Everything We Know About KPop Superstar Group BLACKPINK’s 2022 Comeback & World Tour
Are fans excited? DUH (DDU-DU DDU-DU)
Sometimes being a BLINK—and waiting for a BLACKPINK comeback—can feel like, to quote a great classic, “Waiting for rain in this drought. Useless and disappointing.”
It does really feel like a drought to BLACKPINK fans, especially right in the middle of a hiatus. And yes, 2021 gave us Rosé and Lisa’s solo debuts—with their respective EPs R and LALISA, as well as Jisoo’s first lead actress role in Snowdrop—but the last group comeback was on October 2020, which is when THE ALBUM and its lead single, “Lovesick Girls,” were released. That’s almost two whole years. A terrible drought, as I said. So, when is a new comeback coming?
The drought is almost over…
There have been plenty of rumors, but all BLINKs know that nothing is certain until YG Entertainment (cue thunder and lightning) says a comeback is happening. And a press release from early July confirmed what the four members of BLACKPINK had already said during their Rolling Stone cover interview in June—that they were working on new music.
YG Entertainment announced that the members were indeed busy working on their comeback and that they were actually in the “final stages of recording a new album,” as reported by Billboard.
Not only that—but the comeback was described by YG Entertainment as a “continuous large-scale project which will extend through the second half of the year.” Now that some time has passed and the comeback day is getting closer and closer, we might have some more clues as to what that means exactly, but more on that down below.
So, when is BLACKPINK releasing their new music?
And now, onto the “actual” comeback date. While it’s still not been announced what the exact date will be, YG Entertainment confirmed that BLACKPINK will return sometime in August—so we can expect the teaser (that will kick off the whole comeback schedule machine) any day now. And what’s more, they added that the comeback will be followed by “the largest world tour in the history of a K-Pop girl group.”
Yes, that’s right. BLACKPINK is officially gearing up for a comeback in August 2022—followed by a MASSIVE tour! I am, crying-screaming-shaking at the idea of new BLACKPINK music! The drought is ending, the rain clouds are on the horizon! And you best believe I’m getting my BLACKPINK hammer and concert outfits ready as we speak!
What will this large-scale project entail??
As I said, now that some time has passed between the YG Entertainment press release and the actual comeback day, we do have some more clues about what that “large-scale project” might include— more than clues, actually.
The first steps of BLACKPINK’s return were digital—in a collab with the videogame PUBG: Battleground. During the final weeks of July, the mobile version of the game hosted the group’s first virtual concert, aptly called THE VIRTUAL, where the girls’ avatars performed their greatest hits from “DU-DDU DU-DDU” to “HOW YOU LIKE THAT.” And also, a new song.
That new song, “Ready For Love,” was also released on July 29th as a sort of pre-release single-slash-special track—and it’s still a part of the PUBG collab since the girls themselves are not featured in the music video that stars their avatars.
Now, while “Ready For Love” is technically a new song, it’s also one that BLINKs know very well—it was leaked pretty much around the same time as THE ALBUM and the Netflix documentary “Light Up The Sky” in 2020, and it has been very easy to find half-completed versions of the track on YouTube ever since.
Turns out though that the “official” version of “Ready For Love” features a lot more than what the leaks had made us believe— namely the, by-now, classic Second Verse Rap™ from Lisa, the bridge from Jisoo and Rosé, a coda and a chorus hook from Jennie (which I’m not the biggest fan of, not going to lie, I probably liked the drop more without it).
Is the song a very standard BLACKPINK song? Yes. Does it have pretty much the same scheme as all the other singles they have released before? Also yes. Do I like it a lot? Definitely yes.
Music Video Release
It was also recently revealed that the music video that the girls were in the process of filming is the biggest and most expensive YG Entertainment has ever released. Of course, throwing a lot of money at something might not necessarily mean that it’s going to turn out good, but BLACKPINK videos have always been known for being spectacular and visually stunning—so we’re definitely in for a treat.
As for what song will be introduced with this grandiose music video, we still have no clue—could it be the one that BLACKPINK’s label mate, Somi, accidentally leaked around mid-July?
The idol was busy filming an Instagram live and walked into what was probably a recording studio at YG Entertainment’s headquarters—where a never-heard-before song—featuring what sounded very much like Jennie’s voice—was blasting at full volume. Somi, of course, immediately ran away when she realized what she had just broadcasted, but maybe that tiny audio clip was our first taste of what the comeback has in store for us all.
There’s only one way to find out— wait for the official comeback. Something that is definitely easier to do now, when we all know that there’s an ending to the drought and that it’s coming very soon.
(video: YG Entertainment)
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