Following the success of 2016's twin EPs Square One and Square Two, all-female K-pop group BlackPink returned with the chart-topping
Square Up, which hit the top spot on Japanese, Korean, and U.S. World Albums charts upon release in the summer of 2018. Riding the success of bombastic trap-influenced lead single "DDU-DU DDU-DU" -- which entered the U.K. trending chart and became the highest showing on the Billboard Hot 100 by an all-female K-pop group (following the Wonder Girls' 2009 hit "Nobody") -- the four-track EP also made moves on the Billboard 200, becoming the highest charting all-female K-pop effort to date at number 40. ~ Neil Z. Yeung