BLACKPINK has added another major YouTube milestone to its catalog. On April 16, Korean outlets reported that the music video for “Ice Cream”, BLACKPINK’s 2020 collaboration with Selena Gomez, passed 1 billion views on YouTube. The update matters for more than the round number. It gives BLACKPINK a 10th music video above the 1 billion mark, a total that Yonhap described as the highest for any K-pop act.[1] The milestone also puts fresh attention on a song that once divided listeners but never stopped traveling across the global pop internet.

That is why this story has real weight in 2026. “Ice Cream” was never just another late-summer single. It was one of BLACKPINK’s clearest attempts to meet Western pop halfway without giving up the group’s visual identity or star power. Six years later, the song is still pulling in new clicks, new listeners, and new conversation. A billion-view threshold does not happen by accident. It happens when a music video keeps working long after its original promo cycle ends.

BLACKPINK’s YouTube Record Just Grew Again

The immediate news is straightforward. Yonhap and The Korea Herald both reported on April 16 that “Ice Cream” crossed 1 billion YouTube views, with YG Entertainment confirming the number.[1] [2] That made the song BLACKPINK’s 10th video to clear the milestone. In practical terms, that means BLACKPINK is still setting the pace for scale on the world’s biggest music platform. Many acts can dominate opening-week charts. Fewer can keep a video alive for years until it joins YouTube’s billion-view club.

The timing also matters. BLACKPINK remains one of the few groups whose catalog performs like an active franchise even when attention shifts to solo projects, festival appearances, and brand campaigns. A catalog milestone like this tells fans, industry watchers, and casual readers the same thing: BLACKPINK’s older releases still function as current cultural assets. That matters for SEO, it matters for fan communities, and it matters for the broader conversation about which K-pop songs truly cross into long-term global pop memory.

Why “Ice Cream” Still Matters in BLACKPINK’s Catalog

Part of the reason this billion-view jump feels important is that “Ice Cream” has always occupied a unique place in BLACKPINK’s discography. It did not rely on the explosive swagger that powered songs like “DDU-DU DDU-DU” or “How You Like That.” Instead, it leaned into a brighter, softer, and more playful pop surface. That made it more divisive in fan debates, but it also gave the song a wider crossover lane. The single looked and sounded built for replay value, from its candy-colored set design to its easy chorus and instantly recognizable hook.

That crossover logic worked in measurable ways. The Korea Herald noted that “Ice Cream” debuted at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020, which it described as the highest position for a K-pop girl group at the time.[2] The same report also connected the single back to The Album, BLACKPINK’s first full-length record, which reached No. 2 on both the Billboard 200 and the UK’s Official Albums Top 100.[2] Those details are useful because they show that the new YouTube milestone is not detached from the song’s original commercial story. The video is reaching 1 billion views now because the song already entered the market as a global event.

There is also a catalog lesson here. Songs that survive tend to do two jobs at once. They capture a specific era, and they remain easy to revisit outside that era. “Ice Cream” still carries the late-summer 2020 mood that surrounded its release, but it also works as a low-friction entry point for new listeners who discover BLACKPINK through short-form clips, playlists, or YouTube recommendations years later. That is one reason a music video can keep climbing toward a number as large as 1 billion long after the original press cycle has ended.

Selena Gomez’s Role Helped the Song Travel Further

The Selena Gomez collaboration was not only a headline device. It gave “Ice Cream” a clear bridge into US pop radio, celebrity media, and English-language digital coverage. That bridge still matters when people look back at why this song has such strong long-tail reach. The collaboration linked BLACKPINK to one of the most visible pop stars in the United States while keeping the video anchored in BLACKPINK’s own aesthetic and group chemistry.

“I’m so excited. The girls are so cool, and I love their music. I just think that they know… They have this thing about them.”

Selena Gomez, speaking to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe as quoted by Just Jared Jr.[3]

That quote is worth revisiting now because it captures how the collaboration was framed from the start. Gomez was not talking about the pairing as a novelty. She was talking about BLACKPINK as artists with their own magnetism. In the same report, she said she had “such a good time” working with the group and that the process “felt so fun,” even after plans shifted away from filming together in person.[3] For a 2026 audience, those comments help explain why “Ice Cream” never faded into a one-cycle celebrity crossover. It was presented as a genuine pop event and received as one.

The visual design of the video helped too. The song may sound light, but the packaging is precise. The pastel world, dessert imagery, and sharply differentiated member styling made the clip easy to remember and easy to recirculate. A billion-view music video is not only a song success. It is a visual branding success. BLACKPINK understood that early, and “Ice Cream” remains one of the clearest examples.

What 1 Billion Views Says About K-Pop in 2026

This milestone is also a useful snapshot of how K-pop success works in 2026. Fast chart bursts still matter. First-day streams still matter. But long-tail platform power matters just as much. When a video released in 2020 reaches 1 billion views in 2026, it shows how global fandom and algorithmic discovery now reinforce each other over time. Fans return to older releases. New viewers find them through recommendation loops. Casual listeners revisit familiar songs during comeback cycles, festival headlines, or solo promotions. All of that compounds.

BLACKPINK remains unusually strong in this environment because the group’s catalog is built for replay across formats. Songs travel through official music videos, dance clips, edits, reaction videos, and fan-made retrospectives. The billion-view figure for “Ice Cream” is not only a BLACKPINK achievement. It is evidence that K-pop’s most durable songs now behave like global pop standards on digital platforms. They do not disappear after a release week. They settle into the internet and keep accumulating audience.

That is why the phrase ‘most for a K-pop act’ carries real significance here.[1] It places BLACKPINK’s catalog performance in a broader industry frame. This is not only about one video hitting a famous number. It is about how often BLACKPINK repeats that feat. Repetition changes the meaning of a milestone. One billion views can happen once because of a perfect storm. Ten billion-view videos suggest a structural advantage in global recognition, visual identity, and platform endurance.

Why This News Matters for BLACKPINK Right Now

The new “Ice Cream” milestone arrives at a moment when BLACKPINK’s name is already circulating through festival appearances, solo moves, and wider 2026 pop culture coverage. The Korea Herald noted that Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa were seen at Coachella, with Lisa even taking the stage for a recent collaboration performance.[2] That kind of visibility helps older catalog moments return to the surface. When the group is active in headlines, fans and casual audiences often flow back toward older signature releases.

There is a branding lesson in that cycle. BLACKPINK’s biggest records do not operate as isolated songs. They reinforce one another. A new headline about a solo stage can revive interest in an older group-era track. A legacy video milestone can remind the market how large the group’s shared catalog still is. That feedback loop is one reason BLACKPINK remains central to any serious discussion of K-pop’s global ceiling.

For Jirasi readers tracking BLACKPINK news, YouTube records, and K-pop history, this update lands as more than fan-service trivia. It confirms that “Ice Cream” continues to function as a living hit. It also confirms that BLACKPINK’s command of visual-era pop remains intact. In an industry that moves at a punishing speed, staying visible is difficult. Staying replayable for years is harder. BLACKPINK just proved again that it can do both.

Sources

[1] Yonhap News Agency, “BLACKPINK’s ‘Ice Cream’ music video surpasses 1 bln YouTube views”

[2] The Korea Herald, “Blackpink’s ‘Ice Cream’ music video hits 1b views”

[3] Just Jared Jr., “Selena Gomez Shares Behind the Scenes of ‘Ice Cream’ Music Video”