K-POP

Lady Gaga Gives Blackpink a Shoutout (Fittingly, in Pink)

by Steph Eckardt

Lady Gaga wearing bright red lipstick and flashing a peace sign
Courtesy of @ladygaga

Blackpink couldn’t be enjoying a better response to “Pink Venom,” the first single off their upcoming comeback album Born Pink. The song is currently no. 1 on the Billboard Global Charts, and its accompanying fashion-packed music video (which they brought to life during their first U.S. awards show performance at Sunday’s VMAs) has racked up more than 226,000,000 views since its August 19 release. To top it all off, on Monday, Lady Gaga gave “Pink Venom” an added boost by using it as the soundtrack of a pink-heavy Instagram dispatch from Tokyo, Japan. (She’s in town for the latest stops on her The Chromatica Ball tour.)

Blackpink weren’t the only ones to get a shoutout in the post. Gaga captioned the video “Haus of Yamamoto” in a nod to Kansai Yamamoto, the pioneering Japanese designer who died of leukemia in 2020 at the age of 76. While best known for outfitting David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust—beginning in 1971, the same year he became the first Japanese designer to show at London Fashion Week—Gaga has put him back on the map by repeatedly championing his designs over the past decade. The 36-year-old pop star was a riot of colors in a loudly printed silk Yamamoto blouse and matching wide-leg trousers, accessorized with an Austin James Smith statement earring and yet another pair of towering platform boots.

It’s interesting timing to find out that Gaga’s love of Blackpink is still going strong. They gave her assist on Chromatica’s “Sour Candy” in 2020, and we wouldn’t be surprised if she returned the favor when it comes time for Born Pink.