It has been over a year since BLACKPINK made their comeback with Kill This Love and fans have been wanting more ever since. And after that gruelling long wait, BLACKPINK has finally returned with a new single, How You Like That. It is said that 2020 is going to be a big year for the group, as they are ‘confirmed’ for their album, which will be due in September 2020. Well, at least YG Entertainment claims so. We will have to wait for its actual release to actually believe it, given YG Entertainment’s track record with BLACKPINK’s past releases and the ‘promised’ solo singles for Rose, Lisa and Jisoo (these have been ‘confirmed’ for later in the year). But until then, we have How You Like That to relieve that BLACKPINK itch.

You might already know where this review is heading if I am going to say that the most enjoyable part of the song is the ending sequence. This is where the song delivers an instrumental piece that is both powerful and enjoyable for a number of reasons. The first reason was that everything before that was extremely lacklustre and boring. It failed to excite me, hype me, maintain suspense or capture my attention. The first verse was okay, but it needed a powerful drop once it got to the chorus to enforce the preceding section. Instead, the chorus opted for a dry and bland drop. It was quite emotionless, to put it frankly and this resulted in drying out the first verse as well. I know the final sequence is just an extension of the chorus (as you can hear the chorus behind the increased tempo and heavy beats), but it was something that that I was looking for because it added momentum and energy to the song. The rapping and vocal work were quite good. I liked how Lisa’s rapping really helped make up for the lost momentum of the chorus, delivering some impact. If only the instrumental was more interesting to help support that mindset. I will also give the song its How You Like That chorus hook, for the exact same reason. Another thing that I noticed as I listened to the song for the first time early tonight – I had the thought that How You Like That was a Kill This Love or Ddu Du Ddu Du version 2.0 as it basically went for the same formula. For their upcoming release, I would love to hear something that strays away from the same formula and hopefully is a lot more exciting to this than compared to this song.

It is a YG video and it expected that it will be a good music video. And I feel like they hit that mark, once again. The colours are very vivid, the lighting puts everything into focus and most importantly, the video highlights all the pretty visuals of the group. I really liked how their outfits and looks really had a wow factor to them in this video, which made it more captivating to watch. The same thing can be said about the set design. My favourite looks in this music video include Jisoo’s headwear that accompanies her red outfit, Rose’s casual outfit when she rips off the flower blindfold, Lisa’s red hair, Jennie’s look under the umbrellas, their dark angel dresses and all their outfits for the final sequence.

Dance wise, I thought it was a good routine. There is a lot of attitude in the choreography to support the chorus and this fits well with the lyrics of being better after breaking up with someone who doubted them. I also really like the strut they did as they launch right into the final sequence. Attitude and definitely boldness to kick off the best part of the song. I did think the line was a little odd. But it still worked.

Song – 5/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 6.8/10