"It's always giving appropriation"— Netizens divided as BLACKPINK's Lisa faces blackfishing accusations over her solo comeback, ROCKSTAR teaser photo

On Saturday, June 22, BLACKPINK's Lisa released the teaser photos for her upcoming solo single, ROCKSTAR. The track is scheduled to be released on June 28, and while netizens were excited about her comeback and its promotions, they were soon disappointed to see the idol's skin tone in the teaser photos.

In the recently released teaser images, her skin was allegedly presented in a slightly darker tone than her original skin tone. This led to several debates between netizens, with many accusing her of tanning and, thereby, blackfishing.

Blackfishing is a term used to refer to the phenomenon of celebrities who use external products such as tanning cream, bronzer, darker foundations, etc., to appear black or mixed-race. Since this is seen as cultural appropriation, fans were unhappy with Lisa allegedly participating in it.

Additionally, they brought up more aspects of the teaser images that allegedly showcased the BLACKPINK member's blackfishing. These included the choice of outfit, the dental grills, etc., that are commonly seen on black artists.

Here's what the netizens had to say about the issue:

"I can’t explain how much Lisa infuriates me to my core. Blackfishing ain’t it girl. People need to look up cultural appropriation. Stick to ur skin colour. This isn’t the first time she’s literally copied black culture. It’s disturbing," said an X user.

"Ppl saying she not black fishing cuz asians can be this dark do you see how she's styled that's literally a black woman help," added another X user.

"This is BLACKFISHING! Natural skin of blackpink lisa has never been this dark based on her pre-debut and recent photos. Artists like Ariana are criticized when they do photoshoots like this but it's okay in Kpop?," tweeted another user.

On the other hand, fans have also been defending the idol, explaining that it doesn't count as blackfishing since she is a person of color and belongs to the Thai community. They also added that she was actively whitewashed throughout her career in the K-pop industry. Therefore, her recent teaser images for ROCKSTAR only add to her efforts to showcase her true skin tone.

"People saying that Lisa, a THAI woman, is blackfishing is so crazy to me like y‘all are just used to all the white washing make up and filters that kpop idols usually have… and i’ve been to Thailand and people have the exact same skin so shut tf up," said a fan on X.

"Y'all so used to that damn snow filter that yall start shaking in your boots when you realize these idols might be tanner outside of that filter, "added another X user.

"Not yall starting the Lisa “black” agenda. she’s Thai so of course she’s gonna be tanned," added a fan on X.

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BLACKPINK's Lisa rolls out teaser images for her upcoming solo single, ROCKSTAR

Following her departure from YG Entertainment for her solo projects and promotions, BLACKPINK's Lisa is scheduled to make her solo comeback with the release of her upcoming single, ROCKSTAR.

In December 2023, it was revealed that all the BLACKPINK members, following the end-of-contract with YG Entertainment, chose to depart from the agency as solo artists. While they continued to stay under the agency for BLACKPINK's projects and promotions, the members created other outlets for their solo careers. the Thai idol established her own label, LLOUD, and also signed with an American record label, RCA Records, for her solo schedule.

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The upcoming single, ROCKSTAR, will be collaboratively released by the two agencies, LLOUD and RCA Records. Given that this will be the idol's first solo comeback since 2021, with the release of LALISA, fans are thrilled to see what she has in store for them.