It's not easy to deal with stardom. Jennie Kim of immensely popular girl group Blackpink believes the same.
Speaking to Dua Lipa on her BBC Sounds “Dua Lipa: At Your Service” podcast, Kim opened up about the pressures of being a K-Pop idol, a media outlet reported.
“Starting my career in Korea as a K-pop artist has restricted so many sides of me, where it wasn’t just allowed to be shown because I’m a K-pop idol. And I was scared, I think, also to express myself,” she said
“And as things grew, over time, I was able to express myself and people would see it as breaking the boundaries rather than ‘she’s doing something that she’s not allowed to do’ and being able to open a new chapter for people that is starting in the business in Korea.”
She added, "That’s when I realised I want to break more boundaries for people in my culture to understand that expressing yourself as however you want – here shouldn’t be a standard. There shouldn’t be a reason to judge and just see it as, ‘oh, that’s how that person expresses themselves."
Earlier this year, Blackpink lit up Coachella with a set that included ‘Tally’. It was an emotional experience for Kim. “I was under so much pressure, I think it was my first time crying. Just as soon as I was off stage, I just burst into tears. It was so emotional. I was so proud with the hard work that we put in and the overwhelming feeling that we got from the crowd. It was just a lot,” Kim said.