Blackpink and 2NE1 Set For Splashy Comebacks in 2025

Prepare your Blackpink lightstick!

The 2025 Blackpink comeback will mark the first time the group will converge since Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa renewed their group contract in 2023 and went their separate ways for their individual activities. Since then, three of the members have established their own management companies: Jisoo with Blissoo, Jennie with Odd Atelier, Lisa with LLOUD. The fourth member, Rosé, chose to sign with The Black Label. It’s a YG subsidiary headed by longtime Blackpink producer Teddy Park. Without a doubt, a Blackpink comeback will be the highlight of K-Pop in 2025. Their last “Born Pink World Tour” broke the record as the highest grossing tour by a girl group in history!

2NE1 is about to set fire to the stage

The second news is more shocking, but in a delightful way. After seemingly disbanded in 2016, Second Gen legendary girl group 2NE1 is about to set fire to the stage once again. All four members of the group – CL, Sandara Park, Park Bom, and Minzy – have reunited. Currently, they are deep in preparation for a tour commemorating 2NE1’s 15th anniversary this year. Titled the “Welcome Back Tour”, their reunion tour is scheduled to begin at Seoul’s Olympic Hall on October 5, 2024 and continuing throughout 2025. This will mark 2NE1’s first comeback in 9 years and their first time performing together since the 2022 Coachella. 

Clearly, the two news have been a long time coming for both Blinks and Blackjacks. With their indelible charisma and raw vocals, Blackpink and 2NE1 have each carved a special place in K-Pop history. Their badass, girl power image set a powerful trend that inspires numerous other groups to embrace their edgier side fearlessly.

Missed 2NE1’s “girl crush” style?

Debuting in 2009, 2NE1 is considered a pioneer of what is now known as the “girl crush” concept. Back then, there were only two directions for a girl group: sexy or cutesy. For the former, you have groups like Brown Eyed Girls, SISTAR, and Girl’s Day; while the latter has the likes of SNSD (Girl’s Generation) and Wonder Girls. It was as if girls must ascribe to one concept or the other. 2NE1 brought into the industry a refreshing break from the norm, embracing their unique identity in ways that had never been done in K-Pop before.

CL and Minzy broke K-Pop idols’ beauty standards with their natural monolid eyes, while Sandara frequently exhibited an irreverent sense of style (the sky-high pigtails, the baggy clothing). Their music, heavily infused with elements of hip-hop, dance, electropop, and a bit of reggae, gave them such a distinctive flair sonically. With hits like “Fire”, “I Don’t Care”, “Ugly”, “I AM THE BEST”, and “Lonely”, 2NE1 dominated music charts and established themselves as one of the leading groups who ushered in the Hallyu Wave all over the world.

Electric, flirtatious, and fashion-forward

Blackpink followed in the stilettoed footsteps of 2NE1 when they debuted in 2016. With the same four-member format, it’s easy to write them off as just another 2NE1. But the girls quickly proved that they are so much more. Blackpink brings electric, flirtatious, and fashion-forward energy to their whole repertoire. Their next-level evolution of the “girl crush” concept is reflected in their discography. It touches on self confidence, female empowerment, and the audacity to embrace their inner desires. With hits like “DDU-DU DDU-DU”, “How You Like That”, “Kill This Love”, “Pink Venom” and many more, Blackpink continued to ascend year by year, breaking the stigma that a K-Pop group only has a 7-year lifespan.

International luxury houses ambassadors

As the group became more prominent on the world stage, the members emerged as cultural icons with huge influence in not just music, but fashion and lifestyle. All of the members got roped in as ambassadors to international luxury houses: Chanel, Celine, Dior, Saint Laurent, Cartier, Tiffany and Co, et cetera. They also dabbled in solo works. All of them met with commercial and critical success, from Jennie with “You and Me” and “Solo”, Lisa with “Lalisa”, to Rosé with “On The Ground” and Jisoo with “Flower”. With this unprecedented level of success, the group embarked on their 66-show Born Pink World Tour which grossed $148 million worldwide. 

By the end of the tour and also their contract, Blinks began wondering if the group would survive the 7-year curse. News of the 2025 comeback put those worries to rest. On August 8, the four got together to celebrate Blackpink’s 8th anniversary, showcasing the same tight bond they’ve always had.

New chapter in the 2NE1 members’ careers

2NE1 had a rougher go than Blackpink. After such a smashing early success, one of the group’s members Park Bom got into a controversy. It prompted her to take a hiatus in 2014. The others took on solo ventures in her absence. It was never the same anymore for 2NE1 after that. In 2016, Minzy officially departed the group. Soon after, YG announced that the remaining three members of 2NE1 would release their final song, the appropriately titled “Goodbye.” 

For the longest time, it seemed like 2NE1 was over and gone. However, the July 22 announcement revived the long dashed hope of so many. Rumors of a reunion sparked when CL was spotted entering YG building in early July. Following the official announcement, all four members took to Instagram to confirm the news to the delights of Blackjacks worldwide. As a warm-up to the comeback, CL made a surprise appearance during YG boy group Treasure’s concert on August 16, performing her solo track “The Baddest Female.”