Whistle (Blackpink song)

YG Entertainment announced the final lineup and name of the group on June 29, 2016, after multiple teasers. On August 6, the label announced "Whistle" as one of two title tracks from the single album Square One on August 8.[5] The song was written by B.I., Teddy Park and Bekuh Boom, with production being handled by the latter two and Future Bounce.

The music video for "Whistle" was directed by Beomjin J of VM Project Architecture, and was released through Blackpink's official YouTube channel on August 8, 2016.[6][7] It surpassed nearly ten million views within five days.[8] A choreography practice video for "Whistle" was released on August 18, 2016.[9] As of June 20, 2020, the video has surpassed 500 million views.[10] As of December 30, 2020, the music video has surpassed 600 million views. The music video was awarded Best Music Video of the year at the 2016 Mnet Asian Music Awards[11].

Blackpink began appearing on South Korea's televised music programs with the August 14, 2016 broadcast of Inkigayo, where they received their first trophy for "Whistle" a week later, becoming the fastest girl group to achieve this feat.[12]

Billboard K-Town's Jeff Benjamin opines that Blackpink "[embraces] the hip-hop sensibilities and club-ready sounds with which their seniors gained an international following", referring to their labelmates Psy, Big Bang, and 2NE1. He further stated that the song, "brings together impassioned crooning and their youthful hip-hop delivery with minimal drum 'n' bass and an undeniable whistle hook".[13] Rolling Stone's Brittany Spanos placed Blackpink in her list of "10 New Artists You Need to Know: September 2016", saying: "[a]ll low-end boom and high-end tweets, the infectious "Whistle" feels like perfect pop update of the similarly chirpy Ying Yang Twins classic "Whistle While You Twurk."[14] Entertainment Weekly's Joey Nolfi said that the song "quickly turns up the heat, layering irresistible finger snaps, a saccharine bridge, electric guitar riffs, mammoth bass, and, of course, cow bell-accompanied whistles ... it wouldn't sound entirely out of place occupying a lofty position on American charts."[15]

In South Korea, "Whistle" went on to top the Gaon Digital Chart on the chart issue dated August 7–13, 2016 with 150,747 downloads sold–topping the component Download Chart–and 4,302,547 streams.[18][19][20] As of November 2019, the song has over 2,500,000 digital downloads in South Korea.[21]

In the United States, "Whistle" entered at number 2 on the Billboard World Digital Songs chart. Both songs on the "Square One" single moved about 6,000 downloads each, with "Boombayah" selling slightly more.[22][1] In its second week on the chart, "Whistle" placed at number 3.[23]