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BLACKPINK's Jennie is one of the most recognized faces in K-pop and global fashion, the Chanel-clad rapper and vocalist whose solo single SOLO kicked off a wave of BLACKPINK breakout careers. Even diehard BLINKs may be surprised by some of the details behind her rise. Here are 5 fascinating facts about Jennie that go beyond the stage lights.
1. She Grew Up in New Zealand and Speaks Fluent English
Born Jennie Kim on January 16, 1996, in the greater Seoul area, Jennie was sent to study in Auckland, New Zealand at the age of around nine. She attended Waikowhai Intermediate School and later ACG Parnell College, living with a homestay family for roughly five years. That international childhood gave her near-native English fluency, a rarity among K-pop idols, and she has often said her time in New Zealand is one of the happiest memories of her life.
2. She Trained at YG Entertainment for Six Long Years
When Jennie returned to Korea around 2010, she headed straight to YG Entertainment, the agency she had dreamed of joining since her New Zealand days. She signed as a trainee in August 2010 and spent roughly six years training before BLACKPINK finally debuted on August 8, 2016 with Square One and the singles Boombayah and Whistle. During those trainee years she already gained a fanbase as the mystery girl in G-Dragon's That XX music video and as a featured voice on Lee Hi's Special.
3. She Was the First BLACKPINK Member to Go Solo
On November 12, 2018, Jennie made history as the first BLACKPINK member to release a solo single. SOLO, filmed across London, debuted at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart and the Billboard K-pop Hot 100, and it later became the first music video by a female K-pop soloist to surpass one billion YouTube views. The song framed Jennie as a confident, independent woman after a breakup, and it set the blueprint for the solo careers that Rose, Lisa and Jisoo would later launch.
4. She Has Been a Chanel Brand Ambassador Since 2017
Jennie's connection with Chanel is so close that fans long ago crowned her Human Chanel. She was named a Chanel brand ambassador in 2017, the youngest at the time, and has been a fixture in the front row of Paris Fashion Week for years, opening looks for Coco Beach, Coco Crush jewelry, and the house's ready-to-wear collections. Her style choices regularly drive global Chanel search interest into the millions, making her one of the most commercially powerful luxury muses in K-pop.
5. She Runs Her Own Label, OA, and Released a Hit Album, Ruby
When her exclusive solo contract with YG ended, Jennie founded her own label, OA (short for Odd Atelier), in November 2023 and announced it publicly on December 24, 2023. The agency, headed by her mother, was set up to handle her solo projects while YG continues to manage BLACKPINK's group activities. Under OA, Jennie released her first full-length album Ruby on March 7, 2025, featuring lead single Mantra and collaborations with Childish Gambino, Dua Lipa, Doechii, Dominic Fike and Kali Uchis. Ruby debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200.
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