Sriadita Emani, Hyderabad, Telangana

The most recent album of BLACKPINK; KILL THIS LOVE consists of 4 new songs and 1 bonus remix track. It was released on 5th April 2019. The popular girl group from South Korea, with members Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa; released their official music video for the song ‘Kill this Love’ that received 56.7 million views within the first 24 hours of its release.

The B-side of the album comprises of the songs namely Don’t Know What To Do, Kick It, Hope Not, and Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du (Remix). This album caters to the genre of hip-hop and electro-pop, along with the infusion of the melodic ballad in some songs. I am reviewing all of them one by one.

‘Kill this Love’ is an upbeat track with a hint of EDM that gives a powerful vibe to the song. The song showcases Rosé and Jisoo’s emotional vocals along with Jennie and Lisa’s powerful rap segments. The outfits worn by the girls in the MV add to the powerful aura of the song. This song is hailed as a breakup anthem. The lyrics state that instead of being submissive and sad about breaking up with someone, one should leave a manipulative relationship behind, and be strong instead. The music video of ‘Kill this Love’ does a good job in storytelling about how love can be sweet but become toxic eventually. The music video is not only aesthetically pleasing but it also shows the different points of view of the members. Jennie’s part shows how love initially starts as sweet and nice but starts becoming toxic, and how she cannot control her feelings. She talks about trying to make the relationship work, despite knowing it will not improve. Lisa’s part shows that the sweetness in love eventually will fade and will destroy everything. Jisoo’s part shows that she is not the one who will be in pain and how she needs to end the weaker side of her. Rosé’s part shows how her stronger side; her ego, wants to be strong and confident.

Moving on to its B-side tracks, Don’t Know What To Do, is a song with soft beats and soothing vocals. This song is very comforting with peaceful vibes and shows the Pink side concept of BLACKPINK which is gentle. The group has performed this song on their comeback stages in plain white yet beautiful outfits. The combination of gentle vocals by Jennie, Jisoo, and Rosé; and smooth raps by Lisa have done wonders for this song. The choreography of this song is a highlight that shows how beautifully the dance formations can be performed. This song is about a girl who cannot forget the person she loves and feels lonely all the time while remembering her love. She tries to change and move on but is unable to. She gets excited about a phone call thinking it is from her lover, only to get disappointed. She appears to be fine but deep inside she does not know what to do without her love. This song can be considered as a lyrical ballad because of its soft beats that have helped me many times to fall asleep peacefully while listening to it.

Kick It is a powerful song with a hint of badass vibe, highlighting the black side concept of BLACKPINK. This song has a powerful chorus well balanced with strong vocals by Rosé, Jennie, & Jisoo and an equally impactful rap by Lisa. This song shows how they become strong and do not fall for the sweet talks of people. The lyrics describe how they used to be hopeless and sad but now they have overcome their sadness and are ready to show the world how strong they are. The song is a hope that now they will shine brighter and will not restrict themselves anymore. The singers state that they are not pitiful and they have nothing to lose and from now they will look after themselves, inspiring others also to do the same by showing self-love and doing what they love to do. The girls determine to fly higher than anyone else. This is a perfect song for spreading the message of empowerment.

Hope Not is a powerful ballad showcasing strong emotions of sadness and loss in the song. This song perfectly fits the pink concept showing all the Blinks that each member of BLACKPINK are talented vocalists. Hope Not brings out the emotional vocals and beautiful harmonies together that puts the listeners to peace and brings comfort, and at the same time conveys the sadness and pain through the singers’ voices. This song is about a girl who sits lonely underneath the starry night and thinks about the person she loves. The lyrics talk about her inability to forget and move on, even though people tell her not to regret it. The song compiles the emotions of someone who pretends to smile in front of everyone, hides their pain, and suffer in silence. Even though, the girl accepts she is not meant for her lover, and he should meet someone new, but stills agonizes about him forgetting her, which is why she is unsettled and unable to sleep.

And finally, the most enthusiastic song from the album, Ddu-Du-Ddu-du (Remix), what can I say about this one? It’s a perfect song to play at a club or for partying hard with friends. This song is a blend of EDM and pop beats that can hype up any crowd, and just the right song to make people get up and just dance to its tunes. This song can change the whole mood of the room in a flick. This song shows a new side of Ddu-Du-Ddu-Du (Original version). Check out the original version here.

This album has perfectly portrayed the girl’s crush concept as well as has conveyed the people to be strong and conflict. Listening to this whole album is like a journey that shows how a person can feel hopeless and sad after a break-up but also learn to move on and become a stronger version of themself. This album gives a strong message to get over toxic relationships and focus on self-improvement while being confident and being loving towards yourself. Do pen down your thoughts about this album.