Lisa of BLACKPINK achieved yet another historic feat on October 3, 2023, as her debut solo album LALISA surpassed 1.4 billion streams on Spotify, making it the first K-Pop album to ever mark such an accomplishment.
Furthermore, LALISA is also the first solo album by a female Korean solo artist to earn this milestone. YG Entertainment and Interscope Records released it on September 10, 2021.
To highlight some of the achievements of LALISA, the physical edition debuted at the top of the Gaon Album Chart, where it quickly became the best-selling album by a female soloist in the chart's history. With 736,221 copies sold in its first week, it also established the record for the most copies sold by a female artist worldwide.
Following its worldwide recognition, the album’s B-side song Money was released to US contemporary hit radio on November 9, and it reached number 10 on the Billboard Global 200 and number 90 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in no time.
Evidently, the rapper was determined to revolutionize the K-Pop music industry, as Money set a Guinness World Record in 2023 by becoming the first song by a single K-Pop artist to amass over 1 billion Spotify streams.
"THE BEST ICON": Fans lavish praise on Lisa for becoming the first female Korean soloist to achieve this feat
On top of that, the BLACKPINK rapper’s solo debut album LALISA won the Hanteo Music Awards and Asian Pop Music Awards in 2021, the same year of its release. Additionally, the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) awarded LALISA double platinum status for selling 500,000 copies in November 2021 and triple platinum status for selling 750,000 copies in August 2023.
Not limited to this, the song further made its way to the US Billboard Hot 100 and grabbed the No. 2 spot while it debuted at No. 84 on the Billboard Global 200 in 2021. As iconic as it is, LALISA and the album's B-side track Money are still some of the trendiest songs to groove to by both the Millennials and the Gen-Z generations.
Following the news of her achievement, fans congratulated the megastar on X (formerly Twitter), hailing her as the "global IT girl".
"Mother of all mothers": Sabrina Carpenter comments on the BLACKPINK star's Instagram post
Meanwhile, the global pop star from BLACKPINK made her theater stage debut at the prestigious burlesque in Paris, the CRAZY HORSE CABARET on September 28, 2023.
Lisa also had two more shows on September 29 and 30, where she performed five segments on the stage, pulling in esteemed guests from across the world like the Arnault family of the LVMH, Kaia Gerber, Austin Butler, and Rosalia, along with her BLACKPINK members Rosé, Jisoo, and Jennie, among other notable guests.
On October 4, 2023, the rapper-singer set social media ablaze by dropping photos from her Crazy Horse performance. Furthermore, fans were frenzied to see Hollywood actor-singer Sabrina Carpenter comment "mother" on the rapper's post. Netizens from across the world are hailing praises at the global star and gushing over her latest pictures.
In other developments, various speculations have been running around highlighting the future of BLACKPINK as a group and its contract renewal status with YG Entertainment. As per NEWS 1 and Seoul Sports, Jennie, Jisoo, and the Money rapper are reportedly not renewing their contract with the company and might be signing with other agencies, while Rosé has been reported to have renewed her contract with YGE.
Due to these uncertainties, YG Entertainment has witnessed a drastic 30% decline in its stock prices as BLACKPINK leaving the company has caused a stir among investors globally. Fans and music industry notables are waiting on their toes for the members to officially announce their decision.