Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love
(Last Update: 10 Aug 2022) Almost two years ago, we first heard Blackpink’s unreleased track ‘Ready For Love’ on their Netflix documentary ‘Light Up The Sky’ that was released in October 2020. The scenes where the members were recording the track in the studio were included in the documentary, garnering high interest from Blinks who wondered when the official track is going to be released. Almost 2 years (and unofficial fan versions, leak versions, and short version) later, we finally got the full official version of ‘Ready To Love’ that was released on July 29th in collaboration with PUBG Mobile who produced the virtual music video.
My take on the new song: ‘Ready To Love’ is gooood. It’s so satisfying to finally heard the full version of the song after all these years. The song opens with Rosé’s beautiful dreamy intro, followed by Jisoo’s stable husky voice and Lisa’s upbeat rhythmic tone for the first verse and then Jennie’s and Rosé’s powerful vocals buildup on the pre-chorus before the beat finally drops for the chorus. For the second verse, Lisa’s rap flow is smooth and impeccable as always. The bridge where Jisoo opens with her strong vocal and then layered with Rosé’s harmonization before she ends the song with her distinct voice was definitely one of the highlight of this song.
My favorite parts are probably the intro (that intro stuck in my head days after I first heard it on ‘Light Up The Sky’ and then later after I heard it on The Virtual) and the bridge (Jisoo and Rosé sound so good!). Although every members sounds as good as I expect them to be (they are all excellent singers after all), I feel Jisoo and (especially) Rosé really shine in this song. What’s also impressive is how the girls sound exactly the same as the clip from ‘Light Up The Sky’ where they’re recording the lines from the song in the studio live and unfiltered. (Watch the clip below)
If you’ve heard the leak version (hear it on the clip below), you probably noticed that on official MV, the song has a different outro. While the leak version ended with Lisa’s more playful melody, the official version actually ended with Rosé’s anthem-like melody which prompted Blinks to use this “La-la-la, la-la-la-la” part as a background music for sports highlight clips (I saw a bunch of them circulating on Twitter and on TikTok days after the MV dropped). I mean, it’s actually quite fitting and works well with the overall vibe of sport events.
I honestly like both versions. They’re different, but they still fit well with the overall song either way. I did a poll on my Instagram to see what other Blinks think, and it seems like most of who voted like both versions too.
For this release, Blinks didn’t really set any views goal since the track has already been featured on ‘Light Up The Sky’ and has been leaked online so it’s not necessarily a new song per se. The big fanbases urged fellow Blinks to just enjoy the song and get ready for the group’s official comeback. Despite of that, 'Ready For Love' music video received a whopping 15.7 million views and 2.5 million likes in its first 24 hours on YouTube (@BLACKPINK's channel) (Source: @chartsblackpink). As of Aug 7, the song hasn’t been officially released on Spotify yet (I do hope they’ll release it at some point so I can addd this song to my playlist).
Here’s a timeline on how Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready To Love unfolded:
25 Jul ‘22 — A day after Blackpink x PUBG Mobile in-game concert ‘The Virtual’ first weekend concert has wrapped up, PUBG Mobile uploaded a post on their Instagram account announcing the release date of the music video for Ready For Love which is scheduled to release on July 29th, 1PM (KST)
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
26 Jul ‘22 — Sneak peek of the music video was uploaded on PUBG Mobil Instagram and Twitter account, featuring six different scenes from the MV. The scenes are pretty nicely done I should say. Wondering how the avatars will look in these environments because the ones I saw from The Virtual seem to have a different aesthetic compared to these scenes.
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love Sneak Peek | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love Sneak Peek | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love Sneak Peek | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love Sneak Peek | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love Sneak Peek | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love Sneak Peek | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
27 Jul ‘22 — The concept teaser of the music video is uploaded on PUBG Mobile Youtube channel, Instagram and Twitter account.
28 Jul ‘22 — PUBG Mobile released the individual avatar posters as well as the final countdown poster and sneak peek at BLACKPINK's new virtual music video ‘Ready For Love’.
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love - Rosé Avatar | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love - Jisoo Avatar | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love - Lisa Avatar | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love - Jennie Avatar | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
I did a poll on my Instagram asking which one is your favorite avatar and looking from the poll result, it seems like Rosé’s avatar is the popular choice.
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love Final Teaser Poster | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
29 Jul ‘22 — On the D-day, 1.5 hours before the music video was released, PUBG Mobile uploaded a special video message from Blackpink members.
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love Poster | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
‘Ready To Love’ music video was the released to the public at 1PM (KST). Watch the full music video below.
Minutes after the MV was released, Jisoo updated on Weverse asking if Blinks already saw the MV.
Rosé also updated on her Instagram story with the link to the MV.
30 Jul ‘22 — PUBG Mobile released the second set of individual ‘Ready For Love’ avatar posters of the members.
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love - Rosé Avatar | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love - Jisoo Avatar | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love - Lisa Avatar | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
Blackpink x PUBG Mobile: Ready For Love - Jennie Avatar | Photo Courtesy: PUBG Mobile
'Ready For Love' music video has received 15.7 million views and 2.5 million likes in its first 24 hours on YouTube (@BLACKPINK's channel).
7 Aug ‘22 — #BLACKPINK x @PUBGMOBILE “READY FOR LOVE” gained the biggest weekly debut by a K-Pop Female Act in 2022 on YouTube Global Top Music Video with over 43.7M views!
9 Aug ‘22
10 Aug ‘22
