BLACKPINK’s Jennie says being made one of the group’s rappers gave her burnout

BLACKPINK‘s Jennie has opened up about experiencing burnout, and how she grew to “hate” being the K-pop band’s designated rapper.

• READ MORE: BLACKPINK live in London: fast-paced fun from one of the world’s leading girl groups

Last month, BLACKPINK played a ‘Born Pink’ concert in Melbourne, Australia. During the show, Jennie left the stage in the middle of performing ‘Lovesick Girls’, and did not return for the rest of the concert.

Her label YG Entertainment then informed fans that the singer “was unable to complete the stage due to her deteriorating condition”, extending an apology to fans in attendance at the concert.

Now, Jennie has spoken to Dua Lipa on the latter’s At Your Service podcast about how being placed as the rapper of the group led to difficulties for her.

“I know one of the reasons you became a rapper is because you spoke English, so you got assigned the rap parts and you’ve obviously really grown into that rap role in BLACKPINK, it’s something that the fans love you for,” Dua told Jennie. “What comes over you when you do the second verse rap in DDU-DU DDU-DU? You know, it’s like it’s like watching you become an entirely different person!”

Jennie then responded: “I’ve never really said this anywhere, but I’ve wanted to. After our debut, we did like six songs where I would just rap like, seriously rap and along the way, I kind of got confused because I came to realise that there’s a big side of me inside that loves to sing, but I actually never had the chance to really explore that as a trainee because I got told that I should be a rapper, you know?
“So there was a phase where I would hate to rap. I was like, ‘This isn’t me like, this isn’t the journey that I envisioned in my head like, I don’t think I’m a rapper.’ So there was definitely a burnout.”
Elsewhere, stock prices of K-pop agency YG Entertainment have fallen amid uncertainties over BLACKPINK‘s contract renewals. This week, South Korean news outlet Munhwa Ilbo reported that BLACKPINK member Lisa had yet to come to an agreement about a contract renewal with YG Entertainment.

Earlier this month, BLACKPINK made history as the first K-Pop band to headline a major UK festival – read the NME review of their BST Hyde Park show in London here.

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