BLACKPINK are, most certainly, back in our area. Today, they have returned with the first single from their approaching LP.
Riding a seemingly endless rising tide of hype ever since their 2019 Coachella appearance, the K-pop foursome most recently linked up with Lady GaGa for her Chromatica single “Sour Candy”, riding that high-profile energy for the announcement their fans have waited years for: a proper album.
YG Entertainment, their home label, has milked the mega-popular group’s brand for all it’s worth, offering a smattering of singles across several years rather than a steady stream of proper projects (in this same amount of time, TWICE, another popular girl group, have released numerous full projects, for example), leading to aggrieved frusturation from fans.
Well, unless this looming album turns out to be yet another bite-sized mini (you never know with YG, eh?), it seems a world’s worth of fan’s efforts have finally paid off.
“How You Like That” offers everything and more of what fans have come to expect from Rosé, Jisoo, Jennie and Lisa: a brash attitude that’s so in your face you could swear you smell breath, a stomping, club-ready beat, off the charts confidence, and visuals so impacting that they become a part of the sound.
Naturally, some detractors bemoan the importance of their extravagant (and we do mean extravagant) videos to the group’s vibe, but hell, when have we more needed visual escapism than in this cursed year? The amount of care and finesse put into a BLACKPINK video easily outstrips many cinematic experiences, with this latest video feeling fit for a particularly dramatic tent-pole trailer as much as a K-pop extravangza.
Given YG’s predilection for hyping every single moment leading up to a BLACKPINK release, we’re due for a long road of teases before the album arrives, so buckle up. After waiting this long, the ladies deserve it.
News about the LP is sure to follow soon, so make sure you’re following BLACKPINK on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.