A debut release joins BLACKPINK's biggest videos
BLACKPINK's debut music video Boombayah has surpassed 1.9 billion views on YouTube, becoming the first music video for a K-pop group's debut song to reach that figure. The achievement gives the quartet three videos above the same threshold, alongside Ddu-Du Ddu-Du and Kill This Love.
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YG Entertainment said Boombayah had exceeded 1.9 billion views as of Sunday. Other reports place the crossing on the morning of October 4, Korean time. Those accounts do not explicitly state the year of the latest milestone, leaving an important limit on how precisely its timing can be established.
The video was released on August 8, 2016, when BLACKPINK introduced its first single album, Square One. Boombayah and Whistle were the two tracks on that release, making the latest achievement a record for a song that introduced the group rather than one released after its international audience was established.
The distinction is specific: Boombayah holds the reported record among K-pop debut music videos. It is not BLACKPINK's most viewed video, and the milestone does not mean that 1.9 billion different people watched it. YouTube views are a cumulative count of viewing activity, not a count of unique viewers.
Earlier figures show how the debut video continued gaining views through several stages of the group's career. It passed 1.5 billion in November 2022, reached 1.6 billion in July 2023 and crossed 1.7 billion in June 2024. The new figure adds another 200 million views to that last reported benchmark, an increase of about 11.8 percent.
The milestones behind the latest total
Boombayah's progress can be traced through a series of reported thresholds, rather than just the latest headline number. Its first 300 million views arrived in April 2018. By February 2020, the total had reached 800 million, and the video passed 1 billion later that year.
The subsequent timeline shows continued viewing years after the debut release. Several milestones have precise dates and times attributed to YG Entertainment, while others are recorded only by month or year.
- August 8, 2016: Boombayah was released with BLACKPINK's debut single album, Square One.
- April 2018: The video exceeded 300 million views.
- February 2020: It passed 800 million views, followed by 1 billion during 2020.
- 2021: Reported milestones included 1.1 billion and 1.3 billion views.
- 2022: It reached 1.4 billion, then passed 1.5 billion on November 12 at about 3:50 a.m.
- July 4, 2023: YG announced that it had exceeded 1.6 billion views at approximately 6:49 a.m.
- June 2024: The total crossed 1.7 billion views.
- Latest announcement: The video exceeded 1.9 billion views, reported as Sunday and as the morning of October 4.
The July 2023 crossing is described in another account as occurring at about 6:50 a.m., a rounded time consistent with the more precise 6:49 a.m. figure. Both accounts put the milestone roughly six years and 11 months after the August 2016 release.
What the dates establish, and what they do not
The latest reports describe the journey to 1.9 billion as taking just over a decade. One gives an elapsed period of 10 years, one month and 25 days. That duration cannot be accepted as a fully verified calculation without an explicit year for the October 4 announcement.
There is also a small arithmetic discrepancy. Ten years, one month and 25 days after August 8, 2016, falls on October 3, 2026, rather than October 4. The view threshold and the reported elapsed time should therefore be treated separately: the former is attributed to YG Entertainment, while the latter requires clarification.
Earlier milestones allow firmer comparisons. The rise from 1.4 billion to 1.5 billion took about seven months, according to the November 2022 announcement. The next 100 million views accumulated between November 12, 2022, and July 4, 2023, a period of nearly eight months.
Those intervals document sustained viewing, but they do not establish a constant growth rate. The reports give selected thresholds, not a daily viewing history. They also provide no date for the 1.8 billion crossing, so the final stretch to 1.9 billion cannot be divided into equally documented steps.
Three videos, one rising benchmark
Boombayah's achievement extends a pattern already visible in BLACKPINK's earlier records. In November 2022, it became the group's third video to exceed 1.5 billion views. Ddu-Du Ddu-Ddu was then reported at approximately 1.976 billion, while Kill This Love had passed 1.6 billion.
By July 2023, Boombayah was the third BLACKPINK video above 1.6 billion. At that point, Ddu-Du Ddu-Du had exceeded 2 billion and Kill This Love had reached 1.8 billion. The same three titles have now cleared the higher threshold of 1.9 billion.
The latest reports describe BLACKPINK as the only K-pop act with three separate videos above that mark. Together, those videos account for more than 5.7 billion views, calculated from the minimum threshold each has crossed. Their actual combined total is higher, but current exact counts for all three are not given.
This comparison also explains why the debut record and the group record are distinct. Boombayah leads the reported category for K-pop debut videos, while its place beside two later releases shows that BLACKPINK's viewing totals are spread across multiple songs. The record is not dependent on a single video attracting nearly all of the group's audience.
A debut song within a much larger channel
Historical channel figures put the individual video milestones into perspective. In November 2022, BLACKPINK's official YouTube channel had more than 82.8 million subscribers, and cumulative video views were reported at 27.7 billion. By July 2023, the figures were 89.6 million subscribers and 31.9 billion views.
The reported subscriber figures differ by 6.8 million, although the earlier figure was stated as more than 82.8 million rather than an exact count. Cumulative views increased by 4.2 billion, or approximately 15.2 percent, between those two snapshots.
Over the same period, Boombayah moved from the 1.5 billion threshold to 1.6 billion. Its increase was therefore one part of much wider viewing activity across the group's videos. Because the figures are rounded snapshots, they should not be used to calculate an exact share of channel growth.
The November 2022 account also listed 37 BLACKPINK videos with at least 100 million views. That figure offers a broader measure of the audience's reach across the catalogue, beyond the three videos that now exceed 1.9 billion. None of these historical channel totals should be presented as a current subscriber count or current cumulative view total.
Albums, touring and individual releases
The viewing milestones developed alongside other measures of BLACKPINK's international reach. The group's first studio album, The Album, peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. Its second, Born Pink, reached No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and the UK Official Albums Top 100, achievements described as firsts for a K-pop girl group.
Those rankings measure a different form of audience activity from YouTube views. An album chart position reflects performance during a particular chart period, while Boombayah's total has accumulated since its release. Together, the figures document success in both album consumption and music video viewing without making the two measures interchangeable.
The November 2022 milestone also coincided with BLACKPINK's world tour. The itinerary described at that time included 14 North American shows across seven cities, followed by 10 European shows in seven cities during November and December. Asia and Oceania were scheduled to follow in 2023. These were plans reported at that stage, not a schedule for upcoming performances.
Separate reports accompanying the latest view announcement describe solo singles from Rose, Lisa and Jisoo in September, and a digital EP titled Fallen Angel from Jennie in the preceding month. They do not give an explicit year or exact release dates for those releases. That limits how confidently they can be placed beside the latest video milestone.
No date has been announced for Boombayah to reach 2 billion views. From the 1.9 billion benchmark, another 100 million would be needed, equivalent to approximately 5.3 percent of that total. The historical milestones show continued accumulation, but do not provide enough information for a reliable forecast.
Key Points
- Boombayah has surpassed 1.9 billion YouTube views, according to an announcement attributed to YG Entertainment.
- It is reported as the first K-pop group debut music video to reach that threshold.
- BLACKPINK now has three videos above 1.9 billion views, including Ddu-Du Ddu-Du and Kill This Love.
- Boombayah debuted on August 8, 2016, alongside Whistle on Square One.
- Earlier documented milestones include 1.5 billion in November 2022, 1.6 billion in July 2023 and 1.7 billion in June 2024.
- The year of the latest October 4 announcement is not explicit, and the reported elapsed time needs clarification.
- No date has been announced for a possible 2 billion view milestone.
