Before becoming a global star, Jennie (BlackPink) spent 6 years as a trainee full of pain, cruelty and pressure at YG Entertainment.
Jennie faced cruel evaluation as a trainee
As a guest in artist Jung Jae Hyung's vlog "Jennie's Untold Story", Jennie (BlackPink) had the opportunity to open up about the hidden corners behind the halo of the top Kpop idol.
According to Nate, Jennie confided in Jung Jae Hyung from her early debut days to her journey to becoming a "world star" at the present time.
Jennie (BlackPink) on Billboard magazine recently.
"I came to YG Entertainment at the age of 14, after returning from New Zealand and going through 6 years of evaluation. Of course, it's impossible for someone at that age not to be evaluated while in school. But isn't the management company's evaluation process extremely cruel?
The evaluations were brutal. It wasn't just, 'I got a 70 today.' Every time I got evaluated like that, a friend of mine would leave, which was hard to accept at that age.
When you are young, you learn to receive and give a lot of love, but I had to learn to be competitive. I felt my view of people became selfish. Because, if that friend did not leave, the one who left had to be me.
But at that time, I really wanted to debut. It was sad to see my close friends leave, I had to hold back my tears to do that," Jennie recalled her stressful trainee days.
In the past, Jennie said that every month, YG Entertainment's internal producers and CEO would periodically check and evaluate the trainees. Every month, they had to prepare 1 solo song, 1 group song, and 1 dance for the staff to evaluate their abilities.
The pressure is even heavier when the trainees are responsible for everything from choosing clothes, deciding on members for their group to dividing up performances and choosing songs.
YG trainees also have to make MR (sound recordings of musical instruments with vocals) and create their own choreography.
Jennie when she was a trainee.
Don't allow yourself to fade away
Despite her painful trainee journey, Jennie said she always believed that one day she would debut.
"It's not because I'm good, but since I was very young, I determined that this was my only path. I gave up studying to become a trainee. I couldn't allow myself to be obscure while there. So I tried my best to debut.
Before that, I planned to go to the US to study at university after finishing my studies in New Zealand. But I came to Korea without being able to fulfill both of these plans. I had no choice but to try to debut," the singer confided.
After all the efforts, in 2018, Jennie officially debuted as a member of the group BlackPink with the MV "DDU-DU DDU-DU".
"When the song suddenly became a global hit, my work schedule became very busy. That's when I felt the fame on my skin," the singer recalled.
However, when she became a world-famous artist, her difficulties were no longer small.
Jennie confessed: "I work continuously in many countries, the constant time difference makes my body unable to adapt. However, I have learned a lot of things.
I feel lucky to be able to do so many things in the BlackPink era, even though there are times when I'm extremely busy. There's a lot to learn. Luckily, I'm doing well, but I don't think it's going to be easy."
First solo album causes a fever
Jennie (Blackpink) is receiving a lot of attention when releasing her debut studio album "Ruby" on March 7. This is the first album the female singer released after leaving YG Entertainment to develop her solo career.
The album is receiving positive feedback from audiences and critics. British music magazine NME gave the album 4/5 stars with many compliments.
NME said it was a bold, confident debut that redefined Jennie's identity. As a member of BlackPink, Jennie has long been known as a rapper, but "Ruby" allowed her to express her identity as a singer, with rich R&B tracks.
NME commented that the artists Jennie chose to collaborate with on this album were purposeful and effective: "They complemented her rather than overshadowed her, ensuring that even when she shared the mic, she remained the compelling centre of every song."
The album "Ruby" sold more than 386,000 copies in less than 1 day of release, becoming the best-selling album by a female Kpop artist on the first day on Hanteo in 2025.
Jennie's image in the album "Ruby".
On online music streaming platforms, "Ruby" also created a fever. Of which, 10/15 songs from the album "Ruby" entered the global Spotify chart on March 7, reaching a total of 22,910,087 filtered streams.
With this achievement, "Ruby" became the album by a Kpop solo artist with the biggest debut on the global Spotify chart in 2025, and ranked 3rd in Kpop history after Jungkook's album "Golden" (39.6 million streams) released in 2023, and Rosé's album "Rosie" (28 million streams) released in 2024.
The title track "Like Jennie" debuted at No. 12 with 4 million streams. This is the 3rd highest first-day streamed song by a K-pop artist this year, after "Born Again" by Lisa featuring Doja Cat, Raye (6.26 million streams) and "Fxck up the world" by Lisa featuring Future (4.49 million streams).
The album includes 15 songs such as: "Mantra", "Love Hangover" featuring Dominic Fike, "ExtraL" featuring Doechii, "Intro: JANE with FKJ", "Like Jennie", "Start a war", "Handlebars" featuring Dua Lipa, "With the IE (way up)", "Zen", "Damn Right" featuring Childish Gambino and Kali Uchis, "FTS", "Filter", "Seoul City", "Starlight" and "Twin".
To promote the new album, Jennie announced a series of concerts called "The Ruby Experience" in 3 cities: Los Angeles (March 6-7), New York (March 10) and Seoul (March 15).
Jennie was born in 1996 and is a member of the girl group BlackPink under YG Entertainment. Born and raised in Korea, the female idol spent 5 years studying in New Zealand.
The female idol debuted solo with the single "Solo" in 2018. The song was successful when it topped both the Gaon Digital Chart and the Billboard World Digital Songs Chart.
Source: https://www.baogiaothong.vn/jennie-blackpink-ke-ve-6-nam-duoi-truong-yg-day-dau-don-va-tan-nhan-192250310160937075.htm
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