“Tarantino” makes massive debut and it’s not a movie!
Dateline: Incheon, South Korea
“Tarantino” is a new nearly three-minute single by BLACKPINK’s Lisa (Lalisa Manoban), which was released this past week as part of her first solo EP Press Play. The song and its associated video pay homage to filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. Lisa has said the Tarantino film Kill Bill starring Uma Thurman is the inspiration for the song and video. Its digital and streaming versions are available via Lloud and RCA Records. It is a U.S contemporary hit with a radio play push scheduled for this week.
The song already has №1 rankings on iTunes in 15 countries, including Chile, Czech Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Malta, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and Vietnam.
Song collaborators include Lisa, Christian Astrop with Thom Bridges as producer.
In addition to “Tarantino,” the PressPlay tracklist includes “SaWaDika”. “V12,” “Cobra,” “Cut U Off,” and “Sweat”. The album has released a special Japanese version.
Here are the most streamed Solo albums by K-pop soloists with LISA holding the top and 5th best selling positions:
1. Press play: 8.3m
2. Golden: 2.9m
3. Rosie: 2.5m
4. Ruby: 2.2m
5. Alter Ego: 1.7m
“Tarantino” follows the success of “SaWaDiKa,” which has received fast YouTube view records for a 2026 K-pop MV and Lisa’s 2025 debut solo album Alter Ego.
The three-and-a-half music video for “Tarantino,” directed by James Mackel (Object & Animal), is set up as a spy/mission piece. Lisa, mostly seen with a blonde bob, black leather and studded beret, fights her way through a hotel — doing so with hotel and kitchen staff while being escorted by bellboys and chambermaids- to deliver a red envelope/note to her favorite director (Tarantino of course) who happens to be staying in the hotel. The mission ends with the letter being slipped under a door. The end of the video imagines Tarantino receiving it while receiving a script called “Her” starring Lisa. It also briefly shows a limited edition Lisa PlayStation Dual Sense controller she helped design.
Here is the official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ZXrO_lYSA
The video is now the №1 trending music video on YouTube worldwide. Views on YouTube have been impressive: 10.4m views on the first day, 4.8m views the second day and 57m views to date as of October 26.
Lisa’s musical journey starts with Thai roots and has evolved into global stardom.
The LISA Rise to Fame
Get David William Helin’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Lalisa Manoban, known mononymously as the 29-year-old LISA, was born Pranpriya Manobal on March 27, 1997 in the Satuek district of the Buriram Province of Thailand. She is the lead rapper, main dancer and youngest member of the Korean girls group BLACKPINK.
LISA is an only child raised by her Thai mother, Chitthip Bruschweiler and Swiss stepfather, Bruno Bruschweiler. She started dance lessons at age four, competed in contests, and was part of the Thai dance crew We Zaa Cool, alongside future GOT7 member BamBam. In 2010, at age 13, she auditioned for YG Entertainment in Thailand and was the only one selected out of ~4,000 applicants. On the advice of a fortune teller, she changed her name to Lalisa, meaning “the one who is praised. At age 14, she moved to Korea at YG’s first non-Korean trainee and trained for five years.
LISA debuted with BLACKPINK on August 8, 2016, alongside Jisoo, Jennie and Rose. The group emerged as the most successful and commercially dominant girl groups globally, with major hits, stadium tours, Coachella performances and massive streaming/sales figures.
Solo Career
In 2021, Lalisa made here solo debut with the eponymous album Lalisa, which set massive sales records in Korea led by such hits as “Lalisa” and “Money.” Specifically regarding her solo activities, she parted ways with YG while remaining ties with it for her BLACKPINK group activities. In 2024 she founded here own company, LLOUD, and partnered with RCA Records while retaining ownership of her solo recordings. Under her own label, in February 2025 she debuted the studio album Alter Ego. The album which reached the top 10 of the Billboard 200 and included the lead single “Rockstar”. She has a residency planned for Las Vegas called “Viva La Viva.”
Acting and Fashion Work
LISA made her acting debut in 2025 in Season 3 of HBO’s The White Lotus as a wellness coach named Mook.
Also, Always Lalisa, a documentary directed by Sue Kim, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. It features her year of transitioning to a solo career, reflections on the K-pop trainee system and family.
LISA is also a major fashion figure and global ambassador for such luxury brands as Louis Vuitton, Celine and Bulgari.
She is also one of the most-followed K-pop artists on Instagram.
She holds multiple Guinness World Records and has won awards including at MTV’s VMAs as the first K-pop soloist in certain award categories.
She is multilingual, fluent in Thai, Korean and English and has a basic knowledge of Japanese and Chinese.
Her stature as a standout performer certainly dwarfs here five-foot-five height.
The following are the lyrics to “Tarantino”:
“Got my nails really long like the barrel of my gun;
And my lipstick all over your face;
I’m a boss, I’m a done when I’m drivin’ to the sun;
It’s a movie, baby, come and press play;
Tarantino, Tarantino;
Got my feet hangin’ out the Camino.”
