Shut Down (Blackpink song)

"Shut Down" is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released on September 16, 2022, through YG Entertainment and Interscope Records, as the second single of the group's second studio album, Born Pink (2022). The song was written by its producer 24, alongside Teddy, Danny Chung, and Vince. It is primarily a hip hop song driven by trap beats and a looped classical violin sample of Niccolò Paganini's "La Campanella", with lyrics dismissing the group's haters.

"Shut Down" was a commercial success and became Blackpink's second number-one hit on the Billboard Global 200 as well as the first song by a K-pop act to top Spotify's weekly top global songs chart. In South Korea, the track topped Billboard's South Korea Songs chart for three weeks and 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 the 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 Canada and gold in Australia and Japan.

"Shut Down" received positive reviews from critics, who praised the memorable production and confident lyrics and deemed it a career highlight, while some criticized the classical sample as an overused K-pop technique. An accompanying music video for the song was uploaded onto Blackpink's YouTube channel simultaneously with the single's release. The video references previous Blackpink videos, mirroring scenes from "Playing with Fire," "Whistle," "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du," "Boombayah," and "Kill This Love."

Background
On July 31, 2022, a teaser video was uploaded on Blackpink's social media accounts, announcing the release of a new album in September, preceded by the pre-release single "Pink Venom" on August 19. On August 24, YG Entertainment announced that Blackpink was filming the music video for their second album's lead single in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. The label stated that the group was preparing for their world tour and teased their next single: "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. The music video will also elevate the status of K-Pop with a difference that has never been seen before."

On September 6, 2022, the title poster for the second single, "Shut Down", was released on Blackpink's social media accounts. From September 10 to 13, promotional posters of the song featuring each of the members were released. On September 13, a teaser for the music video was released, and the official music video was released on September 16.

Composition
"Shut Down" is a hip hop-based track that features strings, an insistent bass sound, a trap beat and a "crazy loop" of classical violin. It samples the beginning of the third movement of Italian composer Niccolò Paganini's second violin concerto, commonly known as "La Campanella". YG Entertainment described the song's title as "intuitive but strangely tense." Unlike the original piece, which was composed in the key of B minor, "Shut Down" was composed in the key of B-flat minor with a tempo of 110 beats per minute. The song was described as "powerful, rap-focused, and filled with references to [Blackpink's] past works." Lyrically, "Shut Down" shows the members response to the criticism from their haters. Elle's Erica Gonzales wrote that "throughout the track, the girls take turns telling their haters and doubters to take a seat".

Critical reception
"Shut Down" was met with positive reviews from critics. Glenn Rowley writing for Billboard called it one of the best songs of 2022, praising its "swagger and savvy", and the melding of classical music and hip-hop as "ingenious." Clash named "Shut Down" a "triumph" and praised the commanding presence of the members on the track, particularly Jisoo’s surprise rap verse. Writing for Cosmopolitan, Aedan Juvet opined that the string-based production "perfectly matches" the shade-throwing lyrics of the song. Benedetta Geddo of The Mary Sue deemed "Shut Down" not just the highlight of the album, but also one of the best songs of Blackpink's entire career. Maddy Myer writing for Teen Vogue hailed the song as an "effective ode to their haters" and "a musical masterpiece" due to its captivating production and pointed lyrics. However, Pitchfork's Alex Ramos criticized the use of a classical sample as a "tried-and-true K-pop technique" that did not break new ground.

Commercial performance
"Shut Down" 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". The group joined BTS, Justin Bieber and Olivia Rodrigo as the only acts with multiple leaders on the chart. With "Pink Venom" at number two, Blackpink also 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. U.S. with 140 million streams and 13,000 downloads sold outside the U.S., earning Blackpink their third number-one hit on the chart after "Lovesick Girls" and "Pink Venom". With this, Blackpink became the artist with the second-most number-one hits on the chart after BTS. The group also became the fourth act to debut atop the Global 200, Global Excl. U.S. and Billboard 200 charts simultaneously with "Shut Down" and its parent album Born Pink. BTS, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift are the only other acts that have achieved this feat. "Shut Down"charted on the Global 200 for 29 weeks and the Global Excl. US for 42 weeks.

In South Korea, "Shut Down" debuted at number 29 on the week 38 issue of the Circle Digital Chart for the period dated September 11–17, with less than two days of tracking. It peaked at number three the following week, for the period dated September 18–24. In the United States, the song entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number 25 for the week of September 16–22. It earned 4,000 downloads and debuted at number ten on Streaming Songs with 13 million streams, becoming the group's third top-ten on the chart and second completely solo. With this, Blackpink became the first girl group to have multiple top tens, and tied with Psy for the second-most top tens by a Korean act. They also became the first Korean act to have a non-compilation album yield multiple top tens on the chart. "Shut Down" also debuted at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, marking the group's eighth top-forty hit in the country.

Music video
A teaser for the music video of "Shut Down" was released on September 13, 2022, and the official music video was released on September 16, 2022. It surpassed 100 million views in five days and three hours.

The video references previous music videos released by Blackpink. In the opening shot of the video, Lisa stands on a deck against a dark sky ("Playing with Fire") before taking the wheel for a group car ride, mirroring a scene from "Whistle" in which Rosé drove. The scene in "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" of Jennie rapping while sitting on a military tank with pink shopping bags is also recreated. Lisa raps sitting among black bags full of pink cash and speakers ("Boombayah"). Jisoo protects herself from raining money with a pink umbrella ("Ddu-Du Ddu-Du"). Just as in "Whistle", Rosé sits on top of the Earth, except the globe in "Shut Down" is black and pink. In another scene, she drives a car alone ("Kill This Love"). In "Playing with Fire", Jennie plays with a match with orange flame in a white bathtub; in "Shut Down", she does the same in an onyx bathtub and with a pink flame. Lisa wields a sword with the word "Blackpink" on it, and Rosé swings on a chandelier ("Ddu-Du Ddu-Du"). Jisoo trips and falls in front of paparazzi filming her every move in "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du," but confidently takes pictures of herself without the glaring eyes of the photographers in "Shut Down". During the chorus, the members dance in an alley lined with posters referencing the titles of their solo and group songs.

Dance performance video
The dance performance video was additionally released on September 18, 2022; the video consists of the four members doing the full choreography in matching black outfits, in front of a set decorated with silver shutters, giving a sense of immersion and establishing the concept of the music video. Later, the girls were joined by a series of dancers in gray outfits, The dancers then joined the quartet for the finishing final poses.

The performance was choreographed by Kiel Tutin, Taryn Cheng, Lee Jeong (Ri Jeong), and Kyle Hanagami, of the choreography team YGX. The choreographers noted: "We emphasized Blackpink's unique strong hip-hop swag. Also, we maximized the core points of the performance and the colorful charms of the members."

Accolades
"Shut Down" won 10 music program awards in South Korea, including triple crowns (or three wins) on Show Champion, M Countdown, and Inkigayo. It received three Melon weekly popularity awards on September 26, October 3 and 10, 2022,  and won Artist of the Year – Global Digital Music (September) at the 12th Circle Chart Music Awards.

Live performances and promotion
On September 16, 2022, 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". In the broadcast, the members revealed behind-the-scenes stories of the music video filming, future activities and sneak peeks of the Born Pink World Tour, and they introduced the new songs on the album. On the same day, the group gave interviews on US radio stations Sirius XM and 102.7 KIIS FM. On September 19, they performed the song live for the first time on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on ABC, and on September 25, they appeared on SBS's Inkigayo to perform the song for the first time on a South Korean music program. "Shut Down" was included in the setlist of Blackpink's Born Pink World Tour, which started in October 2022. On January 28, 2023, the group performed the song with Swedish violinist Daniel Lozakovich at the Le Gala des Pièces Jaunes charity event organized by the First Lady of France, Brigitte Macron, in Paris. In April and June 2023, Blackpink performed "Shut Down" during their headlining sets at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California and BST Hyde Park in London.

Usage in media
"Shut Down" was covered by La Poem, who is part of Yoo Se-yoon's team, on the fifth episode of the South Korean reality show Webtoon Singer. The show features K-pop artists' performances combining webtoons with extended reality.

Credits and personnel

 * Blackpink – vocals, creative directors
 * Teddy – executive, lyricist, composition
 * Danny Chung – lyricist
 * Vince – lyricist
 * 24 – composition, arrangement, keyboard, record producer
 * Kang Yi-chae – strings
 * Josh Gudwin – mixing engineer