Blackpink – The Album
Title: The Album Artist: Blackpink Label: YG Entertainment Release: October 2, 2020
Well.. it is finally here… I have been following Blackpink since predebut. I remember asking and pleading for more songs every year. It took an emotional toll on me to constantly ask for more from YGE for these girls and sitting back, watching the treatment that other groups in the company got was difficult. I won’t lie guys, this is not an album in the least. Eight songs is nowhere near album especially by YGE standards, not to mention that two of them were pre-releases. Once again the girls are being given the bare minimum and getting the short end of the stick. If you’re a long time reader of this blog, you are aware that Jennie is my bias. She is my ultimate bias of the currently active promoting girl groups and the last two years have been quite tortuous for me. I say this blatantly so that you guys can be well aware going into this review. So let’s get into it.
Title Track – Lovesick Girls
In the lovely YG style of combining guitar with a poppy retro sound, I knew immediately that this would be one of my favorites on the album and one of my favorite Blackpink title tracks. It reminds me of a that old Big Bang style with a proper chorus that we’ve been missing throughout their entire discography except for As If Its Your Last. I think that there is so much charm in various parts of this song more notably the way the second verse comes in and the ending part of the song. I genuinely enjoy everything that this track has to offer and I’m not just saying that because Jennie and Jisoo have writing credits. This track plays with the disco elements that David Guetta loves to infuse in his tracks and was probably why he was credited as a producer. I also get the distinct impression that Jennie found the inspiration for her car scene in the beginning from Rihanna’s We Found Love. This is also one of my favorite music videos because we rarely see them with outside videos. Rosé’s bathtub scene was just absolutely breathtaking. I also love the way the Jennie and Rosé’s voices work so wonderfully together and it’s why the ‘We were born to be alone’ hook gets stuck on repeat. This song just feels like a genuine breath of fresh air when you stack it against the other lead singles that they have released. When you see Jennie Kim please refer to her as producer/songwriter!!
B-Sides
How You Like That (Pre-Release)
I can’t remember if I gave this a proper review during my roundup but my guess would be no as I definitely did not like this horse crap when it was released. It actually has grown on me more as time as passed. I loved the beginning instrumental and the instrumental during Lisa’s rap. It does it’s job as an album starter to get you hyped and ready to see what else is being offered.
Ice Cream (Pre-Release)
I don’t hate this song, but it has a very poor replay value. Do you know the songs you play once every six months and they bop? This is how I would describe Ice Cream. It just becomes so gnawing the more you listen to it. So flavorless and basic. I suppose this was more of a collaboration than a feature, but I think there was way too much Selena. Also the rap in Ice Cream was a bit too long. It could’ve been cut in half or rearranged. The first part was fine, but then the ‘Mona Lisa’ part just… yeah.
Pretty Savage
This is a very noisy song. A good kind of noise though. Very typical of the YG and Blackpink style of this heavy trap beat accompanied by a light guitar pre-chorus in the instrumental. This song will be good to listen to in the car with the bass blaring. Rosé ate in the bridge and basically from that point onwards in the song is addictive as fuck. I think what I dislike the most was the post-chorus talk chant thing that Lisa does in the earlier part. The lyrics are also really good and probably one of my top three.
Bet You Wanna ft. Cardi B
The beginning arrangement of this song is very similar to Ice Cream, but this song is miles ahead. First of all we can hear Jisoo lines. Cardi is sliding on the beat. Jennie and Rosé are cutting up the vocals. The adlibs that Rosé does are actually mesmerizing. I keep replaying this song because it really sounds like an upbeat infectious song that is so melodic.
I feel like I have stated many times that I am a useless whore for songs with oriental beats on it. Blackpink knew this.. They knew this. This song is so sexy?? I know people dislike it, but I love every choice made on this song. I love the kind of anti drop that it does because I find it so sickening. I swear to god the more I listen to this the more I fall deeper into it. Lisa’s first rap is so puny and melodic. I even like the back to back that they do in the second verse even though I do believe it could’ve been only Jennie’s but then it would’ve probably ended up being a Jennie solo song. Thank you, future bounce for being the Jennie akgae you are.
Love To Hate Me
If I had posted this review immediately after the album this song would’ve gotten so much more praise. The thing is that I love the sounds throughout and the way that it has a sort of classic dance pop approach to it as well. My problem is that I can’t listen to the rap. I am sorry guys, but it doesn’t sound good to me. The blaccent is just too much and it’s like every time I replay it the value goes down. Apparently that is the part of the song that everyone loves, but these people also enjoy hearing Soyeon rap or whatever it is that she calls it so…. Vocally Jisoo had me by the weave on this and is the reason I have given it 3.5 stars. Also, the hook does get stuck in your head. I just think a different kind of flow would’ve been better for the rap.
You Never Know
A ballad song on the album to help round it out and slow down the vibes. The girls sound absolutely beautiful. We didn’t get much of sub-vocalist Lisa, but this song showed that she has a tone that works when given the right material. It is a truly beautiful and the best of all their ballad songs. I actually enjoy Rosé’s voice the most here, she really showed the main vocalist that she is. Lyrically the best song on the album.
Final Thoughts
This was a pretty decent “album”, I can’t explain, but this is exactly what I expected to get from Blackpink and there weren’t many surprises. I do think it could’ve been a little less english even if my favorites were the english songs. I think this felt like the type of album that had one song to appeal to everyone. It has the time of songs that would either be a grower or age poorly as time goes on. I feel like the people who are lukewarm towards Lovesick Girls will end up giving it the treatment that As If It’s Your Last got when the time comes. I think we need to figure out this rapping situation though because the style that Lisa is using is not my cup of tea and it befuddles me that the “main rapper” only has 20 secs of her rapping. I will honestly say that chaenie were the highlights for me and it made me crave hearing more of their voices together.
Concept: 4/5
Vocals: 5/5
Raps: 2.5/5
Cohesiveness: 4/5
Overall Rating: 3.5/5
Unbothered Unnies 
I hope they continue putting out music like Lovesick Girls or better from this album onwards.
You and me both, but the reception seems to be that people want the nosier sounds instead..sighs
It’ll be interesting to see what their next album sounds like. Though I’m not getting my hopes up too high 😅
“Eight songs is nowhere near album especially by YGE standards, not to mention that two of them were pre-releases. Once again the girls are being given the bare minimum and getting the short end of the stick.”
Yes. So much yes to that, I really agree.
I also agree with tour opinions on the music, although I just can’t get behind the “ee ee ee ee” in Crazy Over You.
I also agree that the Lisa rapping situation needs to be sorted. She’s great at it, but I don’t feel like it’s necessary to make sure she does it in every song, when she’s just as good a singer.