Review

Song Review: BLACKPINK – How You Like That

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We’ve reached the point in BLACKPINK’s career where we’re literally applauding them for releasing anything. It’s certainly not fans’ fault. They’ve been starved for new content for years now, making just the idea of a BLACKPINK song more exciting than an actual BLACKPINK song. This scarce promotion might serve to build hype and the allure of elusiveness, but only if you release amazing music. How You Like That is anything but amazing. It continues along the Teddy-produced template of past hits Ddu-Du Ddu-Du and Kill This Love, yet somehow manages to be even more obnoxious.

There’s no excuse for this. YG Entertainment is working with arguably the biggest girl group on the planet right now. Even after being blunted by a series of 2019 scandals, the agency has incredible resources behind them. The group has been absent for over a year. Yet, How You Like That would be laughed off the stage if performed by any act without BLACKPINK’s name recognition and rabid fan base.

The song opens with a bit of promise, as a bubbling electro beat underlines a melodic segment that sees Teddy recycling past 2NE1 glories. From here, How You Like That stumbles and never regains its footing. Its chorus is one of the worst 2020 has offered, amounting to little more than a taunting, sing-song series of irritating English-language brags, performed in a bratty, clown-like manner that’s beneath a group of BLACKPINK’s caliber. “Look at you, now look at me,” repeated ad nauseum is not a chorus. It’s not badass, either. It feels like the ravings of an insecure boaster, and forgive me if that kind of empty braggadocio reads as particular tiresome in our current climate.

My feelings would be different if How You Like That, as an actual song, lived up to BLACKPINK’s confidence. It’s unconvincing to hear them rattle on about how great they are for two and a half minutes, only to build to a tired, double-time beat drop just like every YG hype song in history. When it comes down to it, BLACKPINK simply have not been given enough material to persuade me that they’re as amazing as the world seemingly wants them to be. Back in 2017, on the heels of hits like Playing With Fire and As If It’s Your Last, I would have believed the sentiment fueling How You Like That. But in 2020, after a string of lukewarm, infrequent comebacks, their bluster feels increasingly hollow.

 Hooks 5
 Production 7
 Longevity 7
 Bias 6
 RATING 6.25

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100 thoughts on “Song Review: BLACKPINK – How You Like That”

  1. Ah yes, because when I want to convince someone that I’m very rich and very badass I ,too, use the line ‘Look up in the sky it’s a bird it’s a plane’. Got ’em.

    Liked by 8 people

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  2. I was very much looking forward to their new release, especially since I found Kill This Love to be rather disappointing. Unfortunately this one seems to somehow be worse.

    I love their confidence and how they don’t act all cutesy and sweet, their overall vibe as a group is very cool. However, this is more like a fashion commercial than a song. I hope their next songs and MVs will be better.

    Liked by 4 people

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  3. Can’t believe this group is more popular than Apink and Mamamoo…

    I believe something went wrong and BP and Mamoo switched popularities for some reason.

    Liked by 1 person

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    • Lol there’s no reason to be toxic. If you like Mamamoo, that’s fine. But Moomoos need to stop hating on BP just because they’re more popular. And BTW, Mamamoo aren’t really underrated (they are the fifth best-selling girl group in KPOP currently).

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    • I get constructive feedback and criticism. I enjoy reading your reviews however you never have anything good to say about Blackpink. Even when reviewing AIIYL or PWF , you bring 2NE1 into it. There is no issue in that but I just feel like you hold resentment against YG for what happened to 2NE1 and you take it out on Blackpink. I get the whole bias thing and everytime I read your reviews about other artists as a multi stan ; its okay and i vibe with it. However with Blackpink ; I feel your resentment. You always talk shit about Teddy’s work for Blackpink but praise his 2NE1 stuff? I just don’t get it. Its the same person , same mind and same guy who picked 2NE1 members and Coined Blackpink’s name. You say they should work with another producer yet Teddy gave blackpink their sound. It’s not only the name Blackpink.. his work creates hits. HYLT was the most successful comeback of the year and I don’t think it would have been like this if there was another producer on the track. You say Blackpink saying phrases like Look at you look at me is bratty.. yet guys do it all the time in kpop. We have shit tons of songs about guys showing off their wealth and so much more. Double standards are real. When a gg does it , its bratty but when a boygroup does it , its okay. Its funny how you write an article that kpop groups are missing constant producers and how old producers should come back and that one dude ; Teddy who is still active gets shit from you.

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      • He actually does have good things to say about Blackpink, see his review for Playing with Fire for instance. Also, Blackpink were literally meant to be ‘2NE1 but prettier’ (Yang Hyun Suk’s words, not mine), which is why people refer to them as 2NE2. Why Teddy recently doesn’t seem to make the same effort for Blackpink he did for 2NE1 is a mystery. As Nick writes, yelling ”Look at me, now look at you” is not a chorus. I personally prefer their earlier (debut) songs over whatever this is as well. Even Whistle was better than this.

        Someone described Blackpink as influencers who do a bit of music on the side and I think that’s a fairly accurate descriptor for BP’s apparent monster popularity. They definitely meet beauty standards in the way 2NE1 didn’t and seem to be getting endorsement deal after endorsement deal.

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      • What I mean by ”recently” is that Teddy seems too often to substitute writing a proper chorus for a beat drop with some yelling or repetition of the song’s title over top. Songwriters’ styles can change over time, you know, and in this instance and several other BP songs I have to agree with Nick that the change isn’t particularly welcome.

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  6. HYLT was an excellent song except for that beat drop. If they changed the chorus, the song would have been a 11/10 for me. If you don’t like the original version, I suggest you listen to Blackpink – How You Like That (Revamped) on Youtube. I honestly prefer this version over the original and it is ten times better.

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  7. The orginal version of the drop slaps more. I like it, but hate it too. The ending chorus is what destroys the whole song, just no build up.

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