"Ddu-Du Ddu-Du (Remix JP Ver.)" Released: October 16, 2019 (2019-10-16)
Kill This Love is the second Korean extended play (third overall) by South Korean girl group Blackpink. It was released on April 5, 2019, by YG Entertainment and was distributed through YG Plus and Interscope Records.[3] It was their first Korean material since the release of Square Up in June 2018, and their first release with Interscope Records.[4]The title track was released as the lead single; it peaked at number two in South Korea and became the first top 50 hit by a female K-pop act in the United States and the United Kingdom. The track "Don't Know What to Do" was later promoted on Korean music programs.
Kill This Love debuted at number 24 on the US Billboard 200 with 19,200 units sold including over 9,100 pure sales moved, making it the highest-charting album by a female K-pop group at the time.[5] The EP reached the top ten in many territories, including Canada, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, and the top twenty in Australia. It was certified platinum by the Korea Music Content Association (KMCA) in June 2019 for selling 250,000 units, becoming Blackpink's second EP to do so after Square Up, and was later certified double platinum in September 2021 for selling 500,000 units and triple platinum in July 2024 for selling 750,000 units.
Background and release
The founder of YG Entertainment, Yang Hyun-suk, announced on February 8, 2019, that Blackpink was scheduled to release an EP in March.[6] The single and EP were announced on March 25.[7] On March 31 and April 1, multiple individual teaser pictures were posted on Blackpink's social media accounts.[8] On July 26, it was announced that the group would release a Japanese version album of the EP through Interscope Records on September 11, 2019.[9] The album missed its initial release date and was released on October 16, 2019.[10] A live version of the Japanese version of "Kill This Love", recorded in the Tokyo Dome on December 4, 2019, was included in the group's third live album Blackpink 2019-2020 World Tour In Your Area – Tokyo Dome, released on May 6, 2020, through Universal Music Japan.[11]
Music and lyrics
The opening track, "Kill This Love" is a stomping, brassy electropop track with trap elements.[12][13] The song contains "blaring horns and martial percussion",[14] with Rosé and Jisoo leading the "impassioned" pre-choruses about breaking up.[14] The second track, "Don't Know What To Do" is an EDM and pop song with throbbing bass, whistle-like hook, and an acoustic guitar.[15][2][16] "Kick It", the third song, is a song with elements of Southern trap, synth bass, and acoustic guitar.[17][2][15] The song is about telling past lovers: “I’m okay being alone / Don’t feel bad for me / I’m going to forget you now.[2] The fourth track, "Hope Not", is a soft, acousticpop-rockballadry about a break-up where the person has moved on from yearning to acceptance.[2] The closing track, "Ddu-Du Ddu-Du (remix)" was described as a "quivering, whomping club-ready Remix".[2]
Singles
"Kill This Love" was released on April 4, 2019, as the lead single from the extended play.[18] An accompanying music video for the song was directed by Seo Hyun-seung and uploaded onto Blackpink's YouTube channel simultaneously with the single's release. Upon release, the music video broke the record for the most views within 24 hours, accumulating 56.7 million views.[19] Furthermore, it became the fastest video to reach 100 million views on YouTube, doing so in approximately 2 days and 14 hours, beating the record set by fellow Korean artist Psy with "Gentleman" in 2013.[20] Commercially, the single reached the charts in 27 countries. It peaked at number two in South Korea and became the group's first top-50 hit in the United States and the United Kingdom, thus also becoming the highest-charting female K-pop song on the Billboard Hot 100 at the time.[21][22][23]
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received a weighted average score of 69 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[24] Laura Dzubay of Consequence of Sound said that the album "functions as a crisper, tighter, and even more badass lunge into the same ideas as last year’s album". She also noted the "balanced production styles, combined with the singers’ talents for vocal elasticity."[1]
For Rolling Stone, Jeff Benjamin wrote that "There will be time for Blackpink to experiment—ideally in a full-length project. Until then, the women are deepening their brand of K-pop for a quickly growing, language-agnostic fanbase eagerly anticipating every fierce new beat drop."[17] Michelle Kim from Pitchfork gave a mixed review, calling the album's production "weirdly dated, like it was crafted earlier in the decade and then forgotten in a time capsule for five years."[16] Rhian Daly of NME said that the album "showcases a band who are certainly talented but perhaps not quite ready for the next upward arc in the ride they’re currently on."[2] Kim Do-heon from IZM gave the EP 2 out of 5 stars, where he criticized the quality of the title track but was more favorable of the group's vocals in "Kick It" and "Hope Not".[25]
The EP was included at number 9 on Paper's list of Top 20 Albums of 2019[26] while "Kick It" was included at number 20 on MTV's list of The Best K-pop B-sides of 2019.[27]
^"2019년 14주차 Digital Chart" [Digital Chart – Week 14 of 2019] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. Archived from the original on September 15, 2019. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
^2019년 04월 Album Chart [April 2019 Album Chart] (in Korean). Gaon Music Chart. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved February 7, 2021.
^2019년 Album Chart [2019 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on July 12, 2019. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
^2020년 Album Chart [2020 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
^2021년 Album Chart [2021 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
週間 アルバムランキング 2019年05月06日付 [Weekly Album Ranking May 6, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 2. Archived from the original on May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
週間 アルバムランキング 2019年05月13日付 [Weekly Album Ranking May 13, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 2. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
週間 アルバムランキング 2019年05月20日付 [Weekly Album Ranking May 20, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 3. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
Digital sales for Kill This Love: 3,531
週間 デジタルアルバムランキング 2019年04月15日付 [Weekly Digital Album Ranking April 15, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 1. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved April 10, 2019.
週間 デジタルアルバムランキング 2019年04月22日付 [Weekly Digital Album Ranking April 22, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 2. Archived from the original on April 17, 2019. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
Physical sales for Kill This Love -JP Ver.-: 15,836
週間 アルバムランキング 2019年10月28日付 [Weekly Album Ranking October 28, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 1. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
週間 アルバムランキング 2019年11月04日付 [Weekly Album Ranking November 4, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 3. Archived from the original on October 30, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
週間 アルバムランキング 2019年11月11日付 [Weekly Album Ranking November 11, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 5. Archived from the original on November 7, 2019. Retrieved November 7, 2019.
Digital sales for Kill This Love -JP Ver.-: 827
週間 デジタルアルバムランキング 2019年10月28日付 [Weekly Digital Album Ranking October 28, 2019]. Oricon News (in Japanese). p. 2. Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
2019년 Album Chart [2019 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on January 15, 2020. Retrieved January 15, 2020.
2020년 Album Chart [2020 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
2021년 Album Chart [2021 Album Chart]. Gaon Music Chart (in Korean). Korea Music Content Association. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2022.
