It’s time for another Pop Off episode - the ultimate music showdown - and this time we’re diving into the latest BLACKPINK solo era. Chris and Chantel Nicole break down the lead singles from each member’s most recent solo projects, covering the songs, music videos, and performances in brutal detail. Who will rise to the top and take the solo crown? Viewer discretion is advised, your fave will be criticized...
Contestants:
- ROSÉ - "toxic till the end"
- JISOO - "earthquake"
- LISA - "FXCK UP THE WORLD"
- JENNIE - "like JENNIE"
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- 0:00 - Intro
- 1:50 - Round 1: Song
- 26:08 - Round 2: Music Video
- 42:48 - Round 3: Performance/Choreography
- 1:05:24 - Overall Winner
References:
- ROSÉ - “toxic till the end” MV https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eA0lHNZ1KCA
- JISOO - “earthquake” MV https://youtu.be/2V6lvCUPT8I?si=rzQ0BattFRFMbUxu
- LISA - “FUTW (Vixi Solo Version)” MV https://youtu.be/r5VRqWkFpEQ?si=A4-fz7b9c9CcjU9-
- JENNIE - “like JENNIE” MV https://youtu.be/JSFG-IE8n_c?si=vUQaYgNcajgjTVNU
- ROSÉ - “toxic till the end” Live at Gala des Pièces Jaunes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEmKyWBx1O4
- JISOO - “earthquake” Performance Video https://youtu.be/Z33suvklkx0?si=01btvy6pvEb-pZn
- LISA - “FUTW” YouTube Music Nights Special Performance https://youtu.be/gwRqLbWqKlM?si=XVyPG6SPXDXe3cUi
- JENNIE - “like JENNIE” Performance Video https://youtu.be/XD00TJ-6WSw?si=Drgb9k0zpHiPexVP
- Chris and Chantel dancing with ILOVEDANCE [KPOP IN PUBLIC NYC] LIKE JENNIE | JENNIE (제니) DANCE COVER BY I LOVE DANCE https://youtu.be/Nt3EjaQFNic?si=gvA5Bzv7hgF1Mfxk
00:00:00 --> 00:00:10 After taking over the world as a group, the girls of BLACKPINK went solo. The question is, who is the Beyonce? It's time for the 2025 BLACKPINK Solo Pop-Off.
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00:01:03 --> 00:01:30 Yeah, so this is our pop-off series where the songs battle it out in our song, video, and performance rounds And today, as Jantel mentioned, we are focusing on the solo releases of the Blackpink members They have now all split up, they're not doing their solo stuff under YG, which is awesome So now we really get to see them as artists, so we will discuss and see who wins
00:01:30 --> 00:01:52 And remember, this is meant for pure fun. Please don't take it too seriously. You should join in. Let us know what wins in each category for you in the comments. And also remember that viewer discretion is advised. Your fave will be criticized. Round one. Mm-hmm. I'm going to say right now, I know the blinks are going to be...
00:01:53 --> 00:02:11 with the fingers like listen we both have been at their concerts we both have talked about them for years now so like please understand that you don't have to blindly follow your idols if you don't like something you can say it's a safe place here it's a safe space so let's get into it with player one rose with toxic till the end
00:02:14 --> 00:02:44 And this was done by Emily Warren, Rosé, Evan Blair, and Michael Pollack. Okay. Okay, so round one is all about the song itself. So the production, the hooks, the vocals. Okay, so Rosé. My first thought when the song first came out was, of course, this sounds like Taylor Swift. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And we knew Rosé was a Swifty as well. So that's not really a surprise or a stretch, really. And I don't say this comparison in a bad... I don't think that comparison is bad, actually. Not at all.
00:02:44 --> 00:03:08 Like Taylor is a great songwriter and she has a very distinctive sound. It makes sense that so many people are inspired by that and influenced by that. And this song is good enough to stand on its own. It does not just sound like a Taylor Swift reject or besides. Like it does have a nice song structure. It has some nice melodic choices. They're just kind of the same melodic choices that Taylor would also likely make.
00:03:08 --> 00:03:28 Oh, this is true. Yeah, I agree. Yeah, yeah. But I like the song. I think the production is cool. I like how electronic it is. Because I feel like she could have very easily gone the kind of acoustic unplugged kind of way. And I'm glad she did not. And yeah, the chorus is anthemic. And yeah, like I said, there are some nice melodies here.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:58 I would say Rosé's voice Is not my favorite Why not? You know It's quite nasally And it feels Very constricted A lot of the time When she's belting But I will say In this song And across her solo Project It is a bit more relaxed Yeah Like especially In those verses Where it's just less belty I think when she really Starts to project That's when it gets It feels very tight And I don't love that That's valid Yeah What do you think Of Toxic Till the End?
00:03:58 --> 00:04:02 I'd say that her voice fits the genre of the music, the whole...
00:04:03 --> 00:04:30 diary, lyricism thing, singer, songwriter. I mean, I think even if you kind of just cite the Netflix documentary where she was kind of singing acapella, albeit a little, you know, raw sounding, she does have a tendency to lean more toward that. Even with her solo stuff with YG, like on the ground, was not my favorite sonically, but it fits the whole concept of...
00:04:30 --> 00:04:45 you know, I got my guitar and my guitar case. I'm going to busk on the street. So this song kind of has that kind of feel where if she did decide to strip it down, have it be an acoustic song, it would make sense. It would stand alone on its own. Stand alone on its own. Stand on its own as a decent song. I just
00:04:45 --> 00:05:07 I do feel like it would have been good for Taylor. I have it in my notes as well. But maybe another up-and-coming pop vocalist. I think there's a sense of generic pop looking for a radio hit when it comes to this song. What makes it a little bit more personal is, I guess, little tidbits like her introducing the ex as someone who likes to play chess or her talking about how they met. So in terms of it being personal for her, yes.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:30 But in terms of vocally, sonically sounding like a Rosé song, I don't know what Rosé's sound is, which is not terrible. Her writing style on here wasn't really super distinctive, I would say. And even listening to the album, I didn't get a sense of like, OK, she follows this structure. I can expect this here and there. But yeah, the bridge was fun. I wanted a little something more that was exciting.
00:05:30 --> 00:05:52 I don't know, not explosive, but just went a little bit bigger because it went somewhere, but then it stopped abruptly. And then she went down to that little like not breathy thing, but a lower bit of singing, which I think is interesting to hear because you are expecting something amazing to happen. And then it just falls away, which could kind of lean itself to the whole toxicity of the relationship where maybe it was supposed to be great, but then everything just fell apart.
00:05:52 --> 00:06:17 I might be giving it a little bit too much credit, but if not, awesome. Work on the dynamism to match the concept of the song. And again, I just think, you know, the song is effective. It's okay. Like, even I have songs that are a little bit nondescript that I've written, and I'm just like, anyone can sing the Shan. Anyone can sing the Chantel. But that's how the song felt. It's not a bad song, but it doesn't make me go, oh, this is that artist? Cool. You know? Yeah.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:44 That's fair. Yeah. Yeah. I will say, even though I don't love her tone personally, it is distinctive. Yes. So I think that helps. Yeah. Totally. Even though the song itself maybe isn't the most, I don't know, like special, quote unquote, that's solely Rosé can say it, but her voice is kind of unique. So at least you kind of know it's her. This is true. This is very true. Yeah.
00:06:45 --> 00:07:13 All right, moving on to player two. We have Jisoo with Earthquake. And this was done by Jack Brady, Jisoo, Jordan Roman, Sarah Troy, and Sarah Bowe. Okay, I don't recognize any of these names from the songwriters and producers, which isn't a bad thing. So that means finally we are getting introduced to some more people in the songwriting room that isn't just a typical songwriter.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:34 Oh, YG. You know, you guys don't talk about the usual suspects. Like, oh God, with Flower. Who can hear as a flower? Like, the song sounds like a Sun Me song. And I don't think that song did her any justice. Like, let's be real. Flower did not give Jisoo her flowers in the right way. I hated flowers. Pun intended. Like, Blinks, let's be real here. She deserves better.
00:07:34 --> 00:07:49 Okay, and I think that Earthquake is better. By how much? We'll find out. So the delicate introduction of the song where that, you know, she's singing the chorus as if it's the first part of the verse. I think that's interesting. It's a fun kind of...
00:07:49 --> 00:08:17 a callback for people who are like really paying attention. Like, Oh, that was the chorus. Oh my gosh. So I like how it's just her voice in a tight sense. And then when it builds, there's tension right before it starts to pulse and throb. And I'm being very specific on why I'm using these words. Like, I love that vroom, vroom ad lib during the verse because you're picking up speed. It's, you know, the throbbing and the pulsing. And she's like, go hard, kiss, grab, make it last. Like it's meant to be kind of hot and smexy. I don't care. Anyone says like, Oh my God, I don't say that.
00:08:17 --> 00:08:35 Hello. That's where the song was going. I would love to have heard the original demo because this girl wasn't talking about like, oh my gosh, I'm falling for you. Such a good person. It's like, you are really freaking hot. Rock my world. And that's what the song's about at the end of the day. Of course, because the K-pop song, it's like, this song is about me falling my dreams. And...
00:08:37 --> 00:08:53 And striving to reach the top as an artist. I would say that the pre-hook makes her voice sound, she opened up a little bit more. Like she wasn't belting, but it does sound bigger than the previous sections of the song. I think the song builds nicely.
00:08:53 --> 00:09:08 But I would say the post chorus feels a little kind of like C plus, maybe B minus for me. It follows the chorus of flower in a sense where it's like, here's a little bit of singing and then some weird little otomatopoeias and something that makes you as that sticks in your ear, an earworm.
00:09:08 --> 00:09:31 does not make a song good let's be very clear about that an earworm does not make the song good it makes it earwormy like what does the fox say i'm pretty sure everyone can sing that chorus it does not make it a good song um not saying that this is what the fox says before people go crazy i'm just giving you an example of something like that um but again i'm happy that it did not sound exactly like a sun me song could send me could have sung this sure
00:09:31 --> 00:09:50 Sure. But like, it didn't sound like flower and it didn't sound like people were just like, girl, no one really cares about you. This sounds like they tried. I think the darkness of the baseline is my favorite part of this. Yeah. Right? Because it makes it sound a lot more cool and mysterious where flower just felt like...
00:09:50 --> 00:10:09 I don't know. I had nothing good to say about flowers. You did not. This is definitely an improvement. I don't know. I remember because all those wonky synth horns. It was so bad. But this one makes her seem cool. This one makes her seem mysterious. The bridge is okay. I was expecting more like background vocals.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:30 something to build. Because like there's a, there's background vocals in one of the pre-chorus that goes, ah, or they go, ah, and it kind of sustains. There was nothing here. I think the song is good for her. I remember going to the Black Pre-concert a few years ago and she sang Clarity by Zedd and she sounded decent. Here, she sounds like she's singing in a comfortable range and it's not like she's sitting there doing something like outrageous. Yeah.
00:10:30 --> 00:10:57 But at least it's respectable. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Like, oh, it's so much better than Flower. Yeah, definitely better than Flower. I agree with you. The production is really good. Yeah. Like, I like how hypnotic and magnetic it kind of is. It's all very dreamy. But then there's an energy to it. There's a drive in it. And just listening to the instrumental, like, without any of the singing, like, this is something like Kylie would sing to. Oh, my God. Yeah. I'm saying Padam. Yeah. I saw a lot of Padam references as well, actually. So I get that.
00:10:57 --> 00:11:01 I will say with this, the chorus is actually my least favorite part of the song.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:31 You know? Yeah. It's like the melody just doesn't really go anywhere. And then the, uh-huh, uh-huh. You know, like that. It's like that hook. And then the post-chorus. I don't know. It's just not that impactful. Yeah. Like, I feel like the verses, like, at least the first verse and second verse are completely different. You're right. There is kind of a build there in the pre-chorus. Yeah. So the chorus kind of lets it down for me a little bit. I will say...
00:11:32 --> 00:11:57 I also don't love Jisoo's tone either, personally. Okay. It's almost, like, her voice is much thicker. There's, like, kind of a rasp to it. Yeah, huskiness. But she also, and maybe this is just a YG training thing, but she also gets very tight when she belts. Yeah. I think I'm gonna... Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, I don't know, it just feels so strained. It's not a nice...
00:11:57 --> 00:12:26 I know what you mean. Yeah, it feels like it's kind of pushing a little bit. And the note is not high for her. Right, but she's purposely constricting to get this kind of like, I don't know. I don't know. It's odd. I guess it's just a stylistic choice or a training thing that YG likes. Oh, yeah. But then, you know, there are some nicer vocal moments too. Like there are some nice harmonies in here. I mean, they're not a ton, but there are some. Yeah, yeah. And overall, it does work for her tone.
00:12:26 --> 00:12:50 like yeah but yeah i feel like this is one you mentioned sun me like i might like this song more if someone else sang it to be honest okay the point is kind of this kind of hypnotic kind of just like robotic kind of thing but like you said the lyrics are kind of smexy and so if someone did it a little more like that oh yeah it would it would work more for me
00:12:50 --> 00:13:14 interesting huge improvement on flower so we'll take it oh my gosh yes we'll take it all right moving right along to player three lisa with f up the world featuring future and this was done by atl jacob hendrick smoke fanatic zach and naya of fnz lisa future and jay young lee
00:13:18 --> 00:13:36 I don't know, man. What do you think about this? Like, I feel like we liked Rockstar enough. And now we've had a whole year to digest all of it. So we've had a lot. It looks like we had a longer time to kind of get to know Lisa as a solo artist and the rest of them. So how do you feel now that everything is kind of over in terms of promotion? Hmm.
00:13:36 --> 00:14:04 Well, first off, let me just preface with people, in case people are asking why we chose this one instead of Rockstar or one of the other singles, because she did release quite a few singles leading up to it. So pretty much for her and Jenny and Rosé, these are the singles that were released like right the day of the album or right before it. So I was like, okay, those count as kind of the big push. So that's kind of how we try to make this consistent. But anyway, I like this one more as a...
00:14:04 --> 00:14:32 performance track and kind of a visual track than I do listening to it. But I do think it makes an impact and it does grab your attention. Like I think the backing track is quite cool. That really heavy bass, the kind of sireny kind of synths going on. And it does feel very powerful. And I think I'm going to say some stuff that's similar for Jenny as well. Oh, yeah. They're kind of these like statement songs that are kind of like, I'm here and this is me kind of thing.
00:14:32 --> 00:15:01 I will say I'm not really a fan of Future's style in general. And his verse is only okay. So I must prefer the solo version of this one. Yes, me too. Sorry, Mr. Future. Mr. Future is crazy. But yeah, I think the main chorus is effective. And the bridge is probably my favorite part where she references the old Lisa. Yeah. Like it feels genuine. Yes. And I like the kind of more relaxed. I like her when she's more relaxed. Because yeah, I think with the verses, some of the flow feels a bit...
00:15:02 --> 00:15:25 labored oh yeah yeah and we'll talk about that in the um performance round i feel yeah because i don't know if it's just the way it's written like i don't know if it's like the cadence of it where how some words kind of flow into each other or if it's just her execution of it where it feels i don't know because you know for a rap the best thing is when it feels super natural you can kind of just keep going yeah and you don't need to think that hard but you could kind of feel the like
00:15:25 --> 00:15:52 I don't know. It's like she was thinking really hard. Yeah, it's a mouthful. Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking the same thing. The cadence is very like, it's fast. Yeah. But overall, I think the song is cool. I think it makes an impact and I like the chorus. I like the chant. F up the world. F up the world. I like that. And this is awesome. I mean, we'll get to the live stuff, but I can see this being a big moment in her show.
00:15:52 --> 00:16:20 Oh yeah, totally. This is definitely an intense song. I'm not going to lie, I thought Doja Cat's Demons or even something that Megan would have rapped on in the past year. I think Megan probably would have gone for more of a rock vibe or actual guitars on it. She would have had a whole because she had some song and it sounded like it was a rock guitar but then she ended up releasing a metal version of that song. So I think those two rappers in terms of comparison have to be drawn in, especially if
00:16:20 --> 00:16:50 you are going to try to promote to the American public. Like if I was an American person and this song came on the radio, I'd be like, is this Doja or is this Megan? Wait, what's happening? And that's okay. We get into K-pop and Lisa's tie. Beyond that, you guys are trying to compete with American artists. Except Jisoo. Jisoo was the only one that was like, let me keep my behind in South Korea. Keep it cute. Keep it Korea, you know. But they decided to come out here to the mainstream in terms of Billboard. I think this song definitely embodies Lisa's persona.
00:16:50 --> 00:17:09 I like the chorus. It's simple straight to the point. The writing on this one I said was fun, but I can totally hear what you're saying about the mouthfulness of it. It is a lot to say and do. I think she may have punched in a couple times. I don't think these are one clean takes. A lot of this is...
00:17:09 --> 00:17:31 That's the thing. If you don't know what punching in means, it means like, say if you're singing one section like A, B, C, D, and you're flat on the Ds, you come back in D, E, F, G, you stop again to add more like, you know what I'm saying? So that's what punching is, coming in and just, you know, starting from that last point. Yeah. The last stopping point. So yeah, I think some of it was definitely punched in. I also think because that maybe because she didn't write some of this.
00:17:31 --> 00:17:53 That's where the unnaturalness may have come from. Because if I write, I have a rap in one of my songs and I told the producer, I was like, oh, this is kind of hard. He's like, why? You don't know it? I said, no, I know it. It's just a mouthful because it's fast. So maybe she did write it, but something tells me just certain kind of references and like analogies felt like, hmm. In the solo version, it is more relaxed.
00:17:53 --> 00:18:10 you know her being healthy with all her carrots it was more just like her voice was a lot more smoother not so aggressive i think when she's pushing that hardcore rapping it can be a little bit like oh catch your breath girl so kudos to her for actually performing it and on the track performing it on the recording yeah
00:18:10 --> 00:18:26 In a way that is respectable and we can appreciate it for what it is. I think it's so funny that he got future. We've, you know, he's like 25% Korean. So let's go. Let's go with that, I guess. I don't, I'm joking. He is actually 25% Korean. Did you know that?
00:18:26 --> 00:18:50 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But he's not the right fit for this at all. This was definitely one of those, who can we afford? Who is also on the label? It gave me that kind of feel. He might not be on the same label, but it just felt like he makes sense, I guess, but not really. I think he would have gone off with a smaller female rapper or at least a more Gen Z known male rapper. Something to give it a little bit more bite because he kind of slurred it up a little bit.
00:18:50 --> 00:19:10 I mean, that's his style, though. Exactly. But she's talking about effing up the world, chaos, havoc, being like, you know. And he's not bringing it. He's more just like, yeah, girl, you're going to do what you're going to do, girl. And I'm going to give it to you. It was just like, he didn't fit. So no offense to those who did have him on it. It was like, oh, this is a good idea. It wasn't. So sorry. Yeah.
00:19:10 --> 00:19:39 Like I said, the Vixie solo is definitely my favorite one. She holds it really well on her own. But she could have got a small rapper like a Mona Leo or like... Even Rico Nasty would have been... Oh my gosh, she would have been perfect for this. There's a bunch of female rappers that would have given her that whole street cred that Future's apparently sublime. He's a street cred hire. He's a street cred hire for sure. They could have found a bunch of other people and paid less money and it would have been beneficial for both Lisa and the artist. But, you know, again, I'm in my mom's basement. It's fine. It's whatever.
00:19:39 --> 00:19:56 But I think future wasn't the right one for this. Lisa could help it on her own and she did. Yeah. Okay. All right. We're at our final player and that's Jenny with Like Jenny. And this was done by Diplo, LeClaire, Jackstone, Jenny, Zico, Taylor Parks, and Kiddo AI.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:18 The song is going to be so effing hard with Taylor Parks. It makes it sound like the song is going to be really good. Like she already knew. So for the fact that she kind of says that in the beginning is so fun. I do wonder why they didn't get Jenny to do it. And I think people, no Tino Shade, but usually when that happens, you can't get the artist or the artist that doesn't do it.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:42 that means that the songwriter probably just sounds better there. Like Normani's, what was it? I'm ready to pull up on you. Oh, Normani's Wild Side. There's a part at the end where I think Stara, the songwriter, is doing that. Pull up on that. Ooh, ooh, ooh. Make him go, what? Say that again. That's Stara. That wasn't Normani. So for here, I think Taylor probably was the best choice to make it sound like it was actually going to be like some real craziness going on.
00:20:42 --> 00:20:59 So I appreciate that. I like the live special edition in your A.I. couldn't copy. I don't know what about it, but it does something for me. But if I were to just kind of get really deep into it, Jenny had a whole like deep. A lot of the women in K-pop were having their faces superimposed due to deep fakes.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:28 So I think in terms of relevance, it hits different. And also in terms of just cultural relevance, it makes sense. Rise of AI being used and you can't duplicate Jenny's whole it girl persona. You can't duplicate her impact on K-pop as a whole. You know what I'm saying? All the girls of K-pop from the Girl Crush concept, they have all kind of been compared to Blackpink and things like that. So it just makes sense because she is the it girl of that group.
00:21:28 --> 00:21:43 So it's just culturally relevant and also personally relevant, possibly. I don't think it's Afro beats that I'm hearing really in the song. A lot of people have said that, even though there are Afro beat inspired dance moves around
00:21:43 --> 00:21:59 I think this is more Brazilian funk. If I'm not mistaken, this is more like a Brazilian funk kind of inspo. And the second verse I think is really awesome that it's all in Korean. Zico is a great songwriter. So to have him do it, that was really cool. And it switched up the energy and a...
00:21:59 --> 00:22:24 in a way that that kind of feels like it's amping up because the song is not like different dynamically or like in terms of production so just to have the rap actually kind of amp up the the energy that was great and it keeps the Korean spirit alive in a song that is deriving from so many different cultures you know um so yeah I think overall this song is fun um the who went rock with Jenny it sounds like some
00:22:24 --> 00:22:43 army chant, like, hoorah, kind of thing. You know what I'm saying? So it kind of feels militant. It feels really intense. Yes. It definitely goes against F of the World in this aggressive way. Yeah. Where it's like they can go head-to-head and kind of just, you know, battle it out with the chants. But yeah, I mean,
00:22:43 --> 00:23:02 What do you think about it? Because I feel like this was, I don't know if I wouldn't expect it, but Mantra was kind of like, eh. But when I heard something like this, I was like, okay. Yeah, this definitely made an impact for sure. And yeah, it is hard not to compare this and F up the world kind of head to head because they are kind of trying to do the same thing.
00:23:02 --> 00:23:29 Yes. But yeah, I think this one's cool. The production's awesome. I will say if we are just comparing those two, the production on this one wins. Like it really takes you on a ride. It has such a cool energy to it. Like I love the way it all pulls back. I love the, oh, like the kind of like almost kind of tribal kind of like chanting that is there. And yeah, I think, like I said with Lisa, I like it as this kind of just...
00:23:29 --> 00:23:46 I'm here. Track. Like, this is me. And really me. Like, not me under, like, this Korean label telling me what to do. Like, this is actually me. So I think it really works for that as a statement. And again, for performances and stuff. As a song. I mean, it's so short.
00:23:46 --> 00:24:09 Oh my god, yeah. It's essentially an intro track anyway. Like, it's barely a full song. Yeah. Even though, to be fair, it does feel fully formed, right? Like, the chorus feels well thought out. Mm-hmm. And the verses as well. I will say, rapping-wise as well, the flow here does feel a lot better. And maybe part of it is because it's in Korean, so maybe that's a little easier for her as well. Mm-hmm.
00:24:09 --> 00:24:34 Plus, I think Korean, it just has a really... It's a very melodic language, I think, naturally. The words all flow into each other really well. And so I think that also just sounds really good. As opposed to English, which is not the prettiest language. So I think vocally, she really impressed me. Because I think she was able to really emote in this and really...
00:24:34 --> 00:24:51 I don't know that you can just hear the energy. Yeah, totally. Which is great. Yeah. And it feels natural. Like it doesn't feel like it's too labored. So I think that's cool. So, yeah, another one where I wouldn't really listen to it. So, but I enjoy watching it, which we'll get to.
00:24:51 --> 00:25:20 and salad as well and for people who don't know and he says I wouldn't listen to it it's not like it's a terrible song we won't skip it if it pops up but like let me look it up right now so I can listen to it on repeat and this is not yeah that's what he means but if you want to listen to it every day please be sure to do that and if you are listening to us might as well subscribe listen to us every day as well everyone's in the mix yes okay so that's the end of round one oh my god a song Jesus so what wins for you
00:25:21 --> 00:25:49 Okay, so for me, this was not an easy choice for me because they're all different songs and they have different qualities and charms that I like. But even with the critique of the mouthful of words, I reread some lyrics. The lots and lots of part is tough. So I'm going to give it to Lisa with F Up The World without Future. Yes. Yes, the Vixie solo version. Yeah. I will actually give it to Jenny. Okay. Yeah, I think just in terms of...
00:25:50 --> 00:26:11 I don't know. Like, I think all the production elements actually are really cool. So I think that's what makes it more of a fun listen for me. That's valid. That's valid. Very close for me, though. Very close. It is close as well. Yeah, for sure. Okay, moving on to round two, which is all about the music video. So back to player one, Rosé with Toxic Till the End. Round two. Round two.
00:26:13 --> 00:26:42 Yeah, okay. One thing I'll say about this video is I like the concept of it. And I like the little pink font and stuff. I like the cinematography of it all. But I can't say that I'm a fan of some of the choices in terms of displaying the toxicity, especially toward the end of the video. So let me just start off by saying I get the whole concept where it's like the bad boy meets the posh girl. And it's like we're not supposed to be the other baby, but we figure out how to make it work, but not really. Oh, yeah.
00:26:42 --> 00:27:00 Um, the music video features Evan Mock from Gossip Girl. I think the reboot. Um, and Rose did talk about Zane Lowe, talk with Zane Lowe about writing the song and revisiting like tough emotions. So she's dealt with all this stuff like for a couple of years. So it's kind of interesting to see what she, I guess, kind of went through.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:17 Yeah. Kind of. I don't know how much of it was toxic or like maybe the person was cheating on her. I don't know. But I'm glad they didn't use that route. It was just he was kind of irresponsible, I guess. Like, I don't know. I feel like the story wasn't fully fleshed out because they went from like, hey, you know, um...
00:27:17 --> 00:27:40 hey you know i'm on the side of the street uh my bike's broken ladies never pick up trash from the side of the road thank you ladies gentlemen i don't care who you are do never pick up trash from the side of the road if it looks like trash leave it there um i think the reference to the chess playing was interesting because she kind of was using that as like one of the scenes so i think yeah like manipulation
00:27:40 --> 00:27:55 Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's a callback to the lyrics as well. She plays a little hard to get with the guy. He slips off the skateboard. A kiss for the first time. Things like that happen, but nothing really...
00:27:56 --> 00:28:19 tells us what happened to have caused such a risk because suddenly they're arguing. She's storming away from him. They're fighting in the hallway and she pushes him into a bust and gives him a black eye. Yeah, I don't like that. No bueno. Honestly, I'm hoping that did not happen to her and she just reversed the roles because that would be very sad and I hope that really didn't happen to her. But yeah, I think.
00:28:19 --> 00:28:48 the concept of him being fun but really exhausting makes sense. But again, I needed something to kind of show me like, okay, he did something wrong and he keeps messing up. I don't know. Well, I mean, we learn near the end that he, you know, the whole meeting was premeditated. Yes. And that he did also manipulate the skateboard moment and fell on purpose. Yes, to make it dramatic. Yeah. And so I guess it's the whole idea of him being...
00:28:49 --> 00:29:14 Yeah, I guess just like behind the scenes trying to like... Manipulate the relationship. Yeah. Yeah. Listen, listen, I get that part, but I was just watching it first time out. I just don't know why he had to do and catch a black eye for it. You know what I'm saying? Like that part, I don't mean... Yeah, this man didn't keep getting physically injured, whether by his doing or her doing, which was interesting. Yeah, there was that one moment where I guess he like hides his phone from her and then she gets really mad at him.
00:29:14 --> 00:29:43 Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. But like, yeah. But yeah, I agree with you. It took me like two or three watches to like really try and understand what was happening. I will say in terms of just the cinematography, I thought it was pretty beautiful. Yeah. So there's that. I think it matches the song because I think the song's lyrics are kind of vague overall too. So I think it's kind of okay that you just kind of know that they're in a toxic relationship and you don't fully know the ins and outs of it.
00:29:43 --> 00:30:05 valid valid okay it at least kept my attention because i was just trying to understand what was going on so i'll take that there have been much worse music videos yeah yes oh gosh yes internationally speaking as well yeah yeah all over the world oh that's valid okay i'll take that that's valid okay moving on to player two jisoo earthquake
00:30:06 --> 00:30:27 Okay. Yeah. You know, interestingly enough, this video is actually, I think Earthquake and Ep of the World have the same directors. So we're going to be able to kind of look and see the difference in terms of this person's style. But they definitely use a lot of set pieces combined with special effects, which I appreciate. And they do a great job of lighting
00:30:27 --> 00:30:57 Oh, yeah. These scenes so that the special effects, when they actually do come around, is not like, girl, get off that green screen. You know what I'm saying? Or that blue screen, whatever is being used in the industry right now. But, yeah, I like the whole setup of the story. So office worker gets a text from a lover. She's caught. And then she's interrogated. Is it the man that has a history of breaking hearts? Or maybe it's her that's the heartbreaker that they've been looking for. I mean, I think either she's supernatural or, like, if they get together, crazy things happen. Like, have you ever seen Hitchcock?
00:30:58 --> 00:31:20 Oh, yeah. Yeah. So that kind of Hitchcock vibe where like the two superheroes are soulmates and they love each other throughout years. Every time they get together, the world ends. Yes. So maybe that was kind of like the premise here. I do not know what the director was thinking, but it felt like that because every single time she contacted this man, some BS would happen. The phone gets zapped from her hand. A car goes through a wall. So it's very...
00:31:20 --> 00:31:39 very, very dramatic in terms of force majeure, you know, doing what it has to do. Mother Nature fighting father time. Who knows? But yeah, I like the concept of her being connected to the polygraph. Like, wasn't that like a sick little scene where they use that to kind of, is it a Richter scale that measures the earthquakes?
00:31:40 --> 00:32:07 I don't know. Right? Okay. Let me not say something that makes you sound crazy. Yeah, I'm not going to pretend I know anything about this. Okay, right. But the polygraphs chart kind of going up and down. Yes. It measures both her heartbeat and an earthquake. I love that. Her dancing on it's great. There's a little bit of words that says, what if I get hurt when she's driving a car, she crashes through. It's a hot mess, but she's completely unfazed by all of the disasters surrounding her.
00:32:07 --> 00:32:19 Yeah. And I think the heart bomb part is wild. Because I'm like, girl, not the heart bomb. She looks amazing in the video in terms of, like, how they styled her. I loved it. It was so cute. It was office worker. And it's like, how...
00:32:20 --> 00:32:47 mundane and boring can office clothing be yeah but then you can do siren you can do the mouse office worker you can do the the femme fatale boss you can just so many things you can work with the whole corporate concept i think they do a good job of it like i love the office scene with the flying papers with her sleeveless oh yeah shirt and then the final chorus look with the blue-ish kind of thing yeah i'm dancing on the screen so those are some looks i liked where i was like oh i'll keep watching so yeah this video was definitely rewatchable
00:32:47 --> 00:33:16 She looked amazing. Yes. I mean, yeah. I think, look, at the end of the day, she is an actress. So give us, like, set the scene. Give us, like, some interesting concepts. Like, I'm here for it. Yeah, this video feels very expensive. Yes, it does. And yeah, the visual effects are all really cool. Like, of course, that car coming through the wall in slow-mo is such a cool moment. I will say I don't love the questions that she crashes through in the car. Those felt a little PowerPoint-ish and kind of...
00:33:16 --> 00:33:20 over like cheesy for no reason kind of thing. Um,
00:33:21 --> 00:33:47 But everything else, very, very slick. And yeah, I loved how kind of cheeky it was too. Like the visual of her dancing on that. Yeah, the phone. The detector thing. And yeah, on the phone. The polygraph. Yeah, the polygraph thing. And the phone at the end as well. Like that's just fun. Yes. And yeah, it definitely kept me entertained and I wanted to watch it a few times. We'll get to the dancing more later, but the dancing's are definitely my least favorite part of this video.
00:33:47 --> 00:34:07 Well, she's almost more captivating when she's just like sitting at the desk. Yikes. Oh, my goodness. Oh, goodness. Moving along to player three, we have Lisa. Okay. This video comic book.
00:34:07 --> 00:34:36 DC comic. Yes. You know, I think. Very Joker. Very Harley Quinn. Yeah. It's impressive when, you know, Insane Girls and Asylum is considered like Harley Quinn-esque. She's ubiquitous at this point. Good for her. Taking place in an asylum on not much unlike Arkham. But set design and effects go off in the video. So it's complete, not completely different in terms of like the color grading with Earthquake because Earthquake was very dark
00:34:36 --> 00:34:56 not dull, dull colored, but like the... Yeah, very kind of just black and gray. Yeah, black and gray. Yeah, right? But it was very pretty and very sleek to look at. With this one, it's gritty, but still kind of polished, which I appreciate because there's a lot going on in this video. The practical sets, pieces, blended in with the...
00:34:56 --> 00:35:19 the cgi and some of the special effects and the animation i think the hallucinate hallucination scene with the multiple alter egos was fun but then scenes like that make me wish that this song would have come out a little bit earlier to create more conversation about the alter egos because by the time alter ego came out we were like girl what you talking about with all these people in your in your head and stuff what are you talking about
00:35:19 --> 00:35:48 So if it happens to come out, it probably would have been able to strike up a conversation. I think the dance scenes are the best parts of the video. The blacklight, the dance scene, the factory, those parts look so good. I think the blacklight is just so striking. Yes. Because it looks like that art gallery was just flipped and turned into a hangout for the villains. She plays villain really well. She knows how to work the camera. That's at the end of the day, I don't think it's ever been in question with Lisa.
00:35:48 --> 00:36:12 You know, it's not the time we need to discuss. Really like, oh my gosh, she doesn't look good in the video. She always looks good in the video. You know what I'm saying? I think Moonlight might be the only one I was like, or Moonlit Dance, whatever it's called. The Moonlit song about her boyfriend is the only one where I was like, you're cute, but this is not holding my attention. But like this, she can pull off. She can pull off charisma. And character. And character. Thank you. Yes, you can.
00:36:12 --> 00:36:35 Yeah, no, yeah, Lisa rarely disappoints with her visuals, like, let's be real. And this, yeah, this is so good. The sets are all so much fun, and yeah, this one looks super expensive, too. And maybe that's also to do with just the way the director did it, knowing it's the same person. Right, right. Yeah, I think she does do better when she is playing this kind of harder character. Yeah. Yeah.
00:36:35 --> 00:37:05 And she has a lot of charisma, so she can kind of pull it all off. And she does keep your attention, for sure. And yeah, all the visual effects are awesome. I especially just love all the transitions, like, between each moment. Like, the way things will zoom into one thing and then it zooms back out and you're somewhere else. I think that's cool. I'm glad the whole thing did not take place in the jail. Because I think when it first started, I was like, is it only going to be in the jail or asylum?
00:37:05 --> 00:37:25 underground thing with the poison the ninja turtle poison we get the auction we get the car moment so like a lot of these scenes were super memorable and really stood on their own and each one felt well thought out and that there was a lot of detail put into everything
00:37:25 --> 00:37:52 And yeah, I honestly, I loved watching this one over and over again because sometimes I would watch the dancers. Sometimes I would just watch the extras in the background, like in the auction scene, for example. And there's just a lot to pay attention to. Word, word. And it made me like the song more. Which, again, that's always the goal of a music video. True. If you want to spend all that money, you better make me like it. Yeah. So I'm here for it. Like, yeah, she really does rarely disappoint with her visuals. Yeah.
00:37:53 --> 00:38:08 true and I think another person who has done a pretty good job of keeping our eyes on the video is Jenny. This video I think from the beginning it was just kind of strange that she's floating in a ruby red astronaut suit. I think overall she's one of the
00:38:08 --> 00:38:34 the members that has maintained her artistic aesthetic. Like Ruby, the Ruby Red astronaut suit, the little J-PIL, it's, you know, the Red Pill, Blue Pill kind of thing, but it just juxtaposed with that red suit looks gorgeous on screen. Her being outside of the spacecraft that is inside of this huge hangar where, we'll just exaggerate, hundreds of dancers are.
00:38:34 --> 00:38:51 Tens of dancers. We'll say tens of dancers. But there's a bunch of dancers there. And it just looks so cool because the choreography in the video. God. Shout out to Weedon Boys for choreographing this because it's a lot to sit there and choreograph main choreography and then make choreography just for the video. Yes. Yes.
00:38:51 --> 00:39:07 Like it's a lot of extra work and they all perform really well. I love what she's wearing. This very neutral color tone outfit with the little Hello Kitty bra and the hat. Like it's cute. It keeps up the aesthetic of her being kind of cool and hard edgy. But then Hello Kitty is like, oh, look at that. So cute.
00:39:07 --> 00:39:29 um so again i think she does a really good job of translating her strength in the video um so i appreciate it uh the dancing i'm not gonna lie to you i think everyone has had a comment about quote unquote how lazy she is she's not lazy i think she had an injury that she's never really got properly healed um with her ankle yeah her ankle
00:39:29 --> 00:39:59 But for this, there's a lot of footwork and things like that. And she is not like a powerful dancer. I don't think she'll ever be that girl where she'll understand the dynamics of like internal popping and jacking her body in a way that looks like a professional dancer. But she kept up with them. And kudos. Shout out to the dancers for not like overtaking her. I think this whole video is about dancing anyway, which is kind of tough to not go super in depth with until the performance round. But I think she holds her own and she looks confident. She looks like she's having a good time.
00:39:59 --> 00:40:29 fat little capybara. So cute. So cute. Because I think in the ice cream video, there was a capybara too. Like she likes them. Yeah, that's like a thing for her, right? It's like one of her personality traits that she just loves. Capybaras. Yeah. And it is little personality stuff like that that makes things stand out for sure as well. So weird. It's so cute. Yeah, I do. I will say the whole intro of her, you know, floating in the astronaut gear and then taking the pill. I was expecting a bit more of a story here.
00:40:29 --> 00:40:50 So then when it was just a dance video, don't get me wrong, I love the dancing in this video, but I don't know, it just set my expectations just for it to be something different. So then I was like, oh, I guess there's nothing else after that. Yeah, just the sheer number of dancers. It does look super impressive, right? Like it looks like a full on army and it does match the power that's in the song.
00:40:50 --> 00:41:07 Word up, yo. And yeah, the choreography is so good, which we'll talk about more later. And yeah, I think she is good on camera. Like, even from the beginning of Blackpink, like, she has a really striking look, and she knows how to, like, have, she'll look really good on camera.
00:41:07 --> 00:41:37 you know yeah and she does pull the choreo off pretty well like I think it's interesting that you mentioned the whole laziness thing like because I always thought it was more with the live performances than it was with her on camera that she can't like sustain a show yeah on the it's a little contrary some people say she was lazy but like in video she's always showed up just a video she's killing it yeah she always shows up for video yeah yeah yeah but I maybe she just can't you know maybe her stamina just not good enough to do a full hour show but yeah I was entertained overall the choreo was great um
00:41:37 --> 00:41:58 And there's not much else to it, honestly. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, the video is pretty simple. Space, maybe a little bit of a Matrix kind of reference. Sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In and out. Yeah. Okay. So music video round is done. What wins for you? This is hard. All four of these videos are honestly pretty good. Yeah, they are. And they match the song. Yes. Which is important. Thank you.
00:41:58 --> 00:42:15 Thank God. After watching all these videos, I really do like them. But I'm going to give it to Jisoo because I actually didn't pay attention to the video until we watched it for this. And I was like, this is cute. It's clever. She looks good. It doesn't really require much. It's like Jenny's video. It's like one color palette. It is focused on the dancing. But...
00:42:15 --> 00:42:39 Jisoo has the dancing. She has the story. She has the aesthetic. She does consistency. It makes sense. And there's a little bit of cheekiness I really appreciate that made me say, oh, wow. I would say that Jenny and Lisa are like right there, kind of like neck and neck at number two. But I think I'm gonna give it to Jisoo this round. Okay, I will give it to Lisa. It's really hard. She's so captivating as a performer. And yeah, I loved all the different scenes and how different they were.
00:42:39 --> 00:42:53 Yeah. Oh, my goodness. Lisa's right there. I'm telling you. It's tough. Yeah. Okay, final round. We are at the performance slash choreography. Round three. Back to Rosé.
00:42:53 --> 00:43:16 Yeah, Rosé. Okay, so I will say the live band sounds really good. Like the extra drama of the live drums and guitars and stuff really works for this. And vocally, she sounds good. Like she's not relying too much on the backing track. She has good pitch. Again, she does get quite kind of nasally and tight in the throat sometimes. But...
00:43:16 --> 00:43:40 I think the song, she is able to relax a little bit more. And she's at least stable singing this one. Definitely the lower notes, like kind of that final, kind of like last lower octave chorus before the final bells. Like she can't really hit that very well live. And again, it's kind of hard to project lower notes sometimes. So it's fine. But yeah, honestly, she pulled it off.
00:43:41 --> 00:43:58 Huh. Okay. You know, you disagree? No, no, no, not that. I think in terms of like her, like not hitting some of the notes, I didn't hear that too, too much, especially with the Tonight Show. I think in the French performance, I forgot what, oh my goodness, I forgot the name of the performance, but somewhere in France, the one in the stadium.
00:43:58 --> 00:44:13 Yeah, that was not my favorite. The auto-tune was just a little bit too much for me. So it made her sound a little bit wonky, or at least like tinny. Not terrible. But I was like, oh no, this doesn't feel good. I think for the Jimmy Fallon show, she did a pretty good job. Yeah. Because she sang...
00:44:14 --> 00:44:41 which is a little bit higher energy. She came from the back. And then she got on stage and then sang her song. She sounded stable and was able to display her vocals properly. There's no choreography to stop her from actually projecting and performing. So I can understand if someone's listening and they're like, girl, you didn't hit them notes. It's understandable. You're not doing anything except singing. That is the only thing that you're doing. You've got to do it well, or at least correctly. The autotune on it was minimal. You can hear it, but it wasn't so much...
00:44:41 --> 00:45:02 Like she was fighting against it. Like the French performance. It was so weird listening to that one. That was hard also because it was outside, right? Let's say I think it's because of the atmosphere. The environment she was performing wasn't really fair to her. But yeah, I feel like her placement was pretty good. Like she bells and then she sings low. And then she does the spoken part and then she sings again. This actually made me like the song a little bit more.
00:45:02 --> 00:45:13 The Tonight Show. And I saw a rehearsal video. She sounded pretty decent there, too. So I think, depending on the atmosphere or the environment, either nerves play a part or, like, the...
00:45:14 --> 00:45:39 the production's kind of filtering also plays a part. There's a lot of things to kind of think about, but you know, overall maybe like a B plus, you know, a minus situation depending on the day. Okay. Okay. So Jisoo earthquake. So she is the only one who did the typical kind of Korean music shows. So what do you think of the earthquake performances and the choreo? The background dancers eat this up for me.
00:45:40 --> 00:46:09 Yeah, okay, they hold back just enough while still hitting their lines. They hold back just enough. Just enough. I didn't say like, you know, they're like holding back so much where it's like, oh god, they can't dance. But they're holding back enough where they don't look like they're just like destroying her. Because I know some dancers can go super ham. They're not going ham. They're just making sure they're finishing their lines. Like even when they do the body roll, some of them don't crash their bodies. There are points where they pop and they all kind of melt at the same time.
00:46:09 --> 00:46:29 Jisuke doesn't hit moves like that. So it's very stark contract when everyone's kind of popping and then melting because they're doing like, you know, they're using their, their jacking their bodies properly. And they're just kind of just contracting properly before melting. She doesn't really contract because she's singing, I guess, but maybe she just doesn't have that technique, you know, instilled in her dancing training. Yeah.
00:46:29 --> 00:46:54 I think we can all say that Jisoo has not been the strongest dancer in Blackpink since her trainee days. She has been the visual. It doesn't mean it's an excuse as to why she can't dance, but she has not been the strongest dancer. She's almost like the Michelle Williams in a sense where people are like, yeah, she's part of the group. Yes, she's dancing, but you're not looking at her to be like, oh my gosh, she's about to kill her freestyle right now. No, Jisoo's not doing that. And I love Michelle. Yeah.
00:46:54 --> 00:47:05 No Tino Shade. But you can tell who has a little bit of funk and who doesn't. And she should never had funk in her dancing. That's right. And unfortunately, unfortunately...
00:47:05 --> 00:47:28 She is doing the bare minimum in terms of movement. In terms of texture, I would say, specifically. And she is singing live, so I can't imagine her popping while singing certain notes. I think what annoys me the most about the overall production of her performances is that the costuming is not great and it doesn't allow for her to keep her balance. She's already someone who doesn't really have that...
00:47:28 --> 00:47:54 strong core when she dances and you can tell when she turns around and some of like there's a spin at the end of the bridge that she has to hit and i've seen her stumble out of it every single time if she's not wearing sneakers or a flat shoe yeah um like on sbs inky gaio she's wearing a platform penny loafer and then she spins and she kind of has to use her foot like she toe heels toe heels herself back into position and i'm like she shouldn't have to do that why is she wearing the shoe
00:47:54 --> 00:48:15 With a heel a block heel at that and it's taped to her foot That's not giving her an opportunity to actually be like okay. She may be a good dancer, but at least she's not weeble wobbling She was weeble wobbling Um, I will say that some of the moments that she does have is just okay At least she's interesting enough to watch like there's some visuals that have gone solo and
00:48:15 --> 00:48:41 in K-pop groups and I'm like girl you need it you girl go back to that group real quick um she's a visual that does not just have dead eyes which I appreciate like you can tell right you can see her kind of smiling and scrunching her face uh in the right way sometimes sometimes it's just her maybe just nerves I don't know um but I don't think she has the intensity that the song calls for at times but she works well with what she's got you know she's got
00:48:41 --> 00:49:00 sure she's not like fierce raw she's like cute kind of puppy so when she kind of yeah you know yeah i think it's hard like we're both dancers yeah so i'm going to be more critical with that aspect of things and yeah look she's not the most natural dancer yeah
00:49:00 --> 00:49:28 But I think it's on the choreographer to actually cater to your artists. And especially as a solo artist, you know, it's not like you're in a group where you can kind of hide behind the others, or at least you can kind of strategically do formations so that, you know, the strongest people are at the front. Like, she's the solo artist here. So all eyes on her, give her moves that she can execute well. And I think there are some moves here that she can execute well. But then there are other ones where...
00:49:28 --> 00:49:54 I have textures written as well. You can tell. And it sucks because... I almost think the dancers maybe should have pulled back another 10%. A little bit more. Because you can tell. They're keeping their cords tight. You can tell there's initiation to it. Jisoo doesn't do any of that. Everything kind of just goes kind of move to move to move. With no real kind of thought of tension. Yeah.
00:49:54 --> 00:50:13 Oh no And so But you can It's just easy to see that Like because the dancers Are so close to her Almost throughout the whole time Yeah But the actual choreography I think is fine Like it's very feminine It's very pretty There are some nice pictures With the dancers Kind of circling around her Or behind her Yeah Um
00:50:13 --> 00:50:41 I'm guessing the snaps are the point dance. Oh, yeah. Okay, so with the circle. I mean, that's memorable. Sure. I guess that's effective. Yeah. Again, it's an improvement over flower, because I hated the way she performed that one. That's not her fault. Oh, God, how quick I have to smack them. But I think it's especially tough because she's with... I'm going to specifically call it Lisa and Jenny, where they are just more captivating as performers, just naturally. And so...
00:50:42 --> 00:51:04 It's hard for her to stand out in this category. That's the honest truth. Yeah. And vocally, it's fine. But no offense. The song is not that hard to sing. Like, nothing happens in the song that I'm like, ooh. You know what I mean? Oh, yeah. She's pushing it. Yeah. Ooh. Where I'm just like, okay. Yeah. I'm glad you're singing it live. But sure. Yeah. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah.
00:51:05 --> 00:51:32 Like, she's staying live! Yes, we know that. Oh, yes. Yeah, yeah, I get it. We know she is. YG artists usually do. Okay, let's move on to Lisa. Yeah, speaking of YG artists, actually singing live. Okay, so we do kind of get a few different versions, because we have the version, like the YouTube one, that was all girl crew. And then on Coachella, it's with all boys. Yeah. So just a slightly different, and a band. Yeah. And a slightly different energy there. Yeah. So yeah, what did you think? You don't sound impressed.
00:51:32 --> 00:51:49 I prefer the girls. Again, for me, the whole song is about F of the world. It was giving... I hate that we're a girl boss. I do hate it. But it's giving, like, girl gang kind of feel. So to have guys there, I'm like, yeah, I guess. Whatever. I just think there's something so wonderful about seeing women punch and throw and...
00:51:49 --> 00:52:15 hit moves that guys do hit as well, but then throw a little twerk in there. I think that's great. And I think it kind of helps with the juxtaposition of the song, where it's like you're owning that sensuality, but also showing some ferocity at the same time. So I do prefer the girls dancing, but in terms of the full set of the Coachella performance, I understand it kind of creates this dynamic where she's sitting there, kicking their butts and acting like... Yeah, she's like the queen. Yeah, yeah, okay, I get it.
00:52:15 --> 00:52:42 sorry oh he dying um but yeah so she's got the look and the moves for a good performer she's a natural performer i do not dislike men i was just for me for the song i'm like yeah girls we're effing up the world not like here are my minions you know like so i just feel like for that that would create the picture for me um during the coachella set her mic was definitely lower than the backing track not definitely but it was lower um
00:52:42 --> 00:53:05 And she sounded okay. I mean, she didn't have to sing that much. The tone on the track, like the actual recording, cannot be duplicated for sure. But for what she did on stage, she did well enough. I will say she did seem more out of breath than I expected. Granted, the wind was going, so I can only imagine as you're trying to push out, it's pushing you in. Yeah, Coachella, I feel like no one ever sounds their best at Coachella.
00:53:06 --> 00:53:32 I was going to say a name, but it's not fair to compare. Because she's literally who she is. Like, there's never going to be another her. If you know what I'm talking about, drop it in the chat, comment below. Doggoth sounded great as well. Okay, both of those. Yeah, both of those. Yeah. We're not going to go there. Different caliber. Right, right, right. Yeah, right. Okay, so, as I was saying, though, she did sound a lot out of breath. And I think for some of the rapping parts,
00:53:32 --> 00:53:58 Ah, she avoided those. And it kind of bothered me a bit because she's not a Doja and she's not a Megan. I get that. And those are not the two artists that we were talking about. But Doja and Megan, once again, are two rappers that Doja will rap really fast on the track. And you can hear it. She'll sit in, especially with Get Into It. There's that one part of the second verse which will go off. Megan will dance and rap, but still keep the energy going. So...
00:53:58 --> 00:54:22 She did cover the breath loss really well with choreo and facials or like a moment where she kind of just pausing. But I cannot lie when I was like, dang, girl, the song just started. Shoot. That's what that's I'm a little disappointed because I know that if she were in a group, obviously she would have more opportunities to kind of save her breath. But because she's performing solo and dancing and performing just.
00:54:22 --> 00:54:51 Just performing, even just standing there requires energy to shoulders back. Everything is perfect, except this whole punching in with the vocals part. I mean, she did a good job. The choices that were made in terms of coming back in so you can hear her voice were good. And then second verse with the band version, she can kind of just dance and like lip sync the F of the world part. But yeah, in terms of like actually executing a clean, I'm just rapping, holding a mic to my mouth. I would have loved to see her do that at least one time for like even a Vivo performance.
00:54:51 --> 00:55:07 you know what I'm saying just to show that hey I can do this I may have not written it this may not be like who I am I'd be like a rapper per se but I can perform the track that was given to me without having to dance to prove that I am a good artist good performer and I just wish we would have at least one of those okay interesting
00:55:07 --> 00:55:27 I guess I'm more... I'm not a rapper, so I think I'm just more... I guess I'm more lenient, I think, on rap. I think it's more... I think, first off, rap is really hard to do live, especially because you mentioned the punching in, punching out. There's no room to breathe. So it makes sense that she kind of needed to choose her moments, I guess. In terms of the whole...
00:55:27 --> 00:55:46 backing track being louder than the mic that's actually i feel like that's quite common among rappers right now like just yeah i watched a bunch of gochelle like all of them have a backing track and they're all kind of shouting over it like that's just kind of like isn't how things are right now with rappers and so i i wasn't really bothered by that
00:55:46 --> 00:56:13 From her. So like vocally, I just wasn't expecting much, I guess. Oh, that's valid. From this one in particular. I mean, I know there were all those comments about the ballad that she sang live, you know, in that set. But we're not talking about that song today. Right. But for this song, I really, you know, it's more about the energy and everything. Yes, yes, yes. I agree with you. I think the girls as a unit, a bit more powerful and it kind of makes a bit more of a statement than the boys. However. Yeah. Yeah.
00:56:13 --> 00:56:37 A lot of her male dancers are Janet Jackson's dancers, including Denzel, who I love. And so I appreciated that version as well. Just need to shout that out. Yeah, look, she's a great performer. This song is a hype song. You know, it was near the beginning of her set. It was like the second or third song in it. And so it's a good...
00:56:38 --> 00:57:04 just kind of starter. It's a good energy moment just to kind of get people hype for her. And I think the song works for that. The performance works for that. I think there are some really cool moments in the choreo that looks super fun. It's kind of a good balance between kind of the more feminine, kind of like body rolls and hip hits and stuff. And then there's kind of the hard hitting stuff. So I like the balance of that. It looks super fun to do. So yeah, I think it works. I think it works for the song.
00:57:04 --> 00:57:27 Yes, it did what I had to do. Again, I just, I wish we would have gotten like one. Because he did Rapunzel recently where she's just rapping. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's why I'm like, dang it. If we would have just got one, it would have been like, ooh, you choked him, girl. Yeah. But yeah, no hate for her. Not too late. Yeah, never too late. I still like her very much. Okay, our final player, Jenny. Yes. Like Jenny. Ooh. Yes. So we do have to share. Yes. Yes.
00:57:27 --> 00:57:48 We might be a bit biased about this one because we actually participated in a cover of Like Jenny, which was done by I Love Dance, which is like the biggest K-pop dance studio in New York. In New York, yes. And New Jersey. Yes, apparently we have a jury session, yes. So we'll have that link in our show notes. So if you want to watch Chantel and I dance...
00:57:49 --> 00:58:16 You should check it out. And you'll know that we actually know what we're talking about, too. Oh, hello. Hello. Talk about it. Because I tell you my section was so hard. This is top choreo. Yeah, no, your section was hard, too, actually. The footwork was bananas. I also had to have two people on my thighs. Yeah. Did you have bruises? No, but I was shaking by the last take, for sure. Right, right, right. I was like, please just start the music.
00:58:18 --> 00:58:34 That is amazing. But yes, it's a testament to how many takes they may have had. You guys know what music videos, like they shoot all day. So I can only imagine those guys' thighs at the end of the day. I'm glad you didn't bruise. That means your iron's very high. Good for you, healthy boy.
00:58:34 --> 00:59:00 But anyway, jokes aside, guys, disc choreography is difficult. And I'm going to try not to be super biased. But it's hard because once you're a part of it, you're like, damn, this is crazy. Not saying that if we weren't a part of, you know, Earthquake and F of the World, we wouldn't be as impressed or like as tired. In fact, I think you and I would probably have danced too hard in Earthquake. I don't know. Based off our notes. Snap it, snap it. Snap it. Snap it. Snap it.
00:59:00 --> 00:59:27 But with this one, I think it was really interesting to watch because, again, Jenny has this whole I'm lazy thing. She's not lazy. Okay. She's not lazy. She performs in a music video. But this is like one of the very choreography heavy that we've seen her do. And it's very, it's groove heavy. Yes. That's my thing. Grooves are not easy to catch. And she does a lot of rolling with her hand and swinging. And there's a...
00:59:27 --> 00:59:50 Yeah, if you guys have seen We Them Boys' choreography, they combine trendy steps along with interesting grooves and stuff like that. So I've always appreciated the modernity of what they do. And I would say they study other genres pretty well. I think Vata did it mostly. But yeah, they study genres pretty well. They have Afro beats choreography, even though it's a Brazilian inspired song.
00:59:50 --> 01:00:20 Um, but yeah, people are identifying it and going, oh, I know what that move is. I've seen it before. Like the, the musicality of this choreography is, I think, shush, it's really good. It's really good. And as I mentioned before, the music video has its own choreography. The regular performance has its own choreography. And then when she hits the stage, there's some finger pointing for the like, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny part. And I'm like, oh my God, there's three sets of choreography that someone has to learn and memorize.
01:00:20 --> 01:00:47 Um, she's been doing pretty okay, but I think this is a personality performance. Yeah. I think in terms of being able to maintain her breath, I would say she'd almost did a little bit better than Jenny. I love Jenny. Than Lisa. Not by much. Not by much. Because she's kind of the kind of person where she kind of projects. She's kind of the person that when she projects her, she loses breath already. I don't know what that is, but it might be because she's not supporting sometimes when she's yelling. Um...
01:00:47 --> 01:01:13 Because it's not hard to sing, but again, sometimes these girls suffer from out-of-breathness. It happens. I get it. But I think it's just because they're not supporting themselves when they're yelling. She does a pretty decent job of maintaining her personality, but I can see her getting a little fatigued as the dancing and the performance does go on. It doesn't take away from the fact that she's doing a good job in terms of looking cool. She's having a good time. I love that she's having a good time. But in terms of like...
01:01:13 --> 01:01:40 whoo you see the windedness i think lisa tops her in that sense of not looking like she's tired jenny will kind of hit this whole like she'll rub her hair out of her face and kind of just stay all crazy and just stand there and kind of breathe and then hit another step and like that's that's her tell she does something with her body every single time you can tell she's tired and lisa doesn't do that and that's it's hard for me to pinpoint every five seconds or like every second that she does it but i've noticed it i'm like jenny stop letting people know you're tired girl
01:01:40 --> 01:02:00 Stop letting people know you're tired, girl. But I think she's having a good time. Everyone seems to be like really performing the crap out of it as well. So I think overall the picture of everything looks really good. Yeah. Always. Like consistently really freaking good. From video to live performance. It looks good. The picture of everyone together looks amazing.
01:02:00 --> 01:02:12 Yeah. Yeah, that's interesting about her as a performer. I think one thing for me, and again, it's hard not to directly compare her and Lisa, because the vibe of this is just so similar. Yes. But...
01:02:12 --> 01:02:31 I think Jenny's kind of character of this kind of like super hard, like super confident person. It's not, it doesn't feel as powerful as Lisa's. Yes. Like it feels like, it kind of just feels like she's putting it on a little bit. It doesn't feel, I don't know. It's the difference between Blossom and Buttercup.
01:02:31 --> 01:02:57 Both are very strong, but Blossom's more like the posh bow, and Buttercup's like, I will F up the world. I will F you up as well. It's more believable. Like, yes, can Blossom also kick your butt? But she's wearing a bow. You know what I'm saying? Like, you believe. I get it. There's something... Yeah, I think just like personality, she's better at doing some of the softer songs, I think. That's just... It's just more interesting. Yeah. She's more femme. It just feels more authentic for her. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But...
01:02:57 --> 01:03:21 regardless actually talking about the choreography it's so good like the way and again we learned it so we're a little more i i know how it feels my body so i can speak a little bit more to it but yeah you mentioned the groove it was great because everyone can kind of sit into things kind of a little differently and how it fits their body yeah and as long as your angles and stuff are together it kind of all works and and that's great because i feel like a lot of k-pop
01:03:21 --> 01:03:44 or a lot of just like commercial pop choreography, it tends to, you need to be very exact with everything. This one doesn't need that. This one's more about the feeling and the whole vibe of it. So I think that's what makes this so awesome. And I love just the sequencing of it. I love that all boys at first and all girls and they all come together. And it's just the whole build of the performance and choreography itself. Yeah. When you're finally in that last scene
01:03:44 --> 01:04:01 kind of giant formation doing that kind of like army arm swipe thing. Oh yeah, the arm-stopping thing. Yeah, like it's so powerful. So it's just really, really well choreographed. Yeah. And yeah, I think again with her execution, she's a lot cleaner in the music video than she is live. Mm, yeah.
01:04:02 --> 01:04:28 And again, that has to do with a lot of different factors for sure. I think a live band version is cool. It gives a second verse kind of even more energy. Yeah. Yeah, it's pretty cool. It has some interesting moments to it. Yeah, she definitely has a natural charisma to her as well. Like she and Lisa, I think both have very natural charisma. But because I can kind of do this direct comparison with these two songs in particular, Lisa does win out for me as a performer. Yeah.
01:04:28 --> 01:04:53 Mm, yeah. Oh, goodness, goodness. Tough one, tough one, tough one. All right, so who's the overall winner for the choreography performance round for you? It's so hard, because I think, again, I'm biased because I know the like Jenny choreo. So part of me is just like, I have to give it to that. But in terms of just watching a performance and who I'd want to watch again, I do give it to Lisa.
01:04:53 --> 01:05:17 Ooh. Yeah. That's valid. I think I match you in that sentiment because I do like the choreography a little bit more with like Jenny. Because don't give me F of the World is great. Yeah. But I think from the beginning of like Jenny, before we even learned the choreography, we all could pick out something that we liked from the verses on. Mm-hmm. You know what I'm saying? The chorus just made it even more like, ooh, more impactful. But we all know certain parts of that dance.
01:05:17 --> 01:05:45 So I think I'm going to give it to Jenny in terms of choreography, but performance is definitely at least a split. Nice. Okay, so overall thoughts. So Blackpink's about to come back together. Yeah. It'll be really interesting because, I don't know, they've all kind of gotten to split up and kind of do their own thing with their own teams, with their own labels. Exactly. It should be interesting. So yeah, what are your thoughts on these solo moments and the group playing that together?
01:05:45 --> 01:06:13 I would say that everyone kind of played to their strengths, which I appreciate. I just not even, we didn't get a chance to actually talk about all their albums. Really? Cause people might say, if you just listen to this song on this album, it proves that they're really good at this, that and the third. But like, we're talking about these songs. These songs have to be like their thesis. If these songs were describing who they were as artists, I guess it makes sense. Like Rose is the singer songwriter with the guitar and the diary, diary, diary esque song.
01:06:13 --> 01:06:38 lyrics like if you date me and we break up it's copy at this point everything's copy um g sue is the one that plays it safe but stays true to herself and is you know going to sing about love and how she feels but she won't talk about how confident she is as a person uh you have lisa saying i'm great i'm amazing but give it to you in a way that's very tomboy very very i'm rich
01:06:38 --> 01:06:56 I'm a superstar. And you have Jenny who is saying, I'm like this. You want to be like me. So Lisa is not like you want to be like me. She's more like I am this and you love it. Jenny's like you want to be like me no matter what. So I think in terms of what they were all saying, they all did a pretty good job.
01:06:56 --> 01:07:20 But overall winner, I think in terms of like how they packaged everything and how everything came together. That's where the tough part comes. Yeah. Because I gave different people different, you know what I'm saying? So it's a little harder for me. I had to really choose in terms of song, choreography, and music video. If I had to give it all to someone. Oh, goodness. How tough. I guess I would give it to...
01:07:21 --> 01:07:42 I guess I would give it to Jenny. I have to be real here. I think overall, if I were to kind of factor in even her artistic vision for the project, hers makes the most sense as well. Oh, it's so hard. I want to say Lisa. I mean, I think I agree with you, actually. Even though Lisa won two of the categories for me, I think as an overall vision person,
01:07:42 --> 01:08:12 Yeah. And kind of everything, because I will take into account some of the other stuff that, I mean, it's hard with Jisoo because she only kind of did the EP. But the other three had a more fully formed kind of overall project. And yes, these were like the statement songs, you know, that came out of it. Yeah. But I think Jenny just as a whole, as an artist, feels the most kind of fully formed. I would say at the most kind of just individual. Yeah.
01:08:12 --> 01:08:26 it feels a little more like they're still just trying to figure it out a little bit more. Yeah. But I think, you know, there's no extreme dud here, right? No. Like, I think, you know, sometimes, you know, with these group debuts, sometimes it's just like, oh, Lord, like...
01:08:26 --> 01:08:52 They should never try again. I wouldn't say that with any of these. There's a lot of potential, I would say, with all four of them. Absolutely, yes. And this is just their first real individual project, not counting the random YG singles that some of them had, or that they all had. But yeah, so I think as a start, I think it's great. I think it'll be interesting to see them come back together as a group. I think it's weird timing to come back together as a group when they're just finding their footing as solo artists. Yes. I was...
01:08:53 --> 01:09:14 Someone tell me, this is likely just a contractually obligated thing with YG. Yeah, I think so too. Let us know if you want us to review the new songs. I believe there's supposed to at least be a new single, if not a project from the group as well. Which I'm curious how they're going to try to elevate their sound a little bit. Because at this point, Baby Monster then took it and reheated their nachos. Yeah.
01:09:14 --> 01:09:28 And I, again, someone correct me if I'm wrong. I haven't actually looked. Someone told me that their stadium tour actually isn't selling that well. Get out of here. Like the demand actually isn't that high for them to come back. You know, they haven't been gone long enough that it's their missed. Yeah.
01:09:28 --> 01:09:57 Really? Because I feel like that happened with Beyonce too. But then suddenly you look at the cameras, it's like all filled out. So maybe it will get a little bit better. I think that initial like... I mean, I think once they actually come back with new music, then it's like people will be on it. And you know, yeah, for sure. You're so right. That makes sense. Like the demand. Oh my God. Like the rush, the panic rush buying probably did happen, but there might be some tickets still wandering about y'all. So definitely go check. Yeah. And get your tickets. Yeah. That's kind of funny. But it's true. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. When are they coming? July? July?
01:09:58 --> 01:10:27 I think so, yeah. Yeah. Oh, you got two months, y'all. Making decisions. Yeah. But yeah, I'm very curious what they're going to do because I hope it doesn't feel too lazy. I hope it's not just like, yeah, this sounds like something that our fans would like. But I hope it feels like... Because you know sometimes when groups come back together after a time solo, then it's like it feels like they've all leveled up. You know, Desi's Child, when they came back for Desi Fulfill, it felt like they literally leveled up. Like all three of them. This is true, but... I want that to happen, but I feel like they haven't done enough solo to make that happen yet, so...
01:10:27 --> 01:10:45 I don't think it's going to, honestly. Because only because I know how, you and I both know how K-pop is. Like, they're not going to let these girls suddenly be like, here's an actual song that we all kind of have contributions into. It's going to be someone's going to write the song, someone's going to produce the song, y'all just sing it and look pretty. Shut up.
01:10:45 --> 01:11:01 That's what K-pop is. Like, I don't think they deserve it, but that's how it is. It sucks. Yeah, and I hope they all four of them actually want to be back together as a group, and it doesn't, because sometimes we've seen these contractually obligated things before, and you can tell they're all phoning it in, so I just hope that that's not the case.
01:11:01 --> 01:11:28 hell yeah but yes blinks let us know what you guys think of all of this let us know how you feel about the girls coming back and what you're expecting for their solo not solo uh their group release and let us know what wins this black pink solo pop off for you do not forget we're available on all platforms and make sure to comment and dm us at cctv pops on all them socials y'all and make sure you hit the follow and subscribe buttons because we have some really fun episodes
01:11:28 --> 01:11:49 coming up. And do not forget, if you are a Patreon member, you get to help us choose episode topics and even submit some comments that we will read off on air. That's right. You get to be part of the show. So until next time, that's Chris. That's Chantel. And we're signing off from CCTV, the non-stop pop show.