Blackpink. Your Asian mother was right. You need to practise your piano.
Blackpink is the biggest K-pop girl band on the planet:
they are the first K-pop girl group to appear at Coachella
their World Tour spanned 18 countries, in 2018-2020
Blackpink is 4 girls - Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, Rosé - from different countries (NZ, Thailand, Korea, Australia), with different personalities and musicalities. But when they move, they move as one. And boy do they move.
Their dance videos are punchy, intense, and tight. The music is fully-throated, dense, and thick.
Blackpink is the embodiment of Asian Girl Power. They diss, brag, and trash-talk. They swagger, shake, and strut.
No more living under the authority of parents. No more listening to teachers. No more being told what to do.
They’re just going to hit you with that Ddu-Du Ddu-Du Du!
But the Netflix documentary - Blackpink: Light Up the Sky - reveals that these girls are who they are because they do what they’re told to do.
They only got here through old-fashioned Asian hard work. Music lessons. Auditions. Trainee camps. Hours and hours, days and days, and years and years of practice.
Remember how your Asian mother told you to practise your piano? That’s exactly what the girls in Blackpink did. They practised their dance moves like good Asians kids do.
And look where they are now.
But even after they’ve made it, they’re still doing what they’re told to do.
They are heavily produced by YG. They sing songs written by other people. They are not allowed to drink, smoke, drive, get tattoos, or date.
They get criticised for touching pandas. They delete scenes from video clips if fans complain about religious or cultural insensitivities.
But what if that’s OK? What if that’s the secret to their success? What if that’s exactly why their dance moves are so precise and tight? What if that’s why their fans love them?
Blackpink shows that sometimes it’s OK to follow rules and do as you’re told.
Rules aren’t the problem. It’s which rules we follow that are the problem.
Some rules will take away your freedom. But other rules will give you freedom, beauty, and rhythm.
God – as the creator of this universe – also has a set of rules. If we follow them, we will also find freedom, beauty, rhythm.
But in the same way that most of us can’t sing as good as Blackpink or dance their moves, none of us can follow God’s rules without his help.
But that’s why God makes this promise to his people:
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
This way, we can follow God’s rules and enjoy the harmony and shalom that comes from being in step with God. We can sing God’s songs. We can dance God’s moves. We can be part of God’s band.
G-pop!
Where we get to Du what God tells us to Ddu-Du Ddu-Du Du.
But sadly God can’t help us dance like Blackpink. That’s still going to need old-fashioned Asian hard work.
Piano practice anyone?
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