DDU-DU DDU-DU (JP Ver.)

"Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" keeps its harmonic content deliberately lean. The track anchors on a B minor tonal center and cycles through a natural minor loop for virtually its entire runtime — the production's real energy comes from trap drum programming, synth stabs, and EDM-style drops. The i–VI–III–VII framework is common to modern pop-rap, but it serves the song's purpose: it keeps the texture uncluttered so the call-and-response vocal interplay between Blackpink's four members can carry the melodic weight.

Teddy Park wrote "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" with collaborators 24, Bekuh Boom, and R. Tee as the centerpiece of Blackpink's debut Korean EP. YG Entertainment announced the release on June 4, 2018, describing the track as the group's comeback after a year-long absence since "As If It's Your Last" in June 2017. The title is onomatopoeia — its syllables imitating the sound of a gunshot.

Released June 15, 2018 as the lead single of Square Up, "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" ended a year-long silence from Blackpink with a statement. Written and produced by Teddy Park alongside 24, Bekuh Boom, and R. Tee, the track fuses trap drums, EDM drops, and bubblegum pop over an onomatopoeic title mimicking a gunshot. It spent three weeks at number one on the Gaon Digital Chart, peaked at number 55 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and the accompanying music video became the first by a K-pop group to reach two billion YouTube views.