Ready for Love (Blackpink song)

"Ready for Love" is a promotional single by South Korean girl group Blackpink for their collaboration with battle royale video game PUBG Mobile. It was released as an animated music video on YouTube on July 29, 2022, making it the group's first Korean release since The Album (2020). It was later included on the group's second studio album, Born Pink (2022).

"Ready for Love"
Promotional graphic
Promotional single by Blackpink
from the album Born Pink
Language
  • Korean
  • English
ReleasedJuly 29, 2022
Recorded2020
StudioThe Black Label Studio (Seoul)
Genre
Length3:03
Label
Composer(s)
Lyricist(s)
  • Teddy
  • VVN
Music video
"Ready for Love" on YouTube

Background and release

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On July 12, 2022, YG Entertainment revealed that Blackpink would hold a virtual in-game concert entitled "Blackpink: The Virtual" in PUBG Mobile from July 22 to 30, including performances of the group's hit songs as well as a special track to be revealed during the event for the first time.[1] Prior to its release, a scene in Blackpink's 2020 Netflix documentary, Light Up the Sky, showed the members in the recording process of the song.[2] On July 24, 2022, a teaser poster was uploaded to both PUBG Mobile and Blackpink's official social media accounts, confirming the song's release date to be July 29.[3] On July 27, 2022, PUBG Mobile uploaded individual teaser photos on their social media accounts for each member and one as a group, each using avatars. The background of each member's teaser corresponds with the color of the flowers in the song's cover art.[4] The song was released on July 29, 2022 exclusively as an animated music video on YouTube.[5] The song was later included in the album Born Pink, which released on September 16.

Composition

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In an interview before the virtual concert, YG Entertainment described the song as "a pop song with a cool [beat] drop that breaks the static flow of a lyrical piano performance."[6] The song has been described as featuring a EDM chorus with the likes of a house-pop instrumental.[5][7]

Music video

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A scene in the music video with virtual avatars of the Blackpink members dancing on a galactic stage

On July 27, 2022, PUBG Mobile released a 17-second concept teaser for the music video, depicting fantastical landscapes in a video game world.[8] Another 14-second long teaser clip of the music video was released by PUBG Mobile on July 28.[9] The official music video was released on July 29 on both of Blackpink and PUBG Mobile’s official YouTube channels. It features virtual avatars of the Blackpink members exploring various mystical settings, riding motorcycles and floating through pink cloudscapes. The environments depicted include a forest with a huge helmet-like object in the centre, an ice-covered land with a frozen lake running by it, a never-ending space full of pink clouds, and lastly a glass flower bursting out. For the song's chorus, the avatars are shown singing and dancing to the song's choreography on a galactic stage.[10]

Commercial performance

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"Ready for Love" garnered 43.7 million views and topped YouTube's ranking of the most-viewed music videos globally in its first week.[11] Despite only being available on YouTube, "Ready for Love" debuted on the Billboard Global 200 at number 196 and on the Global Excl. U.S. at number 97.[12] It also debuted at number three on the Billboard Vietnam Hot 100 and number 21 on Malaysia Songs, becoming Blackpink's first top-ten entry on the former chart since its launch in January 2022.[13][14] Following the track's release with album Born Pink, "Ready for Love" reached a new peak of number 60 on the Global 200 and number 39 on the Global Excl. U.S., as well as number 10 on Malaysia Songs.[15]

Credits and personnel

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Credits adapted from the liner notes of Born Pink.[16]

Recording

Personnel

Charts

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "'Blackpink X PUBG Mobile 2022 In-Game Concert' with 3-D avatars to start end-July". Korea JoongAng Daily. July 12, 2022. Archived from the original on July 12, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  2. ^ Pham, Jason (October 16, 2020). "Blackpink Fans Think They're Releasing 'Ready for Love' as a Single After a Clue in Their Netflix Doc Credits". StyleCaster.com. Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  3. ^ @PUBGMobile (July 24, 2022). "Blackpink X PUBG Mobile – 'Ready for Love' M/V (2022.07.29)" (Tweet). Retrieved July 25, 2022 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ @PUBGMobile (July 27, 2022). "2022.07.29 #ReadyForLove – Jisoo's individual avatar poster" (Tweet). Retrieved July 27, 2022 – via Twitter.
  5. ^ a b Mier, Tomás (July 29, 2022). "Blackpink Drops 'Ready For Love' Virtual Performance". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  6. ^ Kyung, Ji-min (July 22, 2022). "블랙핑크, 23일 인게임 콘서트 'The Virtual' 오픈..컴백 예열 본격화" [Blackpink opens in-game concert 'The Virtual' on the 23rd]. Osen (in Korean). Naver. Archived from the original on July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  7. ^ Chang, Hansel (July 29, 2022). "BLACKPINK Releases "Ready For Love" With Their Virtual Avatars in the Music Video". HYPEBEAST. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  8. ^ Agrawal, Ayush (July 27, 2022). "Sneak peek at BLACKPINK's 'Ready For Love' music video has BLINKs hopping with excitement; Watch". Pinkvilla. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  9. ^ Kacker, Akanksha (July 28, 2022). "BLACKPINK's 'Ready For Love': Final sneak peek, countdown image & individual teasers dropped ahead of release". Pinkvilla. Archived from the original on July 30, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  10. ^ Yeo, Gladys (July 29, 2022). "BLACKPINK explore virtual worlds in music video for special single 'Ready For Love'". NME. Archived from the original on July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  11. ^ "YouTube music charts: Global top music videos". July 29 – August 4, 2022. Retrieved August 9, 2022 – via YouTube.
  12. ^ "Billboard Global 200 - Week of August 13, 2022". Billboard. August 13, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  13. ^ a b "Blackpink Chart History (Billboard Vietnam Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved August 25, 2022.
  14. ^ a b "Blackpink Chart History (Malaysia Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  15. ^ a b "Blackpink Chart History (Global 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  16. ^ Blackpink (2022). Born Pink (liner notes). YG Entertainment. YGP0181.
  17. ^ "Archívum – Slágerlisták – MAHASZ" (in Hungarian). Single (track) Top 40 lista. Magyar Hanglemezkiadók Szövetsége. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  18. ^ "Blackpink Chart History (Philippines Songs)". Billboard. Archived from the original on December 12, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  19. ^ "RIAS Top Charts Week 38 (16 - 22 Sep 2022)". RIAS. September 27, 2022. Archived from the original on September 27, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  20. ^ "Digital Chart – Week 39 of 2022". Circle Chart (in Korean). Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  21. ^ "Blackpink Chart History: World Digital Song Sales". Billboard. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  22. ^ "Circle Digital Chart – September 2022". Circle Chart (in Korean). Archived from the original on October 6, 2022. Retrieved October 6, 2022.