WHISTLE

"**Whistle**" (Korean: 휘파람; RR: '**Hwi-param'**) is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released on August 8, 2016 together with "Boombayah" as a digital single titled *Square One*. The lyrics were written by B.I., Teddy Park and Bekuh Boom, while the song was composed by the latter two, with additional assistance from Future Bounce. Musically, "Whistle" straddles between a minimalist hip-hop production and a more guitar-driven pop composition. The lyrics utilize a whistling motif to describe a love-call and the rhythm of a beating heart.

Blackpink's debut television performance was held on SBS's *Inkigayo* on August 14, 2016, where Blackpink performed "Whistle" alongside "Boombayah". The song was a commercial success, with "Whistle" peaking atop the *Gaon* Digital Chart. It was the first debut song by a group to achieve the "perfect all-kill" status on the South Korean charts. It was also featured in the pilot episode of the Freeform series, *The Bold Type*.

## Background and composition

YG Entertainment announced the final lineup and name of the group on June 29, 2016, after multiple teasers. On August 6, the label announced the second of two title tracks, "Whistle", which was released digitally alongside "Boombayah" as the single album *Square One* on August 8. The song was written by B.I., Teddy Park and Bekuh Boom, with production being handled by the latter two and Future Bounce.

## Music video

The music video for "Whistle" was directed by Beomjin J of VM Project Architecture, and was released through Blackpink's official YouTube channel on August 8, 2016. It surpassed nearly ten million views within five days. A choreography practice video for "Whistle" was released on August 18, 2016. As of June 2020, the video has surpassed 500 million views.

## Promotion

Blackpink began appearing on South Korea's televised music programs with the August 14, 2016 broadcast of *Inkigayo*, where they received their first trophy for "Whistle" a week later, becoming the fastest girl group to achieve this feat.

## Critical reception

*Billboard* K-Town's Jeff Benjamin opines that Blackpink "[embraces] the hip-hop sensibilities and club-ready sounds with which their seniors gained an international following", referring to their labelmates Psy, Big Bang, and 2NE1. He further stated that the song, "brings together impassioned crooning and their youthful hip-hop delivery with minimal drum 'n' bass and an undeniable whistle hook". *Rolling Stone*'s Brittany Spanos placed Blackpink in her list of "10 New Artists You Need to Know: September 2016", saying: "[a]ll low-end boom and high-end tweets, the infectious "Whistle" feels like perfect pop update of the similarly chirpy Ying Yang Twins classic "Whistle While You Twurk." *Entertainment Weekly*'s Joey Nolfi said that the song "quickly turns up the heat, layering irresistible finger snaps, a saccharine bridge, electric guitar riffs, mammoth bass, and, of course, cow bell-accompanied whistles ... it wouldn't sound entirely out of place occupying a lofty position on American charts."

## Commercial performance

In South Korea, "Whistle" achieved the "perfect all-kill" status, a status in which a song is topping all charts, both daily and realtime in addition to topping the weekly Instiz iChart. This made Blackpink the first and to date the only group to achieve that status with their debut single. "Whistle" went on to top the *Gaon* Digital Chart on the chart issue dated August 7–13, 2016 with 150,747 downloads sold–topping the component Download Chart–and 4,302,547 streams. As of November 2019, the song has over 2,500,000 digital downloads in South Korea.

In the United States, "Whistle" entered at number 2 on the *Billboard* World Digital Songs chart. Both songs on the "Square One" single moved about 6,000 downloads each, with "Boombayah" selling slightly more. In its second week on the chart, "Whistle" placed at number 3.