The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2025 - Issue 38

bitemusicceleb Samantha Morgan follows BLACKPINK group member Lisa’s solo career and her other collab- orative endeavours. W hen Lalisa Manobal auditioned for YG Entertain- ment in Thailand at age 13 in 2010, she performed the songs ‘Take a Bow’ by Rihanna and ‘Ice Cream Freeze (Let’s Chill)’ by Hannah Montana, the pop singer character played by Miley Cyrus. “There must have been 1,000 people, so I never thought I would get picked,” the singer told Rich Kelly of The Guardian. She had messed up the lyrics to Rihanna’s song, so she was surprised to be selected and thinks it may have been because of her uniqueness. One-quarter of the K-pop group BLACKPINK, Lalisa, known mon- onymously as Lisa, stood out with her magnetic stage presence, razor-sharp dance skills, and dynamic rap delivery. Born Pranpriya Manobal in the Buriram Province of Thailand, she grew up sur- rounded by rhythm and movement, finding her first stage with a local dance crew called We Zaa Cool. At 14, she relocated to South Korea to begin an intensive five-year training program that would sharpen her skills in rap, dance, and vocals. Following their debut in 2016, BLACKPINK’s meteoric success, including billions of YouTube views, sold-out tours, and chart-top- ping singles, cemented Lisa’s place as a global star. As the group’s principal dancer and rapper, her artistry is shaped by a fusion of hip- hop, dance-pop, and international pop trends, and her rap delivery draws on Western hip-hop influences. At the same time, her dance style incorporates street dance and contemporary choreography. In 2020, fans were treated to the Netflix documentary BLACKPINK : Light Up the Sky, which portrayed the group’s rise from trainees to global superstars, featuring candid interviews, behind-the-scenes footage, and their historic Coachella performance. Directed by Car- oline Suh and produced by RadicalMedia, the 79-minute documen- tary became Netflix’s first centred on a K-pop group, underscoring BLACKPINK’s unprecedented international influence. It traced the group’s origins, beginning with the individual back- grounds of members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa, and their gruelling years as trainees at YG Entertainment. It highlighted the challenges of the K-pop system, where aspiring idols undergo years of intense training before debuting. Through interviews and personal reflections, each member shared their perspective on the sacrifices, doubts, and determination that shaped their careers. Like her fellow group members, Jennie and Rosé, Lisa stepped into the spotlight alone with her self-titled album Lalisa , which sold more than 736,000 copies in its first week. At the same time, the music video garnered 73.6 million views in 24 hours, earning a Guinness World Record. She became the first K-pop soloist to win both the