Lisa (rapper)

Lalisa Manobal (also spelled Manoban; born Pranpriya Manobal; March 27, 1997), known professionally as Lisa, is a Thai rapper, singer, and dancer. She is a member of the South Korean girl group Blackpink, which debuted under YG Entertainment in August 2016. She is set to make her acting debut in 2025 in the HBO television series The White Lotus.

In September 2021, Lisa released her debut single album Lalisa, which made her the first female artist to sell 736,000 copies of an album in its first week in South Korea. The music video for its lead single became the most-viewed music video in the first 24 hours on YouTube by a solo artist. Both "Lalisa" and the album's viral second single "Money" charted in the top ten of the Billboard Global 200, with the latter breaking the record for the longest-charting song by a female K-pop soloist on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart. Lalisa and "Money" became the first album and song by a K-pop solo artist to reach one billion streams on Spotify, respectively. In 2024, Lisa established her own management company named Lloud, signed with RCA Records, and achieved her first number-one single on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S. with "Rockstar".

Lisa earned several accolades throughout her career, including nine Guinness World Records, a Gaon Chart Music Award, a Mnet Asian Music Award, and the first MTV Video Music Award and MTV Europe Music Award ever won by a K-pop soloist. She is the most-followed K-pop artist on Instagram, as well as the most-subscribed K-pop solo artist on YouTube. Lisa was honored as a cultural ambassador leader by the Thailand Ministry of Culture and was acknowledged by then-Prime Minister of Thailand Prayut Chan-o-cha for her contributions to spreading Thai culture globally.

1997–2010: Early life and education
Born Pranpriya Manobal on March 27, 1997, in Buriram Province, Thailand, she later legally changed her name to Lalisa, meaning "the one being praised", at the advice of a fortune teller for prosperity. An only child, she was raised by her Thai mother, Chitthip Brüschweiler, and Swiss stepfather and chef Marco Brüschweiler. Lisa completed secondary education at Praphamontree School I and II. She is multilingual; along with her native Thai, she speaks fluent Korean and English, as well as basic Japanese and Chinese.

After enrolling in dance classes at the age of four, she began competing regularly in contests, including in To Be Number One, and joined the eleven-member dance crew We Zaa Cool alongside BamBam of Got7. In September 2009, the crew entered the LG Entertainment Million Dream Sanan World competition broadcast on Channel 9 and won the Special Team Award. Lisa also participated as a school representative in the singing contest Top 3 Good Morals of Thailand, hosted by the Moral Promotion Center in early 2009, finishing as the runner-up.

2012–2015: Pre-debut activities
In 2010, at age 13, Lisa auditioned to join South Korean record label YG Entertainment in Thailand. She gained an interest in the K-pop industry in her childhood, admiring artists such as BigBang and 2NE1, and aspired to follow a similar path. Among the 4,000 applicants, she was the only individual to qualify, which prompted then-CEO Yang Hyun-suk into offering Lisa a chance to become a YG Entertainment trainee. At her audition, Lisa also impressed one of the judges, Danny Im of 1TYM, who later praised her on-stage confidence and her off-stage attitude.

In 2011, Lisa moved to South Korea to begin her formal training as a trainee. She officially joined the label as its first non-ethnically Korean trainee on April 11. In November 2013, she appeared in the music video for labelmate Taeyang's single "Ringa Linga" as a background dancer alongside members of labelmates and boy bands iKon and Winner. In March 2015, Lisa undertook her first modelling job for the streetwear brand Nona9on, followed by South Korean cosmetics brand Moonshot in 2016.

2016–2022: Debut with Blackpink and Lalisa


In August 2016, Lisa debuted as one of four members of South Korean girl group Blackpink, the first non-ethnically Korean artist under the label. The group's debut single album Square One featured lead singles "Whistle", which topped all South Korean charts upon debut, and "Boombayah". In 2018, Blackpink signed with Interscope Records in a global partnership with YG Entertainment.

Lisa became a permanent cast member on the Korea Army Academy edition of the MBC military variety program Real Man 300 from September 21, 2018, onward. Her first role on a television program since her debut, it earned her the unofficial Character of the Year award at the 2018 MBC Entertainment Awards.

On November 5, 2018, Lisa unveiled her YouTube channel, Lilifilm Official, focusing on travelling, lifestyle, and dance. As of July 2019, she has over 1.3 million subscribers and received a YouTube Gold Play Button. One of her dance performance videos went viral in 2020 as a result of a meme derived from the video; celebrities such as Dolly Parton, Stephen Colbert, James Corden, Luke Evans, and Lil Nas X participated in the trend.

In March 2020, Lisa served as the dance mentor on iQIYI's Chinese girl group survival program Youth With You Season 2. In February 2021, she returned as dance mentor in the show's third season for boy groups.

On April 19, 2021, YG Entertainment revealed to The Korea Herald that Lisa would be the third member of Blackpink to debut as a soloist, with the official schedule to be announced later. On July 12, through Star News, the label revealed that filming for her music video was underway. Lisa's debut single album Lalisa and its lead single of the same name were released on September 10, 2021. The music video for "Lalisa" became the most-viewed video by a soloist in 24 hours with 73.6 million views, breaking the record held by Taylor Swift's "Me!" featuring Brendon Urie, for which she earned two Guinness World Records. The song debuted at number 84 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number two on the Billboard Global 200, becoming Lisa's first top-ten song on the latter. The album sold 736,221 copies in South Korea in its first week, setting the record for the highest first-week sales among female artists domestically and making Lisa the first female soloist to surpass the 500,000-copy mark in one week.

The album's B-side track "Money" received an exclusive dance performance video that was released to YouTube on September 24. The song witnessed a surge in popularity after it became viral on social media, and began to rise in the international charts. As a result, Interscope Records sent the song to US contemporary hit radio on November 9, 2021, as the album's second single. The single peaked at number ten on the Billboard Global 200, becoming Lisa's second top-ten hit after "Lalisa". In the US, it peaked on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 90, earning Lisa her second career solo entry, and became the first song by a female K-pop soloist to chart for multiple weeks on the chart. "Money" peaked at number 46 on the UK Singles Chart and charted for eight weeks, becoming the longest-charting female K-pop soloist song in the country as well.

Lisa collaborated with French record producer DJ Snake, Puerto Rican singer Ozuna, and American rapper Megan Thee Stallion on the moombahton and Latin trap song "SG". The single was released on October 22, 2021, and featured songwriting and composition credits by Lisa. A music video starring the four artists in Miami was directed by Colin Tilley and released simultaneously with the single. The song peaked at number 19 on the Billboard Global 200. In the US, it peaked at number two on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 and became Lisa's first number-one song on the Latin Airplay chart.

On August 28, 2022, Lisa won the MTV Video Music Award for Best K-Pop for "Lalisa" and became the first K-pop solo artist to win an MTV Video Music Award. On November 13, she won the MTV Europe Music Award for Best K-Pop and became the first solo K-pop artist in history to win an MTV Europe Music Award as well. Lisa was awarded two Guinness World Records in 2023 for the achievements, in addition to a third for becoming the most followed K-pop artist on Instagram.

2023–present: Self-management and acting debut
Lisa featured on BigBang member Taeyang's song "Shoong!", an album track from his second extended play Down to Earth, which was released on April 25, 2023. She also appeared in the song's performance video, in which Taeyang and Lisa performed the song's choreography together. Upon release, the performance video topped YouTube's trending worldwide chart and exceeded 10 million views in 15 hours, more than doubling the views achieved by the album's title track "Seed". Lisa was awarded two further Guinness World Records in May for the fastest solo female K-pop artist to reach 1 billion streams and the first album by a solo K-pop artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify with Lalisa. With this, she became the K-pop soloist with the most Guinness World Records in history, winning seven as compared to former record-holder Psy's five.

In September 2023, Lisa headlined five performances for the Parisian cabaret Crazy Horse. She performed several solo scenes and appeared with the troupe for original numbers from the cabaret's repertoire, including "But I Am a Good Girl" and "Crisis? What Crisis?" The same month, she earned her eighth Guinness World Record for the first K-pop track by a solo artist to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify with "Money". To celebrate the achievement, Lisa appeared on the fourth episode of Spotify's Billions Club series on November 15, in which she received a plate-shaped plaque in Paris and cooked a Thai dish for the plate.

On November 22, 2023, Lisa was invested by King Charles III as an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) alongside her bandmates during a special investiture at Buckingham Palace which was also attended by President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol. On December 5, YG Entertainment announced that Lisa along with the other members of Blackpink had renewed their contracts for group activities and that the members' individual contracts were still under discussion. YG Entertainment subsequently confirmed on December 29 that Lisa and the other Blackpink members agreed not to proceed with a contract with the label for individual activities.

Lisa headlined the Le Gala des Pièces Jaunes charity event organized by the First Lady of France, Brigitte Macron, in Paris on January 26, 2024, where she performed a medley of her solo singles "Lalisa" and "Money". At the event, she also made a surprise appearance during DJ Snake's set, in which they performed "SG" live for the first time together. On February 8, Lisa announced that she launched her own artist management company, called Lloud. Variety revealed that Lisa will make her acting debut in the third season of the HBO television series The White Lotus, and will be credited under her given name, Lalisa Manobal. On April 10, it was announced that under a partnership with Lloud, she had joined RCA Records to release solo music; she will have full ownership of all of her recordings as part of the deal.

Lisa began teasing new music on June 6 by posting a "coming soon" graphic with pre-save links on social media. She also created a new TikTok account and posted a video paired with a teaser snippet, which led her to set a Guinness World Record by gaining a million followers in just two hours and 18 minutes. On June 18, she officially confirmed that she would be releasing a new single called "Rockstar" on June 27 at 8 p.m. ET, or June 28 at 7 a.m. ICT. The song debuted at number four on the Billboard Global 200 and at number one on the Billboard Global Excl. U.S., becoming Lisa's third top-ten hit on both charts after "Lalisa" and "Money" and her first number-one hit on the latter chart. "Rockstar" also debuted at number 70 on the US Billboard Hot 100, marking Lisa's highest-charting song and her third entry on the chart after "Lalisa" and "Money".

Endorsements
Through her work as a model for the South Korean cosmetics brand Moonshot, she became their brand ambassador in China on March 21, 2018. On July 25, 2019, Lisa became the brand ambassador and presenter for the new collection launched in Thailand, in which six of the products include her autograph as part of the packaging. On March 28, 2019, Lisa signed her first solo endorsement deal for AIS Thailand, the largest GSM mobile phone operator in Thailand. She became its highest-paid brand presenter, and her advertising campaign was the highest-rated commercial in Thailand. On May 11, 2019, Lisa began endorsing the Samsung Galaxy S10 in Thailand. Her first promotional material for the brand was released on May 14. Lisa also featured as an endorsement model for the mobile game Ragnarok M: Eternal Love, appearing as a character on their Midnight Party server beginning on July 24, 2019.

In January 2020, Lisa joined labelmate Mino of boy band Winner as an endorsement model for sportswear brand Adidas' SS20 season My Shelter clothing range. She was revealed as a brand spokesperson in China for the fabric softener company D&G Downy on May 13, soon also becoming a brand spokesperson for Zhengouli, the yoghurt brand of Mengniu Dairy, one of China's largest dairy companies. On June 27, Tencent Games announced Lisa as Supercell's newest spokesperson in China for their mobile video game Brawl Stars. In October 2020, Lauder-owned MAC Cosmetics named Lisa their newest global brand ambassador; she served as muse and face of many of their collections and key campaigns. Of Lisa, Senior Vice President and Global Creative Director Drew Elliott stated, "Always confident and never one to shy away from risks, she embodies our commitment to celebrating individuality and self-expression above all else."

On February 22, 2021, Lisa was announced as the endorsement model for the Vivo S9 smartphone, having endorsed the Vivo S7 smartphone in 2020. In March 2022, she became the brand ambassador to whiskey brand Chivas Regal and starred in the I Rise, We Rise campaign.

Fashion and photography
In January 2019, Lisa became the muse of Hedi Slimane, the artistic, creative and image director for French luxury fashion brand Celine. In September 2020, she was announced as global ambassador after having featured in their Essentials campaign, shot by Slimane, in June 2020.

Lisa was officially selected as a brand ambassador for Bulgari, an Italian luxury fashion house, in July 2020; she participated in digital campaigns for their Serpenti and Bzero One collections. That year, in November, clothing brand Penshoppe revealed Lisa as their newest ambassador.

On February 16, 2021, Lisa joined the guest jury for the French fashion award ANDAM.

Through YG Entertainment, Lisa released the limited-edition book 0327, composed entirely of self-taken photographs with a film camera. A first volume was released on her birthday in 2020, followed by a second on her birthday the following year. Volumes three and four were released in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

On November 13, 2021, it was revealed that Lisa would be releasing her own collection with American beauty brand MAC Cosmetics, called MAC X L. The collection includes powder blushes, eyeliner, an eyeshadow palette, and a face powder.

Philanthropy
On September 17, 2019, after torrential rain brought by a monsoon caused flooding across 32 Thai provinces, Thai beauty blogger Koi Onusa, a relative of Lisa, revealed that Lisa donated ฿100,000 to Thai actor Bin Bunluerit's fund to help those evacuated in the floods.

In September 2021, Lisa expressed interest in joining a social program led by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange in partnership with YG Entertainment for Buriram Province, soon launching an online account to help collect donations. The partnership between the foundation and YG Entertainment aims to build a 160-square-meter cultural compound at Non Suwan Phitthayakhom School in Buriram; provide computers, projectors and other multimedia equipment to the school; and establish a K-pop dance academy staffed by local instructors.

In July 2024, she was announced as a headliner for the Global Citizen Festival, an event part of a mission to end extreme poverty, set to take place on September 28.

Impact


Lisa has been cited as an influence by other performers in the K-pop industry. Gaga of girl group Nature and Mayna of girl group Hot Issue both named Lisa as their role model. Destiny Rogers' song "Tomboy" experienced a 1939% increase in daily streams on Spotify and entered the iTunes and Apple Music charts of various countries following a dance performance video uploaded by Lisa to her YouTube channel. Rogers herself expressed gratitude toward Lisa on Twitter for revitalizing the song. Lisa was praised by Thailand's prime minister, Prayut Chan-o-cha, for promoting Thai culture in her "Lalisa" music video. Due to the cultural references in "Lalisa" music video, it was reported that there was an increase in sales of traditional Thai costumes and accessories by local markets in the city of Bangkok. In March 2021, Lisa, along with other five Thai celebrities, was awarded the "Inspirational Role Model" Award, given by the Children and Youth Development Club organization, in recognition of her work as a leader and role model for the new generations in Thailand. In 2023, she was honored by the Thailand Ministry of Culture with a honorary Wattanakunathorn Award (cultural ambassador leader) in honor of her role as a "leading force promoting Thailand to the world through soft power to increase the value of the economy."

Lisa became the most-followed K-pop idol on Instagram in April 2019, with 17.4 million followers at the time, and the first K-pop idol to surpass 50 million Instagram followers in April 2021. In January 2023, she was awarded a Guinness World Record for being the most followed K-pop artist on the platform, with 87 million followers at the time. Lisa also holds the record for the most-subscribed K-pop solo act on YouTube with her channel Lilifilm Official, which has 8.24 million subscribers as of September 2021. Lisa's commercial influence and marketing potential have been noted by media outlets and cited as an example of changing promotional strategies in the fashion and makeup industries. Upon landing her first solo magazine cover shoot with Harper's Bazaar Thailand for their May 2019 issue, the magazine's distributor reported that all 120,000 printed and in-stock copies sold out. Generally, it is reported that 30k copies (per issue) are printed, with well-known celebrities possibly having an average of 60k copies printed. However, despite selling 120k copies, the public's demand for Lisa was still not met.

Following Lisa's appearance at and social media posts from the Celine Men's Spring Summer 2020 Collection fashion show in France during Paris Fashion Week, it was reported that global searches for Celine's Triomphe bag leapt 66% on June 28, 2019. Lisa's partnership with MAC Cosmetics was named one of the top beauty collaborations of 2020 by Launchmetrics according to their Media Impact Value (MIV) algorithm, with the announcement of the partnership becoming MAC Cosmetics' top-branded post of the year. Launchmetrics further partially attributes the success of Lisa's endorsements to their authenticity as she frequently features the same brands across her social media channels. On April 10, 2023, researchers at Chiang Mai University named the Thai flower species Friesodielsia lalisae in Lisa's honor. That October, Lisa was named one of the 2023 inductees into the Asian Hall of Fame, alongside the likes of Freddie Mercury and Ryuichi Sakamoto.