* 7Live performances and promotion
* 8Credits and personnel
* 9Charts
	+ 9.1Weekly charts
	+ 9.2Monthly charts
* 10Sales
* 11Release history
* 12See also
* 13References

## Background and release[edit]

On July 6, 2022, YG Entertainment announced that Blackpink was in the process of finishing recording for their new album and preparing to shoot a music video in mid-July for release in August. The label also confirmed that the group would embark on the largest world tour by a K-pop girl group in history. On July 31, YG Entertainment officially released the album trailer video through the group's official social media accounts, announcing that the world tour would start in October, following a pre-release single in August and the album itself in September. The label later confirmed that two music videos were filmed to support the album, reportedly with the highest production budgets they have ever invested into a music video. On August 7, 2022, it was announced that the album's pre-release single would be titled "Pink Venom" and released on August 19.

On August 10, two sets of individual member teaser posters were posted to Blackpink's official social media accounts. On August 11 and 12, two sets of concept teaser videos were released for each individual member. On August 13, the credits of the song were reported through a teaser poster with all four members together. A new concept video was presented a day later, showing all four members being trapped in a glass box. On August 17, the teaser for the music video was released. On August 19, the music video was premiered and released alongside the "#PinkVenomChallenge".

## Composition[edit]

"Pink Venom" was written by Teddy Park and Danny Chung and composed by Teddy, 24, R. Tee, and Ido, while production was handled by 24, R. Tee, and Ido. It was described as a dance and EDM, hip-hop and pop rap song that incorporates traditional Korean instruments such as the geomungo. The song was composed in the key of C major at 90 beats per minute. Lyrically, it expresses Blackpink's confidence and dual identity as both sweet and deadly. On the track's title, Jennie commented, "Since 'pink' and 'venom' have contradicting images, we thought they were kind of reminiscent of us… It's pink venom, a lovely poison, it's words that most express us.” One of Lisa's verses in "Pink Venom" references the lyrics "One by one, then two by two" from Rihanna's 2005 debut single, "Pon de Replay".

## Critical reception[edit]

Professional ratings

Jon Caramanica of *The New York Times* said that the song "has the comfort of anarchy." He added, "Every four bars, a new approach enters — familiar K-pop elasticity, loose Middle Eastern themes, gaudy rock, West Coast rap, and more. It exists out where maximalism moves past philosophy to aesthetic." Tanu I. Raj of *NME* said "Pink Venom" is a "promising preview of their new era." Lauren Puckett-Pope writing for *Elle* said, "The song is catchy but discombobulated, a disorienting blend of rap, floating vocals, and an anti-drop chorus, featuring a few choice Easter eggs in the lyrics." The song's interpolations is also become one of the song's burning questions in Billboard, when editors found that these interpolations are subtly effective.

## Commercial performance[edit]

"Pink Venom" debuted at number one on the *Billboard* Global 200 with 212.1 million streams and 36,000 downloads sold, earning Blackpink's first number-one on the chart and the second-biggest worldwide weekly streaming total in the chart's history. The song also debuted at number one on the Global Excl. U.S. with 198.1 million streams and 27,000 downloads sold outside the U.S., earning Blackpink their second number-one on the chart after "Lovesick Girls". With this, Blackpink became the third act to achieve multiple number-ones on the chart, after BTS and Justin Bieber. "Pink Venom" topped both charts for a second week with 108.4 million streams and 7,000 downloads worldwide, and 99.5 million streams and 5,000 downloads outside the U.S., becoming the first Korean-language song to top either chart for multiple weeks. The song topped the Global Excl. U.S. for a third week with 69.2 million streams and 3,000 downloads sold.

In South Korea, "Pink Venom" debuted at number 22 on the week 34 issue of the Circle Digital Chart for the period dated August 14–20, with less than two days of tracking. The following week, it rose to a peak at number two for the period dated August 21–27, becoming Blackpink's seventh top-two hit. In Japan, the song opened at number four on the Oricon Daily Digital Singles Chart for July 19. It went on to sell 3,236 downloads during the period dated August 15–21, debuting at number 16 on the weekly Digital chart, and accrued 3,068,603 streams as the 29th most-streamed song in the country that week. It debuted at number 22 on the *Billboard Japan* Hot 100 and peaked at number ten the following week, climbing 90–7 for radio, 58–14 for streaming, and 6–2 for video.

In Australia, "Pink Venom" debuted at number one on the ARIA Singles Chart dated August 29, making Blackpink the first K-pop group to top the chart and the first Korean artist to do so since Psy with "Gangnam Style". The song entered the US *Billboard* Hot 100 at number 22, marking Blackpink's highest-charting non-collaboration and their fourth top-40 entry. It debuted at number nine on Streaming Songs with 14.3 million streams, becoming the group's second top-ten on the chart, and at number three on Digital Song Sales with 11,000 downloads sold, and drew 359,000 in radio airplay audience in its first week. The song also debuted at number four on the Canadian Hot 100 chart, becoming Blackpink's first top-ten hit in the country.

## Music video[edit]

A 24-second music video teaser for "Pink Venom" was released on August 17, 2022, followed by the official music video on August 19, both on Blackpink's official YouTube channel. The music video reached 20 million views in just three hours and 90.4 million views in 24 hours, surpassing the previous record held by their own track "How You Like That" (2020) for the most-viewed video by a female artist in a single day. It also scored the biggest music video premiere of 2022 and third-biggest of all time. The video achieved 100 million views in 29 hours, passing "How You Like That" as the fastest music video by a female artist to reach this mark. A behind-the-scenes video of filming was released on August 19. The dance practice video was uploaded on August 24, showing the group, dressed in white, dancing surrounded by an army of black-clad backup dancers.

At the beginning of the music video, Jisoo, wearing a hanbok with a contemporary spin, plays a melody on a geomungo while surrounded by rows of kneeling black-hooded figures wearing VR headsets and chanting the name "Blackpink". Jennie breaks through a concrete wall in a monster truck and struts down a red carpet in front of the truck wearing a sheer red gown. Afterwards, Lisa walks into a room inside a pyramid, where she picks a black apple from a tree and eats it; her eyes turn pink upon taking the first bite. Rosé appears in the next scene, pulling a black heart out of a stream of black water in a stormy environment. Lisa and Jennie then rap together; Lisa wears a streetwear-inspired cropped basketball shirt and denim overalls, and Jennie wears a cropped Manchester United F.C. jersey. During their subsequent verses, Jisoo portrays a vampire, and Rosé plays electric guitar in a fire-lit cave. In the chorus, the group members perform the choreography together in various settings, including a raging sandstorm and a jungle.

## Accolades[edit]

Music program awards

Melon Popularity Award

## Live performances and promotion[edit]

On August 17, YG Entertainment unveiled a schedule for the group's "Light Up the Pink" campaign, in which several landmarks worldwide would be lit up in pink to promote the song, starting on August 18. On August 28, 2022, Blackpink performed "Pink Venom" for the first time on SBS's *Inkigayo*. The same day, Blackpink performed the track at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards, marking their American awards show debut and making them the first female K-pop group in history to do so. *Billboard* ranked it the second best performance of the award show.

## Credits and personnel[edit]

* Blackpink – vocals
* Teddy – composer, lyricist
* 24 – composer, arranger
* R. Tee – composer, arranger
* Ido – composer, arranger
* Danny Chung – lyricist

## Sales[edit]

Sales certifications for "Pink Venom"
 Worldwide
 Japan

## Release history[edit]

Release dates and formats for "Pink Venom"
* streaming
* Interscope
* Interscope