Blackpink are currently a phenomenon I do not necessarily understand. Being hyped by their CEO as a „pretty version of 2NE1” they quickly became every white gay and their mother's favourite k-pop girlgroup in spite of barely having any material out. Their sound have been a mixed bag so far, with their two debut songs genuinely sounding like a watered-down version of 2NE1, the next two being more low-key and feeling like a step in the right direction... which brings us to their latest work. Is As If It's Your Last be the track to convince me of their alleged greatness?

As sad as it is to constantly compare one act to another, with Blackpink it's inevitable, especially with this song which sounds exactly like something taken from a 2011 2NE1 album which is honestly a blessing and a curse at the same time. On the one hand, the influences of the arguably golden era of k-pop make it stand out among other girlgroups which either try to catch up to Western artists or are stuck with the cute concepts but on the other, there is definitely quite a dated to feeling to it, especially felt during the chorus. That said, it's still probably the best vocal melody they've ever served, the line distribution is on point and the first minute or so of the track sees the girls serving maybe not their most confident but certainly their most convincing performance to date. What happens afterwards is the point when things get messy.

Lisa. Initially I used to think her lack of talent was a goofy addition which contrasted nicely with admittedly slightly faceless other members. On AIIIL she shows that she is just untalented and there is absolutely no reason for YG to still be keeping her in the group. Her parts on the chorus sound almost exactly like something that would come out of CL's mouth, quite possibly the most insufferable and embarrassing „musician” to have ever graced k-pop. But that is still nothing compared to what might be the most dreadful, brain-dead and jarring rap verse I've heard in 2017. From the unpleasant stretched out babe, through the awful, try-hard lyrics to the hilarious - and not in an enjoyable way - mumbling, I find it hard to believe that with so many people working on the song there was no one to stop her. And the worst part of it is how you can tell she actually believes that she's dropping some kind of edgy, hardcore lines. The reality is that she falls flat in every single aspect and as much as it's always been apparent with her, it's just never reached this ridiculous level.

All things considered, this is not a bad song. It proves that Jennie could easily find success even as a solo artist, that Jisoo improves with each release and that Rose's sweet voice serves as a really sweet way to compliment the other members' vocals (to keep the 2NE1 comparisons going, the modern day Park Bom?). It might still lack that special something that would make me forgive all the shade I gave those girls and the certain someone will obviously always prevent me from fully enjoying it but I'm positive. It unarguably has more personality than their last comeback and if they maintain this level of quality, I will definitely be checking for them in the future.