The Girls (Blackpink song)

On April 4, 2023, YG Entertainment revealed that the mobile game Blackpink: The Game would be launching in the second quarter of 2023, as well as an original soundtrack and music video accompanying it.^[1] Developed by TakeOne Company, the game officially launched on May 18 on mobile app platforms. The same day, a music video teaser was released, confirming the soundtrack's title to be "The Girls" and revealing a snippet of the song as animated avatars of the Blackpink members danced to it.^[2] Record producer Ryan Tedder, who worked with Blackpink on "Bet You Wanna" (2020), posted a teaser of "The Girls" on his social media handles, confirming his involvement on the song.^[3] In 2022, Tedder had confirmed in an interview with Good Morning America that he had written songs with members Jennie and Rosé for their upcoming album, describing the process as very much Blackpink's work with him supporting and contributing, though none of his songs ultimately ended up on Born Pink (2022).^[4]

Initially planned to be released simultaneously with the game release, the song and its music video were indefinitely delayed due to work on presenting the "highest-quality content" for the video taking "longer than expected." On July 4, the game team released a statement apologizing for the delay and announcing that the music video would be released in the game within a month.^[5] On August 3, they announced the official release date of "The Girls" in the game to be August 23.^[6] TakeOne Company also announced that a physical package, available in "Stella" and "Reve" versions and containing a QR code to download the song and lyrics, would be released two days later.^[7] On social media, the song's producer Ryan Tedder confirmed that "The Girls" would be introduced to streaming platforms as well as radio upon release.^[8] The song and its music video premiered in Blackpink: The Game on August 23, accompanied by a viewing party hosted on Blackpink's YouTube channel in which the group play several games and react to the video. Following the premiere, YG Entertainment announced with a teaser poster that "The Girls" would be officially released as a digital single on August 25.^[9][10] The song was sent for radio airplay in Italy on September 8.^[11]

"The Girls" serves as the soundtrack for the group's mobile game Blackpink: The Game,^[12] written and composed by Ryan Tedder alongside group members Jennie and Rosé with their frequent collaborator Danny Chung, in addition to Melanie Fontana, Michel 'Lindgren' Schulz, and Madison Love.^[13][14] It is an EDM and trap-based track^[15] that features hip-hop-leaning beats^[16] and a Turkish flute sound throughout the song.^[14] Its lyrics revolve around "the importance of being independent and courageous."^[17]

On May 18, 2023, a 22-second music video teaser for "The Girls" was released, featuring a snippet of the song with the refrain "Don't mess with the girls."^[18] The music video was released on August 23 in Blackpink: The Game and on August 25 in Blackpink's YouTube channel. In the video, animated avatars of the Blackpink members are depicted singing and performing choreography to the song.^[9]

The physical version of "The Girls" debuted at number one on the Circle Album Chart dated August 20–26, 2023 with 160,460 copies sold in the first week, becoming Blackpink's fifth number-one album on the chart.^[19] It debuted at number 13 on the monthly chart with 178,360 copies sold.^[20] It sold a total of 191,610 copies in 2023.^[21]