Lisa’s ‘press Play’ Debuts At No. 35 On The Billboard 200

Her first solo EP opens in the Billboard 200 top 40, backed by a Thai-language lead single that gave her a career-high on the Hot 100.

BLACKPINK’s Lisa debuted at No. 35 on the Billboard 200 with her first solo EP, “Press Play,” on the chart dated Nov. 7, Yonhap News Agency reported. The six-track project was released on Oct. 23 through Lloud and RCA Records, and it is her second solo release to appear on the U.S. albums chart after her 2025 album “Alter Ego.”

The entry is worth about 18,000 first-week album-equivalent units, according to a chart tracker citing Billboard figures. That figure comes from a secondary report and was not confirmed in the Yonhap or Allkpop coverage we checked. The same chart week placed KATSEYE’s “Wild” at No. 38, BTS’s “Arirang” at No. 57 in its 32nd week and CORTIS’s “GreenGreen” at No. 90, Allkpop noted.

A Cinematic EP Built Around Her Thai Roots

“Press Play” runs about 16 minutes across six songs sung in English and Thai, according to its Wikipedia entry. The tracklist reads “SaWaDiKa,” “V12,” “Cobra,” “Tarantino,” “Cut U Off” and “Sweat.” The same page says Lisa told “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” that the EP leans on Thai elements and that each song has its own character, likening it to a movie you simply press play on.

The rollout matched that idea. Character Media wrote that the project is meant to be watched from the opening frame to the credits, with each song keeping its own identity. Reviews have been mixed: HIVE Magazine singled out “SaWaDiKa,” “Tarantino” and “Sweat” as highlights, while another review argued most of the other tracks are forgettable. We list both views because critics have not agreed on how strong the EP is.

The Lead Single That Gave Her a Career High

The EP’s lead single, “SaWaDiKa,” came out on Sept. 3 and is a hip-hop song that borrows its title from the Thai word for “hello.” According to its Wikipedia entry, it peaked at No. 69 on the Billboard Hot 100, her highest placement there, and entered the Billboard Global 200 at No. 23. The same entry lists a No. 1 peak in Singapore and top-10 placements in Malaysia and Taiwan, a No. 66 peak on the UK Singles chart and a No. 70 peak in Australia.

Taken together, those placements show the song charting in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and topping the chart in Singapore. We have not verified these positions against the national chart sites, so please treat them as reported by the cited reference.

Lisa poses at a Louis Vuitton event in December 2025. / News1

How the EP Sold Outside the U.S.

The EP’s other chart peaks, as listed on the same Wikipedia page, include No. 13 on the UK Albums Sales chart, No. 17 on the Scottish Albums chart, No. 34 on Australia’s ARIA albums chart and No. 7 on South Korea’s Circle retail album chart. It also reached No. 36 in New Zealand and the top 25 in several European countries.

Our own reading of those figures is that the EP performed best in markets where physical and download sales count heavily, such as the UK sales chart and the Korean retail chart, while its Billboard 200 debut leaned on a mix of sales and streams. That is our interpretation of the numbers rather than a statement from Billboard or her label.

Where This Fits in the BLACKPINK Chart Week

Lisa’s debut landed the same week that Jennie and Tame Impala’s “Dracula” climbed three places back to No. 5 on the Hot 100, tying its highest position, Yonhap reported. We also recently wrote about Lisa’s “Tarantino” behind-the-scenes photos and the sell-out of her Nike x SKIMS drop, and about the group’s Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit in Korea.

Lisa at a Louis Vuitton photo call in December 2025. / News1

Editor’s Note: Chart positions and first-week units are cited from the named outlets and reference pages and were not independently checked against Billboard’s or the Official Charts Company’s databases. The photos were taken at a December 2025 event and are not related to the EP release.