What Do Blackpink’s New 'Pink Venom' Lyrics Really Mean?
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As Poison once instructed in the final breath of the ’80s, every rose has its thorn, and the modern K-pop sensation Blackpink would like to capitalize on that proverb. In the new single “Pink Venom,” released ahead of the group’s forthcoming album Born Pink, the Blackpink crew—Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rosé—attempt to create the right alchemical mix of sugar and spice. “Pink Venom,” they insist, is an inherent contradiction: sweet but deadly, unassuming but powerful. Such a paradox, it’s implied, is a good representation of their ethos as a group. Don’t ever mistake their kindness for weakness.
“Since our album’s title is Born Pink, we wanted to relay our identity in the song as much as we could,” Jennie explained during an online press conference in Seoul timed to the “Pink Venom” release. “Since ‘pink’ and ‘venom’ have contradicting images, we thought they were kind of reminiscent of us…It’s pink venom, a lovely poison, it’s words that most express us.”
Jennie later added, “Some worry that we might stray away from our identity, but we believe it’s the most distinct and clear way to represent us.”
“Pink Venom” itself was met with mixed reviews among Blackpink fans—known as Blinks—who have waited multiple years for a new, exciting drop from their idols. The song is catchy but discombobulated, a disorienting blend of rap, floating vocals, and an anti-drop chorus, featuring a few choice Easter eggs in the lyrics.
Fans have already pointed out that “Kick in the door” is likely a reference to Biggie Smalls, while “One by one and two by two” is a nod at Rihanna’s “Pon de Replay.” The group’s venom references wouldn’t be complete without a wink at the artist perhaps best known for making the snake her sigil: The phrase “Look what you made us do” seems an almost certain hat-tip to Taylor Swift’s Reputation. (Petition for a Blackpink feature on 1989 (Taylor’s Version), please and thank you.)
Other lyrics are more direct references to the group members’s growing status as international icons. In “This the life of a vandal, masked up and I’m still in Celine/
Designer crimes or it wouldn’t be me, ooh,” rapper Lisa references her global ambassadorship with the fashion house, for which she walked the runway this May. Jennie takes a similar bow with “I talk that talk, runways I walk, walk,” pointing to her own deal with Chanel. No matter if “Pink Venom” isn’t a particularly boundary-breaking release for the group; it’s doing exactly what the lyrics intend: reminding the world who’s in charge.
Read the full lyrics below.
BLACKPINK, BLACKPINK
BLACKPINK, BLACKPINK
Kick in the door, waving the coco
Eat your popcorn, don't even think about cutting in
I talk that talk, runways I walk, walk
Close your eyes, pop, pretend you're not looking
One by one, then two by two
Everything collapses at the flick of my fingertip
It was flashy for a fake show
Makes no sense you couldn't get a dollar outta me
It's tonight, I'm a poisonous flower
After taking your soul away
Look what you made us do
A fire that will slowly put you to sleep (Fire)
It's so beautiful, it's brutal
I bring the pain like
This, that pink venom
This, that pink venom
This, that pink venom
Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em
Straight to ya dome like woah, woah, woah
Straight to ya domе like ah, ah, ah
Taste that pink venom
Tastе that pink venom
Taste that pink venom
Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em
Straight to ya dome like woah, woah, woah
Straight to ya dome like ah, ah, ah
Black paint and ammo, got bodies like Rambo
Rest in peace, please light up a candle
This the life of a vandal, masked up and I'm still in Celine
Designer crimes or it wouldn't be me, ooh
Diamonds shining, drive in silence, I don't mind it, I'm riding
Flying private side by side with the pilot up in the sky
And I'm wilding, styling on them and there's no chance
'Cause we got bodies on bodies like this a slow dance
It's tonight, I'm a poisonous flower
After taking your soul away
Look what you made us do
A fire that will slowly put you to sleep (Fire)
It's so beautiful, it's brutal
I bring the pain like
This, that pink venom
This, that pink venom
This, that pink venom
Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em
Straight to ya dome like woah, woah, woah
Straight to ya dome like ah, ah, ah
Taste that pink venom
Taste that pink venom
Taste that pink venom
Get 'em, get 'em, get 'em
Straight to ya dome like woah, woah, woah
Straight to ya dome like ah, ah, ah
Provoke us if you want
You can't handle it, and you know this
Shot that potion has already spread
Pink ocean right before your eyes
Come and give me all the smoke
Like I'm so rock and roll
Come and give me all the smoke
Stand in line, stop, drop
I bring the pain like
Brrah, ta-ta-ta, krrah, ta-ta-ta
Brrah, ta-ta-ta, krrah, ta-ta-ta
Brrah, ta-ta-ta, krrah, ta-ta-ta
Straight to ya, straight to ya, straight to ya dome like
Brra-ta-ta-ta, krra-ta-ta-ta (BLACKPINK)
Brra-ta-ta-ta, krra-ta-ta-ta (BLACKPINK)
Brra-ta-ta-ta, krra-ta-ta-ta (BLACKPINK)
I bring the pain like
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