Blackpink’s Jennie, Jisoo, Rosé, and Lisa will get the chance to pursue their solo careers as they please after declining to renew individual contracts with their longtime label/agency YG Entertainment.
On Friday, Dec. 29, YG issued a statement confirming the decision. It comes a few weeks after YG announced that, after several months of negotiations, Blackpink had struck a new deal to remain with the agency for all group activities.
“Blackpink recently renewed their contracts with YG for their group activities, and we have agreed not to proceed with additional contracts for [the members’] individual activities,” the new statement read (via Soompi). “We will do our utmost to support Blackpink’s activities, and we will cheer on the members’ individual activities with warm hearts.”
The news notably comes a few days after Jennie launched a new endeavor called Odd Atelier (OA). The OA will ostensibly function as a record label and entertainment company, with an Instagram post describing it as “a space that aims to create new things that attract attention in a different way from what is usual or expected.”
Jennie added, “I’m also excited about what’s to come, as I start my solo journey in 2024 with a company that I have established called OA. Please show lots of love for my new start with OA and of course BLACKPINK. Thank you.”
The four members of Blackpink have dabbled in solo careers to varying degrees amidst the group’s global rise over the past few years. Both Lisa and Rosé released solo albums — Lalisa and R, respectively — in 2021, while Jisoo dropped her solo debut, Me, in March 2023. Jennie released her album, Solo, all the way back in 2018 and only followed it up this past year with a new single, “You & Me.”
As for Blackpink, they spent most of the year touring the world in support of their 2022 album, Born Pink. They recently wrapped the year with a special virtual reality concert, Blackpink: A VR Encore, hosted on Meta Horizon Worlds.
