Since I came back to this blog in 2020, I've really liked writing about kpop. Earlier this year, I wrote a series called Kpop Crash Course where I listened to a bunch of famous kpop songs, and I've also watched a lot of kpop-related videos to discover new songs in the genre. However, before all of this, one of the first kpop groups I got into was the girl group Blackpink.
Debuting in 2016 under YG Entertainment, Blackpink can reasonably be called the biggest girl group in the world. YG Entertainment is one of the "Big 3" companies in kpop along with JYP Entertainment and SM Entertainment. YG already had legendary kpop groups like BIGBANG and 2NE1, as well as PSY when "Gangnam Style" was taking over the world, in their roster, so you can imagine that there would be a lot of hype for their next girl group. Prior to the release of any music, YG featured the four members of the group, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa, in advertisements and music videos for other YG acts. On August 8, 2016, Blackpink released their debut project, Square One, with the singles "Boombayah" and "Whistle."
From there, the popularity of the group has skyrocketed. They are the highest charting Korean female act on both the Billboard Hot 100 (which counts singles) and the Billboard 200 (which counts albums). With 49.7 million subscribers, they are the second most-subscribed artist on YouTube, only behind Justin Bieber, and they were also the first kpop girl group to perform at Coachella. They've also collaborated with Western artists like Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa, as well as collaborating with Selena Gomez and Cardi B on this very album.
However, despite their immense popularity, Blackpink is only just now releasing their debut album. That's one thing that's frustrated many of their fans, known as Blinks: their discography is surprisingly small. Compared to most other kpop artists, who release multiple comebacks a year, Blackpink typically only releases one a year. I have mixed opinions on this. On one hand, Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa are people, not robots. I'd much rather see them have time to breathe rather than being overworked. Kpop is a stressful industry, and I'm glad YG isn't letting them become victims to it. But on the other hand, it just makes sense from a business perspective to release music more frequently. The kpop industry seems to be very fast-paced, and the best way to keep your name in the public consciousness is to release more music. You keep the fans happy that way. Plus, I've heard that the girls themselves have wished they were releasing more music.
I first started getting into Blackpink in early 2019, around the same time I got into Twice. I first heard their song "Ddu-du Ddh-Du" on one of the Just Dance games and I thought it was really cool and catchy. I listened around to some of their other songs and I do like quite a few of them. Their 2019 song "Kill This Love" was super badass, "As If It's Your Last" has an amazing chorus, and "Playing With Fire" is easily one of my top 5 favorite kpop songs in existence. I'm not terribly invested in the girls as people, but they seem cool. Lisa, the group's main dancer, is my bias because her raps tend to be my favorite parts of the song and she's absolutely incredible at dancing. However, I've been underwhelmed by the lack of new music, and the new music, from what I've heard, has been disappointing. I've only really heard "How You Like That" and snippets of "Ice Cream" with Selena Gomez, and I'm not impressed by either. I've also been getting into other kpop groups, and some girl groups, namely Red Velvet and Mamamoo, just surpass Blackpink for me. But I want to like this group, so hopefully I'll find a few solid b-sides. Now let's cut the rambling and look at Blackpink's very creatively titled debut album...The Album. (Seriously YG, try harder.)
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| This album cover is really simple, but I dunno, I really like it. |
(Oh, one thing I have to mention: When I write album reviews, I listen to the album track-by-track and give my initial thoughts on each song, scoring each from 1 to 10. At the end, I give some final thoughts. Also one thing I absolutely cannot emphasize enough: this review is based on my opinion and absolutely nothing else. Respect my opinion and I'll respect yours.)
1. "How You Like That"Pretty early on in my first listen of this track, something was very apparent very early on: this is basically the exact same song as "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" and "Kill This Love." The structure is practically identical between the three songs:
1. An introductory verse. To be fair, the first verse in "How You Like That" is sung, whereas it's rapped in both "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" and "Kill This Love." But with everything else, the structure is pretty much the same.
2. A nice, melodic buildup featuring good vocals from Jisoo and Rosé.
3. The members shout the name of the song, or something close to it, i.e. "Hit you with that ddu-du, ddu-du, du!" or "Let's kill this love!"
4. A mostly instrumental beat drop. The beat drop isn't entirely instrumental, as it's intercut with the same "Hit you with that ddu-du, ddu-du, du!," "Let's kill this love!" and "How you like that!" from before. We also get some interjections, usually "yeah" in some form.
5. A more rap-leaning verse from Jennie and/or Lisa,
6. Melodic buildup, title drop, and instrumental portion again.
7. Short melodic bridge from Rosé.
8. Final beat drop, which is different and more explosive than the previous two.
9. End the song.
There are some differences between the three songs, and to be fair, I didn't notice how similar "Kill This Love" was to "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" until recently. "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du" was the song that got me into Blackpink, and "Kill This Love" was even better because the drop sounded like a marching band. But by the third time, it was just stale. "How You Like That" is, in all honesty, pretty obnoxious. I don't like the beat, and some of the vocal inflections are grating. I also don't like the "dumdumdumdumdumdum" parts in the final drop. As somebody who was getting into Blackpink and awaiting their next comeback, "How You Like That" just felt regurgitated, lazy, and ultimately disappointing. 3.5/10
2. "Ice Cream" ft. Selena Gomez
Fun fact, Ariana Grande helped with the composition of this track, and the song also features writing credits from her frequent collaborators Victoria Monét and Tommy Brown, the latter of whom also co-produced the track. I'd ask why Ariana didn't just sing on it herself, but honestly, I don't know if she'd do much to redeem this. I'm not gonna say this is the worst song I've ever heard period, but it's definitely the worst I've heard from Blackpink. The lyrics are just straight-up awful, mostly consisting of a bunch of bad ice cream-related puns. I'm never going to be a fan of songs that try to relate sex to food- remember all the (well-deserved) flak Justin Bieber got for "Yummy" earlier this year? The chorus is the worst kind of earworm, where it's infuriatingly catchy but so annoying. I'm also not sure why they keep giving Lisa all the rap parts when Jennie is supposed to be the main rapper of the group. Her raps are typically my favorite parts of Blackpink songs, but she's underwhelming here. Finally, why on Earth is Selena here other than star power? She's a weak singer who doesn't have a lot of presence on her own tracks, let alone this one. She adds nothing. All in all, I'd give "Ice Cream" a 2/10, and I'll stick to Twice when I want to listen to a kpop song called "Ice Cream." I know I've been harsh on these first two tracks, but it's mostly because I know that Blackpink is capable of so much more. I really hope the rest of these songs are better.
3. "Pretty Savage"
Ughh, this song started out so strong! The piano line was really good. Then it turned to a synth and it is just...so bad. That synth tone legitimately gives me a headache. The song once again repeats the "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du"/"Kill This Love"/"How You Like That" structure, and honestly, it might be the worst take on the formula. The main drop is grating and the final drop at the end sounds way too much like Jason Derulo's awful "Wiggle" song for my liking. I'm also a little uncomfortable by the way they co-opt AAVE in this song and take a lot of hip hop slang. I know it's (unfortunately) quite common for kpop to steal elements from Black culture, but it still feels icky. There are elements to this that I like, namely the guitar parts in the melodic buildup and the short bridge, but everything else is just irritating. I am a little amused by the usage of the word "bitch" throughout the song. I've only heard a few kpop songs that feature English curse words, so it's always gonna catch me off guard when somebody swears. 3/10
4. "Bet You Wanna" ft. Cardi B
I just have to ask again: why is Cardi here? I don't hate Cardi. I think she can be really fun in a lot of cases and I've been laughing my ass off at the countless "WAP" mashups that have flooded my For You Page on TikTok for a month. But like...Blackpink already has two good rappers in Jennie and Lisa. Cardi really isn't needed here. That being said, this has been easily my favorite song here up to this point. It's not their best song ever or anything, but it's pretty solid. The prominent bass in the song is amazing, and the melodies and vocals are strong. I wasn't huge on the repetitions of "I bet you wanna" but the "Something 'bout ya's taking me higher" chorus is great. Rosé's vocals are also pretty impressive, especially at the end. I've always thought of her as a vocalist who stands out because of her unique tone, not because of any insane high notes or anything, but her higher notes in this song were pretty good. I also liked Jennie and Lisa's bridge, although I didn't care for the "higher higher higher" autotuned parts. As for Cardi, her verse is fine for what it is, and I'm sure it'll help the girls break through in America. I'd much rather have Jennie and/or Lisa rap a verse and give Jisoo the bridge instead. Jisoo seems to get the short end of the stick as far as line distribution goes, and that sucks. Her voice is really distinctive. Overall, I'd give this song a 7.5/10.
5. "Lovesick Girls"
This song is set to be the next single on the album, and honestly, I liked it just from hearing snippets on the group's Instagram story. I'm not sure how to categorize the song as far as genre or style. I think it would be best described as an electronic dance song with some guitar thrown in there. Famous producer David Guetta worked on the composition of this song, but more interesting to me is the fact that Jennie and Jisoo had a hand in writing the lyrics. The members of Blackpink typically don't write on their tracks, so it's a delight to see that's changing. Another thing that surprised me was Jennie rapping. I don't know why that did, since she's supposed to be a rapper in the group. It's just surprising since a lot of the raps are typically given to Lisa instead of Jennie. Lisa also raps here, and they both do a great job. Jisoo and Rosé's vocals are on point, and I love the chorus. This may end up being one of my ultimate favorites from Blackpink upon repeated listens. 9.5/10
6. "Crazy Over You"
This album features multiple English-only tracks so far. "Bet You Wanna" was entirely in English, and this song, "Crazy Over You," was as well. Honestly, I really hate that I brought up how a bunch of Blackpink songs all have the same structure and formula, because once I pointed that out, it's impossible for me to notice. This song has that same structure so it ultimately feels generic within Blackpink's discography. It's not bad. In fact, I like it a lot more than "How You Like That" and "Pretty Savage." The drop of the song is fine and Jisoo and Rosé sound especially fantastic. But it does feel like more of the same. This song goes in one ear and out the other. Maybe it'll grow on me with repeated listens. Maybe it'll be a "Delicate" by Taylor Swift situation, where I initially thought it was just mediocre and now laugh at how I thought such a great song was so underwhelming. But for now, I'm going to give it a 6.5/10.
7. "Love to Hate Me"
This song is also all in English. This song is one of the best songs here, as it has a more developed chorus. It really bugs me how many of the songs on this project have mostly had instrumental choruses. This song has a little bit of a hip-hop flair to it, but it's primarily dance-pop. I know that hip-hop elements are a hallmark of Blackpink's style, but most of my favorite songs from the group are the more dance-pop ones. "Playing With Fire," for example, does have a rap verse from Lisa (a really good one, I might add), but the production style of the song is electropop. Lisa has a rap on "Love To Hate Me" as well. Although I'm still confused at how the girls' producers keep giving Lisa the raps instead of Jennie, I can't really complain with this song, as her rap verse here is solid. I also think I like Jennie's singing as much, if not more, than her rapping. The melody of this song feels sort of dark and mysterious, and I love the way it peaks on the line "no, no drama in my life." Finally, I love the main line in this song, "you ain't worth my love if you only love to hate me." I really liked this one. 9.5/10
8. "You Never Know"
After seven uptempo songs, it's definitely a good choice to end the album with a more emotional track. The lyrics for most of this album haven't been too noteworthy, but this song has a more personal message. It's about how you can never know what somebody is going through, and how the girls, despite their fame, are going through struggles with self-worth. At least, that's how I interpret it. The very first line in the song, sung by Jisoo, translates to "On the days I force myself to smile brightly." I think of this song as being similar to "fake smile" by Ariana Grande and "Girls Like Us" by Twice, both of which are songs with the same theme that I also really love. The girls' vocals are also really strong throughout this entire song. They didn't write it, but you can tell it is personal to them. Lastly, I really love the bridge of this song, especially with Rosé gradually ascending up the scale in the melody. This is a great song to end the project on. 9.5/10
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So how was Blackpink's The Album as a whole? Well, it certainly ended a lot better than it started. There are some really solid songs here, but a lot of middle-of-the-road or terrible songs here. Most fans consider Blackpink, Twice, and Red Velvet to be the "Big Three girl groups" because they are from the three most prominent kpop labels (YG, JYP, and SM, respectively) and they're the three most successful. With Twice in particular (and probably Red Velvet too, but I have yet to listen to a full album from them), the b-sides are different from the title track, but still feel cohesive with it. Twice songs like "Get Loud" and "Love Foolish" fit with the title track, "Feel Special," but still feel unique enough. I wish Blackpink was more like that. I think the album would be a lot better if it had more variety, less songs that use the "How You Like That" formula.
I'm happy that the girls are able to release an album that feels distinctive to them. The girls do a great job with what they're given, and they're the most consistently good thing about the project. I have problems with the music, but none of them are due to anything Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, or Lisa do. I also think that most diehard Blinks are going to love this album, and that's great! When I write reviews, I never want to make people feel bad for liking something. If you liked the album, I'm happy for you. However, as far as I'm concerned, it was a little disappointing. Like I said before, I prefer the dance-pop style on Blackpink, so this album doesn't appeal to me as much. I will return to some of the tracks, but overall, I'm gonna give it a 6/10 and hope that I like their next project more!
Favorites: "Lovesick Girls," "Love To Hate Me," "You Never Know"
Least Favorites: "Ice Cream," "Pretty Savage," "How You Like That"
Stellar
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