[ARTICLE] BLACKPINK Release 'Square Up' EP Fronted by Sharp-Shooting 'Ddu-Du Ddu-Du' Music Video
It’s been a while, but BlackPink is back, and they’re starting a revolution. At least that’s what they say on “Forever Young,” one of the four songs off of their second EP Square Up, released today (June 15). It marks their first new music since last June’s chart-topping “As If It’s Your Last.”
Square Up features four songs, all co-produced by YG Entertainment’s in-house producer Teddy Park, and is fronted by the single “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du,” a fierce hip-pop track overflowing with charisma from Jennie, Lisa, Jisoo, and Rosé. Lyrically, the song is a banger of an anthem all about BlackPink’s success, based around the hook of “Hit you with that ddu-du ddu-du du.”
“When you say ‘Black,’ we say ‘Pink,’” says Jennie in her first verse. “We are pretty savage.” “Our two hands are full of a fat check,” raps Lisa in the following stanza. “If you’re curious, fact check.”
Based on the sound of a gun being shot, “Ddu-Du Ddu-Du” (stylized in all capitals) features a prominent trap beat, and was released through a music video that features the quartet dramatically delivering the song and its finger-shooting dance moves while swathed in high-end looks amid pink-and-black-hued sets. They are seen sitting atop of bedazzled tanks, being showered by money, hiding from the paparazzi, swinging from chandeliers, and dancing in front of a set stylized after traditional Korean architecture.
The EP contains three other tracks, including the beachy, moombhaton-based “Forever Young,” within which they declare that BlackPink is “the revolution.” It’s followed up by “Really,” a chill hip-pop track that serves as a more feminine counterpart to labelmates’ iKON’s “Love Scenario.“ The album’s final track “See U Later” is a cutting breakup track with a playful vibe that weaves between numerous genres, with ‘00s-laced dance-pop leading into the dramatic, trap-laden chorus, and a hypnotizing, horns-laced breakdown. Overall, the album has a more aggressive, hip-hop slant than the act’s prior releases, emphasized by the use of English-language profanity in “Forever Young” and “See U Later,” a rarity in music put out by K-pop girl groups.
Despite only having five songs to their name prior to Square Up’s release, BlackPink has proven to be immensely popular since their start in 2016; each of their prior tracks have peaked within the top 5 of the World Digital Song Sales chart.
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