BLACKPINK’s Lisa has officially released her highly anticipated single album Lalisa, and is now reflecting on what it was like when she first heard that it was finally her turn to record songs as a solo artist. In Rolling Stone’s series The First Time, the rapper shared her reaction to the exciting news from her label in a video published on Tuesday (Sept. 21).
“I think we started [working on the album] around March. At the time, I was like, ‘Is this the beginning? Is it my turn? It’s time for me to shine?’ It felt unbelievable, but it was so great,” Lisa said. “I heard ‘Money’ first, and after that I heard ‘Lalisa.’ Both songs just felt like they were mine. I told Teddy [Park], ‘Oppa, I wanna do ‘Money’ and ‘Lalisa,’ so he was like, ‘OK, let’s do it.’”
After Lisa’s self-titled single album debuted, lead track “Lalisa” made it into the Billboard Hot 100, entering the chart at No. 84. The song also debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard Global 200 chart and the Global Excl. U.S. chart.
Lisa is the third member of BLACKPINK to release a solo project. Jennie paved the way, releasing her aptly titled tune “Solo” in 2018. She was followed by Rosé, who dropped her single album, -R-, in March this year. Jisoo will be the final one to release solo music.
In the interview, Lisa also gave a detailed account on what it was like to meet her fellow BLACKPINK members during their training days at YG Entertainment.
“I met Jennie first, and after that I met Jisoo and Rosie. I remember Jennie — she was the only one to say ‘hi’ to me in English because other people can’t talk in English, so we were super close,” Lisa shared. “Jisoo unnie … I remember when I first saw her, she wore a red hoodie … seriously, every day she wore that to practice. And as for Rosie, she had a guitar with her. I was like, ‘Wow, she’s from Australia. She’s the same age as me, which is really cool to have a new friend come in.’”
Watch Lisa’s full interview below.
