Square Two is the second single album by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released digitally on November 1, 2016, by YG Entertainment and was distributed through KT Music. The single album consists of the songs "Playing with Fire" and "Stay", as well as an acoustic version of "Whistle". Lyrics on the single album were written by Teddy and the production was also handled by Teddy, R. Tee and Seo Won-jin.[1][2]
| Square Two | ||||
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| Single album by | ||||
| Released | November 1, 2016 | |||
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| Length | 10:39 | |||
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| Blackpink chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Square Two | ||||
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Promotion
editOn October 19, 2016, it was revealed that Blackpink would be the next YG Entertainment artist to make a comeback. On October 24, the teaser images of members Lisa and Jennie were revealed, with the name of one of the main titles, "Playing With Fire", followed by the teaser images of Rosé and Jisoo the following day. The teaser photos of the entire group were revealed on October 27 for the second main track "Stay".[3] On October 30, YG Entertainment posted a backstage video for "Stay"[4] and the next day for "Playing With Fire".
The group performed their two new titles live for the first time at SBS' Inkigayo on November 6.[5]
Music videos
editThe music videos of "Playing with Fire" was directed by Seo Hyun-seung and "Stay" was directed by Han Sa-min, who had previously directed the music videos of "Gotta Be You" by 2NE1 and "Sober" by Big Bang. They were posted on Blackpink's official YouTube channel on November 1, 2016.
Blackpink also posted the music video clip for the choreography of "Playing With Fire" on its official YouTube channel on November 4, 2016. The choreography was created by Kyle Hanagami, who has already worked with the group for the song "Boombayah" from their previous single album Square One.
Commercial performance
editIn the United States, Square Two debuted on the Billboard Top Heatseekers chart at number 13 and on the Billboard World Albums chart with 1,000 copies sold in its first week of release.[6] The following week, the album rose to a peak of number 2 on the World Albums chart for the chart issue dated November 26, 2016.[7] The album stayed on the World Albums chart for a total of 22 non-consecutive weeks.[8] As of August 2017, Square Two moved 7,000 copies and the five singles included on the digital EP sold a total of 113,000 digital song downloads in the U.S.[9]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Arrangement | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Playing with Fire" (불장난; Buljangnan) | Teddy |
| R. Tee | 3:17 |
| 2. | "Stay" | Teddy |
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| 3:50 |
| 3. | "Whistle" (휘파람; acoustic version) |
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| Seo | 3:52 |
| Total length: | 10:39 | ||||
Charts
edit| Chart (2016) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[10] | 13 |
| US World Albums (Billboard)[7] | 2 |
References
edit- ^ "Playing with Fire (BLACKPINK) - Melon". Melon (in Korean). Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "Stay (BLACKPINK) - Melon". Melon (in Korean). Retrieved May 3, 2021.
- ^ "'자신감↑' 블랙핑크, 2연속 '더블 타이틀곡' 확정..'불장난'+'스테이'". Naver. October 27, 2016. Archived from the original on March 30, 2019.
- ^ Ent, Y. G. "With Two Days to go Until its Comeback, BLACKPINK Reveals the Behind-the-scenes Video of its "STAY" MV". YG LIFE. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- ^ "[단독] 블랙핑크, 11월6일 '인기가요'+10일 '엠카' 연속 컴백 확정". October 29, 2016. Archived from the original on March 29, 2019.
- ^ Benjamin, Jeff (November 9, 2016). "Blackpink Earn Second No. 1 on World Digital Songs, Debut on Social 50". Billboard. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved November 10, 2016.
- ^ a b "Blackpink Chart History (World Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- ^ "Blackpink Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved October 20, 2021.
- ^ Benjamin, Jeff. "Happy Anniversary, Blackpink: A Breakdown of Their Major Chart Accomplishments After 1 Year". Billboard. Retrieved August 12, 2017.
- ^ "Blackpink Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved March 1, 2020.