Opinion | From Blackpink to Twice, women rule K-pop in 2022 – let’s not go back to thinking otherwise

It has been thought for the longest time that girl groups are not able to sell as many albums or tickets as male K-pop artists – this year has proved that wrong

Blackpink have just topped the US’ Billboard album chart, Girls’ Generation are back, and groups like Le Sserafim and NewJeans are breaking sales records

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Blackpink at the MTV Video Music Awards in the US this year. They have just topped the US’ Billboard album chart, proving the long-held assumption that boy bands command more sales than girl groups can wrong. Photo: AP

Tamar Herman

Published: 4:15am, 5 Oct 2022Updated: 10:37am, 5 Oct 2022

2022 is going to go down as a year that belongs to the women of K-pop.

Blackpink have just made history by topping the US’ Billboard chart with their Born Pink album and Twice have had hit after hit. Both are embarking on stadium tours.

Tomboy by (G)I-dle has become one of the year’s biggest hits in South Korea and IVE, Aespa, Le Sserafim and NewJeans – who form the core of a new generation of K-pop girl groups – are breaking album sales records.

Older girl groups like Girls’ Generation, Kara, Mamamoo and Exid, too, are still going strong, or are making their own comebacks.

Twice at a concert in Los Angeles earlier this year.

While all-female acts have had moments where they have dominated, it has been thought for the longest time that they are not able to sell as many albums or concert tickets as male K-pop artists.

For years, boy bands – even those that have largely flown by under the radar – have toured in the United States and Europe, while the biggest girl groups have struggled to stage international tours beyond Asia. This year, however, women-led world tours and million-selling albums have become something of a regularity.