After more than two weeks since Blackpink’s Lisa dropped her debut single album, it may now be safe to assess its merits. There are currently two schools of thought when it comes to Lisa’s solo effort – those arguing that it was a resounding success and those claiming that it was a downright flop. So, which is which? To view things objectively, we need to weigh all the points of both sides.
LALISA special stage
Spelling success with L-A-L-I-S-A
Arguing that Lisa’s debut was a hit would definitely bank on the achievements it has claimed. Let’s count them up:
- Broke the record for 24-hour YouTube views for a soloist previously held by Adele;
- Broke the record for 24-hour YouTube likes for a soloist;
- Only female K-Pop artist ever to be number 1 on iTunes in 71 countries;
- Biggest streaming week by a K-Pop soloist on Spotify;
- Biggest first-week sales for a female act on Hanteo (quick cheat sheet: Hanteo tracks real-time sales while Gaon tracks shipments and pre-orders);
- First foreign soloist to get a win on a Korean music show (Music Bank on September 17);
- Number one on Gaon album charts.
With achievements on Spotify, YouTube, Hanteo, Gaon, iTunes, and physical sales of over 700K, you can argue that Lalisa is an unqualified hit. Or is it?
LALISA on SBS Inkigayo
The rest of Korea hasn’t been loving Lalisa
On the flip side, many also argue that Lisa’s debut isn’t as successful as her fandoms, the Lilies and the Blinks, make it appear.
One facet in this entire scenario where Lisa has been severely underperforming is in the digital charts. On Gaon, while she has proven her dominance in the album charts, she has been struggling with her single Lalisa, where she is currently #88 in the streaming chart, #10 in the download chart (falling six places from last week), and #64 in the digital chart.
This is further emphasized by her absence in the instiz chart, a compendium chart that combines the charts that South Korea uses to rank music sales (MelOn, Genie, Bugs, Flo, and Naver’s Vibe). It is also what fans use to determine an “All-Kill” (a song that charts at #1 on all real-time charts) and “PAK” or “perfect all-kill” (a song that charts at #1 on all real-time and daily charts).
Lisa bowed out of the instiz charts three days after Lalisa was released on the 10th. As of press time, the song is out of MelOn’s Top 100. MelOn is Korea’s largest online music store and streaming service.
In contrast, both Jennie and Rose stayed on the instiz charts for months, with Jennie topping the charts in November 2018 and Rose only getting blocked by digital monsters IU and Brave Girls. In fact, Jennie even achieved a certified all-kill on November 14.
That Lisa is underperforming in Korean song charts despite having huge album sales is indicative of one thing: Koreans outside the Lily-BLINK fandom are not supporting her songs. In fact, they do not like the song at all.
The digital charts are more informed by what the general public likes, which makes Lisa’s success more or less fandom-driven. Considering that not 100% of BLINKs are supportive of Lisa, that she has been breaking records means that her own personal fandom is massive enough. This is why the album and streaming figures are mind-blowing. But for digital sales and downloads that restrict every single account to be counted as one download, the two fandoms can be limited in taking their idols’ singles to the top to as far as the number of multiple accounts one member of the fandom can handle.
The song has been dismissed by several of its listeners as overtly repetitive and dependent on its hoo that just lets Lisa her name countless times. And to top it off, YG is very selective of its artists’ promotional activities, it’s highly doubtful that a substantial number of people outside the bubble of Lisa’s fandom will be converted
To answer the question in the title, it can be argued that Lalisa as a debut song has its limitations, but it cannot be denied that Lisa is currently one of the most popular musical artists in the world.