The list, released on April 15 (local time), places Jennie among a global cohort shaping culture in real time. Introduced by Gracie Abrams—daughter of filmmaker J. J. Abrams—Jennie is described with unusual clarity: “To put it simply, she is a star… at her core, there’s something magical.”
It’s like an accurate medical diagnosis. Whether on screen, in a stadium, or backstage, she holds attention in a way that translates across environments.
Other names in the same category include Anderson .Paak and Dakota Johnson, placing Jennie firmly within a global—not regional—conversation.
Some of Jennie’s most recent brand partership.
The Solo Breakthrough
Jennie’s selection is inseparable from what she accomplished musically over the past year. Her solo album Ruby fielded three songs in the Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.
- “Handlebars” (feat. Dua Lipa) — debuted at #80
- “Like Jennie” (title track) — debuted at #83
- “ExtraL” (feat. Doechii) — re-entered at #99
Jennie’s longest-running song on the Billboard Hot 100 is “One of the Girls” (with The Weeknd & Lily-Rose Depp). It spent 20 weeks on the chart (peaking at #51).
She featured in the remix of Tame Impala’s “Dracula”. It is already her highest charting song in Billboard Hot 100 at #17 and is predicted to land inside the top 15 next week. She will only be the second female kpop soloist to achieve this feat after her own bandmate, Rosé.
Ruby sold approximately 4–5.4 million units worldwide as of mid-April 2026 and more than 2.8 billion streams on Spotify as of mid-April 2026, a combination that signals both dedicated fan purchasing power and broader listener adoption.
Within BLACKPINK, where group releases have traditionally carried the commercial peak, Jennie’s solo streams and sales are only behind Rosé.
However, the real strength of her brand lies elsewhere, in fashion.
Fashion Infrastructure
Jennie has been nothing short of a genius in building a brand that started in music, expanded into fashion, and ultimately solidified in the attention economy.
She debuted with BLACKPINK in 2016, and the group immediately rose to prominence with two singles, “Boombayah” and “Whistle”. But it was her partnership with Chanel that started to catapult her into stardom. The prestige of Chanel spilled over into her name and she milked it for her brand.
Announced in 2017, the partnership came before she released her solo single “Solo”, and even before BLACKPINK’s first world tour.
Though she has maintained a high level of privacy when it comes to her family, it has been widely known that she grew up with money. Having been educated in New Zealand, speaking English better than most Korean celebrities (something that still highly impresses many young Koreans), and coupled with her natural youthful yet elegant beauty, the partnership seemed almost written by destiny.
The third piece of the puzzle was YG Entertainment, the label of BLACKPINK. YG implemented its tried-and-tested formula: scarcity. BLACKPINK’s activities were highly limited, managing only two full studio albums in their ten-year career. They also rarely appeared on television shows, at award ceremonies, or at other events.
This positioned BLACKPINK as a luxury brand. Jennie stood out because of her personal background and physical look, one that fits Korea’s standard of beauty and has a natural space in the Western Market. That attracted more brands, which further boosted her image. The cycle fed itself.
Influence, and the Noise That Follows It
Jennie’s level of visibility comes with a predictable counterweight: constant scrutiny.
Few K-pop figures generate as much sustained conversation, whether celebratory or critical. That volume of discourse is volatility, but it is also a measure of centrality. In a fragmented media environment, relevance is often reflected in how persistently a figure remains part of the conversation.
In Jennie’s case, the attention rarely dissipates. It accumulates, reshapes, and resurfaces across cycles—music releases, fashion appearances, brand campaigns. The criticism and the admiration exist in parallel, but both point to the same underlying reality: she commands attention no cap.
Why This Moment, Why This List
The Time 100 is about presence—who is actively shaping the cultural landscape now.
Jennie’s past year aligns precisely with that definition. A record-setting solo era, a brand portfolio that spans industries and regions, and a level of public attention that rarely softens—all of it contributes to a form of influence that is both measurable and visible.
There is a reason her inclusion feels inevitable because the indicators were already there, moving in the same direction.
And if influence today is defined by the ability to move seamlessly between music, fashion, and global conversation—while holding attention in each space—then Jennie’s place on this list is simply the clearest expression of what has already been happening.
