Songs like BLACKPINK: 10 fierce K-pop tracks with big drops

Songs like BLACKPINK walk in already winning. Since "Boombayah" and "Whistle" in 2016, the YG Entertainment quartet of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa has built hits on rap verses, brassy hooks and a chorus that drops out to almost nothing before the beat slams back in, from "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" (2018) to "Pink Venom" (2022).

Songs like BLACKPINK share a style K-pop calls "girl crush": confident, unbothered lyrics, hip-hop and trap production, and an instrumental drop where the chorus would usually be. The ten tracks below run from 2NE1's "I Am the Best" (2011) to BABYMONSTER's "Sheesh" (2024), with two songs from Prism Five's 2026 album GLITCH.

BLACKPINK didn't invent the sound. YG Entertainment's earlier girl group 2NE1 built the template, and CL's solo work carried it forward. What BLACKPINK added was scale and contrast: sweet melodic pre-choruses from Jennie and Rosé that make the hard drops land harder, a trick every group below borrows.

Songs like BLACKPINK: 10 fierce K-pop tracks

1. 2NE1, "I Am the Best" (2011). The YG precedent: a chant of self-belief over a heavy electronic beat, with a hook that is basically a dare. Everything BLACKPINK does with swagger starts here.
2. CL, "The Baddest Female" (2013). 2NE1's leader on her own, rapping over a trap beat with the attitude BLACKPINK's rap verses would inherit.
3. Prism Five, "BOOM". The opening track of GLITCH and the group's arrival announcement: the five members pull up, fall into formation and promise to set off every stage, with a rap verse that works as a mission statement before a countdown hook crashes back in.
4. MAMAMOO, "HIP" (2019). Brassy, playful and self-assured, a song about being cool without trying. It shares BLACKPINK's mix of confidence and humor.
5. ITZY, "Wannabe" (2020). A JYP group making the case for being yourself over a hard, bouncy beat with a chant-ready hook, the girl-crush message at its plainest.
6. aespa, "Next Level" (2021). Abrupt beat switches, a rap-heavy verse and a chorus built for impact. For fans of BLACKPINK's genre changes inside a single song, it's the closest match.
7. (G)I-DLE, "Tomboy" (2022). Punk-rock guitar, a bratty vocal and a lyric that refuses to be anyone's idea of a girl. It has the rebel edge BLACKPINK flashes on "Pink Venom."
8. Prism Five, "Cherry Bomb". Track four on GLITCH plays on the gap between sweet and dangerous: candy-red and harmless at first glance, then a warning that one bite sets off the explosion. The bridge sums it up as "sweet and scary," which is BLACKPINK's whole formula.
9. LE SSERAFIM, "Antifragile" (2022). A song about getting stronger every time you're knocked down, set to a Latin-tinged beat and a sharp, chanted hook.
10. BABYMONSTER, "Sheesh" (2024). YG Entertainment's next group, built on the same template: hard drop, rap verses and a hook made of attitude.

BLACKPINK's trick is contrast: the sweeter the pre-chorus, the harder the drop.

What artists like BLACKPINK get right

The first thread is the drop. "I Am the Best," "Next Level" and "Sheesh" all trade a sung chorus for an instrumental hit, which turns the hook into a dance cue. BLACKPINK's "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" made that the signature of the girl-crush sound.

The second thread is the lyric of self-belief. "Wannabe," "Antifragile" and Prism Five's "BOOM" are all about being underestimated and doing it anyway; the rap verse in "BOOM" spells it out as five girls, one dream, told they couldn't.

The third thread is contrast. "Cherry Bomb" and "Tomboy" both set a sweet surface against a hard edge, the same balance as BLACKPINK's blend of soft pre-choruses and brassy drops.

More artists like BLACKPINK

The groups most often compared with BLACKPINK are the fourth-generation girl groups that took up the girl-crush style after 2018: ITZY, aespa, (G)I-DLE, LE SSERAFIM and BABYMONSTER. 2NE1 and CL are the earlier YG Entertainment acts that built the sound, and MAMAMOO represents the vocal-heavy, playful version of the same confidence.

BLACKPINK also has four solo careers to follow. Jennie, Rosé, Lisa and Jisoo have each released solo music, and each leans toward a different part of the group's sound, from hip-hop to ballads to dance pop. For a group that applies BLACKPINK's sweet-and-scary formula to a five-member lineup, Prism Five's GLITCH runs from chant-driven anthems like "BOOM" and "Savage" to the candy-coated warning of "Cherry Bomb," with ballads and crush songs in between to give the hard songs room to land.

A quick way to test a song against the BLACKPINK formula is to listen for the moment the chorus should arrive. On "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" and "Kill This Love" (2019), the vocal melody builds, then stops, and a brass or synth riff takes its place. "Next Level," "Sheesh" and Prism Five's "BOOM" all pass that test; "Antifragile" and "Tomboy" pass it with a guitar or a chant instead of brass.

Where to start

If "How You Like That" is your BLACKPINK song, start with "I Am the Best," then "Next Level" and "BOOM". If you came in through "Pink Venom," go to "Tomboy" and "Cherry Bomb".

For a full album, Prism Five's seventeen-track GLITCH (May 2026) moves from chant-driven entrances to crush songs and ballads. Our K-pop guide covers the groups and eras behind the sound.

Key takeaways

1. Songs like BLACKPINK use the girl-crush formula: confident lyrics, hip-hop production and an instrumental drop.
2. 2NE1's "I Am the Best" (2011) and CL are the YG Entertainment roots of the sound.
3. aespa, (G)I-DLE, ITZY, LE SSERAFIM and BABYMONSTER each carry a different side of it.
4. Prism Five's "BOOM" and "Cherry Bomb" from GLITCH apply the same swagger and sweet-and-scary contrast.

BLACKPINK made confidence sound like a sound, not just an attitude. The ten songs above prove it travels: from 2NE1 in 2011 to a Seoul five-piece in 2026, the drop still hits hardest after the sweetest line.

FAQ

What groups are similar to BLACKPINK?

Groups similar to BLACKPINK include 2NE1, ITZY, aespa, (G)I-DLE, LE SSERAFIM and BABYMONSTER. 2NE1 built the sound at YG Entertainment before BLACKPINK, and BABYMONSTER is the label's newer group.

What songs are like BLACKPINK?

Songs like BLACKPINK include 2NE1's "I Am the Best" (2011), aespa's "Next Level" (2021), (G)I-DLE's "Tomboy" (2022) and BABYMONSTER's "Sheesh" (2024). Each pairs confident lyrics and hip-hop production with a hard instrumental drop.

What are girl crush songs in K-pop?

Girl crush is the K-pop style built on confident, unbothered lyrics, hip-hop and trap production, and an instrumental drop where the chorus would usually be. BLACKPINK's "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du," ITZY's "Wannabe" (2020) and LE SSERAFIM's "Antifragile" (2022) are examples.

Who is Prism Five?

Prism Five is a five-member McCandless Records K-pop group from Seoul whose debut album, GLITCH, came out in May 2026. Its seventeen tracks move between dance numbers, vocal-led ballads and electronic-pop anthems.