Review: Lisa (Blackpink) - LALISA

The first song I ever reviewed on this site was Ice Cream. That was many things. A middling review, a Selena Gomez song, a Blackpink song, and a bad song. Blackpink have failed to properly balance their 'black' or 'pink' sound, and have failed to do much with both, unfortunately. This is a shame, as songs like Stay show the group as talented.

Now, the group's premier rapper, one of the most popular Thai K-Pop stars, and one of idol pop's best dancers, Lalisa Pranpriya Manoban, better known as Lisa, has made her solo debut. Once again, it is a single album, with two songs. Now, all we have to do is for Money to get an MV...

Unfortunately, LALISA is incredibly formulaic. For an artist as specialized in gritty dance-pop as Lisa, this basically is a death sentence to the song. Lisa is unable to do anything here that any other artist could do. The lumbering hip-hop beat does not do anything, nor does it have an opportunity to do anything much. This is pretty much Teddysound at its absolute worst.

This is felt throughout the choreography and MV too. The choreography is basic, and does nothing challenging or requiring the charisma Lisa brings to the stage. The few rap breaks do provide a nice burst of energy, but nothing else. The MV also falters. Minus a nice moment where Lisa gets to wear a traditional Thai outfit, the MV comes off as overblown sets to waste money on (hence the b-side name, I presume), without any story or meaning.

The melody also lacks the punch the song requires. The chorus is particularly irritating, with a grating and generic hook more annoying than amazing. The flippy synths throughout the refrain do not help at all either. Most of the verses also are incredibly generic, not providing anything even grating, just being forgettable.

The exception to this is the second verse rap-break, a segment that many modern K-Pop songs have absolutely failed to master. It is brief, but it allows Lisa's impish tone the right melody to at least do something. This is further improved by the trendy rap in the middle-8. It is repetitive, and the 'Lalisa' is said a few times too many (as with the rest of the song), but the stronger arrangement provides Lisa that environment to do something, anything,

LALISA is dull and generic, even forgettable. But honestly, given YG's handling of Teddy songs, this was expected. Last October, the Blackpink members got to write in Lovesick Girls, and that worked great. In fact, YG entertainment has a long tradition of self-producing artists, and I see no reason for them to continue to dishonor this legacy. Even if their writings are raw at the moment, it will at least provide something new for Blackpink. This strategy worked wonderfully for WINNER and AKMU, and I see no reason for it to fail with Blackpink.

Rating: 4/10

Image Source: U Discover Music