BLACKPINK – Page 3 – KPOPREVIEWED

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

One of the newest groups on the block. BLACKPINK is a four member girl group under YG Entertainment. The group is the first girl group from YG Entertainment, since 2NE1 made their debut back in 2009, which was 7 years ago. Countless rumours over the years have suggested YG would be debuting another girl group, but those plans fell through. Glad to see that one of their plans managed to make it in the end. The group consist of Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé and Lisa.

Whistle is a song that is quite addictive and is firmly rooted with its hip hop influences. When I say it is addictive, I think we can thank the continuous whistles in the song. While they do seem somewhat annoying and repetitive, it made the song feel alive and more likeable. I really liked the completely slow verses and then the sudden buildup to the chorus. The chorus + bridge had such a nice soulful vibe to it, which pretty much showed me their vocal abilities (which are quite strong). I am on the fence when it comes to their raps in this song.

However, Boom Bah Yah shows their rapping and vocal talents off pretty well. This song is quite bass heavy and still have that hip hop influence in it. It also has a nice powerful vibe to it. I like this song more (over Whistle) because there is more of a vibrant colour to the song, plus a much better hook that reeled me into the song.The words “Boom Bah Yah” are the perfect way to start off the chorus. The insturmental is more likeable here. Overall, Boom Bah Yah was my more preferred song.

The music videos that were released alongside these songs really failed to capture my attention. I basically watched each once and haven’t returned to any of them at all. Both videos were shot inside sets that felt a little too constricting. That was the first thing that I noticed. But even the dance scenes were constricting. Boom Bah Yah had great colour in the video. It just lacked the powerful feel the song had going. It seemed weak and needed something to make it seem stronger. Maybe more flashing lights that were in time with the beat? Whistle had a more stronger vibe in the video, but it didn’t suit the song. Majority of the scenes in the video showed the girls stuck to one spot and only the camera moved. That made it boring. I would liked to see more of the scenes where the girls were dancing or at least moving. Might have given me more to talk about. I did like the sets for this video though.

Dance wise, not that memorable. That goes for both performances. The dances did suit the songs to a certain degree, but I feel like they fall short compared to other artists with (what I see) is great choreography.

Whistle – 5.5/10