Tag: BLACKPINK

It has been almost two years since we have heard BLACKPINK through a full group comeback via the promotions of Lovesick Girls and The Album. Currently, we are progressing full speed ahead towards BLACKPINK’s official comeback in a month time with their second studio length album Born Pink and a yet to be unveiled titled track. But ahead of the release of Born Pink, we find ourselves here today just about to review the pre-release for that album, Pink Venom, which dropped earlier today.

It appears that Lovesick Girls was a once event in terms of the group’s discography. BLACKPINK returns to familiar powerful territory with Pink Venom, following the same vein of their past releases such as How You Like That and Kill This Love. There isn’t anything wrong with this classic BLACKPINK sound and style. It is just quite overdone by now. Pink Venom attempts to change it up with a mixture of traditional and tribal-like instrumentation throughout the song, sans the second verse which deep dives the song into 90s hip-hop territory. I think this instrumental combo lacks that knock out of the park feel that their previous tracks have. And I am quite sure the typical formula also dulls the potential of Pink Venom. The chorus was probably the most interesting aspect, but I am of the opinion that it is disappointing. Lisa and Jennie go into this high pitch soft whisper-like motif. I feel that this detracts from the powerfulness potential of song, and weakens the integrity of Pink Venom. It is somewhat unique, but very fragile. It makes me want to handle the chorus with care, which isn’t something you would want with a BLACKPINK song that starts off powerful. The verses and pre-choruses were more appreciable and enjoyable by a long mile. There was potential between the vocals in the pre-chorus from Jisoo and Rose, to the rapping by Jennie and Lisa in the verses. The chorus just lets it down. Pink Venom ends with a ‘La Ta Ta‘ hook, which I didn’t think really gave Pink Venom that punchy ending that I had expected. There was something lacking in the background to really hone the ending in and make it all climatic. It appears that Pink Venom isn’t my cup of tea this time around. Maybe more listens would make the song more approachable, but for now, Pink Venom just doesn’t live up to their previous tracks of a similar nature.

Per usual, BLACKPINK’s music videos are top notch. And once again, Pink Venom‘s does not disappoint. Visually, this music video had it all. Vibrant colours, impactful shots and stunning looks. Best shots for each member are: Jennie’s red outfit at the start of the video. Lisa’s gangster look, Rose’s leather look and Jisoo’s Korean hanbok inspired look. The scene with Rose and the black paint was also quite epic and could potentially be interpreted as quite deep. The sets looked amazing, especially that first choreography shot with the fabric blowing about in the background. I also enjoyed the subtle black and pink colours on some of the sets.

While musically, I think the chorus is weak, the choreography might be the next big thing for the group (until next month’s release). The small movements with their hands behind their back, for example, works well with the softer and fragile delivery of the chorus, while the bigger movements work well with the slightly more aggressive parts of the chorus (i.e. the ‘woah woah woah‘). The ‘La Ta Ta Ta‘ end sequence looks cool in the performance, as well.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 7.9/10

Kicking off the intense month of October is BLACKPINK, who makes their third return of the year with their long-awaited first album! With the group’s success since the start of their career, fans have been actively pursuing a studio album for the group for the past four years they have been active. Prayers and requests were answered earlier this year when YG Entertainment confirmed confirmed the album for September (though I personally was in a ‘see it before I believe it’ mindset), but it was later pushed to October. Lovesick Girls headlines the album, which was been titled as The Album, and features alongside BLACKPINK’s How You Like That (released back in July) and Ice Cream featuring Selena Gomez (released in August).

Lovesick Girls is a great changeup to the group’s (and YG Entertainment’s) usual style of music. More recently, the company’s artists have been exploring new sounds and genres, though most of these releases do opt for some of the usual YG tactics. Lovesick Girls seems to be the biggest step away from the usual style, by opting for a dance pop profile rather than the hip-hop roots associated with BLACKPINK and their company. It also doesn’t include the usual chant-like chorus and drop chorus, nor does it build up to an anthem-like final chorus (in an attempt to changeup the song in its final moments). No doubt, all of this is quite refreshing. To me, Lovesick Girls is an impressive display of BLACKPINK’s vocals and rapping. The pre-chorus is the prime example of the great vocals, before the group joins forces with an all-in approach and catchy hummable melody. I do have some minor complaint about the chorus vocals though. I didn’t like how the slight echoey nature of the chorus. I felt that the producers had a strong opportunity to make this part dynamic, but opted for a much weaker approach. It didn’t ruin the song for me, but it did strip away the energy that was building towards to the chorus. The rapping that features briefly in the first verse and more prominently in the second verse gives the song more heft and depth, with Lisa and Jennie incorporating a brief hip-hop touch to their delivery. What really made the rapping better was how well it complimented the instrumentation. If the instrumentation was the cake, then Jennie and Lisa’s rapping would be the icing. In addition to that sequence, I really liked what the acoustic guitars brought to the verses, further complimenting that dance pop styled-chorus. Overall, Lovesick Girls is definitely a great song!

What a stunning music video. For once, BLACKPINK is not in a built set. I think we have seen BLACKPINK out in the open air before, but it has been a while if I remember correctly. The music video shows the members in a happy relationship one second and the next second are in an argument or in tears over their relationship. It works well with the lyrics, which is all about them wanting to love someone forever but only knowing the pain of heartbreak. The most captivating part of the music video belongs to Rose during the bridge of the song. The way she throws black paint across the pink wall (subtle BLACKPINK reference?) and is later seen covered in black paint and crying in the bathtub is such an impactful sequence for me. Her acting was superb. I had to rewatch that sequence a few times to properly take it all in.

The choreography looks good. The chorus starts off simple but it slowly builds in complexity as the routine involves moving about. The way they got into formation for some parts (as shown in the music video) looks quite clever as well. Other than that, I don’t have much else to say.

Song – 9/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 8/10
Overall Rating – 8.8/10

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

The biggest comeback of this week has to go to BLACKPINK, who returned today with Kill This Love. But when it comes to BLACKPINK’s comebacks, do you know what makes this one better? The fact that we also get three new songs (so an album review is coming your way!). We last saw BLACKPINK through the extremely popular DDU-DU DDU-DU. We also got to see Jennie through her solo promotions of SOLO at the end of 2018, along with promises from YG for future solo promotions for the other members (hopefully!).

Kill This Love starts with blaring horns, which really encapsulates the group’s fierce style within the first few seconds of the song. It also hints towards a military-style concept, which will become apparent quite soon.  Following this, the group launches itself into a hip-hop infused verse, before settling on a vocally-centred pre-chorus. The blaring horns return for the chorus, which definitely had an added dramatic flair. At the end of the song, we get this military-like rolling drum beat that pretty brings the song back full circle to the same feeling that we got from the start (and it is probably my favourite bit) However, there are a few aspects that leave me rather disappointed with the song. The chorus was underwhelming, with a very mediocre approach for its catchiness. I also think the song was rather muddled with its many sounds. The presence of the extended pre-chorus right after the fierceness of the hip-hop verse really lost the flow of the track and it failed to make the chorus drop in a satisfying manner. Overall, I am not really feeling the song this time.

As usual, the music video is amazing. I say this with any YG Entertainment music video and will probably say it countless more times in the future. Each set looked amazing, especially the massive bear trap set. Though, I am never sure about the meaning behind every scene and how this relates to the lyrics or the rest of the video (sometimes, they feel quite random). I did find this video that did a good job of describing the scenes so I will post this here if you want to hear about a possible theory. I really like how edgy the members look with their outfits and on the sets. The military concept also carried over, with pretty much the ending being a massive military march.

The performance was really good. Fierceness seems to be the big word of the day, with it being an adjective throughout all the aspects of this comeback. The chorus looked amazing but my favourite choreography moment has to be the end with the marching/rolling drum beats. I enjoyed the rush of energy during this part.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video – 9/10
Performance – 9/10
Overall Rating – 7.8/10

BLACKPINK is officially back. And finally, it isn’t a single. Instead, this is BLACKPINK’s first comeback with an actual mini-album. DDU-DU DDU-DU (뚜두뚜두) is the lead title track off their first mini-album, Square Up. Their last comeback was As If It Is Your Last, which was released back in June 2017. Since then, they did release a mini-album of their past hits in Japan and also released a very questionable lightstick.

DDU-DU DDU-DU has already topped the charts in South Korea and I can see why. First listen in and I was already enjoying the song. It takes on the hip-hop sound which their respective company centres around and they turn it into something that BLACKPINK can only release. I love the bass and the beat in the song, which really hypes up the song. The verses are made up of raps, while the pre-chorus focuses on the vocals. Can I just take a moment to just point out how the members sound flawless in this song, especially Jisoo and Rose during the pre-chorus. However, the standout section of the entire song has to be the chorus itself. I really like how simple it sounds but also it also presents a really catchy sounding instrumentation. I also like the change-up at the end with the exotic/foreign feel and the fast-paced flute (not too sure of the instrument), which ended the song on a bold yet strong note.

To me, the music video is BLACKPINK’s version of I Am The Best. The entire video shows BLACKPINK as strong and fierce women, which goes hand-in-hand with the song’s message. But there were some scenes that made me think of 2NE1’s famous video. The entire video is definitely on another league with me liking every single scene and set. I really liked the giant chessboard, the Audrey Hepburn/rain scene, the chandelier, the post-apocalyptic dance set and literally everything else that I haven’t listed. Each member looked flawless and bold with their stylistic choices.

It seems like the ‘gun’ dance that opens up the chorus (and occurs at the main hook) is going to be the next big thing. Actually, the entire choreography during the chorus looks amazing, with the group not holding back on the fierceness. While the entire performance isn’t out yet, I have high expectations. From what I saw in the music video, I think I can confidently give a rating.

Song – 10/10
Music Video – 10/10
Performance – 10/10
Overall Rating – 10/10

BLACKPINK is the first YG group in a very long time to not disappear without a trace from the KPOP scene and then make their comeback 5 years down the track. With their seniors, 2NE1, now gone, BLACKPINK has big shoes to fill and their first attempt is with As If It’s Your Last. That being said, BLACKPINK has their own colour and style, which has already proven to be extremely popular. Without a doubt, they have what it takes to fill the shoes of their senior labelmates.

As If It’s Your Last starts off as a strong song. A little different but it suits Summer quite nicely. I love the bass during the verses and the pre-chorus. It reminded me of Boom Bah Yah (which I grew to love). Just the end of the pre-chorus build up didn’t sit right and it felt too instantaneous. The chorus turns the song into a more pop-styled song, which is good and all. But it just doesn’t suit the bass and well, the start of the song. It made it sound generic. The song does throw it back to the great start for the second verse, but it doesn’t save the song. Usually, the final chorus is where the artist changes things up a bit. Here, the final chorus felt just simply like another copy from the previous two choruses. Their vocal work in this song is quite strong and definitely, makes the song sound so much bolder and defined. Something that I have noticed is that their title track’s first impressions have been let downs. But I have grown to love their songs after many replays, so maybe that might just happen here. But for now, I will leave you with those comments.

The music video quality from YG Entertainment is always excellent. And it happens to be the case here. But there is nothing too mindblowing or impressive. Just a standard music video. But there was something that caught my eye. Lisa’s outfits are quite questionable in this music video. And I think some fans are also questioning the style behind the outfit. The first is the blacktop with the sparkly bra or bikini top (most likely sewn onto the blacktop). The second are those denim shorts and two massive pieces of obnoxious fabric on her legs…. Watch the video if you haven’t seen them. And you will most likely see why I question some of these fashion choices in KPOP sometimes.

[UPDATED] Apologies for the lateness. But the performance was actually quite good And that’s the best that I can describe it. There wasn’t anything that felt new or different with regards to the performance, in comparison to other groups out there. However, for a relatively new group, their stage presence is amazing.

Song – 6.5/10
Music Video – 7/10
Performance – 7/10 [UPDATED]
Overall Rating – 7/10 [UPDATED]

BLACKPINK has finally returned with their very first comeback ever! They made their debut in September with Whistle and Boom Bah Yah, which per everyone’s expectations, did incredibly well for a newly debut girl group. And they are expected to continuation with their success through their double title track comeback: Playing With Fire and Stay. This review will only focus on Playing With Fire. I may review Stay at a later date (not too sure yet).

Playing With Fire is one hell of a track. It is a lot different to their debut songs. It focuses more on delivering the energy and vocals. I personally like this track more than their debut tracks. I love the EDM sounds that ran throughout the chorus and the later parts of the song. YG artists tend to be quite versatile with their song types and this just further proves it. I love the EDM, but also loved the slow hip-hop and RnB in the song. The untuned piano at the start made the introduction a whole heap interesting. I do agree with a lot of people when they say it sounds like a 2NE1 song. There are 2NE1 vibes throughout While I said the song focuses more on the vocal side for the group, I was not much of a big fan of their vocals. They should have just let loose but instead, they sounded like they held everything back. I do love the bass that the song had going. Another song of just a few with the bass up to the right level.

The music video was incredibly dull and boring. It just normally consisted of normal pace choreography scenes and slow motioned close up shots. Their facial expressions in the video looked too forced and whoever is getting them to lip sync to the music should get fired. For a song that is moderately paced, I don’t understand the need for the slow motion. It just dragged the video on for longer. To be honest, the video looks like it was slapped together within just minutes. I expected something more speedy after listening to the song. Not slow. The sets look empty and needed something to make it more eye-catching. And finally, the use of fire or “Playing With Fire” was quite limited. Okay, half of me expected something decent and the other half wanted the whole set to be on fire. Just what they released didn’t live up to those standards or expectations.

The performance was meh. The dance isn’t amazing and it didn’t impress me.

Rating – 6/10