BLACKPINK’S Jennie Opens up About The Pressure She Felt as a K-pop Idol

Jennie, a member of the popular K-pop group BLACKPINK, made her acting debut in the film ‘The Idol.’ In a recent episode of Dua Lipa’s podcast, ‘Your Service,’ Jennie openly discussed her experiences as a K-pop idol, highlighting both the joys and challenges she has faced, including the exhaustion that comes from consecutive concerts.

Jennie is a prominent vocalist from the renowned K-pop group BLACKPINK, who joined the music scene in 2016 under the management of YG Entertainment. Born and raised in South Korea, she spent five years studying in New Zealand before returning to her home country. In the podcast, Jennie openly discussed the challenges she faces as a K-pop idol, expressing the constraints and pressure that often limits her ability to freely express herself.

She said, “Starting my career in Korea as a K-pop artist has restricted so many sides of me where it wasn’t just allowed to be shown because I’m a K-pop idol (…) As things grew over time, I was able to express myself and people would see it as breaking boundaries (…) That’s when I realised, I want to break more boundaries for people in my culture to understand that you can express yourself as however you want.”

Jennie also shared her experience of being pushed into rapping early on during her debut days, which ultimately led to feelings of burnout. She expressed that she had never openly discussed this before but felt compelled to do so. After BLACKPINK’s debut, they released around six songs where Jennie primarily focused on rapping. However, she began to feel confused because she discovered a strong inclination towards singing, which she hadn’t had the opportunity to explore fully as a trainee. She mentioned that being told she should be a rapper created a conflict within her, and she went through a phase of hating rap. It wasn’t aligned with the journey she had envisioned for herself, leading to a sense of burnout during that period.

Kim Jennie recently grabbed attention due to rumours surrounding her alleged romantic involvement with Kim Taehyung from BTS. However, neither of their respective agencies has provided extensive comments or statements regarding the matter.

-Kaushiki Sarcar