Shut Down

Lore & Background

The song's title was described by YG Entertainment as 'intuitive but strangely tense.' Lyrically, 'Shut Down' shows the members' response to criticism from their haters, with Elle's Erica Gonzales writing that 'throughout the track, the girls take turns telling their haters and doubters to take a seat.' The music video references previous Blackpink videos, mirroring scenes from 'Playing with Fire,' 'Whistle,' 'Ddu-Du Ddu-Du,' 'Boombayah,' and 'Kill This Love.' In one scene, Lisa stands on a deck against a dark sky from 'Playing with Fire'; Jennie raps while sitting on a military tank with pink shopping bags from 'Ddu-Du Ddu-Du'; and Jisoo protects herself from raining money with a pink umbrella, also from 'Ddu-Du Ddu-Du.' The video surpassed 100 million views in five days and three hours.

In Their Own Story

On July 31, 2022, a teaser video announced a new album in September, preceded by the pre-release single 'Pink Venom' on August 19. On August 24, YG Entertainment announced Blackpink was filming the music video for their second album's lead single in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The label stated: 'they are working hard on a schedule to fulfill their promises to their fans … all the songs on the album are the crystals that will write a new story for Blackpink, but the title song in particular will be a song that will surprise world music fans.' On September 6, the title poster for 'Shut Down' was released. From September 10 to 13, promotional posters featuring each member were released. On September 13, a teaser for the music video was released, and the official music video was released on September 16. The group held a livestream on their official YouTube channel one hour before the release of Born Pink, on a large stage themed after the concept of 'Shut Down,' where members revealed behind-the-scenes stories of the music video filming and sneak peeks of the Born Pink World Tour.

Reader's Guide

The song debuted at number one on the Billboard Global 200 with 152.8 million streams and 17,000 downloads sold, earning Blackpink their second number-one hit on the chart after 'Pink Venom.' With 'Pink Venom' at number two, Blackpink became the first group to hold the top two spots in a single week on the Global 200. 'Shut Down' debuted at number one on the Global Excl. US with 140 million streams and 13,000 downloads sold outside the US, earning Blackpink their third number-one hit on the chart after 'Lovesick Girls' and 'Pink Venom.' The group became the fourth act to debut atop the Global 200, Global Excl. US and Billboard 200 charts simultaneously with 'Shut Down' and its parent album Born Pink, joining BTS, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift. In South Korea, the track peaked at number three on the Circle Digital Chart. It entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 25 and the UK Singles Chart at number 24. The song also topped charts in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and entered the top ten in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, India, and South Korea. It was later certified platinum in South Korea and Canada, gold in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand, and silver in the United Kingdom. 'Shut Down' won 10 music program awards in South Korea, including triple crowns on Show Champion, M Countdown, and Inkigayo. It received three weekly Melon Popularity Awards on September 26, October 3, and October 10, 2022.

Did You Know?

• 'Shut Down' was the first song by a K-pop act to top Spotify's weekly chart.
• The song samples the beginning of the third movement of Niccolò Paganini's second violin concerto, commonly known as 'La Campanella'.
• The music video surpassed 100 million views in five days and three hours.
• Blackpink became the first group to hold the top two spots in a single week on the Billboard Global 200 with 'Shut Down' and 'Pink Venom'.
• The choreography was created by Kiel Tutin, Taryn Cheng, Lee Jeong (Ri Jeong), and Kyle Hanagami of the choreography team YGX.