Blackpink’s Lisa Celebrates Her Roots on “SaWaDiKa”

In her banging new track, “SaWaDiKa”, Blackpink’s Lisa pays homage to her home in Thailand. It’s the first single from the rapper’s upcoming EP, Press Play, due October 23.

Hello

The title comes from a Thai greeting, “Sawatdee ka,” meaning “Hello.” Most already know Lisa from Blackpink as well as her 2025 solo debut, Alter Ego. But the intro hook of “SaWaDiKa” celebrates Lisa’s Thai roots with a kind of cheeky and swaggering salutation.

With production by Thom Bridges and Ojivolta, a trap beat propels Lisa’s greeting, reinforcing it in a bouncing chant.

Hello, Sawatdee ka,
Yeah, you know my wrist is cold.
Got this timepiece from Geneva,
If you know it, then you know.
I’m that b***h on your TV,
And my Ferrari indigo.
La, la, Lisa, la diva,
Sawatdee ka, there she go.

The groove here deepens as Lisa raps in a monotone delivery. Though her rootsy banger celebrates home, it also creates a global connection to hip-hop in the American South. This is culture pinging around the world before it ricochets back to Thailand.

Championship, they call me the one,
Whip my shit like it’s a salon.
I throw fits like highlight clips,
I aim, I hit, blow smoke off the gun.

She continues with references to Thailand’s official currency, the Thai baht, before rapping a Thai/tied pun:

“Thai’d up like I’m booked, booked / I’m like, hold up, let me cook, cook.”

“I Feel Like I Found Myself Again”

At the time of writing “SaWaDiKa” Lisa was spending a lot of time in Thailand. So the idea of writing a track that reconnected her to family, friends, and home felt right.

“I spend a lot of time in Thailand these days, and I feel like it’s so great to be back home, being surrounded with your family and your best friends since you were little. It’s so nice, and I feel like I found myself again, like I’m back to my [roots], so that was it, and they had me listen to this,” she said.

Not every member of a colossal pop group finds similar success as a solo act. Which makes “SaWaDiKa” feel like more than simply an homage to Thailand. It is that, of course. But it’s equally a song about an ever-evolving identity—the place Lisa has come from and the person she is now.

Photo by John Dorton/USSF/Getty Images