BLACKPINK Looks Back at Their Discography in Their New ‘Shut Down’ Music Video
Always in our area.
BLACKPINK, arguably one of—if not the—most famous K-Pop girl groups currently active in the industry, has finally unveiled their so-incredibly-anticipated newest release. BLINKs everywhere rejoice! The long wait has come to an end.
Born Pink, which was teased with the pre-release single “Pink Venom” on August 19th, is the group’s sophomore studio album after the aptly-titled The Album in 2020. Leading its eight new songs is the main title track “Shut Down,” rap-heavy and filled with the usual swagger BLACKPINK has become famous for.
The music video for “Shut Down” has, predictably, sent both BLINKs and casual listeners into a frenzy. And it’s not just because Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa sport a wide array of glamorous outfits and do their thing in massively decorated sets—it’s also because of all the video’s references and callbacks to previous BLACKPINK works.
So, in case you missed some, here is your complete guide to all the music videos referenced in “Shut Down”—broken down for each member and then for the entire group. It’s a reminder that BLACKPINK has been and will keep on being in our area.
Jisoo
The two individual sets for the eldest member of BLACKPINK, Jisoo, both reference her two iconic scenes in “DDU-DU DDU-DU.” The first time she appears in “Shut Down,” she is carrying a pink umbrella, to shield her from the rain of bills that’s falling down on her. Everything, from the prop to the camera angles, is a callback to her introduction in “DDU-DU DDU-DU.” In “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” the umbrella was black and the rain was made of sparks, but the similarity is unmistakable.
Then there’s her second individual scene, which features Jisoo taking a selfie and throwing the resulting polaroid at the camera. The real kick here, though, is the wall in front of which she’s posing, which is a depiction of her legendary pink wig moment in “DDU-DU DDU-DU.” This means that “Shut Down” Jisoo is posing in front of “DDU-DU DDU-DU” Jisoo who was catwalking in front of a third Jisoo. I want to live in this Jisooception forever and ever, please and thank you.
Jennie
In true BLACKPINK fashion, “Shut Down” is opened by a powerful rap from Jennie, who rolls in riding the same sparkly tank she had at the beginning of “DDU-DU DDU-DU.” It even includes the shopping bags hanging from the gun. Unlike “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” though, the whole scene happens in a completely white room, with a shutter that Jennie slams closed at the end of her part. It’s almost as if all the girls’ past sets are locked in their own little squares, a hall of fame of successes.
Much like Jisoo’s black “DDU-DU DDU-DU” umbrella turned pink in “Shut Down,” Jennie’s white bathtub scene from “Playing With Fire” has turned all black—hair and shirt included. And if you really look for it, you’ll see yet another easter egg—a small jewel-encrusted heart on the table next to the tub, which is the same one she breaks open at the start of “KILL THIS LOVE.”
Rosé
Out of all the BLACKPINK members, Rosé has always been the one entrusted with the most “stunt”-y scenes in their music videos—from being spun around in “How You Like That” to the explosions and wiring in her solo debut “ON THE GROUND.” Two of her appearances in “Shut Down” are very much a callback to some of these stunts.
In “WHISTLE,” Rosé sat on a slowly-turning globe, and in “DDU-DU DDU-DU,” she swung on a chandelier. Both of those props are back in “Shut Down,” living in the same white room as the props for the other members, a memento of their previous eras with a twist that is meant to represent how much BLACKPINK has grown. Rosé’s globe, for example, has turned from a realistic blue and green palette to a very recognizable pink and black one.
The video also shows Rosé fake-speeding in a car, first alone and then with Jisoo at her side—a reference to the first pre-chorus in “KILL THIS LOVE,” where she angrily chased down another version of herself.
Lisa
The youngest of the quartet, Lisa dug back three of her most iconic sets for reinterpretation in “Shut Down”. First is the van in front of which she performed her iconic “BOOMBAYAH” rap. While it’s unclear what was inside the bags on top of said van in “BOOMBAYAH,” stacks of pink bills are very visible now.
Then there’s the pier, which was lit on fire in “PLAYING WITH FIRE.” The warm tones of that scene turn icy in “Shut Down,” and Lisa delivers her second rap and some of her razor-sharp dance moves under pouring rain. The sequence is razor-sharp like her iconic katana, which she first acquired in “DDU-DU DDU-DU” and that now returns together with a not-subtle-at-all massive RECORD in the background.
Peep also a special appearance from one of Lisa’s many fur babies. Around the 30 second mark, Lisa is holding Love, the youngest dog of the bunch, by a leash.
BLACKPINK together
One of the first shots of “Shut Down” is the four girls of BLACKPINK riding in a luxury car, bandannas on their faces and eyes that could probably kill a man—a shot that echoes both of their debut music videos.
The most obvious reference is definitely “WHISTLE,” where Rosé is driving her fellow members in circles. But the overall composition is also a callback to the opening of “BOOMBAYAH,” when the members appear on scooters. You can definitely say they’ve upped their game if their means of transportation is anything to go by.
One could argue that the setting in the second chorus is also reminiscent of the streets BLACKPINK walks through in both “KILL THIS LOVE” and “How You Like That”—and while it could definitely be, I personally don’t consider them specific enough to count as a planned-out callback.
The street setting is more of a BLACKPINK staple. It’s a recurring set in their music videos, which also serves as a nice way to include the names of all their previous title tracks, which you can see plastered on the walls as signs or graffiti.
So what did you think of “Shut Down?” Did you get that familiar sense of déjà vu?
(Featured image: YG Entertainment)
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