True Taste Korea

BLACKPINK

  • Why Did ROSÉ Shoot “New Trick” on an iPhone 18 Pro?

    ROSÉ could have used almost any camera she wanted.

    She is one of the biggest K-pop stars in the world, and her music videos can involve major directors, large crews and expensive production.

    But for her new single “new trick,” she did something unexpected.

    The entire music video was shot on an iPhone 18 Pro.

    So why would ROSÉ shoot a major music video on a phone?

    The answer is more interesting than simply “because Apple sponsored it.”

    Yes, the Apple Collaboration Is Real

    First, the obvious part.

    “new trick” was created in collaboration with Apple’s Shot on iPhone campaign, and the video was filmed entirely using the iPhone 18 Pro.

    It was directed by Dave Meyers, the veteran music-video director who has worked with artists including Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Ariana Grande.

    Apple says the phone’s 48MP main camera and new variable-aperture system were used to capture low-light footage and create depth of field.

    But there is an important distinction.

    Shot on an iPhone does not mean someone simply pulled a phone out of a pocket and pressed record.

    A professional production can still use lighting, stabilization equipment, sets, a full crew and extensive editing.

    The unusual part is that the device actually capturing the footage was the iPhone.

    Why ROSÉ?

    This is where the collaboration starts making more sense.

    Apple has used major musicians in Shot on iPhone projects before, including Lady Gaga, The Weeknd and Olivia Rodrigo.

    ROSÉ fits naturally into that group.

    She isn’t only a BLACKPINK member anymore.

    Her solo career has increasingly positioned her between K-pop and global pop.

    That gives Apple something valuable.

    ROSÉ can reach K-pop fans, mainstream pop listeners and younger audiences interested in fashion and visual culture at the same time.

    And Apple gives ROSÉ something valuable too:

    a music video with an instant story attached to it.

    Instead of simply asking,

    “Have you heard ROSÉ’s new song?”

    people also ask:

    “Wait — was that really filmed on an iPhone?”

    That curiosity becomes promotion for both the song and the phone.

    “New Trick” Was a Good Song for This Experiment

    The song itself also matters.

    According to The Black Label, “new trick” is an energetic garage-punk track about overcoming life’s wounds and romantic hardship and finding a new way to move forward.

    It also marks a tonal change from much of ROSÉ’s earlier solo material.

    Rather than remaining inside the introspective sadness associated with parts of rosie, “new trick” is brighter, more playful and more energetic.

    That makes the title almost perfect for the collaboration.

    A new song.

    A different mood.

    A different visual approach.

    A literal “new trick.”

    The Video Still Looks Like a Real Music Video

    This may actually be the most important part of Apple’s strategy.

    If the video looked obviously like amateur smartphone footage, the campaign wouldn’t be nearly as effective.

    Instead, Dave Meyers built a colorful, nostalgic visual world around ROSÉ, including youthful styling, a vintage car, band-performance scenes and an early-2000s pop-rock atmosphere.

    So viewers first see a polished ROSÉ music video.

    Then they learn:

    This was shot on a phone.

    That reversal is what makes the campaign work.

    Apple doesn’t need to tell viewers that the camera is powerful.

    The company wants the video itself to make people ask how a phone produced those images.

    But Could an Ordinary Person Make the Same Video?

    Not exactly.

    And this is worth saying.

    Buying an iPhone 18 Pro will not suddenly turn someone’s bedroom video into a Dave Meyers production.

    Professional cinematography is much more than a camera.

    Lighting matters.

    Composition matters.

    Production design matters.

    Camera movement matters.

    Editing matters.

    And, most importantly, the people behind the camera matter.

    So “shot entirely on iPhone” demonstrates what the device can capture inside a professional production environment. It doesn’t mean the phone alone created the final result.

    That distinction actually makes the project more interesting, not less.

    ROSÉ and Apple Were Selling the Same Idea

    Look at what both sides needed.

    Apple wanted to say:

    You don’t need a traditional cinema camera to capture cinematic-looking footage.

    ROSÉ’s new song says something surprisingly compatible:

    When life changes, find a new way forward.

    Different product.

    Different purpose.

    But almost the same concept.

    Try something new.

    That’s why shooting “new trick” on the iPhone 18 Pro doesn’t feel completely random.

    It turns the title of the song into part of the marketing idea itself.

    Maybe the Phone Is Part of the Music Video’s Story

    There will naturally be debate over whether celebrity technology collaborations are art, advertising, or both.

    In this case, the simplest answer may be:

    both.

    ROSÉ gets a distinctive visual concept for a new single.

    Apple gets one of the world’s most recognizable K-pop stars demonstrating its newest camera.

    And viewers get something to argue about:

    Can a phone really replace a professional movie camera?

    Maybe that’s the smartest part of the entire campaign.

    The iPhone isn’t just the camera behind “new trick.”

    The fact that an iPhone was the camera became part of the reason people wanted to watch it.

  • BLACKPINK Lisa Loves This Korean Stew — What Is Gamjatang?

    If you had to guess BLACKPINK Lisa’s favorite Korean food, what would you choose?

    Korean barbecue? Tteokbokki? Fried chicken?

    The answer is gamjatang (감자탕) — a hearty, spicy Korean pork-bone stew.

    In a YG interview, Lisa was asked which Korean food she liked the most. Her answer was simple: gamjatang. She explained that she had never tried it in Thailand and first discovered it after coming to Korea. It turned out to be exactly her kind of food.

    What Is Gamjatang?

    Gamjatang is made by simmering pork backbone in a rich, spicy broth.

    A typical pot includes potatoes, vegetables or kimchi cabbage, and perilla powder. The pork becomes tender after cooking, while the perilla gives the broth its distinctive nutty, savory flavor.

    Despite the word gamja meaning “potato” in modern Korean, this isn’t simply a potato soup. The star of the dish is the pork bone and its deeply flavored broth.

    What Does Gamjatang Taste Like?

    Think of it as something between a spicy stew and a slow-cooked pork soup.

    The broth is rich and savory, with noticeable spice, while the meat around the bones becomes soft and tender. Korea Tourism Organization also notes that gamjatang is popular as a hangover dish because of its hearty, spicy broth.

    And there’s something very Korean about eating it.

    You pick the tender meat from the bones, eat it with rice, and keep returning to the bubbling broth.

    It isn’t particularly glamorous.

    But it is serious comfort food.

    Lisa Discovered It in Korea

    That may be the most interesting part of Lisa’s answer.

    Lisa grew up in Thailand, but said she hadn’t encountered gamjatang there. She tried it only after arriving in Korea and found that it perfectly suited her taste.

    So if you’re exploring Korean food because of K-pop, don’t stop at barbecue and tteokbokki.

    Try a bubbling pot of gamjatang.

    You might discover the same Korean comfort food that won over Lisa.

  • BABYMONSTER Just Hit 10 Billion YouTube Views—How Did They Get There So Fast?

    BABYMONSTER just crossed a number that looks almost unreal.

    10 billion YouTube views.

    The YG Entertainment girl group’s official YouTube channel has surpassed 10 billion cumulative views, according to recent reports.

    And BABYMONSTER hasn’t even been around that long.

    So the obvious question is:

    How did they get to 10 billion so fast?

    10 Billion Views Before Becoming a Veteran Group

    BABYMONSTER is still one of K-pop’s newer major girl groups.

    Yet their YouTube numbers already look like those of a group with a much longer history.

    The group’s official channel has accumulated more than 10 billion views across its content, with reports describing BABYMONSTER as the fastest K-pop girl group to reach the milestone.

    That’s what makes the number so striking.

    This isn’t simply one viral music video doing all the work.

    BABYMONSTER has built a large catalog of music videos, performance videos, dance content, live clips and behind-the-scenes material that repeatedly attracts international viewers.

    “SHEESH” Showed How Powerful Their YouTube Audience Could Be

    One of the clearest examples is “SHEESH.”

    The music video became the fastest K-pop girl-group debut song to reach 100 million YouTube views, doing so in roughly 10 days after its release.

    Then came more high-performing releases.

    “BATTER UP,” “FOREVER,” “DRIP” and other videos continued building the group’s enormous video audience.

    This matters because BABYMONSTER’s growth has always looked especially strong on YouTube.

    Some K-pop acts dominate album sales.

    Others perform exceptionally well on streaming platforms.

    BABYMONSTER has developed another obvious strength:

    people keep watching them.

    BLACKPINK’s YG Legacy Helped—But It Doesn’t Explain Everything

    There’s an obvious reason BABYMONSTER attracted attention before they even debuted.

    They came from YG Entertainment, the company behind BLACKPINK.

    That guaranteed enormous curiosity.

    Every teaser, trainee video and early performance arrived with expectations attached.

    But curiosity can get people to click once.

    It doesn’t automatically produce billions of repeat views.

    BABYMONSTER had to convert that initial attention into its own fandom.

    Their combination of vocals, rap, choreography and performance-focused videos appears to have been particularly well suited to YouTube’s global K-pop audience.

    Reddit Fans Have Been Watching the Numbers Climb

    BABYMONSTER’s YouTube performance has also become a recurring topic among fans online.

    Reddit discussions around the group frequently track subscriber milestones and individual music-video view counts, with fans pointing to YouTube as one of BABYMONSTER’s strongest global indicators.

    At the same time, fans sometimes debate how useful raw YouTube views are when comparing K-pop groups, since promotion strategies, advertising and viewing habits can vary considerably between fandoms.

    That’s an important distinction.

    10 billion views doesn’t automatically tell us which group is “bigger.”

    What it does tell us is that BABYMONSTER has built an unusually large video audience very early in its career.

    Why BABYMONSTER’s 10 Billion Matters

    The most interesting part may be their age as a group.

    BLACKPINK debuted in 2016.

    TWICE debuted in 2015.

    aespa debuted in 2020.

    BABYMONSTER arrived years later into an already crowded global K-pop market.

    They had to compete not only with established third- and fourth-generation stars, but with a constant stream of new girl groups.

    And yet their official YouTube content has already generated more than 10 billion cumulative views.

    That’s why this milestone is worth watching.

    The question is no longer whether BABYMONSTER can attract attention.

    They clearly can.

    The bigger question is:

    How much larger can their global audience become from here?

  • JENNIE Just Broke a BTS Billboard Record—And She Did It Without a BLACKPINK Song

    BLACKPINK’s JENNIE has another major Billboard record.

    But here’s the twist:

    She didn’t do it with a BLACKPINK song.

    Tame Impala’s “Dracula” remix featuring JENNIE has now spent 16 weeks inside the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10, the longest Top 10 run for a song by or featuring a K-pop artist.

    That takes it past BTS’ “Butter,” which previously held the record with 15 weeks.

    And perhaps the most interesting part of the story is how “Dracula” got there.

    JENNIE Passed “Butter” With 16 Weeks in the Top 10

    On the latest Billboard Hot 100, “Dracula” remained at No. 6, giving the song its 16th week in the Top 10.

    BTS’ 2021 megahit “Butter” had held the previous K-pop benchmark with 15 weeks.

    “Dracula” has also climbed as high as No. 5, making it JENNIE’s highest-charting Hot 100 entry to date.

    That alone is a huge achievement.

    But this isn’t a typical BLACKPINK success story.

    “Dracula” Wasn’t Originally JENNIE’s Song

    Here’s where things get more interesting.

    “Dracula” originally arrived as a Tame Impala solo track in October 2025.

    Months later, a remix featuring JENNIE was released in February 2026.

    Then something happened.

    The song gained new momentum on short-form video platforms, climbed the charts and eventually became one of the biggest pop hits in the U.S.

    In other words, JENNIE didn’t need a BLACKPINK comeback single to reach this particular milestone.

    She did it as a featured artist on an Australian artist’s song.

    TikTok Helped Turn “Dracula” Into Something Much Bigger

    “Dracula” also became a good example of how differently hit songs can grow today.

    The remix spread through short-form videos, including a viral trend built around people simply walking toward the camera while lip-syncing to the track.

    That online momentum was followed by increasingly impressive chart results.

    The song eventually reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, while its U.S. pop-radio success also became a story of its own.

    This wasn’t a one-week viral spike.

    It developed into a hit with staying power.

    But Fans Don’t All Agree on Why “Dracula” Became So Big

    And this is where the story gets more interesting than the record itself.

    Online discussion includes disagreement over exactly how much credit should go to JENNIE.

    Some fans see the remix as the moment that pushed the song into a much larger global audience.

    Others argue that the original Tame Impala track already had viral potential before JENNIE joined it. One Reddit discussion, for example, strongly disputed the idea that JENNIE alone was responsible for the song’s success.

    The chart record itself isn’t in dispute.

    The interpretation of why the song became this big is.

    And perhaps that’s what makes “Dracula” such an unusual K-pop Billboard story.

    This Record Says Something Bigger About JENNIE

    For years, BLACKPINK’s global success has been discussed primarily through the group.

    But JENNIE’s recent chart performance shows another side of that story.

    A BLACKPINK member can collaborate with an artist outside K-pop, enter a completely different musical space and still generate major mainstream U.S. chart results.

    “Dracula” reached No. 5.

    It stayed in the Top 10 for 16 weeks.

    And it surpassed the Top 10 longevity record previously held by one of the biggest K-pop hits ever: BTS’ “Butter.”

    The most surprising detail?

    It wasn’t even a BLACKPINK song.

    That may be exactly why this record is worth paying attention to.

  • ROSÉ Shot Her New Music Video on an iPhone—Can You Actually Tell?

    ROSÉ has a “new trick.”

    And this time, the title might describe more than just her new song.

    The BLACKPINK star has released “new trick,” accompanied by a music video filmed on Apple’s new iPhone 18 Pro.

    Yes, an iPhone.

    But watch the video without knowing that first, and there is a good chance you might never guess.

    Wait, This Was Really Shot on an iPhone?

    The “new trick” video is part of Apple’s latest Shot on iPhone campaign.

    It wasn’t simply a casual phone video, though.

    The project was directed by Dave Meyers, the veteran music-video director who has worked with some of the biggest names in pop music.

    Apple says the iPhone 18 Pro’s 48MP main camera and new variable-aperture system helped capture improved low-light footage and create cinematic depth of field.

    That combination makes the project interesting.

    It’s a smartphone camera — but in the hands of a professional production team.

    And that raises a fun question:

    How much of what looks “cinematic” comes from the camera, and how much comes from the people behind it?

    ROSÉ Also Sounds Different

    The phone isn’t the only reason “new trick” feels fresh.

    The track pushes ROSÉ toward an energetic alt-pop and pop-rock sound, with distorted guitars and a playful edge.

    According to her agency, the song is about overcoming difficult moments and moving forward with a new approach. Amy Allen, who previously worked on ROSÉ and Bruno Mars’ “APT.,” is among the producers.

    That makes “new trick” feel less like a simple tech advertisement and more like another experiment in ROSÉ’s solo identity.

    Reddit Fans Immediately Noticed the Apple Connection

    The collaboration had fans talking even before the full video arrived.

    When the teaser appeared on Reddit’s BLACKPINK community, fans reacted enthusiastically to the unexpected new music, with several immediately noticing the pop-rock direction. Others joked about the Apple partnership itself.

    One particularly good joke appeared when fans wondered whether there would be physical merchandise for the release.

    Another fan effectively answered:

    The new iPhone is the merch. 😄

    That might be the most expensive piece of ROSÉ “merch” yet.

    There was also some amusement over ROSÉ’s promotional image with the phone. Several Reddit users thought the iPhone looked almost as if it had been digitally inserted into the picture.

    An Apple Commercial—or a ROSÉ Music Video?

    Maybe the answer is: both.

    Apple gets one of the world’s most recognizable K-pop stars demonstrating its newest camera.

    ROSÉ gets a major global campaign built around a new song.

    And fans get something more interesting than a conventional phone commercial.

    The collaboration also comes at an ideal moment for Apple: the iPhone 18 Pro began reaching stores and customers on September 18.

    But there is an even simpler reason this campaign works.

    People are going to watch the video and ask:

    “Seriously? They shot that on a phone?”

    And that question may be exactly what Apple wanted.

    So watch “new trick” once without thinking about the camera.

    Then watch it again knowing it was filmed on an iPhone 18 Pro.

    Can you actually tell?