Though she has many other projects in the works (including a possible cameo in 2022’s Scream), Selena Gomez managed to spend a good portion of the past year focused on music.
- Watch: Rosé And Bruno Mars Take 3rd Win For "APT." On "M Countdown"
- BLACKPINK's Rosé Announces Solo Comeback With Teasers For 1st Studio Album "rosie"
- BOYNEXTDOOR, DAY6, aespa, Jimin, And BLACKPINK Top Circle Weekly Charts
Though she has many other projects in the works (including a possible cameo in 2022’s Scream), Selena Gomez managed to spend a good portion of the past year focused on music. Among her releases was a hit song with K-pop group BLACKPINK. Learn why Gomez wanted to work with them.
Selena Gomez released ‘Ice Cream’ with BLACKPINK
Following the release of Rare, Gomez’s first album in five years, fans of the artist didn’t know what to expect. Would she continue focusing on acting and producing projects, or would there be more new music in the near future? Fortunately, they got a little of both in the months that followed.
Gomez had a busy summer. The same weekend This Is the Year, a film she executive produced with her Wizards of Waverly Place co-star David Henrie, dropped, she and BLACKPINK debuted their single, “Ice Cream.” (Oh, and a week later, she released her makeup line, Rare Beauty.)
The music video was filmed on 2 continents
Gomez co-wrote “Ice Cream” along with several others, including Ariana Grande. The song debuted on August 28, 2020, along with an accompanying music video. But geography was an issue. While many tracks are pieces together from artists recording at separate studios, a music video is another story.
However, they managed to make it work. Gomez filmed her part of the video in the U.S., while BLACKPINK members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa shot theirs together in South Korea. The cutesy, colorful video earned plenty of attention for its fun summer vibes, playful outfits, and thematic inclusions.
What Gomez said about working with BLACKPINK
As it’s the most recent song she’s released, Gomez spoke about “Ice Cream” and her collaborators for Billboard’s profile on her label in December 2020. “BLACKPINK is an incredible group and their album is awesome, and I thought it would be so fun to step into a whole different world, so it was a no-brainer,” she said of the opportunity.
“It was very different from any music I’ve done, but that was the point,” Gomez continued. “The idea of doing something with a dominant girl group, bringing their culture here — and obviously they did equal for me over there — it just seemed so perfect,” she added of the song and music video.
BLACKPINK similarly praised Gomez
For the BLACKPINK working with an American pop star like Gomez is a great cross-promotional tool. They previously did something similar with Lady Gaga on her Chromatica track “Sour Candy.” And though they couldn’t meet in person, the collaboration came about organically.
“We’ve been aware of her for a very long time,” Jennie told Apple Music during a joint interview. “And luckily, when this song came out on song cam, we had the idea to have Selena on it because we obviously knew she would fit into it right away. And yeah, it happened very naturally.”
/////
BLACKPINK And Selena Gomez Overcome "Despacito" and Sets Super Record Milestone
The song marks the first collaboration of Jennie, Jisoo, Lisa, and Rosé with Disney alum Selena Gomez.
BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez's first collab
For starters, "Ice Cream" was released as the second single of BLACKPINK's "The Album" EP on Aug. 28, 2020. Initially, the song created noise when it was confirmed that American pop superstar Ariana Grande co-wrote the song with Selena Gomez, Victoria Mońet, Steven Franks, Bekuh Boom, Teddy, and Tommy Brown.
"Ice Cream" caught the hearts of many due to its playful and bouncy electropop beats that it peaked at number 13 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and number 8 on Billboard Global 200 chart. The first song of BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez stayed on the list for several weeks since its release, making it the longest-charting song of an all-girl South Korean group on the Hot 100 chart.
The said song even entered the hit charts of several other countries worldwide, including Hungary and Singapore. With its undeniable success, it came as no surprise that "Ice Cream" was nominated for the Best Music Video of 2020 Award at People's Choice Awards, Best Collaboration at the 2020 MTV Europe Music Awards, and Song of the Year at the upcoming 2021 Gaon Chart Music Awards.
As of late, the official "Ice Cream" music video has garnered 439 million views on YouTube already. The clip launched on Aug. 28, amassed a whopping 79.08 million views in its first 24 hours. The video even topped the Global YouTube Music Video Chart. BLACKPINK, by the way, is the first K-Pop act to have four music videos with over 15 million likes each on YouTube, which include "How You Like That," "Kill This Love," DDU-DU-DDU-DU" and "Ice Cream."
The faster collaboration song to surpass the 15 million views milestone
Record after record, “Ice Cream” by BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez becomes the FIRST all-female collaboration to have 15 MILLION likes in the history of YouTube. They successfully come over "Side to Side" by Adriana Grande ft. Nicky Minaj (9.9M), "Tusa" by Nicki Minaj ft Karol C (8.8M) and "Bang Bang" by Jessie J ft Adriana Grande and Nicki Minaj (8.2M).
Not just that, BLACKPINK and Selena Gomez's collab also surpassed "Despacito" with the amount of likes, in categories of collab songs.
Congratulations, BLACKPINK!
