With ‘Shut Down,’ Blackpink Prove the Only Way to Go is Up

Following the success of their pre-release single “Pink Venom,” K-pop’s biggest girl group Blackpink have made a saucy comeback with their brand new single “Shut Down”– the lead track off their sophomore album Born Pink.

Frequent collaborators Teddy Park and Danny Chung and Vince return as songwriters for the release, with Park and 24 taking charge of production. A groovy, decant mesh of Western classical music elements and hip-hop, “Shut Down” is experimental when it comes to Blackpink’s sonic sphere, which primarily constitutes soaring dance anthems with hip-hop influences. It’s a similar approach that producers 24, R. Tee and Ido had adopted for “Pink Venom,” which saw a blend between Korean traditional instrumentals and hip-hop and dance beats. 

Singing and rapping about their success and pop dominance, Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé and Lisa look back at their career thus far whilst curtly shutting down anyone who has wished for their downfall: “Praying for my downfall, many have tried, baby/ Catch me when you hear my Lamborghini/ Go vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom.” It’s a bittersweet kiss to anyone who has challenged or questioned Blackpink’s relevance. 

The music video is undoubtedly a goldmine for Blinks (Blackpink’s fandom). Brimming with references from their previous eras, the set comprises a variety of iconic props from “Whistle” and their viral smash hit “DDU-DU DDU-DU”. From Jennie’s crystal tank, Jisoo finally taking charge and holding the camera, Lisa’s katana sword and Rosé gracefully seated on a chandelier (and the globe), the video is a re-imagined version of their previous hits, oozing with Blackpink’s unbreakable confidence and sauciness. 

Fronted by “Shut Down,” Born Pink marks Blackpink’s first group comeback since the release of their first studio album The Album in 2020. Composed of eight tracks, the latest releases house the pre-release single “Pink Venom” and “Ready For Love” — the special single released in collaboration with PUBG. The fourth track “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” has members Jisoo and Rosé credited as writers. Other tracks include “Tally,” “Hard To Love,” “Typa Girl” and “The Happiest Girl.” 

To promote the album, Blackpink will embark on a world tour that aims to be the “largest world tour in the history of a K-pop girl group.” Also titled Born Pink, the tour will kick off in Seoul with a two-day concert at KSPO Dome. Following this, the group will perform in 25 cities including Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, London, Barcelona, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Jakarta, Manila, Melbourne and Sydney with more cities to be announced soon.